This 2007-08 UVa team is almost a carbon copy of the 2001-02 UVa hoops edition (aka my 2nd year). During my 1st year at Virginia, the Wahoos made the NCAA tournament as a 4th seed behind the stellar play of Donald Hand (Benny’s inspiration), Travis Watson (T-Wat!), Roger Mason, Jr. (only current NBA baller), Adam Hall (An admitted dunkaholic), Chris Williams (Big Smooooth) and Keith Friel (A Rich Man’s Willie Dersch). Ben and I watched with rapt attention as these young stalwarts fought through a stacked conference schedule and held their own (protecting University Hall like it was Fort Knox). The team was young and hungry and unfazed by hostile circumstances. They won nailbitters and laughers against top-flight teams.
(ASIDE: The most memorable game was at home to the Duke Blue Devils on Valentines Day. Ben and I decided not attend 90 minutes before the game because we thought we’d be turned away because the student line was already too long. I ended up falling asleep in my dorm room with a head cold while Ben watched in half delirium/half delight as the Cavaliers won in the closing minute. Ben often says his greatest sports moment of that year (besides Antonio Freeman’s MNF catch) was when Adam Hall dunked off an ally-oop all over the Missing Link (Shane Battier) late in the second half. Not learning our lesson, we stubbornly repeated this feat less than a year later when we decided to spend a hungover Saturday afternoon watching Snatch instead of going to a seemingly innocuous football game against Georgia Tech. Oh yeah, the Wahoo’s won the game on the final play with a hook-and-ladder after a slugfest with one of the premier offenses in the nation. I still hate myself for missing that one.)
Back to hoops... Unfortunately, the Wahoos were knocked off by an egregiously seeded Gonzaga team at the buzzer in the first round. What I really missed about this team was the upside, it was so undeniable that you could lather yourself up in it and take a hope shower after every big win. TJ’s University had its team, its big-headed Brooklyn coach and its future of ACC relevance sprawled out in front of it. We came for the education but we fell in love with the basketball.
Then the next season happened. We lost Donald Hand and gained Elton Brown. We started the season 14-2, we finished it 16-12 and lost to South Carolina in the first round of the NIT. As a result, our love for this team hasn’t quite been the same since that magical 00-01 regular season.
That was until last year.
Sean Singletary, J.R. Reynolds, Mamadi Diane and Adrian Joseph filled up the bucket as a hearty and determined frontcourt pieced together the stout defense. Ben and I have already discussed the trapdoors and hopefulness associated with this team, but it’s important for me to reiterate just how important last year was for us. It got us interested all over again. Sean Singletary came into this season as an All-American. We were a couple baskets away from the Sweet Sixteen last March. We had a share of the ACC crown. All eyes were on this squad to continue to build on last years success. Albeit, losing J.R. hurt us, but we still felt like we were tournament material as the season started in November.
Flash forward to today.
After starting the season 10-2 and upsetting then #17 Arizona, we felt like we were decently prepared for the ACC conference schedule even while Lars Mikalauskas, Tunji Soroye and Solomon Tat were injured (even while Ryan Pettinella friskily roams the hardwood for 14 mpg - ugh). Now the Wahoos are 11-11 (1-8 ACC) and the bottom can’t come soon enough. Sean Singletary has been playing through a painful hip pointer and, as tough as he is, he cannot carry the team singlehandedly. The trapdoor has fallen once again.
I guess I’m going to this game because the memory of that missed Valentine’s Day upset against Duke still haunts me, but who really knows. I just hope I don’t fall asleep tonight with nightmares of Hansbrough dropping 40 on us in the most lopsided game of the year. Such is the life of a UVa basketball fan…
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3 comments:
75-74. Not too bad really. We played with a lot of heart. Sean Singletary had 27 points, 7 assists. I'm convinced that if he spent a week with Master Yoda in the Degoba system, he could move stuff with his mind. Lars came back and injected some much needed passion (and skill) in the lane. Baker proved that he's the guard of the future, Scott that he's the big man of the future. Tucker can shoot when given space spotting up. I'm proud of how these guys are playing from the basement.
I think UNC played down to us though (plus Lawson was still injured). Hansbrough scored 17 in the first half and only 5 in the second, which was a big reason we clawed back into things. We actually could have won this game if:
-We boxed out ONCE in the second half. Literally, ONCE.
-We didn't go 8 for 30 from downtown.
-RYAN PETINELLA spent this semester abroad. Seriously, he's awful. He hustles, but that's it. He misses wide open layups. He's the most uncoordinated UVa player since J.C. Mathis... and he's starting for us (because of multiple injuries). As far as I'm concerned, this will be known as the Petinella year... just like some people refer to a down stretch in their life as "my lost year". It's best just to move on...
I hold University of Virginia basketball solely responsible for making me, benny c, a cynic and making my brain an unsafe place for optimism to linger too long, lest it be incinerated by soul-crushing occurrences in the outside world.
Poignant.
Obama '08.
Oh, and I'm glad you delved a little into the 2000-01 season, that team had been buried somewhere the NIT disappointments of the last several years and sweat and saliva soaked towels.
They were a special bunch. That energy just ain't there anymore (as viewed through my rose-colored glasses through which I interpret my undergraduate experience.)
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