Dave Leitao’s Media Q&A , Part 2

While Dave Leitao and the men’s basketball program await the decision of highly regarded recruit Patrick Patterson, the offseason is in full swing for the players already in the Cavalier orange and blue. The long-awaited Part 2 of Leitao’s season-ending media session will help you stay in the basketball mood as May rolls through Hooville.

(Part 1 of the session, which was also free, can be read here.)


Adrian Joseph could have an expanded role next season, especially if he plays like he did in the NCAA Tournament vs. Tennessee.

Media Question: Does the second half that Adrian Joseph had against Tennessee give you some hope that he can be that kind of player night in and night out? Or would he have to string together a bunch of those first? Did he seem more engaged maybe?

Coach Leitao: I think so. With Adrian, I think he had more of those moments when his minutes were more consistent, even the year before. I think what I did do was go to Mo more with a lot of those minutes. One, because Mo was more a little bit more solid consistently and he played defense a little bit more consistently and that was a lot of our focus, specifically we got into January. Those kinds of things have an affect on a guy, not getting those minutes – even the young guys. In Adrian’s case, he had the ability last season to maybe not play as well and still be in the game and he did not have as much of that [leeway this season].

Media Question: Do you think in terms of J.R.’s points – Mamadi and Adrian have done it, they just haven’t done it on a consistent basis. Those would seem to be two critical offseason players because they may have to be able to show up and get double figures every night. Is that accurate?

Coach Leitao: Yes, but again, it is going to be an evolutionary process for the guy or people who put the most time and effort mentally as well as physically into getting better. Those guys have the best shot at it because you’re talking about a fourth year and a third year. As I was just telling Mo, I have to assume now that they get it. If they’ve got this guy ranting and raving, yelling and screaming at them and they’re still trying to figure it out and trying to find their way – and you’re talking about a guy that’s a fourth year player in Adrian or a third year, essentially being around me for that amount of time – so if they’re still trying to find their way, then that’s not good. It’s not good for us and it’s not good for them. There’s going to be enough young people as first years and second years that they’ve got to teach, you know. They’ve got to understand what I’m talking about.

Media Question: Because Sean and J.R. took so many shots, do you think other the players on the team were maybe thinking ‘O.K., I’m not supposed to take this shot. If I take this shot, I’m taking a shot away from Sean or I’m taking a shot away from J.R.?’ And maybe they were just hesitant?

Coach Leitao: I think some of the young guys went through that a lot. Jamil comes to mind. I can remember specifically, it was the Miami game where he had hit a few shots. It came down to a critical point in the game, he was open at the top of the key, hesitated and passed it when he was open after he had made two or three in a row. You know, ‘Is this my time?’ Not ‘Should J.R. shoot it?’ but ‘Is this my time? Is this the shot I’m supposed to shoot?’ … So there’s some of that that goes on. Again, I think that mentality and not having consistency in terms of minutes put a little bit of a blanket on some of their productivity because we rode those two guys and we played, especially in critical points of the game, more veterans than we did young people.


Assuming he returns, Sean Singletary could receive a few more breathers in games.

Media Question: I was struck by the fact that Tennessee’s Chris Lofton only averaged about 29 minutes per game. Next year with more guards, would you like to cut back on Sean’s time or is he just too valuable to take out of the game?

Coach Leitao: He may not let me. (laughs) I think we can talk about being more productive in less minutes. That’s a little bit of a goal. His minutes on the floor because I’m going to ask him to give a lot more in terms of leadership or presence or defensively or running the club, all those type of things. I’m going have him off the ball hopefully some. So it is going to require him to continue to evolve and it’s going to require more from him. Hopefully we can get that but at the same point in time, maybe he’s not on the floor as much. In Chris Lofton’s case, he’s got other guys around him that are veterans … that are not new to the process. When you throw young guys in, especially the way I think of it, they’ve got to have some consistency in what they’re doing. It’s just not going to be because Sean needs rest. They’ve got to be productive.

Media Question: Mamadi did a solid job defensively in the NCAA Tournament. Was that a step forward for him?

Coach Leitao: I don’t just think it was [the NCAA Tournament], I think it’s happened throughout the course of the year. If you were to say earlier in the year that he would go 0 for 4 and still play 33 minutes, I don’t think he had that luxury. He has that because he’s evolved into a trusted defender. Obviously he has the ability to be productive on the offensive end, but I think the best thing we can say about him is that it’s not just about that anymore. It’s about his overall game and I think that in and of itself speaks volumes about how he’s getting better and learning what is important.

Media Question: Do you want Sean to pursue or do you encourage players to pursue the USA Basketball summer opportunities or is he better served staying here?

