Cavaliers' Landesberg Is a Product of Discipline

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- The thud on the garage door was Sylven Landesberg's wake-up call. Sylven's father, Steven Landesberg, hammered his fist at 6 a.m. on the door of the family's separated garage in Flushing, N.Y., where Sylven and friend Blaise Ffrench slept in a finished room the summer before their junior year at Holy Cross High School. Sylven thought the door would fall off because Steven knocked so hard, but this was the only way he awoke.

Steven fed Sylven and Ffrench breakfast -- anything high in protein -- and then brought them to a series of basketball games and workouts. Sylven had a dribbling coach and a shooting coach. He went to a boxing instructor to help with footwork and a weightlifting specialist to build strength. Sylven participated in games throughout New York's boroughs, primarily Queens.

The workouts continued during the academic year. Sylven lumbered out of bed at 5 a.m. to follow Steven's regimen before school and would sometimes resume after he finished his homework. The training sessions started when Sylven was 7 years old, with variations added as he matured.

Now, he's 18 and starring at Virginia. He has won the ACC rookie of the week five times, and he's sixth in the ACC in scoring at 17.3 points per game. Sylven gives much of the credit to his father, who bounces the praise back to Sylven's dedication. When the Cavaliers play Maryland tonight, Steven will be watching from Flushing, and basketball fans will see the product of Steven's plan and Sylven's work.

"I knew since he was little he was going to be great," Steven said. "But if you're going to tell your neighbor that about your 4-year-old son, they'd think you're crazy."

Steven played basketball recreationally at Hofstra and Nassau Community College and determined Sylven would excel. He purchased basketball training books when Sylven was an infant and started working on ball drills with Sylven when he turned 4. Steven read how former UCLA coach John Wooden focused on the same drills and practices every season. The recipe seemed simple. Implement the fundamentals, and do not stop honing them. Not on Christmas Eve, not on New Year's Day.

"A holiday meant more time to practice," said Lloyd Desvigne, one of Sylven's youth coaches and an assistant at Holy Cross.

By high school, Steven wanted the training conducted by experts. He took recommendations and shuttled Sylven around New York City. Different instructors specialized in different skills. The constant was the early mornings.

"At first, I tried to get out of it," Sylven said. "I'd rather be going to school than doing that! I had an excuse every morning. You know, 'My foot hurts.' But he never let me get away with it. As I started getting a little older, I realized this is what I have to do. This is not like a punishment. This is something that's going to help me in the long run."

On Saturday mornings, Sylven wanted to watch cartoons with his mother, Ingrid. Steven brought him to workouts. All the work initially concerned Ingrid, who asked, "Are you crazy? What are you doing to my baby?" She wanted Sylven to focus on school, a life outside of basketball, as well as keep his sneakers from piling in the foyer.

Ingrid later realized that Sylven possessed potential. Most of all, he enjoyed basketball, and she did not feel it conflicted with the person he was becoming. Her role was to add balance to his life.

"I wasn't like any other normal kid my age," Sylven said. "Everybody would come back to school the next day and say, 'Did you see this?' No, I didn't see it. I always felt out of the loop and stuff."