When Virginia Tech’s Mylyjael Poteat missed both free throws with just six seconds left in the game, John Paul Jones Arena roared, but six seconds later, the JPJ crowd went numb.
Six seconds pass quickly when you have no timeouts left.
I’ll get back to that shortly.
Virginia rebounded the second missed free throw, and Andre Rohde was forced to hurriedly dribble the ball down the floor, where he missed a contested layup at the rim as time expired.
Final: Tech 75, Virginia 74.
ICYMI
- UVA Basketball: So much done wrong, and it was still a one-point loss
- UVA Basketball: Late rally falls short, Virginia Tech holds on for 75-74 win
That’s two straight defeats for UVA against a school that doesn’t care much about basketball.
Thank goodness for that.
Now, back to the end-of-game situation, where Cavaliers coach Ron Sanchez found his pocket empty of timeouts.
That’s a violation of Coaching 101: always have a timeout left in your pocket.
Now, even with a timeout, Virginia has few options other than to do exactly what Rohde had to do.
Remember, this isn’t the NBA or even women’s basketball, where the ball is advanced to midcourt after a timeout.
So, maybe having an extra timeout was irrelevant.
On my ride back home down I-64, I thought about that timeout situation, which bothered me a bit.
A little further down the road, I thought back on the silly technical foul that Sanchez was hit with just a few minutes into the game, which the Hokies converted into two points.
I worked through that.
Then, maybe five miles later, I started thinking about the absurd decision to leave Blake Buchanan on the court after a quick foul, which turned into a quick second, and then to the bench for what we thought was the remainder of the first half.
But it wasn’t, as Sanchez then carelessly allowed Buchannan to enter the game, only to pick up his third first-half foul.
Wow, just wow.
Now we see why the word interim was attached to Ron Sanchez.
But, after a quick milkshake break, I got over those blunders.
I didn’t even question why Ishan Sharma, who was red-hot in the first half, only played two minutes in the final half.
I heard it was because of some defensive lapses.
Then what about Jacob Cofie giving up consecutive baseline dunks?
He should be on the bench until he’s wearing another uniform next season.
So, I arrived home and everything was good.
I enjoyed listening to UNC’s beatdown by Duke and reverted to feeling almost sorry for the situation that Sanchez inherited this season.
That was until reading some comments made by Sanchez when asked how much losing close home games deflated the team.
Part of Sanchez’s response was this: “If lows are going to come based on the scoreboard, then you’re going to live a miserable life.”
He lost me on that.
Good luck with getting another head coaching job.
I get it; life is far more precious than some silly sports event. This past week proves that.
But that was nothing more than coach word salad from Sanchez.
I’m still having a hard time believing this team is this bad after the coaching staff has spent all that time with Tony Bennett.
I’ve spent time this season thinking and writing about how much different his team would have looked had Bennett not burned out two weeks before the season.
Not Saturday.
Failing to rotate on backdoor cuts, missing uncontested layups, and failing to box out, allowing Tech to dominate the paint.
I’ve been on better-coached pickup teams.
So, I’m officially done waffling.
Yes, this Virginia team would be significantly better with Bennett despite its apparent deficiencies.
If you think coaching doesn’t matter, you are wrong.
Look at UNC, Syracuse and Villanova.
The Tar Heels are stocked with four- and five-star players, yet with Hubert Davis and a very underwhelming staff, UNC will miss the NCAA Tournament.
I know the argument will be that Bennett had his head handed to him numerous times last year with two future NBA players on the roster.
Part of a coach’s task is to develop players’ skills and teach them about life.
Doing both creates confidence, which usually equates to better execution, often leading to more winning.
Bennett did both.
Reality is, the scoreboard is the ultimate measuring device.
It might not define one’s life, but it does define a season.
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