Was staying in school a good option for UVa’s Sylven Landesberg?

Now that the NBA Draft is over (and thankfully along with it the torrent of mock drafts), the “Kid shoulda stayed in school” crowd can now survey the landscape and make scapegoats out of the early entrants who weren’t lucky enough to be selected.

There’s nothing like the smug assurance of a good “I told you so,” especially to the schadenfreuders who get a nice rush out of seeing somebody fall short of a goal.

When the last selection was made and Virginia’s Sylven Landesberg hadn’t been picked, I knew he’d get his fair share of derision.  Sure enough, that was the case, like the following from Paul Woody of the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

“Landesberg was the best player on two bad Virginia teams. He had high hopes and big dreams.

No one expected Landesberg to say at Virginia four seasons. But he should have remained for his junior year.

Instead, he has become the latest cautionary tale for young men who are certain of their basketball ability but somehow in this interconnected, wired world miss important cues.” (Richmond Times-Dispatch)

This is a situation that on the surface might look extremely cut and dried to most people.  Guy declares for draft, guy doesn’t get drafted, guy is an idiot.

Would more Bennett have been a good thing for Landesberg?

But in regards to Landesberg I think it’s a little more complicated than that.  In his two seasons at Virginia he had two coaches, being recruited and signed by Dave Leitao but ending his time in Charlottesville under the tutelage of Tony Bennett.

Not every player is lucky (or in some cases unlucky) enough to play for the same coach during his entire college basketball career.  Regimes can change, and as a result, players have to adjust.  Landesberg was no different than anyone else in that regard.

But I’m not certain that the change was one that really benefitted Landesberg’s development as a player.  The system installed by Bennett was radically different than that of Leitao, as evidenced by statistics like possessions per game.  In Leitao’s last season as coach, the Cavaliers averaged 68 possessions a game.  In Bennett’s first season, that number dipped to 63 a game.

A difference of five possessions a game might not sound like a lot, but that’s a huge difference in the game of basketball.  I’m not knocking Bennett’s slower, more deliberate pace at all because the guy’s been a pretty successful coach.  But from the standpoint of the player in question, was it benefitting Landesberg?

It’s not easy to discern from the numbers because under Bennett, Landesberg didn’t necessarily digress from a statistical standpoint.  He took more 3’s and made a higher percentage than he did his freshman year (38.3% vs. 31.4%).  Also, his free throw percentage went up and he averaged a half a turnover less per game.

Upon closer inspection, though, he did take a half step back in some very key areas.  He averaged a full rebound a game less under Bennett and saw a dip in his free throw attempts (6.6 a game in 2008-09 vs. 5.1 a game in 2009-10).

As a freshman, I thought Landesberg’s strength was the ability to, at 6′6″, create his own shot, a trait that’s not easy to find in shooting guards that size.  The guy’s actually a smooth operator with pretty advanced ball handling skills.

Playing in Bennett’s system, Landesberg saw far fewer opportunities in transition than he had under Leitao.  Also, he was utilized far more in pick and roll situations than he had been his freshman year, thus becoming much more of a jump shooter.  Less time near the rim explains the dip in rebounds and free throws.

I’m not going to pin the change in the way he was utilized totally on Bennett’s philosophy, though.  Let’s face it, with Virginia having no interior players of note, opposing teams could simply pack it in and dare Landesberg to shoot over them.

Whether it was a system he was ill fitted for or a lack of talent around him, Landesberg couldn’t play to his strengths last season.  A player like him thrives when he gets to put the rock on the floor and create his own openings.  From the standpoint of developing for the next level, he really needed to be afforded more opportunities to get to the rim.  And that just wasn’t happening.

Some will argue that the fact that he basically stopped going to an art class and drew an indefinite suspension from Bennett was proof that he (A) wasn’t cut out for college in the first place and (B) had his mind made up on entering the draft long before he announced his intentions.

Who knows, maybe the guy was a little starry eyed with dreams of NBA riches fluttering through his head.  But although he might never cop to it, I don’t think Landesberg had an option better than the one he chose.

First off, why stay and toil in a system that doesn’t allow you to accentuate your strengths as a player?  Secondly, while Bennett did do a solid recruiting job this offseason, there’s no guarantee that Landesberg’s junior year would have seen him surrounded by a dramatically better Virginia team.

Sure, he could have transferred out to another school, but that would have involved sitting out a whole season before playing again.  Granted, being on scholarship somewhere and improving your game is a better option than going undrafted, but a lot of stuff can happen in two years.  If he shreds his knee getting ready for his senior season, then all bets are off.

As I see it, these are the choices he had laid out for him:

(A) Take chances on NBA Draft
(B) Play another season in a system that’s not getting me ready for the NBA
(c) Transfer, sit out a season and risk injury before the next opportunity to be drafted comes around

In hindsight, we can all agree that the choice he made didn’t really work out the way he planned it.  But now step into his shoes BEFORE the draft.  Of the choices listed, which one would you have made?  See, it’s not always as simple as, “Kid shoulda stayed in school.”

-- Share It --