For Sean Singletary, this season certainly wasn't as he envisioned it.
Watching his team have its season end at the hands of Bradley, a middle-of-the-pack squad in the Missouri Valley Conference, wasn't how he expected it would end, either.
What was he thinking when, as he received yet another standing ovation, he walked off the court at JPJ for the last time?
Something only Sean would think.
"Just 'I need to get some rest, and get back in the gym,'" he said. "I'm beginning a new chapter in my life."
This is not to say he wasn't bothered by the loss or that he won't miss wearing a Virginia uniform.
"Playing in the gym with all those fans, you're going to miss a lot," he said. "But, like I said, time to move on."
It's a shame that Virginia's season had to end this way. If nothing else, the CBI gave Singletary a chance to end his unfathomable career with a win. But, of course, with the scoreboard flashing 96-85 at game's end, it wasn't to be.
And the culprit? As usual, it was the defense: 54 Bradley points on 56.7 percent shooting overall in the second half, 50 percent shooting from the 3-point line. ?Wide open looks inside and out. Familiar sights that have defined Virginia's season.
Bradley's 15 points in 155 seconds in the first half were almost as blinding as Singletary's 8 points in 26 seconds Monday night. Virginia's up 30-16. Bang, bang, bang -- they're down 31-30. (That's the best way I can put it into words.) Extrapolate the Braves' little 15-point eruption out to a 40-minute game, and Bradley scores 232 points -- and that's rounding down.
Though Bradley didn't quite make it to 232, the abysmal Virginia defense didn't stop there. The Cavs just couldn't keep anybody in front of them; they bit at one ball fake after another and were slow to rotate and close out on shooters when the Braves penetrated and kicked. That's been the story for Virginia all year long: The defense, always Leitao's primary emphasis, has been inconsistent and, at times, awful.
"We just played three different offenses," Leitao said. "Richmond's offense shot at or around 50 percent, Old Dominion's offense shot 50 percent, and this [Bradley] offense shot 48 percent ... We caused a lot of that."
Speaking of inconsistent, Jeff Jones, Mr. Inconsistent, did finally come alive. An overall disappointment in his freshman year, Jones has been much more assertive the past two games, particularly last night, as he shot 6 of 8 from the 3-point line and 9 of 14 overall for a game-high 26 points.
For Jones, though, perhaps there is a silver lining in not playing another game for a while. The last time he shot that well was against Arizona Nov. 17, when he made 5 of 7 from the 3-point line for 15 points. Then he missed his next 17 threes until finally hitting one Feb. 9 at Wake Forest. Go figure.
"He started off with a bang and he ended with a bang," Singletary said. "He'll be the face of the program."
And, lord knows, they'll have to get a heck of a lot more from him and from the entire roster next year to have a shot of even finishing better than 10th place in the conference, as the Cavs finished this year. Because -- here it comes, brace yourself -- he's not coming back.
Let me squash your fantasies right here and now. There will be no fifth year. There won't be another, "I'm going to the NBA ... psych!" No. 44 is gone. For good.
"He's leaving some big shoes to fill," Jones said, shaking his head disbelievingly. "Humongous shoes to fill."
And who can replace him? Let me rephrase: Who can replace one-tenth of him? Jones? Mamadi Diane? Lars Mikalauskas? Mustapha Farrakhan? A couple of big guys in next year's freshman class? Are we kidding ourselves?
Frankly, there's only one thing that can be the saving grace to this basketball team. There's only one way that these guys have a fighting -- no, shouting -- no, screaming -- no, screeching chance of making progress in 2008-09.
D.
"Those was Coach Leitao's last words out of the locker room [after the game]: 'We're going to play defense," Jones said. "We're going to be a defensive team."
And the one man that remains with this team in whom I do have a good deal of confidence is Leitao. No, he didn't get his boys to D up this year, but I believe he will next year. I believe in the absence of the best player to suit up at Virginia since Ralph Sampson, these guys will be shocked at how much more difficult it is to find open looks without all of their defenders' eyes on someone else. They will understand that the 19.9 points and 6.12 assists per game they lose from him on the stat sheet is only the half of it. With the voice of Leitao constantly ringing in their ears, when that hits home -- and it likely won't before the first time they play without him -- that is when they will buckle down and be the defensive team Leitao so desperately wants them to be.
Why do I have so much blind faith?
Because I have to. We all have to. Right now, Cavs fans are overlooking a canyon. The only way to maintain sanity is to not look down.
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