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Dave Leitao was not happy with his team’s effort against Longwood. |
This probably wasn’t what Dave Leitao had in mind for December when he first looked at his team’s schedule.
After all, a loss to Syracuse opened the month’s games on Wednesday. Then, the Cavaliers continued to fizzle in the second contest of a 5-game December homestand on Friday, needing nearly 25 minutes to start pulling away from Longwood. The Hoos’ sluggish performance eventually became a 76-57 win, but Leitao knows his team has plenty of work to do as the season grows older.
“We’ve been together for two-plus years, and I’m sure there are other days, but this probably ranks right up there as one the most uninspired performances that we’ve had. It’s obviously not acceptable and we’ve got a lot of work to do to get better and we’ve got a short time to do it in,” said Leitao, who indicated the team has played and practiced poorly in recent days. “We’ve got to shore up ourselves in a number of areas. When and if we do that, then we’ll start the process of getting better but right now we’ve got a whole lot to get better at.”
The Lancers hung tough against the listless Cavs until early in the second half, trailing by just four points (34-30) with 16:51 remaining in the contest. Just before the first media timeout after intermission, however, Virginia’s Adrian Joseph buried two 3-pointers to build a double-digit lead at 40-30. UVa steadily distanced itself from there, though the level of play never really reached Leitao’s expectations.
While Leitao was disappointed with the effort, Longwood coach Mike Gillian said he didn’t realize the game was still so close at that point in the second half.
“This is one case where I can honestly tell you, I had no idea we were down by four points at any time in the second half,” he said. “I’m kind of surprised we got to within four points there because we scored maybe eight points in the first few minutes and then didn’t score again for five minutes because we turned the ball over five times in a row.”
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Adrian Joseph had his second double-double of the week on Friday. |
While the game took on a ho-hum nature for the majority of the night, Joseph continued to show his development as a player Friday. In addition to the two aforementioned 3-pointers, the senior forward posted 13 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block in 28 minutes of action. It was Joseph’s fourth double-double of the season and second of the week. He had not had a double-double in his career prior to this season. With four in his career, he’s now tied with Cory Alexander, Chip Case, Frank DeWitt, and Donald Hand.
Watching Joseph snare rebound after rebound is something that his teammates are excited about.
“He’s stepping up big right now and I tell him every day that I’m proud of him. I try to shake his hand,” Will Harris said. “After games, I’ll look at the stat sheet and see he had a double-double and I’ll go up to him and shake his hand because that’s something impressive to me. I wish I could go out and get double-doubles like he does.”
Clearly, the Trinidad native has embraced the challenge of rebounding, which has been a critical contribution since Leitao has leaned toward a small starting line-up with Joseph at the power forward position.
“That’s crazy to me. Every time we come back here I ask if he had another double-double because it seems like he keeps racking them up and that’s good,” Mamadi Diane said. “Coach put an emphasis on somebody stepping up to rebound and Adrian has really, really stepped up and did more than just take the challenge.”
But the senior wasn’t the only one crashing the glass Friday against the Lancers – the Hoos won the board battle 49-31. Freshman Mike Scott nearly matched Joseph’s double-double with 9 points and 11 rebounds. He also had 1 assist and 1 steal.
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Will Harris has played 10 minutes or more in 3 of the last 5 games. |
“I’ve always had a niche for rebounding,” Scott said. “Adrian and I battle before every game to see who can come up with the most rebounds. I don’t know how many he got but I am pretty glad I got 11.”
Another forward in the rotation also contributed heavily in the rebounding category. Harris ripped down 8 boards in 20 minutes, which represents his most significant playing time of the season after recovering from a back injury. Harris, who has received double figure minutes in 3 of the last 5 games (he played 9 in one of the others), said he is feeling better; he hopes the extended break during exams will allow him to further strengthen his back in preparation for the grueling conference season ahead.
“I’ve been working hard in practice and it’s good to be able to get back out there in games and get back in the flow. … I felt like I rebounded well today and I tried to get a little bit more inside and try to expand my game a little bit,” Harris said. “We have a little break before we play Hampton and I’m pretty sure I’m going to get back in a rhythm. … The good days are starting to pile up now.”
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