Coach Leitao: I always think that it’s good. … I think it is good to go out there and see other people. That’s why I encouraged J.R. to take an overseas trip, to go to the Nike basketball camp to be a counselor. I don’t think a lot of those things are available any more; there are no more camps to go to, but we’ll talk to Sean about having that kind of experience. As much as it is to get away from here sometimes, it is to see basketball in other places, even if it’s just working out in other parts of the country with other people – I think that’s healthy too.


Tunji Soroye could provide UVa with a consistent defensive presence next season.

Media Question: With Tunji Soroye , there seems there are moments where he can be dominant. What does he need to do in the offseason? What can he become in another year’s time?

Coach Leitao: I think with Tunji you have certain things that you can have him get better at and then you have certain things that he’s just OK with. I don’t think he’s going to be a much bigger offensive force in his last year. I think we can get better that way, get more solid, more comfortable, but I don’t anticipate him going from a two or three point scorer to a 12 point scorer or anything like that. I think to get him better is to first of all get him more consistent at what he does well, which is [being] a presence, especially on defense. I think we can get him better as a rebounder and I think we can get him better as an anchor. I also know that it is a big challenge and we only have a short period of time. Big guys are different anyway. If he’s going to reach his peak, especially offensively, and if he continues to play basketball after college, it may not be until he’s 26, 27, or 28 years old.

Media Question: Do you plan to help J.R. out as he goes through the NBA tryout process? Have you talked to any NBA personnel at all to get a feel for what might happen with him?

Coach Leitao: I try to not get in their way, but obviously I think I can be of some help and he’s asked for some help in navigating his way through it. … I think the biggest question they’ve asked during the year is that they want to see him on the ball. He doesn’t have the size to continue to play, at that level anyway, off the ball so he’s going to have to prove himself as a ball handler and point guard more than anything. I think there are a lot of less talented guys in the NBA than he, but it’s about opportunity, about timing, and about being in the right situation with the right people.

Media Question: Coaching careers often go in steps, and no disrespect to the previous schools that you’ve coached at, but to be in the ACC, to have this building as a recruiting tool, does the University of Virginia have everything to be your dream job?

Coach Leitao: You know, I can’t think of a situation in my lifetime where I’ve been more comfortable. There are challenges here and we’ll continue to work on those challenges, but those challenges are few and far between when compared to the assets that this University has to offer. You mentioned it – this league is always going to be around to sell itself and us being a productive member of this league puts us in a very good place. So as we can continue to turn this thing into something really good, it makes for it being a very special place. One thing I’ve come to realize is that this year, not only in terms of the wins and losses or the co-championship or what we were able to do in the NCAA Tournament, it’s made so many people in this community happy and proud. For that, I’m forever indebted because it shows how much they care. You don’t have that but in a very few places in this country. It’s not that many schools that can claim that.


Media Question: Now that you’ve been here for only two years and you’ve been in this building and made the NCAA Tournament, does it change your opinion about UVa and the potential here? Do you see more now?

Coach Leitao: I walked through the front door thinking that this place has and had a lot of potential. I think I didn’t understand fully about coming into this building and what that means. That’s added to it. Especially the people coming here for the very first time – I love to see the looks on our opponents’ faces when they look around the building and see what we have and we fully plan to take advantage of it. I think it’s given us a better opportunity to be the best that we can possibly be. I don’t think I factored that in – it was just abstract when we were talking about it the first year that I got here.

Media Question: What can you tell us about the schedule for next year?

Coach Leitao: We’ll continue to work on it. We’re not quite done yet. I wanted to wait until our recruiting is finished and our roster is complete before I understand what other kind of challenges we want to get in during the non-league portion of our schedule. We change our partners. Obviously, we still play Maryland twice and Virginia Tech twice. We play Duke twice. It’s challenging within the league. … We play Georgia Tech twice. We go back to Arizona. We want to put in another marquee type team that we have to start a series with because we’re done with the series with Gonzaga. … I would like to always have three or four challenging games that have some sex appeal nationally. Hopefully, we can get those games on television and challenge ourselves against like teams.

Media Question: Were you struck by the fact that your RPI kind of lagged despite your best efforts to beef up the schedule?

Coach Leitao: No, I think it had a lot to do with us losing games against teams from an RPI standpoint that we probably should not have lost to. In Puerto Rico and even in our own league, the teams that were below us that beat us, that hurt. If we had taken care of our business against some of the teams that on paper we were supposed to, then the RPI would have been higher.

Media Question: Where does Calvin Baker fit into the mix next year?

Coach Leitao: Again, I think he’ll have a significant leg up on the young guys because he understands what is going to be asked of not just him but of everybody. Obviously, the challenge now is to transition himself back into a playing mindset. I think he got a lot better. He got a lot better as we progressed. Sean forced him to do that and J.R. forced him to do that. There’s no better preparation than having to go up against those guys and to learn from those guys. And not just being on the court, but being in the locker room and having conversations day by day with those guys. I think he got better significantly.


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