Cheers of “Nolte, Nolte” faintly rattled around the lower deck of John Paul Jones Arena Tuesday night after the senior forward poured in his second bucket of the game. Seventh-ranked Virginia rolled over Virginia Tech, 67-49, and the Milton, Ga. native scored four points and showcased a streak of aggression that has far too often been missing from his game. Senior Evan Nolte might just be the most polarizing Virginia player.
From personal experience, Cavalierdom either loves him for his energy, unselfish attitude and team defense, or loathes him for his offensive warts. I have often found myself aligned with the views of the latter camp, but things are changing in the early days of February.
My strongest criticism of Nolte this year has been his offensive game. He entered college as a three-point threat having shot 42 percent from behind the line during his senior season at Milton
High. In his first season, Nolte showed promise and shot 38.9 percent from deep. Since then, it has been decline — an almost Ottoman-like decline.
College basketball may not have a Mendoza Line, the standard for offensive incompetence that renders a player a detriment to his team regardless of defensive contributions, but if a Mendoza Line existed, then Nolte would be well below it.
It wasn’t just that Nolte was missing his threes. He stopped looking for them. Nolte scored five points on two-of-three shooting in the Cavaliers’ second game of the season. After that, he vanished and went the next 20 games without hitting a three-pointer.
In two of those games, Nolte never saw the floor. He did not even attempt a three in nine contests. In essence, Virginia was playing four-on-five on the offensive side of the court, and no amount of hustle or knowledge of the defensive system could justify that in my mind.
Yet the followers of the Cult of Nolte promised better days were coming. They assured fans a thaw was coming — Nolte would begin making threes again. I, like many other followers of the
program, scoffed. I saw Nolte’s production, or lack thereof, not as a slump, but as an indication of his ineffectiveness on the court.
But the tides have turned, and the spirit of revival seemingly sweeping over the Cavaliers has possessed Nolte as well.
Against Wake Forest, he had two buckets, and then he went quiet before finally connecting from deep against Boston College.
“It felt great,” Nolte said of his shot against Boston College. “It’s frustrating, and you try not to think about it, and you can tell people you’re not thinking about it. You try to take the next shot and forget about the last one.”
The next game, against Pittsburgh, offered the same result — a picture-perfect three taken in
rhythm and with confidence. Nothing but net.
All of this takes us to Tuesday night against the Hokies, where Nolte looked for his shot early. Not surprisingly, Virginia Tech’s defense paid more attention to Nolte, which allowed him to drop the ball off to senior center Mike Tobey for an easy layup.
This brings me to my conclusion: an aggressive Nolte makes the Cavaliers better. The offense
is more open when Nolte catches the ball as a shooter and not a passive bystander. By making the defense guard all five guys on the court, space opens up for big men in the post, and driving lanes widen for the perimeter players.
“Just to see him get some rhythm shots—it stretches the defense more,” Coach Tony Bennett said. “You can’t key in just on Anthony inside or Malcolm or London…. I thought Evan, he’s kind of picking it up at an important time for us.”
To me, any shot from Nolte that goes in is just icing on the cake. Even more important is he looks for his shot. If the shooting continues, then the Cult of Nolte will certainly grow.
Matt Wurzburger is a Sports editor for The Cavalier Daily. He can be reached at m.wurzburger@cavalierdaily.com or on Twitter at @wurzburgerm.
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