In the first half of the Virginia men’s basketball team’s all-too-predictable 76-61 loss against North Carolina Saturday, Roy Williams was grimacing on the sidelines.
“The first half was like pulling teeth,” Williams said.
And yet, the Tar Heels never trailed in the opening period, and led at halftime by eight.
Therein is a telltale sign you’re a bad team: when you’re not getting blown out, the coach on the other sideline says his team is not playing up to snuff. North Carolina is to Virginia as Virginia is to Elon.
As awful as it is to watch the Cavs these days, just imagine what it’s like to be a player. As the blowout losses pile up, confidence goes down a slippery slope. We all knew it would be a challenge for the Cavs to score this season; now, it’s a chore for Virginia to complete a simple pass.
I’m not much of a sentimental person, but I can’t help but feel bad for these guys. Consider this: if the Cavs fail to win three more games this season — not an unlikely occurrence given their play of late — this Virginia squad will be the first to notch less than ten wins since the 1968 team that went 9-16.
It’s tough being on a team as futile as this one; if you played sports growing up, chances are you know the feeling. The Cavs’ two seniors, however, are experiencing down times so difficult that they deserve even more sympathy than the rest. For Mamadi Diane and Tunji Soroye, being seniors on a losing team is only a small fraction of their sob stories. Let’s consider each in turn.
Diane
Let’s start with the most recent blow to the ego: for the first time in his career Saturday, Diane did not make an appearance. Didn’t even lose the warm-ups.
To be sure, I don’t blame coach Dave Leitao; Diane’s struggles have been of epic proportions. But why? How has the guy who was supposed to be the team’s veteran, go-to scorer put up just 4.2 points per game? How has a career 35.6 percent three-point shooter coming into the season shot 2-of-31 from three this season?
You’d have to get inside his head to be sure, but there is a likely conglomerate of reasons. Let’s throw in the most obvious cause first: the looks aren’t as clean when they’re not being spoon-fed to you by one of the best point guards in the history of Virginia basketball, as Diane was by Sean Singletary the previous three years.
Now, the causes that perhaps aren’t so obvious. Moving the three-point line back a foot may seem trivial, but even Leitao has admitted that it’s had the biggest effect on Diane. Though Diane had been a good shooter throughout his career, he has never been the type to shoot from J.J. Redick range; with the line at 19 feet 9 inches in years past, his toes were at 19 feet 10 inches. If you’ve played basketball, you know what a difference a foot makes — the new line of 20 feet 9 inches appears to be just a bit out of Diane’s range.
And, lest we forget, he had a foot of his own to adjust to, if you’ll pardon the pun. He had foot surgery in the off-season, and it was likely all he could do just to get back in game shape, never mind adjust to the more distant three-point arc.
Throw all those factors together, and at the very least, you get all the ingredients for a slow start to the season. And then, just as the team is losing its swagger with each blowout loss, Diane’s confidence was eaten away with each missed shot. Before you know it, he’s not only missing the contested shots, he’s off on the open ones too.
Soroye
He’s never been a highly rated big man in the ACC, but he’s been such a non-factor this year that it’s easy to forget that in years past he was at least a force. He had a coming out party in 2005-2006 when he led the Cavs with 37 blocks, and after a slow start the year after, he again solidified himself in the starting lineup as Virginia made its memorable run to an ACC crown and a four-seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Then, last year, came the knee and back injuries; his was one of numerous ailments to the frontcourt that contributed to Virginia’s soft interior defense all season. In preseason, he told me that watching his team stumble through last season was one of the hardest experiences of his life. Left to wonder if he would be granted a medical redshirt and thus a fifth year, he got his wish in August.
Now, the preseason joy in his eyes for an opportunity at a more meaningful senior year only makes the contrast sharper to his menial role in what must be his final season. After Soroye started against South Florida, freshman Assane Sene, who was supposed to be on a learning curve under Soroye’s seasoned, veteran wings, quickly proved himself as a more mobile, agile version of his veteran teammate. Soroye now watches from the bench without the possibility of another shot next year, and with the additional knowledge that he sits at the end of the bench not because he’s hobbled, but because that’s where he deserves to be.
I don’t mean to sound harsh or cruel; I mean to be sympathetic. Both Diane and Soroye have been the victims of largely external factors — ones that can possibly be worked through as the season plays on. But as their minutes continue to be sparse with just eight games remaining in the regular season, it’s hard to envision such a sudden transformation.
And, of course, the most depressing part about it is that even if Diane and Soroye did revert to their old forms, few fans would give a hoot. It’s no fun playing on a team that’s looking toward the future when the present is all you have left.
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