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Probably so and the A10 is not strong so we might get 20 wins but postseason is likely NIT at best.
The Official Beat the Temple Owls in Philly Thread
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BradRamFan
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Really great to see Nunn, Baldwin, Watkins AND Deloach put together a very solid game. Especially happy to see Deloach step up and put up 16 points and grab 6 rebounds against Temple's 285 lbs behemoth center. This is they type of game I have been waiting for from DeLoach! Congrats young man! Keep up the hard work.
Great teamwork by a young starting 4. And we had 14 assists to boot. That is something we can build upon as the season progresses!
Unfortunately, Johns had a poor showing tonight on offense after multiple double digit scoring games for us....it's gonna happen. Get back on your horse, season is not over. Work on that consistency.
Unfortunately, our bench also had a poor showing on the offensive end today....Zeb, Shriver, Kern and Banks. Keep working guys....you are relatively young and are working on gaining game experience. It will come!
Temple brought their Battle and Dunn game to the court today and we couldn't hold either back. They were the difference makers.
Eh, not going to complain about this loss. I was pretty sure we had lost it in the first 5-8 minutes or so when Temple went ahead by 10 points, This is especially true when Temple has 2 players in Dunn and Battle averaging 18 points a game. There was very, very little chance we were coming back from from 10 points down and winning the game. At that point there are 3-4 things that can happen:
1. You battle back to even and are so spent you have to put in your bench (a bench that can't contain Battle and Dunn....heck our first team couldn't so why should the 2nd team be able to).
2. You battle back to even but aren't totally spent but end up breathing a sigh of relief and boom you are back down again.
3. A combo of 1 and 2 above.....and boom you are back down by 10 again. - I believe this is what happened to us today
4. You have a team full of experienced players as starters and experience bench players and you get to even, have a bench that can contain Battle and Dunn, and the experienced starters slowly build a lead with a resulting win.
We don't have #4 above. I don't understand why people here all summer long thought we did. I kept on shaking my head and saying to myself, some of you are going to be severely disappointed.
We have great players but only Ace is the experience players. We have:
1. Ace - Junior who is experienced
2. Nunn - just a sophomore who while very good is still a just a sophomore and will have up and down games
3. Watkins - basically a sophomore who sat out all last year with an injury and (if you can't already see it) still has some rust to his game....and is still like a sophomore and will have up and down games.
4. Johns - a 5th year player who is know to be a very good player but only averaged 3-4 ppg and was know for inconsistencies at times.....doesn't really matter that he came from Michigan.....that is just media fodder.....he didn't get a lot of playing time
5. DeLoach - also just a sophomore who will have up and down games like just about every sophomore. Plus he is now being asked to step up as a sophomore and take on the starting role at center/Forward
6. a bench with players who were and have been and still are support players.....Zeb hardly played for 2 years, Banks hardly played for 2 years. Kern, a sophomore who hardly played the previous year, Shriver a senior but taking a big step up this year and Fermin, Tobi and Fat.....all pretty raw regardless of their star rating last year in HS.
Like last year, this team is going to have it's ups and down.....especially in the OOC. It is going to take a number of game for this team to fully come together on a consistent basis in multiple game. Why any of you thought differently this past summer is beyond me.
This is a relatively young team. And while I had hoped we would win this game, I still believe we will have one more gotcha, head scratcher games left in us in the OOC.....so get ready and prepare yourself for it people. The roller coaster ride is not over!
But, I do believe we are slowly improving and coming together. We had 4 players all scoring in double figures today! We just needed a few more points from our bench and things might have been different.
Great teamwork by a young starting 4. And we had 14 assists to boot. That is something we can build upon as the season progresses!
Unfortunately, Johns had a poor showing tonight on offense after multiple double digit scoring games for us....it's gonna happen. Get back on your horse, season is not over. Work on that consistency.
Unfortunately, our bench also had a poor showing on the offensive end today....Zeb, Shriver, Kern and Banks. Keep working guys....you are relatively young and are working on gaining game experience. It will come!
