The Art of Benching: When Is the Line Crossed?

To bench or not the bench, that is the question.

At least that was the situation Virginia coach Dave Leitao had on Thursday against the Miami Hurricanes.

Virginia has certainly had their fair share of struggles this season, 11th in the 12-team ACC. In many ways, this team is playing for next year and so the coaching staff have a responsibility to make sure the game is being played the right way.

For most of this season, Leitao's team has been lacking the defensive intensity he has preached ever since he stepped foot on to the Grounds four years ago from DePaul University.

Yet, in Virginia's latest resurgence including wins at home against Clemson and Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers were playing excellent defense. The Miami game was no exception.

Virginia guard Calvin Baker was smothering ACC superstar Jack McClinton throughout the game and the result was an ugly, grinding contest (something the Cavaliers desperately needed).

With freshman sensation Sylven Landesberg uncharacteristically struggling to attack the basket, Jeff Jones was carrying the load.  His old-fashioned three-point play gave the Cavaliers a 43-40 lead with 11:13 to play.

Then Jones, who finished with a team-high 16 points, took a seat on the bench and stayed there.

Jones, Virginia's offensive catalyst could only sit and watch as for the next eight minutes Virginia scored only seven points.  As a result, Virginia's three-point lead turned into a three-point deficit.

Jones's replacement, the seldom used Mustapha Farrakhan, made one nice jumper but also airmailed a three-point shot en route to 1-of-5 shooting from the field and turned the ball over.

When Jones finally returned he made a quick three-pointer to tie the game at 55-55 all, but Virginia would not score another point in a 62-55 loss which involved turnovers and bad decisions on the offensive end late.

Their rhythm was clearly out of sync and their stellar defense was undermined by an anemic offense.

Why on earth would Leitao sit Virginia's best offensive threat for eight minutes in the second half when a struggling McClinton left a window of opportunity to pull away and notch a third straight victory at home?

"What I told him [Jones] when he came out was that there were three or four specific assignments that he got lost on," Leitao said, "I rode it for a little longer than I intended to."

Hard to imagine that coach Leitao simply forgot about Jones, particularly with the offense struggling so mightily in his absence.

With Landesberg and Mike Scott both off their game, the onus was clearly on the sophomore to step up as he had done sporadically throughout his career.

"I definitely was feeling 'it.' I've been feeling it all week," Jones told the Roanoke Times, "even when I was on the bench, I felt I was in a rhythm to go back in there and hit shots."

So now the dilemma that every coach has to face from time to time. Do you punish a defensive lapse at the expense of offensive firepower?

Leitao admitted that not all of those missed assignments resulted in Miami scoring, but he has always been consistent when it comes to having a short leash. 

Jamil Tucker, a solid shooter, spent most of his freshman and sophomore years on the bench because of his inconsistency on the defensive end.

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