Wahoo in review - Sammy Zeglinski
Tuesday, June 16 2009 by Ben
Almost every week we'll be taking a look at one player on the Virginia basketball roster: how they did, where they were good, and where they were bad. Today's featured player is... Sammy Zeglinski.
If it seems like I'm pounding the same drum over and over again, I am: like many of his teammates, Sammy Zeglinski suffered through a maddeningly inconsistent year.
A priori, as they say, you would think that a gentleman coming off a freshman year riddled by injury would be slow to start, then pick up steam as the season went along. Not so with Zeglinski, who started the year out with a bang by single-handedly keeping Virginia in a game against Liberty. Despite the loss, his six of ten shooting from three and 24 points looked promising for the season to come.
However, Zeglinski never managed to regain that touch. He played well in Virginia's upset against Clemson (6-6, 15 points), but ended the season playing only five minutes against BC in the ACC tournament.
Although I've chided Dave Leitao for many things since his departure, he made the proper call in reducing Zeglinski's minutes. Leitao turned to Calvin Baker for longer stretches at the end of the season. An examination of their offensive games sheds light on to Leitao's thinking. Look at these point guard profiles:
| 2009 Stat | Calvin Baker | Sammy Zeglinski |
| Ht | 6-2 | 6-0 |
| Yr | Jr | Fr |
| ORtg | 90.6 | 87.3 |
| TS% | 49.3 | 47.3 |
| ARate | 22.3 | 25.2 |
| TORate | 26.4 | 27.0 |
| Blk% | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Stl% | 2.6 | 3 |
| FTRate | 25.9 | 16.4 |
| FTM-FTA | 48-55 | 20-35 |
| Pct | 0.873 | 0.571 |
| 2PM-2PA | 62-141 | 49-108 |
| Pct | 0.440 | 0.454 |
| 3PM-3PA | 21-71 | 33-105 |
| Pct | 0.296 | 0.314 |
On offense, these guys are almost identical: similar ORtg, TS%, great assist rate, crummy TO rate, etc. Baker goes to line a bit more and shoots FTs significantly better, but save for that, they're basically the same when the Cavaliers have the ball.
It's a different story when the other team has the ball. Playing Baker more often gave UVa two more inches and tons of more tenacity from the point guard spot. Zeglinski had a nasty habit of getting beat off the dribble or on a backdoor cut. He was too short and not strong enough to play defense in the ACC. There's no shame in that, the ACC featured some pretty outstanding guard-play, but it just didn't make sense to leave him out there with Baker on the bench.
My hunch is that - along with Assane Sene's maturation - one of the primary reasons for the Cavs moving from bottom of the barrel to middle of the road (cliches? In sequence?) defensively, was that Leitao gave Baker a few minutes more and Zeglinski a few less.
However, I would be remiss if I didn't say that some of Zeglinski's struggles may be due to his freshman status. The point guard position is undoubtedly the most difficult to learn. Throw in Leitao's wonky offense plus an ankle injury and perhaps we ought not be surprised that he did struggle.
So, where to go from here? I think it's pretty clear that Zeglinski is never going to be a defensive stopper, but steady improvement in his footwork wouldn't hurt. On offense, if Zeglinski can slash his turnover rate and solidify his shooting stroke, he can be a weapon on offense for Cavaliers. He and Baker are probably always going to be similar players. Baker is two years Zeglinski's senior, thus leaving the door open for more improvement from Sammy.
Past Wahoos in Review