Early season thoughts?

[RESRam]

Which of our players originally committed to VaTech?

 

[Ramwitch]

Which of our players originally committed to VaTech?

JMac

 

[PRock]

My early season thoughts.

Someone has to step up and help out Bones on three point shooting. Another outside shooter will also take some of the pressure off of Bones. It will also open up the inside game more. Outside of Bones and Williams, this team is 8-35 from the three point line.

Agree on the need for options, in fairness though, we did play two of the 10 best teams in terms of 3P defense (last year)— we were pretty lethal vs. USU which was 125. I suspect, we’ll learn in the next few games our true perimeter % expectation. If we can net out around 35% as a team consistently, this could be a very interesting year!

 

[buckwheat]

Positives: Some exciting young players! Great to see. Very happy with winning 2 of 3.

Negatives: Traveling to the state of South Dakota. Hmm. Hopefully this college hoops season doesn’t play out like I suspect it will and these kids stay healthy.

 

[RamStrut]

Isn't that statement an act of projection?
I see sht talk and Ima call it out. Block me and you won't see it. But yeah, it's happened in the last 24 as it always does, here.

The majority seems to be thrilled and excited. There will always be a few bad apples in the bunch. Still a hundred times better than the cesspools known as Facebook and Twitter.

 

[mrgeode]

I posted these "10 thoughts" about the weekend on the Facebooks, but figured I'd copy it here as well. I probably should have posted it here in the first place.

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1. When the “predictors” guessed that VCU would be #9 in the conference, they were doing so with very little information about the team. I think they would change that prediction by quite a bit if they did it now. This team would demolish what we had in the last 10-15 games last year.

2. Ace Baldwin is the real deal. He’s a natural passer, and when he gets more comfortable shooting ... watch out.

3. The original plan with Medley-Bacon was for him to sit for a year. I suspect the team changed its mind when they learned he wouldn’t lose a year of eligibility by playing this year. He needs that year of coaching and seasoning because he’s no better than our third best big man right now.

4. Speaking of big men ... based on this weekend alone, Levi Stockard is a waste of a roster spot.

5. Given the above, it’s fortunate that Hassan Ward has taken a big step forward.

6. ...so has Corey Douglas, and I suspect it’s mostly due to health.

7. I took too long to get to this thought: Bones is a fantastic player, and has added a touch of inside play to his repertoire. He needs to keep his head, though. Those technical fouls were completely unnecessary.

8. Vince Williams is becoming the player we all thought he would be after his freshman year. He’s essentially a Treveon Graham type — big enough to fight under the basket, but with a nice outside shot. This could be a big year for him.

9. If Keyshawn Currey can become just a touch more consistent in everything he does, he’ll be a fantastic weapon.

10. All of the freshmen who aren’t named Ace Baldwin need a bit more time, and that’s completely understandable as they were thrown into the fire against three pretty good teams this weekend with no exhibitions or buy games to use for experience. But, there’s a lot of promise there.

4. If Levi's even 10% of the reason we landed Nick Kern for next year, he was a good pick-up. We do need more from him, though.

 

[TampaKAP]

4. If Levi's even 10% of the reason we landed Nick Kern for next year, he was a good pick-up. We do need more from him, though.

As much as I am not a fan of the Levi starting experiment right now, I do agree it was great to have him here to help bring Kern just like I think X relationship with Deloach current coach helped. Now if Levi can keep getting two quick fouls and forcing the rotation.......

 

[AlienAiden]

Positives: Some exciting young players! Great to see. Very happy with winning 2 of 3.

Negatives: Traveling to the state of South Dakota. Hmm. Hopefully this college hoops season doesn’t play out like I suspect it will and these kids stay healthy.

Positive: Bones has been added to Mount Rushmore.

 

[MobileMunchies]

The majority seems to be thrilled and excited. There will always be a few bad apples in the bunch. Still a hundred times better than the cesspools known as Facebook and Twitter.

Facebook enabled me to be in touch with relatives I haven't seen or heard from in many years, and of those who are known to me, bloodwise, I have a tiny family.FB and Twitter both can be beneficial and nasty. Aside from poking crap at a player of two, one on facebook had said something along the lines of there being nothing at all good about a loss. So inherently wrong in a few ways. WVU was a good loss. Further in the season we'll see why, they will go on to do good things, and that loss will have taught us a few great things... besides, regards of win/lose, who in their right mind wasn't happy to have seen us have the opportunity to play that game?

 

[SpiderRAM]

My thoughts about the season are that every game has the potential to be the last game of the season when there’s a global pandemic. I’m focusing on enjoying the games and hoping for the best for all of our players, on and off the court.

 

[irradiated_ram]

Medley-Bacon is basically getting free minutes his redshirt year. It's a win/win situation for both VCU and Medley-Bacon. Any minutes he gives us this year are gravy and should be treated that way by the fan base.

Not sure I understand this. I haven’t been keeping up over the off season. What’s Medley-Bacon’s situation? Does he get to play during a redshirt year? Or was he supposed to redshirt, but decided not to?

 

[AlienAiden]

Not sure I understand this. I haven’t been keeping up over the off season. What’s Medley-Bacon’s situation? Does he get to play during a redshirt year? Or was he supposed to redshirt, but decided not to?

He transferred so he was supposed to sit a year but he got a waiver. There is no redshirt situation. If he redshirted he would get two years after being with the team this year. He is a junior now so he will get one more year in 2021-22.

 

[TampaKAP]

He transferred so he was supposed to sit a year but he got a waiver. There is no redshirt situation. If he redshirted he would get two years after being with the team this year. He is a junior now so he will get one more year in 2021-22.

Not sure I understand this. I haven’t been keeping up over the off season. What’s Medley-Bacon’s situation? Does he get to play during a redshirt year? Or was he supposed to redshirt, but decided not to?

Actually, he will still get two more. NCAA decided all winter sports athletes will get an extra year and this year’s seniors will not count against the scholarship limit next year so if Corey and Levi and the staff all agree, we could have 15 players on scholarship.

 

[rollins77]

Hopefully, Hason Ward will continue to play well enough that people finally figure out how to spell his name.

 

[G-Man]

Great to get in 3 games with quality opponents. With such a young team, it’s a bonus to leave with a 2-1 record.

Overall, I’d say that our defense is a strength. Our guard play appears to be strong. There’s also good depth, particularly when McAllister returns.

We need to get more production from the post players, and shoot the ball a bit better. We had more turnovers than we’d like, but I think this was mainly a byproduct of our finally playing against someone else. With our guard play and defense, it wouldn’t surprise me if our TO differential ends up being near the top of the league. Rebounding could be a frequent problem for us, though our guards and wings seem capable of picking up some of this load.