The letters NIT can stand for quite a few things. Not in touch. No intense teamwork. Not in tournament. Unfortunately for the Virginia men's basketball team, the last option is looking more and more realistic.
After being absolutely demolished by N.C. State last night and losing four in a row (including three ACC losses), the Cavaliers are beginning to look like anything but a NCAA tourney-caliber team.
It was the same old, same old at N.C. State for Virginia. Not having beaten the Wolfpack in Raleigh in over four years, the Cavaliers' performance looked awfully familiar. Bad pass. No defense. Bad shot. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
While Virginia was only down 12 points with nine minutes remaining, I had an overwhelming feeling that Virginia had no chance to come back on the road. I have been following Virginia basketball for almost 10 years and I have never seen such a talented team play so poorly.
There were passes at the post that looked more like something you would see in Mem Gym. Even I made more threes than Virginia, playing at the Dell last Friday (yes, I was covered).
In all seriousness, if the Cavaliers hope to have any chance to go to the post season tournament of choice, they really need to "come together" before the season slips away for good.
Virginia is a team that has lost four in a row, but they still are a team with immense talent. Roger Mason Jr. eventually will hit those threes; Chris Williams sooner or later will realize that he must be more aggressive and hoist up a three instead of driving senselessly into the lane.
The bottom line is that Virginia needs to play with their heads along with their hearts, something they obviously are capable of doing after the effort put forth at Duke or against Maryland. There is no doubt in my mind that this team will turn it around. The question is when. Will it be too late?
As Virginia coach Pete Gillen said in his post-game press conference, are the players going to give up or are they going to come out swinging? We will find out if the players let frustration linger from these four games when Clemson comes to town Sunday afternoon.
That is, if "frustration" is strong enough of a word.
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