Virginia Basketball Analysis, Post-Xavier

While it would be very easy to say, “the plane has crashed into the mountain,” I’m not going to say that about Virginia's 38-point drubbing at the hands of Xavier.

Jonah Keri believes the win was more of an outstanding performance by Xavier than a lackluster one by the ‘Hoos. 

A commenter on The Good Ol' Blog had a positive spin on this loss as well.

My own Virginia fandom has always been a bizarre alchemy of my father's optimism ("They're going 22-7.  How can you not love Leitao?!") and my grandfather's pessimism (a Cubs fan notorious for turning off the television early). 

Needless to say, I usually spend the games audibly clapping at the television and/or flogging myself with the remote.  However, I surprised myself with how quickly I got over this thorough thumping.  I rationalized this loss away in a myriad of different ways.

Despite playing a litany of cupcakes, the current team has not had much court time to gel. Two key components from last year, Tunji Soroye and Solomon Tat, have just returned from injury.  

Tunji Soroye is a defensive stalwart in the middle.  He blocked seven percent of opponents’ shots last season, yet only played 5 minutes against Xavier after returning from knee surgery in December.

Solomon Tat, seeing action only for the second time this season, was the only Cav to actually show up for the game.  Virginia’s hoping, obviously, that he can keep it up.

Poor performances during winter break are not new to these Cavaliers. Dave Leitao’s Virginia teams have experienced unexpected losses each year during Christmas break.  Two years ago, it was Western Kentucky, and last year it was Utah in the Puerto Rico shoot-out. 

Whatever the reason, Leitao needs time for his system to take hold. After those lows, Leitao’s teams overachieved reaching the NIT in ’06 and NCAA second round in ’07.