Hey, does anyone else remember the television show "Quantum Leap"? You know the one where Scott Bakula played a scientist who "leaped" into people's bodies and could not leave until he solved some major problem? Well, the point is that at the end of each episode Bakula would leap into a crisis totally unprepared and say, "Oh boy." That is kind of how I feel as I sit down and prepare to write this game column after Virginia destroyed Longwood. So everyone say it with me: Oh boy.
What can I say about the game? It was a 35-point win at home over a team that is trying to move into Division I. How much of an accomplishment is that? I honestly don't know. Besides, I have been watching too much of the Olympics in the past few days to really know what to think about basketball. Well, I could give this the gold medal for the ugliest 35 point win ever. The teams combined for 32 turnovers and there was a roughly two-and-a-half-minute stretch in the second half where neither team scored. I think Virginia guard J.R. Reynolds might agree with me.
"If we were playing any team in the ACC tonight, we probably would have been beat by 20," Reynolds said.
So you can see there really is not much to say about this game. I guess I can keep on awarding fake Olympic medals like the gold for overlooking a stat which goes to Longwood coach Mike Gillian for not noticing the fact that his team shot 59.1 percent from the field in the first half. How do you overlook a stat like that?!? Maybe it was the fact that the Lancers were down by 24 at the break. Gillian said he noticed that Virginia shot 61.8 percent for the half and he also noticed that his team had no offensive rebounds, but he "didn't even realize we shot that percentage in the first half." Overlooking that stat is unthinkable. I will cut Gillian some slack because he seems like a nice guy and he does get his team excited to play games that they know will end in losses, but that only goes so far. A coach cannot honestly say that he did not realize his team was shooting well above .500 for a half.
Getting the gold for most bone-headed decision, which is a more competitive race than it should be, is former Virginia coach Pete Gillen for scheduling this game so late in the schedule. How can a team go from playing in the cutthroat ACC to a non-conference game against a team that is 7-19? It does not make any sense. So why am I blaming Gillen for this? Just read what current Virginia coach Dave Leitao said after the game.
"I didn't have anything to do with it -- it was set when I got here."
Getting the gold for anonymity is former Virginia player Curtis Staples, who apparently held the NCAA three-point record from 1998 until Tuesday when Duke's J.J Redick claimed that record. Now I'll be completely honest and admit that Staples has nothing to do with this game, but who honestly knew Staples held the record? Outside of die-hard Virginia basketball fans, I doubt very many knew Staples was the all-time NCAA leader in three-point field goals. In fact, if I steal from Tony Kornheiser, most would not know Curtis Staples if he held up a sign that read "I am Curtis Staples." I know I wouldn't recognize him.
Getting the Johnny Weir fashion award is Virginia walk-on Matt Deasey because he was wearing blue shoes. I know Deasey does not get on the court much -- last night marked only his fifth appearance -- but blue shoes? No one else on the team was wearing blue shoes, so I am a little confused.
And finally, the Bode Miller Award for disappointment goes to the Hoo Crew. This student group that purports to raise the morale of the student fan base horribly underperformed against Longwood. They were unable to fill their reserved section and there was even enough space for Lancer fans to get lower-level seats. That's just sad.
After seeing how strange a non-conference game this late in the season is, I cannot wait for the Cavaliers to return to ACC action.
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