Monday, December 04, 2006
Fired up by his coach, Reynolds fires back at 'Pack.
Aaron McFarling
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CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Warning: The following column contains explicit dialogue between a star player and a coach.
Sort of.
We think.
OK, the following column contains vague references to explicit dialogue between a star player and a coach. Not that we didn't try to find out what that dialogue was. We did.
"Did you say something to your coach after that 3-pointer?" we asked Virginia senior J.R. Reynolds after his team defeated N.C. State 67-62 on Sunday.
"Yeah."
"Can you repeat what you said?"
"No."
Fair enough. But at least he could tell us why he turned to the bench and shouted something at Dave Leitao. Surely, he'd let us in on what Leitao had told him earlier to get him so fired up.
"I don't know," a smiling Reynolds said. "I can't ... I don't know."
C'mon, J.R. Was it something like, "Get your head in the game?"
"It was probably more explicit than that."
Fine. None of our business. But here's what we know for sure: Dave Leitao loved it. He loved every bit of it. The stare down as Reynolds headed up court, the word (or words) the shooting guard uttered, the look of determination in his player's eyes.
"That's the kind of response that I want," Leitao said after admitting that sometimes he's not the nicest guy when he challenges his players in the huddle. "I want guys, in essence, to come back at me with their play."
What Reynolds came back with was 13 points in the final 7:12. What he came back with were two deep 3-pointers from the left corner -- one that tied the score, the other that gave Virginia the lead for good. What he came back with was a soft 17-footer curling off a screen, a driving layup from the wing, a 3-for-4 performance from the free-throw line in the final minutes.
What he came back with was the starring role in an ACC victory.
Some day later this season, we might look back at that final 7:12 as a pivotal stretch in UVa's season. Not because the Cavs won -- they should win at home against a rebuilding N.C. State team that was so depth-shy it played four players for at least 38 minutes each.
No, this may be huge because it may signal that Leitao has found the switch, the motivational lever that can lift his senior from Roanoke out of the quagmire.
Any shooter is going to have slumps. But Reynolds had some ugly, protracted funks in his first two seasons under Pete Gillen. Last year Reynolds started slow, but he finished the season with 24 straight games scoring in double-figures.
Watching Reynolds in the first half Sunday, it seemed he may have been heading for another rough patch. When the horn sounded to end the first half, Reynolds was 0-for-6 and had one point. Coupled with the Purdue game -- a UVa loss, not coincidentally -- Reynolds was 3 for his past 19 from the field.
"They were rattling in and out," Reynolds said. "It wasn't like I was shooting up airballs and bricks. It was shots that were going in and out."
Maybe so, but a miss is a miss. And when Reynolds is missing, the Cavaliers are in trouble.
As the Cavs shot 31 percent in the first half, you could sense dread in the sold-out arena. The scoreboard implored the crowd to "Make some noise."
Sure, the fans seemed to say. Just as soon as this team makes some shots.
But then Reynolds and Leitao had their little talk. And when Reynolds reentered the game with 8:51 remaining and UVa still in a tight one, he had no doubts.
"I knew the next shot I was going to take was going in," he said.
Reynolds let it fly from deep in the corner, watched it splash and then turned his head to the left.
And that's when a player and a coach bonded. Determined eye meeting determined eye, Reynolds opened his mouth and spoke the following words ...
"I don't remember," he explained, grinning.
Aww, #&%*^%$#. It was worth a try.
