Players were puzzled by Leitao’s rotation

It doesn’t take self-help guru Tony Robbins to understand that one of the biggest factors in creating success is building self-confidence, and that one of the best ways to achieve that is through experience and repetition.

In former coach Dave Leitao’s four years at the helm, one could make the case that very few Virginia players received the consistent playing time that was needed to maximize their potential.

Many media members, fans and even players have made the observation that there often didn’t seem to be a rhyme or reason to Leitao’s starting lineups, player rotations or substitution patterns.

One poor game, one bad possession, or one mental hiccup often led to a spot in Leitao’s doghouse.

This season alone, 12 different Virginia players found themselves in the starting lineup. Ten averaged 10 minutes or more. Leitao’s preceding two years mirrored those statistics.

When you consider the fact that a typical rotation includes eight or nine members, it’s easy to see why some Virginia players grew disgruntled.

Will Harris was one such player. Harris couldn’t handle the uncertainty from one game to the next. The forward transferred to Albany at the end of the 2007-08 season.

“It’s tough because you never really know what you’re supposed to be doing,” said Harris, when asked about Leitao’s itchy trigger finger. “When you’re being pulled in and out all the time, it kind of messes with your mind, especially when you don’t really get an explanation as to why you’re being pulled or inserted, back and forth.

“It just messes with your mind as a player. That’s just how it is.”

Harris is far from alone in his sentiments.

Several current and former Virginia players, whether they’ve publicly admitted it or not, weren’t fond of Leitao’s herky-jerky ways.

Sophomore Mike Scott was upset when he was removed from the starting lineup in favor of Solomon Tat prior to the North Carolina game this year. Scott issued several “no comments” to reporters when asked about Leitao’s decision.

Clearly, the Chesapeake native had learned his lesson from the previous season when he questioned Leitao’s tactics to a Washington Post reporter following a loss at Virginia Tech.

“They had a lot of confidence,” Scott told the Post, referring to the Hokies. “Playing with [coach] Seth Greenberg gives them a chance, a little more leeway when they make a mistake. They make a mistake, they just get through it, and they still stay on the court, whereas we don’t have enough time to make a mistake. If we make a mistake, we’re coming out. They have a lot of confidence.

“You see [guard Dorenzo] Hudson, you see [forward Jeff] Allen, you know they’re going to stay in through mistakes,” Scott continued. “That’s what it’s all about — confidence. If somebody scores on me, just let me play through it. Don’t take me out. That’s what I would like to see.”

Scott was one of the most upset players after Leitao’s dismissal, and he viewed Leitao as a father figure. But the fact remains he often didn’t seem to see eye-to-eye with the coach.

Ditto for Scott’s good buddy, Jeff Jones. Last season, Jones was actually one of the few exceptions to Leitao’s yo-yoing. As a freshman, he started 25 of 33 games. Leitao played him through thick and through thin.

But this year was another story. Jones took turns on the pine with Mustapha Farrakhan on several occasions.

In a home loss to Miami on Feb. 26, Jones was playing very well — leading the team with 16 points — but was pulled from the game down the stretch in favor of Farrakhan.

“There were three or four specific defensive assignments that he got lost on,” said Leitao, when asked why he had taken out the team’s most effective offensive player that night. “Mustapha did a better job that way. I rode it for a little longer than I intended to do.”

Farrakhan’s sporadic minutes throughout the season were even more puzzling.

Against Virginia Tech, he singlehandedly helped Virginia win the game, scoring 17 points in 12 minutes. But then Farrakhan had a couple of poor shooting efforts and was out of the rotation for the rest of the season.

The list of one-game wonders goes on.

Jerome Meyinsse looked great against Syracuse. The junior went toe-to-toe with the Orange’s Arinze Onuaku, notching 10 points, eight rebounds and a block, but was basically never heard from again. The Baton Rouge, La., native didn’t play in the team’s final 10 games, even after freshman Assane Sene missed time with an ankle injury.

In the loss to Virginia Tech last season that had frustrated Scott so much, Jamil Tucker’s minutes were also curiously curtailed.

Tucker had three straight baskets — a layup and a pair of 3-pointers — then was taken out of the game with 10 minutes to go and didn’t reappear until overtime.

“He didn’t talk to me or tell me what was going on,” said Tucker after the game, “but I knew what was happening from having been through it before.”

Therein lies one of the biggest issues that players seemed to have with Leitao: communication.

“As a head coach, I feel like that’s his job,” Harris said. “He doesn’t really have to give any explanations. It’s in his power to do that, but I think it’s helpful for players to have some type of explanation just so that they could know and work on the things that they were doing wrong and just make them feel real comfortable.

“It just puts a lot of pressure on a player when it’s like that because you always want to do good. Sometimes when you’re focusing on doing good so much, you can’t really do good because you’re trying too hard. That’s what it is.”