WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.
Much has been said about the Virginia men's basketball team's inability to execute in the halfcourt offense, and yesterday at Wake Forest, these struggles extended to both sides of the court. The Cavaliers' weaknesses on defense were never more apparent than in Virginia's 92-70 embarrassment at the hands of Wake Forest last night.
Entering last night's game, Virginia ranked higher than the Deacons in every major poll. But the Cavaliers' defense (or lack thereof), made Wake Forest look like the best team in America. The Deacons were able to get off any shot they wanted, as the Cavaliers played little-to-no defense.
We all know about Virginia coach Pete Gillen's run-and-gun game, but if the Cavaliers cannot control the tempo of the game, they need to pick it up with some semblance of defense. Against Wake Forest, Virginia couldn't come up with an answer for some of the simplest offensive sets.
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The most frustrating thing for Cavalier fans is that the Deacons practically ran the same play over and over. It wasn't as if Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser had his troops running a complex offensive system. This wasn't Phil Jackson's triangle offense - it was a simple pick-and-roll. And the Cavaliers were stumped. Being outwitted by the pick-and-roll is like treating elementary math as if it were multivariable calculus.
As a team, the Cavaliers were much too eager to switch off on the players they were guarding, rather than attempting to fight through a pick. Unbalanced matchups resulted, such as 6-foot-3 Virginia freshman guard Jermaine Harper guarding 6-foot-9 Wake Forest senior forward Darius Songailia - a matchup Virginia fans can do without.
The Deacons didn't unveil anything that a basketball fan hasn't seen a million times, and Virginia, by the numbers, is the better team, but the Cavaliers beat themselves by deciding not to play on both sides of the court.
The Cavaliers have top 10 talent, but are playing like a team that shouldn't be in the top 100. Game after game, Virginia can't stop their opponents from scoring at will - which inspires questions about what is wrong with this team. And how Gillen proposes to fix it.
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