Temple brought their Battle and Dunn game to the court today and we couldn't hold either back. They were the difference makers.
Eh, not going to complain about this loss. I was pretty sure we had lost it in the first 5-8 minutes or so when Temple went ahead by 10 points, This is especially true when Temple has 2 players in Dunn and Battle averaging 18 points a game. There was very, very little chance we were coming back from from 10 points down and winning the game. At that point there are 3-4 things that can happen:
1. You battle back to even and are so spent you have to put in your bench (a bench that can't contain Battle and Dunn....heck our first team couldn't so why should the 2nd team be able to).
2. You battle back to even but aren't totally spent but end up breathing a sigh of relief and boom you are back down again.
3. A combo of 1 and 2 above.....and boom you are back down by 10 again. - I believe this is what happened to us today
4. You have a team full of experienced players as starters and experience bench players and you get to even, have a bench that can contain Battle and Dunn, and the experienced starters slowly build a lead with a resulting win.
We don't have #4 above. I don't understand why people here all summer long thought we did. I kept on shaking my head and saying to myself, some of you are going to be severely disappointed.
We have great players but only Ace is the experience players. We have:
1. Ace - Junior who is experienced
2. Nunn - just a sophomore who while very good is still a just a sophomore and will have up and down games
3. Watkins - basically a sophomore who sat out all last year with an injury and (if you can't already see it) still has some rust to his game....and is still like a sophomore and will have up and down games.
4. Johns - a 5th year player who is know to be a very good player but only averaged 3-4 ppg and was know for inconsistencies at times.....doesn't really matter that he came from Michigan.....that is just media fodder.....he didn't get a lot of playing time
5. DeLoach - also just a sophomore who will have up and down games like just about every sophomore. Plus he is now being asked to step up as a sophomore and take on the starting role at center/Forward
6. a bench with players who were and have been and still are support players.....Zeb hardly played for 2 years, Banks hardly played for 2 years. Kern, a sophomore who hardly played the previous year, Shriver a senior but taking a big step up this year and Fermin, Tobi and Fat.....all pretty raw regardless of their star rating last year in HS.
Like last year, this team is going to have it's ups and down.....especially in the OOC. It is going to take a number of game for this team to fully come together on a consistent basis in multiple game. Why any of you thought differently this past summer is beyond me.
This is a relatively young team. And while I had hoped we would win this game, I still believe we will have one more gotcha, head scratcher games left in us in the OOC.....so get ready and prepare yourself for it people. The roller coaster ride is not over!
But, I do believe we are slowly improving and coming together. We had 4 players all scoring in double figures today! We just needed a few more points from our bench and things might have been different.
BradRamFan
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Shaka was trending downward towards the end there. He never got going with Texas and while his first few games at Marquette seem to be going well, time will tell.
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Lost to team that flat outplayed us. The team should know their shortcomings by now and get better if they want to continue by never giving up. Coaches have their job to find the right combinations.
other than Ace , Nunn and Watkins and the freshman center everyone else struggled.Humility suck it up and get back in control.
other than Ace , Nunn and Watkins and the freshman center everyone else struggled.Humility suck it up and get back in control.
Half-baked Mcbride
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Solid post from tops to botts, man
Yea…it’s gonna come down to 3 days in March in the A10 Tourney
This team is talented and has warts
Enjoy the ride and try not to get too down…VCU basketball is still a good time and maybe, just maybe…they’ll feel off a sh1oad of wins and turn some heads.
Go Rams!!
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almost sure to run off 6-8 wins in a row here.
BradRamFan
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With regard to a coaching change, some of you need to check yourself at the door. Although I guess, with 48% of Americans living in a land of make believe full of wizards and fairies where if you sprinkle a little fairy dust on it, whatever you make up automatically becomes the all knowing truth, some of you believe if you say it enough times it will actually occur.
But say it with me, say it loud, say it proud, say it clear and say it like you mean it. Under no circumstances is our program at the level where we can afford to get rid of a 20+ win coach and know we can do better with someone else. The chances of it occurring are zip, zilch, nada, nope, never, not gonna happen, ain't gonna see it. Even P5 programs are wary of making a coaching change for fear of what might happen with a new coach........and we are not even at the level of a P5 program.
