By Jerry Ratcliffe
One of the things I’ve liked about this Virginia team all season long is its experience.
I think that’s at least one major reason the Cavaliers have pulled a few Houdini’s over the past three weeks, pulling out games that most teams would have lost.
As Jacari White pointed out after UVA escaped Tallahassee with a 61-58 win earlier this week, “We have been in situations like this before.” Before as in at SMU, at Notre Dame, at Boston College, against Syracuse and Florida State.
It’s all about the roster, an experienced group of players plucked from every corner of the country and from overseas by Ryan Odom and his staff. Virginia is a blend of veterans who have been through practically every scenario imaginable through their careers.
That’s why, when they’re tangled up in a tight game, trailing almost the entire second half, they find a way to win. They don’t panic. Like Jacari said — been there, done that.
Florida State coach Luke Loucks made some great observations about UVA after their Thriller Diller this week. The Cavaliers essentially trailed the entire second half until the final 71 seconds.
As Odom said afterward, “We have an experienced group that never feels out of it. After 21 games, they’ve figured it out that they can win ugly.”
UVA likely appreciates that road win over FSU even more after watching the Seminoles — held to 58 points on their home floor — exploded for more than 90 in blasting Virginia Tech in Blacksburg on Saturday.
Odom said before taking on FSU that the ‘Noles were playing as well as anyone in the ACC, and that was evident Saturday.
Loucks saluted the job Odom did in building Virginia’s team from scratch.
“There’s a reason they’re No. 15 in the nation,” Loucks said. “I’ll put it delicately. I won’t get into the detail on that, but they’re deep for a reason and I think regardless of budget to put teams together, Ryan did a fantastic job putting that roster together.”
Loucks half-jokingly said during his preparation for facing Virginia that he was going down the Cavaliers’ roster and was blown away by the experience of this team.
“You go down the list and it’s like, grown man, grown man, grown man, grown man, grown man,” Loucks chuckled. “It’s tough to beat those teams.”
The FSU coach thought his chances of knocking off Virginia would be greatly enhanced if the Seminoles could stop one of those grown men, and nearly did.
“The De Ridder kid was the focus of our gameplan,” Loucks revealed. “To me, he is one of the best players in the ACC. That kid has been playing professional basketball for five years, and at a high level, like high level leagues.
“I played in one [of the high-level European leagues]. [De Ridder] has been playing against grown men with like kids and mortgages. That’s a big time professional atmosphere that he’s been used to playing in, but I think we did a great job, one through five, guarding him and taking away some of the actions that he’s really deadly. He’s a great driver, he’s physical and he’s built like a tank. He can rebound. When you have a player like that on your team, it’s tough to beat.”
FSU did a great job in shutting down De Ridder the first 17 minutes of the second half, but you just knew that at some point, the Belgian Bully would make a difference.
With 2:57 to go, De Ridder hit a mid-range jumper, then scored on another drive with 26 seconds to play for a 61-58 lead, which was the eventual final score.
“Thijs was huge down the stretch,” Odom said.
There’s just so many weapons and players who know their roles. White talked about how point guard Dallin Hall always holds the team together no matter the situation. Ugonna Onyenso was “dynamite” in Odom’s words, coming off the bench and making a difference.
On a night when two of UVA’s best scorers, Malik Thomas and Sam Lewis, were quiet, here came White, drilling 3’s, saving the day.
The Cavaliers take on Big Ten’s Ohio State in Nashville tonight. No doubt that UVA experience is going to pay off.
