Wahoo Wire

When Tony Bennett came to Charlottesville from Washington State on April 1 of last year, he promised to bring a commitment to defense and a tough, smart brand of basketball to the struggling Cavaliers.  The 2007 National Coach of the Year insisted that his philosophy could revive a program that had regressed from its 2006-2007 regular-season ACC Title to conference bottom-feeder status in just two years.

Fans could be forgiven for thinking his introductory press conference was a bad April Fool’s prank.  Former Coach Dave Leitao had proclaimed the same principles as Bennett did in his initial remarks.  The whole spiel about defense, hustle, and toughness was a tired refrain often preached but rarely practiced under the old regime.  The team seemed to chaff under the dictatorial style of Leitao, who yanked minutes around and frequently berated players on the sideline.  By the end of 2008-2009, the ‘Hoos were an easy win for many conference contenders; nine of their final 12 losses came by double digits.  Why should followers of the program believe that a new coach could turn his weary squad into competitors in a perennially vicious ACC?

And yet, 14 games into his tenure as Cavs Coach, Bennett has made believers out of the players and fans.  In Wednesday night’s 82-75 win over #20 Georgia Tech, it was obvious that the team has adopted the approach of its new boss.  Although the Yellow Jackets shot over 51% from the floor, the UVA defense stiffened in crunch time, yielding only six makes in 17 attempts over the final 9:30 of game time.  And despite inferior athletic ability, Virginia pulled out the win thanks to smart and sound play.  UVA committed only seven turnovers and excelled from the foul line, making 23 of 26 attempts (including last Saturday’s win at North Carolina State, the ‘Hoos have made 42 of their last 46 free throw attempts - that’s a 91.3% clip).  Bennett has said his goal is to make it hard for other teams to beat his, and recently, opponents have not been up to that challenge; Virginia’s current six-game win streak is its longest since a seven-game stretch in 2006-2007.

“We had some guys really battle,” Bennett said after the game.  “I thought our defense showed up in the second half.  In the first half, it wasn’t really solid.  Their effort was there, but the execution wasn’t.  They really made Georgia Tech earn; it was physical with the post players.  That’s a good team and we outlasted them.

“You have to win the hustle game.  Guys did that and we got a good look from our bench and took care of the ball and made our free throws.  Those are good things.”

Such praise was rare from the mouth of Dave Leitao over the past few seasons.  No performance ever seemed adequate for the hard-to-please ex-coach, whose habit of pulling guys after even trivial mistakes took an emotional toll on his young players.  Under Bennett, the players feel like they have a fresh start and the full confidence of a youthful, relatable coach.  This new mindset has translated into tangible results earlier than realistic observers could have expected.

Even though they are out-manned and undersized in the frontcourt, the Wahoos rebound well pound-for-pound and show exemplary poise on both ends of the floor.  Against Georgia Tech, a team with two projected lottery-pick forwards, the Cavs held their own in the rebounding margin, grabbing 36 boards to 33 for the Jackets.  While they were shaky at times against a desperate GT press in the closing minutes, every Cavalier who stepped to the foul line calmly sank his bonus shots.  The patience and discipline shown on the offensive end are marked improvements from the rushed shots and ill-advised fast breaks of a year ago.  The 2009-2010 ‘Hoos rank 36th nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s offensive efficiency ratings, a huge step up from the 2008-2009 incarnation’s ranking of 165 (for a description of this and other useful statistics, refer to http://kenpom.com/blog/index.php/weblog/stats_explained/).

The results Bennett has delivered despite the thin (relative to other conference teams) amount of talent at his disposal are encouraging for the Cavalier faithful.  Any doubts that he is an effective coach, recruiter, and communicator have been erased with this year’s 10-4 start - a record that equals last season’s win total with an almost identical roster.  While the early returns from the Bennett era are cause for hope in Charlottesville, it is still important to remember that this roster is almost identical to last year’s.  With the meat of its conference schedule ahead, Virginia would be fortunate to finish around .500 in ACC play, even after its 2-0 league start.

Even so, after his team’s second win over a top-25 opponent in as many tries, it’s hard not to have faith in Bennett’s vision for the program.   More importantly, his players are buying into the philosophy; Wednesday’s win was a perfect example of the grit and discipline promised by the new coach less than 10 months ago.

“It just seems like to me this year everybody’s a lot more confident,” said Mustapha Farrakhan, who finished with 15 points against the Jackets, shooting 4-8 from the floor and 6-6 from the charity stripe.  “We’re going in there and playing with a lot of confidence out there, relying on one another.  It’s great.”

Trust me, Mustapha, the fans feel the same way.