For those of you who had to miss the Florida State game because of fraternity or sorority rush, be thankful you did. I knew Virginia would struggle at times this season, but Saturday was something comically bad. The final score shows that Virginia only lost by 11, but the first half was something “The Twilight Zone” could only inspire. Sixteen points in the first half? Starting the game shooting 1-for-19 from the field? Yes, that really did happen.
Sophomore guard Jeff Jones tried to take an optimistic approach following the performance this past Saturday.
“Everyone is just trying to stay positive,” Jones said after the game. “Coach always says that it’s a tough league in the ACC, and that is what everyone came here for.”
I don’t think you came for a performance like this, though. The offense looked totally out of sync. The three field goals Virginia made in the first half were the fewest the Cavaliers could put together in one half since Feb. 19, 1997 against N.C. State — the main difference being Virginia actually won that game 55-46. When you start the game down 24-5, any team is going to struggle. When you are a very young team that likely has a very fragile psyche right now, it’s even more difficult to deal with such a slow start.
“It’s tough; everything is tough,” Jones said. “When things are going bad, it’s hard to get through.”
So what’s wrong with Virginia right now? Junior forward Jamil Tucker made two very good points following the game. The first one has to do with how the guys are thinking.
“I think it’s our mindset,” Tucker said. “We have guys with a lot of talent to be able to do things and make points, so I feel like it’s definitely in the mindset.”
When freshman guard Sammy Zeglinski — a normally solid free-throw shooter — has two instances in the game where he gets fouled shooting a 3-pointer, goes to the line and only makes one of three free throws, something has to be going on mentally. The offense — especially in the first half — did not look together, and this team does not have a Sean Singletary- or J.R. Reynolds-type player who can bail out a team time after time if the offensive cohesion goes AWOL.
Tucker’s other good point is a simple one but it is becoming a very alarming one for the Cavaliers.
“It seems like we have a knack for coming out lackadaisical [to start games],” Tucker said.
That knack is not a good thing for any team to have. Virginia was down 14 points against Florida State at the half, and it would have been a lot worse if the Cavaliers hadn’t made 10 of their 13 free throws. Virginia also found itself at halftime down 15 against Maryland, 14 against North Carolina and 7 against Virginia Tech. Even though Virginia has shown the ability to play much better in the second half of games, falling into such a deep hole is often too much to overcome, and Virginia is really going to have to come out of the gate stronger in future contests.
Prior experience suggests there could be some good that follows Virginia’s loss. Last year, Clemson took the Cavaliers to the woodshed at home in a 82-51 loss — and the game was broadcast on ESPN2, no less. Virginia played another game nearly 48 hours later and lost to Wake Forest on the road; but three days after that the Cavaliers played their hearts out against North Carolina and lost by 1. The Cavaliers then went on to win four of their next six games to end the season on a positive note. Give Jeff Jones a lot of credit: He has the right attitude in terms of how to get through this.
“We realize that it’s not going to be easy,” Jones said. “We just have to keep playing.”
Virginia doesn’t play until Sunday against Duke. It needs to figure out an excellent offensive plan and a way to start out games in a much better fashion — or this season’s going to do down the drain.
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