Virginia 2009-2010 Basketball Betting Prediction, Odds, Lines,

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Virginia 2008-2009 Record: 10-18, 4-12

Virginia Coach: Tony Bennett (First year at Virginia, 69-33 overall)

Virginia Projected Starters:

• Calvin Baker, Senior, Guard, 8.4 points per game
• Sammy Zeglinski, Sophomore, Guard, 7.8 points per game
• Sylven Landesberg, Sophomore, Guard, 16.6 points per game
• Mike Scott, Junior, Forward, 10.2 points per game
• Assane Sene, Sophomore, Center, 2.5 points per game

Virginia Player to Watch: Tristan Spurlock

Virginia Key Losses: G Mamadi Diane, C Tunji Soroye

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2009-2010 Virginia Season Preview

On the surface, it doesn’t make sense. Tony Bennett was winning games at Washington State. Don’t ask how he was doing it, because nobody’s really clear on that, but the point is this – he was winning games there.

So why did he come here?

That’s the surface question. Below the surface, though, is this truth: Virginia’s not in such bad shape.

For one thing, its arena still has that new car smell. For another, all five starters are back from a team that played the roughest RPI schedule in Division I and lived to win 10 games. And one of those starters, Sylven Landesberg, is a pure scorer with 2,000- point capability. And he’s only a sophomore.

And even with the return of eight of its top nine scorers, giving Virginia a league­ best 91 percent of its offense back from last season, two highly regarded freshmen will muscle their way into the rotation.

See the point? This is why Bennett left Washington State, which won 69 games in the past three years, for Virginia … which won just 48 in that span.

It’s working at an academic institution that is one of the best in the world. The facilities here are second to none.’

Plus, there’s Landesberg.

Virginia Backcourt

Landesberg is a swing man, and a weird one. A good one, but weird. He doesn’t shoot all that well … witness his 31.4-percent accuracy on 3-pointers. But he’s a natural scorer who finds a way to get the ball into the hoop, and this season he’ll have more help than he did as a freshman.

Fellow starters Calvin Baker and Jeff Jones are back, as is Baker’s backup at the point, Sammy Zeglinski, and the Cavaliers added two freshmen who simply have to play this season. One is Tristan Spurlock, who is enormous for a two-guard, has elite athletic ability and, as an added bonus, can pass, handle and shoot. The other is Jontel Evans, a two-sport standout from the Allen Iverson-Ronald Curry area of Virginia who brings a football player’s speed, strength and mentality to the point guard position. Evans will challenge Zeglinski for the right to be the first point guard off the bench, and it wouldn’t be a shocker if he eventually makes a run at Baker’s job.

The Cavs are deep on the wings, coo. There’s Landesberg, Spurlock and Jones, and also junior Mustapha Farrakhan to provide some offense and senior Solomon Tat to give some defense.

Virginia Frontcourt

The Cavaliers aren’t going to get much scoring from lengthy center Assane Sene, but in just 17 minutes per game last season he was fifth in the ACC in blocked shots (1.6 bpg). And the scoring can come from elsewhere in the frontcourt.

Mike Scott was a consistent double­ double threat who hit 54.4 percent of his shots from the floor, and his backup, Jamil Tucker, scored more points per 40 minutes than anyone on the team other than Landesberg. Scott is the better rebounder of the two, and enters his junior season fifth among active ACC players with 14 games of 10 rebounds or more.

2009-2010 Virginia Predictions

There are some nice pieces. National championship pieces? No, of course not. But nice pieces nevertheless, and Bennett is an elite coach – the consensus National Coach of the Year in 2007. If he could lead Washington State to its first consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in school history, what can he do at a school with 16 tourney appearances overall, including two Final Fours?

We’ll see. The rebuilding starts around Landesberg, who had more 20-point games last season (12) than any ACC freshman since Tyler Hansbrough’s 14 in 2006.

Virginia Finish in the ACC: 10th
Virginia Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

Virginia Betting Odds

Virginia Odds to Win 2010 Mens NCAA Basketball Tournament: +20000
Virginia Odds to Win the ACC: +2000

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