Thursday, March 22, 2007
Leitao remains optimistic about returning inside players
Signee Scott expected to have role
Doug Doughty
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At various stages of his coaching career, when faced with the timing of Virginia’s second-round NCAA loss to Tennessee, coach Dave Leitao would have headed to the national junior-college tournament in Hutchinson, Kan.
Despite the limitations of his four returning post players, Leitao said he will be staying closer to home this year.
In explaining his decision not to go to Hutchinson, Leitao said there were situations closer to home that warranted his full attention.
Leitao didn’t mention the name, Patrick Patterson, either publicly or privately Tuesday in a news conference wrapping up the 2006-2007 season. But Patterson, a highly regarded 6-foot-8 post player from Huntington, W.Va., is never far from the Cavaliers’ thoughts.
Most services consider Virginia a longshot in a Patterson recruiting campaign that includes Florida, Duke and Kentucky, but the Cavaliers apparently have received enough encouragement from the Patterson family to maintain their pursuit.
Besides, the Cavaliers currently have 14 scholarships allocated for the 2007-2008, one over the NCAA limit. That doesn’t include walk-on Calvin Baker, a double-figure scorer and Colonial Athletic Association freshman of the year for William and Mary in 2005-2006.
At one point, maybe the Cavaliers thought there was a good chance that Sean Singletary might pass up his final season of eligibility, but that’s highly unlikely.
If Patterson wanted to come, Leitao no doubt would find a scholarship for him, but it wouldn’t be worth the effort for a project.
The Cavaliers have enough run-of-the-mill post players already.—rising seniors Tunji Soroye and Ryan Pettinella, junior Lauris Mikalauskas and sophomore Jerome Meyinsse.
Mikalauskas’ 3.7-point scoring average was the highest in the group.
“When you talk about our two years here and the lack of an [inside] option, it becomes a consistent issue,” Leitao said.
“I believe that [signee] Mike Scott is somebody that can fill that role. He’s versatile enough to play on the perimeter and the interior, but I think he’ll give us more of a post presence than we’ve had, so long as he continues to develop.”
At 6-foot-8 and 230 pounds, Jamil Tucker has post player’s size and he was 21-of-43 on 3-pointers this year as a freshman. However, he was only 11-of-30 from inside the arc.
If he could develop a back-to-the-basket game, Tucker could become a force.
“I don’t think he’ll ever be a traditional option like that,” Leitao said. “What we’ve tried to do offensively has allowed him to play the way he plays and still to be effective. I’m not going to try and change him from what he is. I’m going to try to develop in the low block a little bit but I’m not going to do that at the expense of his perimeter game.”
Nobody could be more frustrating that Soroye, a 6-foot-11, 245-pounder who had two points and three rebounds in 21 minutes Sunday in a 77-74 loss to Tennessee.
“I can see him getting more solid and comfortable, but I don’t anticipate him going from a two- or three-point scorer to a 12-point scorer,” Leitao said. “To get him better, first of all, is to get him more consistent at what he does well.
“Especially on defense, I think we can get him better as a rebounder. I think we can get him better as an anchor. It’s a big challenge and we have only a short period of time.
“Big guys are different anyway. If he’s going to reach his peak, especially offensively [and] if he continues to play after college, it might not be until he’s 26, 27, 28 years old.”
If there is a Virginia player at a crossroads, it is 6-5 rising junior Mamadi Diane, who, for the second year in a row, hit a wall offensively in the final month of the season. Diane missed all four of his field-goal attempts, all from 3-point range, although his defensive work on Tennessee’s Chris Lofton did not go unnoticed.
Lofton was 4-for-16 from the field. Diane had drawn Albany’s high-scoring Jamar Wilson in the first round.
“I don’t think it was just this weekend,” Leitao said. “I think it’s happened throughout the course of the year. To say earlier in the year that he’d go 0-for-4 from the field and still played 33 minutes, I don’t think he would have had that luxury. He has that because he’s evolved into a trusted defender.
“As I was just telling Mom I have to assume now that the veterans get ‘it.’ If they’ve got this guy ranting and raving at them and yelling and screaming and they’re still trying to figure it out and find their way, then that’s not good for us and not good for them.
“I think [Diane] has the ability to be productive at the offensive end but the best thing you can say is, it’s not just about that any more; it’s about his overall game. I think that speaks volumes about how he’s getting better and learning what’s important.”
