Uncertainty Surrounds Cavaliers

GREENSBORO – The other day in practice, third-year Virginia coach Dave Leitao asked his players who would be their starting five for the upcoming 2007-08 season.

There was no questioning, though, who is the leader of this Cavalier contingent – two-time first-team all-Atlantic Coast Conference selection Sean Singletary, a 6-foot, 185-pound senior guard who is becoming a Charlottesville, Va., legend. Singletary opted to spurn the NBA Draft for one more year in the Commonwealth.

"Obviously this team centers around Sean, but I don’t want him to feel like he must carry the weight of this team on his shoulders,” said Leitao, last season’s ACC Coach of the Year. “We need to find players who will step up and complement him.”

Leitao says that challenge is much different than a year ago, when Singletary and backcourt mate J.R. Reynolds were a dynamic presence that led the Cavs to a 25-11 record and a first-place tie with North Carolina. The pair combined to average 37.4 points, 8.3 assists and 8.6 rebounds per game.

Reynolds’ departure cuts the duo’s output in half, and the loss of solid post-man Jason Cain’s 6.3 rebounds and 6.8 points per game must also be accounted for.

“When you have five returning starters plus subs, you go into the season having a good sense of your starters are and what your substitution patterns are,” Leitao said.

"This year, we’re still shuffling the deck and we still don’t know that. In one respect, though, that’s good because we have a half dozen guys fighting it out to be one of those guys.”

Senior center Tunji Soroye and junior guard/forward Mamadi Diane are likely starters given their respective starting play last season, and senior Adrian Joseph, the Cavs’ sixth man a year ago averaging 7.2 points and 3.5 rebounds, should get a starting nod. While Joseph provides the Cavs a viable three-point shooter to complement Singletary, he’s no Reynolds.

How quickly freshmen guards Jeff Jones and Sammy Zeglinski, along with freshman forward Mike Scott develop could alter Leitao’s thinking. Jones, a Philadelphia, Pa., product has a huge upside.

“It’s still too early for me to assess where they fit into the picture,” he said. “Through that all, though, I am pleased with where they are in learning the system. They’ve all put their best foot forward and are making contributions. But you also want to slowly incorporate into the system, so they’re not overwhelmed.”

Singletary understands that the Cavaliers have their doubters.

“People just see what is on paper and what a team has done in the past, and they think they know,” said Singletary, who led the Cavaliers in assists (151), scoring (19.0 per game) and was second in rebounds (4.6 per game) last season. “Only the coach the players know what’s in each individual player.”

After being picked eighth in the pre-season, the Cavaliers won 12 of its last 17 games. While Virginia was bounced in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the appearance was the Cavs’ first since 2001.

Had Singletary opted for the NBA Draft, the Cavaliers would be severely in disarray, and expected to finish much lower than their fifth-place pre-season ranking. Then again, Singletary is used to such skepticism.

“Since I’ve been here, people have always downplayed us, so we just go out and work harder to show people they don’t know how good we really are.”

This year, even the Cavaliers appear a little uncertain.