Are You Not Entertained?

Earlier this season Roanoke Times UVa beat writer Doug Doughty quipped that Virginia basketball wasn’t “entertaining.” By now he’s stuffed full of crow and will admit that he is quite entertained. Friday, Virginian-Pilot sportswriter Bob Molinaro wrote a complimentary column – or probably the closest thing to it for him – about UVa Basketball. But, as always, there were slight jabs tossed at the Cavaliers, like his comment of Virginia’s squad being “hard to watch sometimes.”

I beg to differ on both counts. I will readily admit that I’ve always been a big fan of up-and-down, run-and-gun teams. We all remember the dominant teams of the 90’s, teams like UNLV and UNC that had tremendous athletes who could run most any other team out of the gym. There is more than one way to play, however, especially with more and more parity in college basketball.

This year’s ACC features several teams that don’t blaze up and down the court. The teams contending for the regular season ACC title this year like Syracuse (11-0), Virginia (11-1), and Duke (8-3) all value possession of the ball and will lock you down defensively. Fast track UNC sits in fifth place in the conference (6-4).

So if you appreciate good, sound, fundamental basketball, Virginia plays as well as anyone in the country. And it’s fun to watch because the Cavaliers shut down their opponents on defense … and they carve them up on offense. Plus, when they get an opportunity to “run,” they execute the fastbreak as well as any of the up-and-down, sloppy, turnover-prone teams that entertain sportswriters like Molinaro and Doughty. But credit Molinaro for recognizing one very important factor. The NCAA Tournament is where sound, fundamental, defensive-minded teams thrive. This is to say, the “good teams” often are the ones that advance.

As I mentioned earlier, up-tempo teams can be fun to watch. I was excited to see what Coach Pete Gillen would make of Virginia’s program when he was hired in 1998. He brought a full-court pressure defense along with an up-tempo, fast-breaking style of offense. Entertaining, to say the least. Right up until the moment that they couldn’t win games, particularly tournament games.

Off and on under Bennett, before this season, Virginia’s methodical pace has been boring “at times,” this much is true. Between injuries and transfers, Bennett wasn’t able to field a team deep enough to get through an entire season without wearing down by tournament time. But not this year. With a bench that’s five-deep, Virginia keeps the pressure on its opponents from the opening tip until the walk-ons are put in with 2 minutes to play, which has happened often in ACC play.

Still, scoring points is what generally passes as entertaining or fun to watch. So even though players like Joe Harris and Malcolm Brogdon could pour in 20-25 points a night, UVa plays a team-oriented style of ball which keeps their stats in check. In fact, Virginia is so balanced this year that Brogdon’s team-leading 12.2 points per game is the lowest since the Cavaliers joined the ACC more than 60 years ago.

But if those two aren’t entertaining enough, there’s this freshman point guard from California – “Mr. Cali Swag,” “Cali Cool,” or just plain “Mr. Cool and Calm Under Pressure.” Well, that last one doesn’t really roll off the tongue. As this is TheSabre.com, we need an acronym. Let’s call him MCCUP. Yeah, that’s it. “McCup!” I mean, from the looks of it, this kid should have gotten a look at the McDonald’s All-American team anyway. London Perrantes (pronounced Pur-RON-teez … or Pair-RON-tays … or Per-REN-tess … never mind) has a 4.2-1 assist to turnover ratio in ACC play. No, that’s not a misprint, although it is quite remarkable that ANY college point guard could achieve that stat against solid competition, let alone a freshman.

And then there’s the gravity-defying Justin Anderson, who provides fans with at least one “OMG, did you see that!?” athletic moment every game. You could put together a highlight reel of only Anderson’s amazing blocked shots from this season and it would be worth the price of watching an IMAX movie in Charlottesville (yes, expensive indeed).

No, UVa isn’t boring. Not even a little bit. Not this season. Far from it. They’ve been consistent and exciting to watch ever since conference play began. And they’ve improved a little every game since, looking to peak at precisely the right time – the time when tournament play begins.

I don’t know about Bob Molinaro, or Doug Doughty, but I am most certainly “entertained,” as are a host of other coaches, players and TV announcers who understand great basketball and can see the gem that coach Tony Bennett and his staff have created. When a team gets ultimate praise from legendary Hall of Fame coaches Bobby Knight and Digger Phelps, you might just have something. Something worth watching. Something … entertaining.