UVA freshman forward Isaiah Wilkins didn’t even get off the bench in the second-ranked Cavs’ first two ACC games, wins at Miami and at home against N.C. State.
So how is it that Wilkins, who is averaging 2.1 points and 3.3 rebounds in 10.2 minutes a game off the bench, is someone who could be a key to Virginia’s national-title hopes?
Think back to UVA’s last loss, in March in the Sweet Sixteen in Madison Square Garden to Michigan State.
By that point in the 2013-2014 season, Anthony Gill had established himself as the key man inside for Virginia, offensively as the go-to option in the post and as an elite-level offensive rebounder, who could also hold his own in the Pack-Line hedging hard on screens and pick-and-rolls.
Sixteen minutes left against Michigan State, UVA has overcome a sloppy start to take a lead, and seems to be on the verge of putting away the Spartans, when Gill sprains his ankle and is forced to the bench.
Tony Bennett had limited his frontcourt rotation to Gill, Mike Tobey and Akil Mitchell down the stretch, and that rotation had been very, very effective in leading Virginia to an ACC Tournament title and wins in the Cavs’ first two NCAA Tournament games.
But the grouping was limited in one important respect: by Tobey’s deficiencies in defending off screens and pick-and-rolls. Around the basket, the seven-footer is the perfect backline in the Pack-Line, altering shots and cleaning the boards with the best centers in college basketball, but post defenders have to do more than guard an area of paint in Bennett’s scheme, and Michigan State exploited Tobey with its mobile bigs.
Missing in this equation was Darion Atkins, who logged only three minutes in the loss, and who, we know now, based on his 2014-2015 performance, is more than able to provide shutdown defense in the post.
Atkins was an afterthought in March, and that ultimately doomed a Virginia team that should have been in a Final Four.
Atkins has stepped up this season to fill the void left by the graduation of Mitchell, arguably even outperforming Mitchell (who averaged 6.8 points on 56.1 percent shooting and 7.0 rebounds in 2013-2014; Atkins is averaging 7.1 points on 55.3 percent shooting and 6.4 rebounds in 2014-2015). And the troika of Atkins, Tobey (8.1 points, 55.0 percent shooting, 6.1 rebounds) and Gill (11.7 points, 57.9 percent shooting, 6.8 rebounds) has been a force in UVA’s 17-0 start.
But the same issued that doomed Virginia last March could still be there for this group of ‘Hoos without the development of someone like Wilkins, who doesn’t need to carry the team for stretches the way his frontcourt-mates can do to play an important role for this team.
No, all Wilkins needs to do is what he’s doing now: play defense, rebound, set screens, knock down the open jumper, and be ready on a moment’s notice.
Wilkins has gotten double-digit minutes in each of Virginia’s last three wins, at Notre Dame filling in for Gill on a rare off-night by the junior, at home against Clemson when Gill landed in early foul trouble, and on the road at Boston College on Saturday when Tobey found himself beset by foul trouble and general ineffectiveness.
Wilkins has proven himself able to defend off screens and pick-and-rolls, provide energy to assist in cleaning the backboards, and hit open jumpers, including a pair of jumpers that helped ignite the game-closing run at BC over the weekend.
For all the attention heaped on deserving players like Justin Anderson, Malcolm Brogdon, Gill, Tobey, Atkins, point guard London Perrantes, it very well could be that the continued development of Isaiah Wilkins could be the key to Virginia’s bid at a national title in 2015.
– Column by Chris Graham
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