The waters of ACC basketball can be rather choppy.
Just ask Duke and Wake Forest, two teams that met a thunderstorm last night, when they were expecting sunny skies.
Their ships took a hit, but it's nothing like the young S.S. Virginia.
The Cavalier ship hit an iceberg long ago — somewhere between Xavier's offensive fireworks and Virginia's offensive ineptitude (3-22) at home against Florida State.
Coach, Dave Leitao, has not stormed the sidelines as we have become accustomed to.
His fierce anger has been replaced by a listless stare as he staggers around the bench wondering what has happened to his team.
Much like a captain who must go down with the ship, he can't help, but feel frustrated at the lack of passion and energy that used to fill John Paul Jones Arena when names like Reynolds, Singletary and even Cain were around.
As inconsistent as many of the players on the team have been, Virginia has consistently brought us some of the following facts game in and out:
A. Virginia will not be able to score points in the half court.
The Cavaliers motionless motion offense cannot seem to break down a high school defense let alone an ACC team. Most players stand while Virginia chucks up long threes, most in an impatient display where ball movement is something that never escapes the three-point arc.
B. Virginia will turn the ball over and give opponents easy points.
What good is a home court advantage if you give team's fast break points to build confidence?
It is hard enough to beat UNC, as it is, why spot them 13-points from the start.
C. Virginia will do all right defensively one-on-one but cannot rotate over.
Want to score against Virginia?
Pass the ball.
Virginia will take too many risks, leading them out of position and leading to fouls.
Worse yet for the Cavaliers, they cannot seem to communicate and missed assignments lead to dunks and wide enough lanes for the Titanic to come through.
Last night, Virginia followed a similar fate by trailing well over 20-points in the first half and shooting 5-25 at one point!
Then, Captain, Leitao decided to write a new script.
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