There comes a time in every sportswriter's life when you must tuck in your napkin, pick up your fork and eat crow. Though fowl is definitely not part of my New Year's diet, it is my turn to choke down a hearty helping. For three years, I've been the drum major of the Pete Gillen bandwagon -- I boasted about our preseason rankings, I loved his bobbleheaded demeanor and I believed all of the hype -- but after watching Duke steamroll our woefully miscoached Cavaliers Sunday, I am turning in my baton.
Virginia-Duke has become more than a bitter conference rivalry, more than all that is light and good in college basketball against all that is ferret-like and evil. When Virginia beat Duke in 2001, on the Blue Devils' way to a national championship, the game was a promise of great things to come for Gillen and the Cavaliers. By 2002, Gillen had signed a contract to receive $9 million over 10 years, the Cavaliers had been ranked as high as fourth in the nation and 'Hooville had the estimated population of Elzinga's ECON 201 class. That victory was a shining moment for Gillen, from his first-half technical all the way to his decision to avoid a timeout and let former guard Keith Jenifer do unexpected damage to Duke's defense. It was a time for Virginia fans to worship their coach the way he worshipped them as "the best in America," if only because, two years later, such brilliance has yet to come again.
You could feel the difference in the air before Sunday's Duke game. Where hundreds of students once camped, three tents held all of Hooville. The student section was half-full until just minutes before the game, and by the time the final buzzer sounded, U-Hall was less than half full again. Fans groaned when Gillen took his first time out just seconds before the first television break. Even when Virginia seized the first half with energetic play and a few killer threes from Devin Smith, the merry-go-round of Gillen's substitution patterns kept the fans as unsteady as the players appeared to be. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski summed it up nicely in his post-game press conference when he was asked about Virginia's offensive game plan: "I don't know what their strategy was," he said. Neither, it seemed, did Gillen.
I wish it could have turned out any other way. If we had beaten Duke, I would be able to swallow the lump in my throat every time I look at our ACC record. If the referees hadn't spread the bad calls evenly in the second half, I could have cried officiating. I even gave serious consideration to Chris Kelly's assertion that we need one of our players to step up and take the lead on the court. But the fact remains that our team is 0-2 in the ACC and looks dangerously likely to make a tradition out of the January-February tailspin.
This year is not a fluke. This year, there is no key injury or radical discipline problem and certainly no lack of talent. This year is evidence of a pattern of underachievement by Virginia basketball, a pattern that points, sadly, right to Gillen himself.
After several years of recruiting some of the East Coast's best talent, Gillen seems unable to find players who can consistently keep up with his style of play. Even 30 pounds lighter, Elton Brown still looks awkward trying to be the big man that Travis Watson was. Gillen has made a habit out of relying on spare parts at the point guard position: Jenifer never displayed the kind of character that a team leader needs and now Todd Billet, a force to be reckoned with at the two spot, is being called on to teach and bail out wet-behind-the-ears T.J. Bannister. Granted, this year's young players look very promising, but the lesson of the Jenifer, Harper, Clark and Brown recruiting class -- 'Don't put all your eggs in a young, undisciplined basket' -- looms large.
Top-level coaches have the control and respect of their team, both on and off the court. Gillen has had trouble with both. Top-level coaches have solid game plans and successful game strategies. Gillen has yet to settle in to even a single consistent starting lineup. Top-level coaches get their teams to a win no matter where the game is held and Virginia is notoriously homebound. Top-level coaches take responsibility for every success and failure of their team, and in Gillen's case, that responsibility is extremely unpleasant.
Gillen is absolutely irreplaceable in many ways. His energy, his charisma and his comedy make the most drab press conference entertaining, and his enthusiasm made us believers -- for a while. Even so, after three seasons of disappointment, the Virginia-Gillen relationship has lost its sparkle. Last year, when the team finished 16-16, the honeymoon was over. This year, I'm beginning to think we should file for divorce.
I can only hope Gillen and the Cavaliers use the rest of this season to prove me wrong.
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