For how many teams have you heard that they live and die with the three? Tennessee and Oregon last year? West Virginia in Kevin Pittsnogle's heyday?
It's time to put Virginia basketball in that category. In the Cavaliers' most recent 94-52 obliteration of Northwestern, Virginia took 62 shots and 32 of them were threes, half of which were converted. Raising Cane's promised free chicken if the Cavs sank nine threes for the game, and I had barely settled into my chair before the "We want chicken," chants began from the 'Hoo Crew, urging Virginia to put in its ninth, which junior Mamadi Diane did at the 5:21 mark of the first half. The Cavaliers didn't even attempt a two-point field goal until Calvin Baker made a lay-up after nearly nine minutes had elapsed.
Is this fixation on the three-ball such a bad thing? As Virginia coach Dave Leitao put it after the win, "It's only a bad thing if you're taking over 30 and you're not making too many."
True enough, against Seton Hall the game before, the team didn't make too many, and it was a bad thing. The Cavs launched 23 from behind the arc, but this time landed only seven and lost to a Wildcats' squad that had only barely scraped by the likes of Monmouth, Robert Morris and Navy earlier this season.
While this love for the three-point line is certainly not new -- Virginia led the ACC in three-point field goals made and attempted last season -- the Cavaliers' obsession with the three-point shot is even more obvious this year, as they are taking (and making) more threes.
And why shouldn't they? Last season, the Cavs had two players in Sean Singletary and J.R. Reynolds who could find lanes to the basket to score or get fouled. With Reynolds gone and teams keying on Singletary, the senior point guard can't find as many holes to punch through. So what offense is left? When those lanes shut down, Singletary kicks to Diane, Adrian Joseph, Jeff Jones, Calvin Baker, Jamil Tucker and Sammy Zeglinski, who can all knock down the open jumper.
So what does this mean? As for any team that depends on perimeter shooting for offense, it means that the Cavaliers are both dangerous and vulnerable. It means that, when the conference schedule hits, they can lose to Wake Forest by 20 one night and beat Duke by 10 the next. It means that John Paul Jones Arena, which has been described by several opposing coaches and players as a shooters' gym, will be an even bigger home court advantage. It means that if Virginia makes the NCAA Tournament, it will be a sexy pick both to upset and to get upset.
Is this necessarily a problem? Leitao doesn't think so. As much as Cavalier fans would have liked to see Diane and Joseph improve in the offseason to the point where they could drive to the basket the way Reynolds did last year, Virginia must be satisfied with its abilities and the capacity of the other perimeter players to simply knock down open shots.
"Would I rather take a lay-up over a jump shot? Most coaches would," Leitao said. "But we have far too many options on the perimeter to not encourage our guys to take them."
Though the Cavaliers do spend a considerable amount of time around the perimeter, fans must not simplify Virginia's offense into the run-and-chuck. Leitao did not win ACC Coach of the Year in 2006-07 for no reason, and fans may rest assured that while it may appear that the team is simply bombing away from the perimeter, shot selection continues to be a priority.
"As long as we're taking them [three-point shots] in rhythm and coming off of something -- we're just not shooting it because it's there -- then I'm going to keep encouraging the guys to do that," Leitao said.
The perimeter is a dangerous place to live, both for the team that lives there and for the opponent. Fortunately or unfortunately for the Cavaliers, that's where they are, and that's where they'll stay. At least until they make a shot that's worth four.
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