CHARLOTTESVILLE — Dave Leitao isn’t the sort to gush. But once he saw Sylven Landesberg’s stat line after Sunday’s win over VMI, he did just that.
Making his Cavalier debut, the 6-foot-6 Landesberg had 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Leitao had been careful during the preseason not to put too much pressure on Landesberg, but after Sunday’s showing, Leitao was vocal in his praise of the former McDonald’s All-American.
“Obviously, Sylven’s a good player, hopefully on his way to being a terrific player,” Leitao said. “You flirt with a triple-double right out of the box, that tells you something. That answers a question or two.”
Landesberg joined the starting lineup because Leitao wanted to go with a smaller team against VMI, which rarely played anyone taller than 6-foot-7. Undoubtedly, the number of possessions in the game skewed Landesberg’s stats. VMI looks for quick shots and presses defensively, so the shot clock rarely ticks below 10 seconds.
“It felt like the NHL All-Star game,” Leitao said. “Forechecking, cross-checking, back-checking … so, so many possessions. A very difficult style to play against, obviously.”
VMI’s style suited Landesberg’s up-tempo game. Long and athletic, Landesberg often drove the basket. When he hit the paint, VMI would drop a second defender on him, but that only allowed Landesberg to dish the ball to 6-8 forward Mike Scott, who when single covered was unstoppable.
“I just had to play my game,” Landesberg said. “And what happens, will happen.”
Leitao was impressed with his star freshman’s poise, too. Landesberg got multiple touches on nearly every possession, and he only turned it over three times against VMI’s frantic press defense.
He played smart defensively, committing just two fouls and coming up with three steals.
It’s not surprising that Landesberg can score. He averaged more than 20 points per game in each of his last three seasons at Holy Cross High School, and as a senior, he averaged 29.6 points and 11.4 rebounds per game. But no one could have predicted Landesberg would have the best debut ever by a UVa freshman.
Leitao is excited to see what Landesberg, who was named the ACC’s rookie of the week, can do going forward.
“After I take a deep breath, it’ll probably look better,” Leitao said. “But if anybody knows me, particularly Sylven, I don’t hand out bouquets too, too often, particularly in the beginning of the season.
“I’m going to look at his defense and the things that he didn’t do. But the things he did do were pretty special.”
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