Halftime Sports

Across the river: UVA Could go deep

January 27, 2014


Here at Mr. Jefferson’s University, we have a lot to be proud of.  Academically, we’re the best public university in the country, no matter what the hippies in California will tell you.  Our McIntire School of Commerce produces the best and the brightest in the financial world*, and, of course, we have a UNESCO World Heritage site.

One thing that we are generally not as proud of is our men’s basketball team.  Unlike certain other schools in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Virginia does not have a legacy of producing great basketball talent.  The University’s two biggest contributions to basketball have been Ralph Sampson, the “sure thing,” whose career ended prematurely due to injury, and Rick Carlisle, a nonentity as a player but well known as coach of both the Malice at the Palace Pacers, and the Dallas Mavericks team that captured the 2011 NBA title.

Last season was not one to be proud of for Wahoos.  The team had its moments, such as the win against Duke that gave us all a sense of false hope and unfulfilled optimism.  However, a lackluster ACC tournament forced us into the NIT, and an ignominious knockout in the quarterfinal round.  So much optimism, gone up in smoke yet again.

This season started off in a less than stellar manner.  A heartbreaking loss to VCU, caused by missed free throw after missed free throw; putting up just 38 points in a loss to Wisconsin; the shellacking by Tennessee (that one hurt… a lot).

But courage, dear Wahoos, for there is hope ahead!  ACC play has been good to the Cavaliers thus far, with six convincing wins (including a delightful pummeling of Virginia Tech) and only one loss, to a Duke team that nearly coughed up a victory as well.  They have finally gotten their stuff together; the lackluster offense has rebounded, with their three highest scoring games coming in conference play.  The 6-1 start in ACC play marks the best start since Ralph Sampson’s fourth year.

Why the sudden shift?  Part of it is the relatively weak schedule Virginia has faced so far; only Florida State has a winning record in conference, but they are 4-1 against non-Wahoo opponents.  We all love Joe Harris, and his recent meeting with Coach Bennett appears to have provided a spark for the rest of the team.  The previously anemic offense has gotten back on track, averaging close to 70 points per game in conference play.

What does this start mean for the rest of the season?  At the least it provides some optimism.  As it stands right now, Virginia and Syracuse have the most wins in ACC play (a sentence that nobody would’ve thought imaginable five years ago).  Six wins in conference play puts us more than halfway to matching last season; a purely .500 record the rest of the way surpasses last season’s strong conference finish, and it is of course quite probable that the team will do better than that.  Virginia has not won more than 11 games in the ACC since 1994. They seem well on their way to reaching that goal this year.

Looking ahead, the road seems bright.  With the exception of the Syracuse matchup on March 1st, no game looks to be a definitive loss.  Pittsburgh and Clemson are the only other opponents with winning records in the ACC right now, but both those games are on the road.  Pittsburgh is a good team, but Clemson has benefited from a weak schedule; its only big win was against Duke, and it was dismantled by a margin of 33 points against Pittsburgh.  No opponent in the ACC is invincible (with the possible exception of Syracuse).  While nothing is certain, and there are plenty of things that could go wrong, if Virginia continues to play at its current level, it could find itself making a relatively deep postseason run.

*Does not reflect the view of the a Halftime staff



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