Is Leitao doing the right thing?
In a word, no.
Of course, we're all speculating at this point as to why Virginia coach Dave Leitao is snubbing power forward Jason Cain - who has played a total of 15 minutes in the Cavs' last two games, both blowout losses.
The word from those who claim to be in the know is that the first-year coach is disciplining Cain for some sort of attitude issues that apparently have arisen in the past two weeks.
The official position from Leitao has varied - he answered a reporter's question following the 99-54 debacle at Chapel Hill Wednesday night with a quick "coach's decision," and a similar question posed after the 90-64 loss at Clemson elicited "I wasn't happy with the way he was playing, so I didn't play him."
Cain, for his part, is letting on that he doesn't know why he isn't on the floor.
"I just don't know anything," he said after the loss at North Carolina.
Whatever the reason is, one has to question the timing - given that it hasn't been all that long since Virginia had seemed to play itself into an NCAA tourney spot with its 72-58 win over Boston College on Feb. 21.
Without Cain - who was the fifth-leading rebounder in the Atlantic Coast Conference heading into the UNC matchup - on the floor the past two games, the 'Hoos have been unable to rebound or get stops or basically do much of anything inside the paint.
If Leitao is trying to send Cain and his teammates a message, the more power to him. That's why he gets paid the big bucks.
With an NCAA tournament bid on the line, though, one might think that he could come up with other ways to get that message across.
Like, for example, a few dozen extra wind sprints.
- Chris Graham