Tonight is a Mom's Duty night at That Animal. As the parents of a strong, sturdy, highly successful basketball team, we are crinkly-faced at the thought that our children are a little sick. There are steps that must be taken to pull everyone to good health, and sometimes that involves short-term unpleasantness in order to gain long-term benefits.
The Wofford Terriers serve as the spoonful of Dimetap, though I prefer to think of them as stale Jack Daniels.
Now I try to be respectful in all cases in this space. The opponent is trying to win, after all, and they do have talented players. The pure competition is a big part of the fun, and a tentpole in the joys of victory. But I want to be very clear about tonight: we should run Wofford out of the building.
And so that nobody gets the wrong idea, I'm not making loose, faux-bold predicitions. This is about VCU giving Wofford no choice in the matter. It's about us, not them. Wofford is simply playing the role of the guy who parks his car in a seemingly random spot on the street and watches helplessly as a piano falls on it from the 30th floor.
VCU needs to plant Wofford in the Broad Street asphalt, and not in the joyous manner of Illinois State. This needs to be a cutting, precise, bullish steamrolling. It needs to be a medicinal performance.
***
Wofford is not a good offensive team--310th in the nation, in fact. They turn the ball over on more than one of every five possessions. Teams are shooting 57.4% on two-point shots against their defense.
Two of their players, Spencer Collins (14.7ppg) and Karl Cochran (9.7ppg, 4.3rpg), earned Southern Conference All Freshman team honors last year. Cochran broke a school-record for three-point field goal attempts.
Lee Skinner (9.8ppg, 7.4rpg) is a tough-minded but undersized post, and Indiana Faithfull has 25 assists and only nine turnovers this year. That's also the best name we will play against all year. Love Indiana Faithfull.
And I could keep going, but it's really not what matters. You could choose Dimetap, NyQuil, Sudfed or Zicam. It doesn't matter. What matters is that the VCU team swallows the medicine, and begins the healing process, the growing process.
This team needs to wake up tomorrow morning and see that they feel better, that the medicine from the previous night took root, and that they can get better and improvement is not only possible, it is inevitable.
The Wofford Terriers serve as the spoonful of Dimetap, though I prefer to think of them as stale Jack Daniels.
Now I try to be respectful in all cases in this space. The opponent is trying to win, after all, and they do have talented players. The pure competition is a big part of the fun, and a tentpole in the joys of victory. But I want to be very clear about tonight: we should run Wofford out of the building.
And so that nobody gets the wrong idea, I'm not making loose, faux-bold predicitions. This is about VCU giving Wofford no choice in the matter. It's about us, not them. Wofford is simply playing the role of the guy who parks his car in a seemingly random spot on the street and watches helplessly as a piano falls on it from the 30th floor.
VCU needs to plant Wofford in the Broad Street asphalt, and not in the joyous manner of Illinois State. This needs to be a cutting, precise, bullish steamrolling. It needs to be a medicinal performance.
***
Wofford is not a good offensive team--310th in the nation, in fact. They turn the ball over on more than one of every five possessions. Teams are shooting 57.4% on two-point shots against their defense.
Two of their players, Spencer Collins (14.7ppg) and Karl Cochran (9.7ppg, 4.3rpg), earned Southern Conference All Freshman team honors last year. Cochran broke a school-record for three-point field goal attempts.
Lee Skinner (9.8ppg, 7.4rpg) is a tough-minded but undersized post, and Indiana Faithfull has 25 assists and only nine turnovers this year. That's also the best name we will play against all year. Love Indiana Faithfull.
And I could keep going, but it's really not what matters. You could choose Dimetap, NyQuil, Sudfed or Zicam. It doesn't matter. What matters is that the VCU team swallows the medicine, and begins the healing process, the growing process.
This team needs to wake up tomorrow morning and see that they feel better, that the medicine from the previous night took root, and that they can get better and improvement is not only possible, it is inevitable.