Landesberg’s Season Ends, Cavs Fall to Maryland
Sunday, March 07 2010 by Tim
As I sat in JPJ yesterday watching the team warm up (I got there very early, so I saw pretty much all the warm-ups), I had this nervous feeling about a missing person from the floor: Virginia’s leading scorer, Sylven Landesberg. Initially, I just chalked it up to the injury problems he’s been having lately – he was probably in the back gym or the training room or something like that. But when the team came out for the final warmup (the more public one where they get to run in to the band playing) and Sly wasn’t with them… I knew something else had to be up.
A quick jump onto TheSabre told me that he had been suspended for academics and the announcement had just been made about the time I got to the arena. As I read into the article a bit, it got worse – it wasn’t just a one game suspension; it was the end of his season. The difference there may only be a single game (the first round of the ACC Tournament), but I had some hopes for a run in the tournament that would get us some post-season action somewhere. Without Landesberg, that seemed like an impossibility.
Five or ten minutes into the game, it seemed like… well… whatever is actually more remote than an impossibility. We were down 20-9 and had been outrebounded something like 15-1. Oh well… another bad loss in a string of them, right?
Well… not so much. Somehow, the team came alive. After that initial stretch, Virginia played at least even with Maryland for the rest of the game and in many cases appeared to be clearly outplaying them. Shots were falling from the perimeter by just about every player we expect to hit them (Jeff and Sammy both hit four threes in the game and Will hit a very clutch three late). Jerome Meyinsse turned in a Senior Day performance in the paint that truly showed how much he’s improved, leading the team with 17 points.
But, in the end, it wouldn’t be enough. A series of questionable calls by Lucky (one going against Maryland, two against Virginia) got the emotions running high on both benches with the last call causing Virginia coach Tony Bennett to receive his first technical of his career as he slammed his jacket on the court. I’ve rarely seen Tony even get angry, but you can see just how angry he was by taking a look at the pictures here and here. Maryland would hit all four of the ensuing free throws (two from the technical and two from the foul on Jerome that was the subject of Tony’s ire) and coast to a 74-68 win over the ‘Hoos.
So now I’m left pondering a couple of questions:
Can the team that just played the ACC regular-season co-champ down to the wire, while playing without its leading scorer (and a potential first-team All-ACC player), make a run in the ACC Tournament? Can they at least get past a Boston College team in the first game on Thursday? I think they can. Will they, I don’t know?
What of Landesberg’s future? People were wondering whether he’d bolt for the NBA anyway. I personally do not think he’s ready for the NBA, but I’m far from an expert. But if he wasn’t attending classes as several of the reports are indicating, then perhaps he had already made up his mind. For the sake of his future and the next year or two of Virginia basketball, I hope he gets back on track and is on the team in November.
I guess we’ll just have to wait and see on all these questions.