Wahoo Wire

Courtesy of www.seattlepi.com

After an ugly 66-49 loss to South Florida in Tampa, the Cavalier fan base should have a firmer handle on the reality of its 2009-2010 team.  The warm and fuzzy feelings accompanying the first six months of the Tony Bennett era evaporated with the ‘Hoos’ early six-point advantage, as the Bulls used size and shooting touch to out-score the overmatched visitors 39-24 over the final 21 minutes of game time.  Virginia managed to shoot only 33% from the floor while allowing USF’s big bodies to control the paint and the glass.  Sure, the absences of Jamil Tucker and Assane Sene hurt the frontcourt depth, but the Wahoos failed to capitalize on their four-guard lineup, which for the second straight contest posted an assist-to-turnover ratio of under 1:1.

Bennett has been clear since accepting the head coaching position that this program is a work in progress.  After Friday’s season-opening win over Longwood, Bennett was careful to attach a caveat to the seemingly alphabetic victory: “It is no secret that we have a lot of work to do, and it is going to be a long journey.  [The players] know they have to improve.  We need tremendous focus, energy and toughness and that is what we are trying to build.”

The operative word in coach’s post-game statements, of course, is “build.”  This is a team that, while returning all five starters from a year ago, finished a meek 4-12 in the ACC last season.  The Cavaliers are still a fairly young squad, and although Bennett has won over the fan base with his easygoing personality and strong 2010 recruiting class, the expectations entering this year were dangerously high.  To wit: the Cavalier Daily projected UVA to finish eighth in the conference, ahead of 2008-2009 NCAA Tournament teams Florida State and Boston College.  The Cavaliers, as they demonstrated in Monday’s loss, are still a ways away from competing with upper echelon schools.

This is not to say the program will not soon vault into the first or second tiers of the ACC.  The optimism surrounding Bennett’s tenure is well justified – the man assembled a consistent winner in Pullman, Washington (motto: “And you thought Waynesboro was country!”), and he connects with players the way Dave Leitao never could.  The good vibrations are simply premature.  How long until he resurrects a program that fell as precipitously under his predecessor as the meteors visible from outer space?  Though the answer remains to be seen, I am one of the numerous Cavalier faithful who believe the time will be sooner rather than later.

But until skies are clear, consider this a warning: the losses this season should continue to fall from the heavens, one after the other.