UVa improves without `3-fingered Willie'

The construction is almost done.

"We've got a gym," Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. "Last year, we didn't have a gym. The gym was falling down. We had no money, no friends, no clothes-can't get a break, can't win a game. We were in trouble. Now we got a gym, which is good. We got a couple of players too."

A couple of good players, for that matter. Last year's ACC cellar-dweller might just be ready to become a legitimate conference contender.

At least by next season.

"We're still rebuilding, make no mistake about that," Gillen said. "We only have one senior, but I think we're going to have a very entertaining team. I think we'll be fun to watch."

While a worst-to-first improvement is nearly out of the question, especially in the top-heavy ACC, the Cavaliers will be looking not only for a winning season, but also a spot in the NCAA tournament.

The Cavs return all five starters from a team that was 14-16 last year. That same season, the walk-ons outnumbered the scholarship players seven to six. With a recruiting class ranked second in the nation by most experts, Virginia will be much deeper this time around.

"We can play 10 guys, maybe 11, but we'll play 10 every game," Gillen said. "If we play nine once, don't get angry with me. But we're going to play 10 every game, because we have good players. We have a lot of balance."

As for returning Cavaliers, last year's leading scorer Donald Hand returns to start at the point. Last season, he picked up much of the scoring slack left by Ducharme, but this year will be joined by Mapp, which could lead to Hand's transition from scorer to playmaker.

Chris Williams, the ACC's reigning rookie of the year, returns as an always-dangerous scoring threat for the young Cavs. Williams competed for the ACC scoring title last year before a late-season swoon gave Clemson's Terrell McIntyre the honor. Still, Williams averaged 16.8 points per game, not bad for a player who was not recruited by any other ACC school.

"I saw [Williams] during the summer league and I thought he was going to be a good player," Gillen said. "I never dreamed he would get that good that quickly."

This year, Williams will probably move to his more natural small forward slot, allowing either Watson or DonDon to take over at power forward. Williams will most likely be backed up by senior Willie Dersch, the most experienced player on the team.

The added depth of the Cavs will allow them to step up their defense which last year was the ACC's second to worst, ahead of only Florida State.

"Our defense was awful, we couldn't defend a town in Peru last year," Gillen said. "We should be able to defend a little better, hopefully get some steals and deflections. Our depth will help us defensively. Last year we couldn't guard a stop sign."

Although the team has improved greatly, it still should not be expected to compete for the ACC crown, and most experts even consider an NCAA tournament berth a reach.

"I think our guys now are tired of losing," Gillen said. "Hopefully, we're going up the ladder. I'm not going to make predictions because I don't like numbers, but we're going to be as good as we can be."

One more year and the construction might be done.