Cavaliers covet minutes they get

RALEIGH, N.C. - All season, Virginia has thrived behind its philosophy of all hands on deck at all times in an effort to create an atmosphere where no player feels less important than any other.

At least that’s been the ideal, especially since Virginia (29-6) trimmed its rotation after a pivotal and often discussed 87-52 loss Dec. 30 at Tennessee, but it hasn’t worked out that way for every single player on the roster.

Virginia’s Darion Atkins, once a starter who is now playing about eight minutes per game, enjoys the run he and his teammates are on. He just wants to be a bigger part of it.

As No. 1 seed Virginia turned its attention Saturday to preparation for its thirdround game today in the East Regional against No. 8 seed Memphis (24-9) and its up-tempo style, Virginia’s key bench players talked about relishing their roles - for the most part.

“I can’t even express how frustrated I get sometimes,” said Atkins, a 6-8 junior forward who has seen his minutes decrease from 15.5 per game in the first 13 games through the Tennessee game to eight per game in the past 22 games. “I feel like I want to talk a certain way to my coaches or act a certain way, but I just have to keep it concealed. I mean, I don’t even really know what else to say.It’s really frustrating, and I just have to stay positive.

“I feel like some guys mess up, and I don’t mess up. It just works on your head when you’re on the bench and you see people going in front of you and you just feel like you can not necessarily do better, but I just feel like I’m not really contributing. I just feel like I’m the guy that’s on the bench with the team that’s actually winning.”

To be clear, Atkins’ reaction to sporadic playing time represents the minority when it comes to Virginia’s bench players. Virginia has won 18 of its past 19 games using the shortened rotation Coach Tony Bennett employed after his team’s embarrassing loss to Tennessee.

“We’re winning,” said Atkins, who added that he talks every day with Bennett about his playing time. “As long as my teammates are happy, and they’re getting what they want even though I’m not getting what I want, I can sacrifice myself for the team’s success.

And if his team wasn’t winning?

“Some words would be thrown around, but it’s all good now,” Atkins said.

As far as his future playing time is concerned, Atkins will be expected to assume a bigger role next season with the departure of senior forward Akil Mitchell. That’s the greatest motivation Atkins can find.

“That’s the only thing that really keeps me going in this situation,” Atkins said. “I can’t really think of anything else but that to give me hopes.”

Justin Anderson, the Atlantic Coast Conference’s sixth man of the year, mentioned how coming off the bench gives him an advantage because he gets to watch the flow of the game before he enters.

“When you do things like that coming off the bench, you get to see the court, you get to see what’s going on, you get to see what they like to do,” Anderson said. “I think it does give you an advantage. You get to see what actions work. You get to take a step back from the game.

“I think it’s a little bit easier sometimes coming off the bench because your starters can tell you, ‘Hey, this is what they’re doing, so look for this.’ So, a lot of times Malcolm will pull me to the side and he’s like, ‘Hey, they’re not helping on this, so make sure you cut hard this way,’ or something like that.”

Evan Nolte, who is another player that has seen his minutes fluctuate in the second half of the season, glowed about feeling like he was a bigger part of the team after hitting two huge second half three-pointers Friday in Virginia’s 70-59 second-round victory against No. 16 seed Coastal Carolina.

“When you can contribute like that, I guess it makes you feel like more a part of something, but it wasn’t anything drastic,” Nolte said. “There was no, ‘Oh, I don’t deserve to cut down this net or anything like that.’ It definitely makes you feel good and makes you feel better when everybody else is so happy for you. That made it a lot more special.”

Nolte’s big night came after he’d seen his role decrease dramatically in the previous 18 games. He averaged 5.5 minutes per game in the 18 games prior to the Coastal Carolina game, in which he played 11 minutes. In the first 16 games, he averaged 9.9 minutes per contest.

“I think it’s always a challenge for players when they’re not playing as much, but as [Nolte] saw yesterday, you don’t know when your number’s going to be called,” Bennett said. “Whether it’s foul trouble, injuries or just the game dictates that, you need something.”