MAKING THE GRADE PART 1: The Starters
With finals coming to an end, it is time for the Virginia men’s basketball team to start their season back up. Let’s take time to grade how the Cavaliers (8-2) have done so far this season.
Sean Singletary-
Our Rhodes Scholar is always something to watch on the basketball court. Singletary is never short on confidence, which came in handy when he knocked down a clutch shot against the Arizona Wildcats to solidify Virginia’s biggest victory to date this season in Tucson. However, that confidence may have cost him against the Syracuse Orange. Despite an illness which affected his vision and his shot, Singletary continued shooting and shot a surprisingly poor 3-14 from the floor. With less than two minutes to go and Virginia down three, Singletary left a wide-open Adrian Joseph (who had just made a trey from a similar spot on the last possession) and tried to make the game-tying shot himself. The shot barely hit iron and killed some of the growing momentum. Singletary is a tremendous player. His jersey will almost certainly be retired one day at JPJ. However, the areas he needed to improve this season are still concerning. Singletary still has a tendency to turn the ball over too much for a point guard because he tries so hard to initiate the offense. Against Longwood, Singletary had eight assists but six turnovers. If Singletary can cut down on these turnovers and continue to work on his defense he will lead Virginia to the NCAA tournament. Just as long as someone gets the man a flu shot.
GRADE: B+
Adrian Joseph-
Joseph along with Diane came into the season under the most pressure to fill the void left by J.R. Reynolds. Joseph still suffers from the inconsistency bug when it comes to his shot. Against Vermont, Joseph was 7-11 and showed an improved aggressiveness on and off the ball that made every Virginia fan smile. Yet in Virginia’s last four games, Joseph is a combined 17-45 from the floor including a 2-7 performance in a loss against Seton Hall. Numbers like that fuel the fire of critics who say Joseph’s offensive game is limited to just jump shots. Joseph is still working on the ability to slash his way to the basket like a Singletary or Reynolds and appears to be making positive strides towards that. If Virginia can get another starter who can consistently create on his own, it will dramatically open up the Cavalier offense. Also, even if Joseph cannot always match the point production of Reynolds, he has done a solid job of filling the rebounding void left by other graduating senior, Jason Cain. Despite no solid post presence, Virginia is actually one of the top rebounding teams in the ACC. Joseph leads the team with 8.9 rebounds per game and has four double-doubles on the early season. Joseph’s biggest challenge will be stepping into that captain’s role with Singletary. He admits that he is not a very vocal leader; he prefers to lead by example. Hopefully his energy will inspire all the young players on this team to follow suit. If so, Joseph and Virginia will continue to shine.
GRADE: B
Mamadi Diane-
Virginia’s breakout star last season, Diane has had to prove his ability to play well both at home and on the road. So far, that is exactly what he has done. Diane has shown up at each every road game, scoring at least 9 points in each of Virginia’s road contests while still shooting a decent percentage from the floor. Second on the team in points with 12.4 ppg, Diane has “turned the corner,” in the words of head coach Dave Leitao. Against Northwestern in the Big/Ten ACC Challenge, Diane stole the show with 22 points and a career-high six three-pointers. Diane has always shown tough defense and that has proved critical. Against Arizona, Diane had the inauspicious task of guarding super sophomore Chase Budinger. Budinger is extremely athletic and seems ready for the NBA right now. Still, Diane did an amazing job frustrating him and limiting his production, allowing Virginia to attain their biggest victory in the early season. Still, Diane knows how close he came from being a hero to being the scapegoat. In the final minute, Diane could not get the ball inbounds and allowed Arizona a chance to tie or win the game by turning the ball over. Fortunately, Virginia got the ball right back and escaped Tucson with a victory. Diane’s next role will be continuing to develop his overall game and find his spot in this newly made offense. With so many new players who can also shoot the long-range shot, Diane can sometimes get lost in the shuffle. As a junior, Diane must now begin to take a role as a leader and help pick Virginia up when it is down. He had difficulty doing that against Syracuse but he has the ability to do it when the ACC season comes along.
GRADE: B+.
Jeff Jones-
The freshman came in with a lot of buzz and high expectations, and early on he has met the hype. Against Vermont, Jones debuted with a solid 8 points and 6 boards. The Arizona game, however, was where Jones really began to make a name for himself. He hit five three-pointers in the game, including three in the first few minutes to carry Virginia in the early going. His 15 points proved to be the difference in the contest and has kept him in the starting lineup in all of Virginia’s nine games so far this season. Still, points and minutes have been harder to come by for Jones since the Arizona game. The inexperience and the learning curve seem to have hit this talented youngster the hardest. Jones is just 7-27 since the Arizona game, over a six-game stretch. His last outing against Longwood was certainly one to forget, going 0-5 from the floor with four turnovers. As a result, Leitao has begun to really limit the minutes of Jones as he tries to instill some of the principles of Virginia basketball. Jones certainly does leave something to be desired on offense but he is a tremendous shooter. He also has a great deal of potential as anyone can tell. Jones had a flash of brilliance against Syracuse, when Calvin Baker went down with a cramp. Jones realized the opportunity at hand and played at a very aggressive tempo without getting out of control. He was able to get to the basket and provided a spark off the bench when Virginia looked lethargic in the second half of that contest. Jones still has a lot to prove and even more to learn as the Cavaliers near the ACC season. If Jones wants to keep that starting spot he will have to buy into defense and will have to avoid many of those freshman mistakes that are all too common. Otherwise, with a bench this deep, Jones may have to wait awhile before he has an opportunity to score 15 points in a game again.
GRADE: C+.
Ryan Pettinella-
With Tunji Soroye’s knee injury, Leitao has looked to Pettinella to fill the void left in the post. Pettinella has started 8 of the Cavalier’s 9 contests, yet the numbers speak for themselves. Pettinella, the Penn transfer, has 1.9 ppg and 3.1 rpg. In fact, he has more fouls this season (17) than points (15). Pettinella was not expected to light it up offensively but he was expected to help the Cavaliers more than just the 11.3 minutes he is currently averaging. Against Syracuse, Pettinella only played 3 minutes and did not even attempt a shot. Obviously it is hard for him to reach his full potential on the bench but it clearly shows the kind of faith Leitao has in his most seasoned big man. Some of it may be stemming from an undisclosed injury that kept Pettinella out of the Longwood game. Still, no injury can excuse the 1-10 at the free throw line. His ability at the charity stripe was something everyone hoped would improve, but perhaps it got even worse. We at the Fanatic certainly hope Pettinella can get back at full health and that he can at least beat Ben Wallace in a free throw contest. Until then…
GRADE: D
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