Maybe we ought to get a few Louisville fans to come speak with you guys.....maybe some Shaka era Texas fans need to invite you to a seminar on how getting rid of a 20+ win coach in favor of the latest flavor of the month turned out for them. Perhaps we can have some SLU fan come and chat with you guys about how the last decade has gone for them after a coaching change. We could get GMU fans to come talk about how their program has faired but they likely will encourage you to get rid of a 20+ in coach.
We are NOT a blue blood program where we can just hire anyone we choose who has a proven track record of winning at the highest level. So you guys need to STFU, leave the land of make believe and bring yourself back to reality. It doesn't matter how many times you say it, it ain't happening. So you might as well drop it.
But say it with me, say it loud, say it proud, say it clear and say it like you mean it. Under no circumstances is our program at the level where we can afford to get rid of a 20+ win coach and know we can do better with someone else. The chances of it occurring are zip, zilch, nada, nope, never, not gonna happen, ain't gonna see it. Even P5 programs are wary of making a coaching change for fear of what might happen with a new coach........and we are not even at the level of a P5 program.
Maybe we ought to get a few Louisville fans to come speak with you guys.....maybe some Shaka era Texas fans need to invite you to a seminar on how getting rid of a 20+ win coach in favor of the latest flavor of the month turned out for them. Perhaps we can have some SLU fan come and chat with you guys about how the last decade has gone for them after a coaching change. We could get GMU fans to come talk about how their program has faired but they likely will encourage you to get rid of a 20+ in coach.
We are NOT a blue blood program where we can just hire anyone we choose who has a proven track record of winning at the highest level. So you guys need to STFU, leave the land of make believe and bring yourself back to reality. It doesn't matter how many times you say it, it ain't happening. So you might as well drop it.
Most of VCU's all-time performers made an immediate impact, but there are exceptions, such as Phil Stinnie and Troy Daniels. Vince Williams was a tad slow out of the starting blocks, but much of that was attributed to injuries. I don't know the specific rules on red shirting, but Rhoades might want to look into it for Billups and Fermin, assuming they would be willing.
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just so we are clear, not a fan of a coaching change and not a MR basher - recognize no matter what his contract runs through 26-27
VCU under Dick Sander adopted an approach of identifying young and hungry assistant coaches - hired 3 in a row that had no college head coaching experience (though one was not really young) their names were Capel, Grant and Smart
VCU (under Sander's leadership) created with some sponsors the Villa 6 or 7 program that identified and mentored up and coming basketball assistant coaches - that was how VCU identified and hired those three very good coaches) They all were energized and ambitious and successful at VCU (capel I don't think was a Villa coach now that i think about it)
is it easy to identify those assistants - probably not ! But any good AD should always have two or three names in his pocket if things go sour so to speak - and never be caught scrambling if things happen
vcu's success with hiring blue blood coaches was not very good (sonny smith) no fire in the belly to succeed - just looking for a paycheck
our niche IMHO are the young and rising assistants that will bust tail and might leave us in 4 or 5 years
all that said, MR will be here for quite awhile
Thank you. The more I read of it, the less I think I like it, particularly early in the season. I’m more of a results based guy. Predictions mean little unless one is gambling, and I don’t gamble.
That’s not to suggest that KenPom doesn’t have its place, but it certainly means little as some sort of predictor on how we’ll do because it doesn’t appear to take into account that players and teams can improve.
I also think margin of victory or loss is overrated. A loss is a loss whether by 3 or by 33. It isn’t necessarily predictive of what happens next. An example from today is that UVA struggled and only beat a horrible FSU by 5 at home. Looks like KenPom would penalize them for that margin of victory. Do you think Tony Bennett cares that they won by only five points? I’m pretty sure he doesn’t. He cares more about whether they won and how they executed his game plan rather than by how much they won.
Also, shouldn’t a factor be whether a coach emptied his bench and played all freshmen because his team was up big, and the margin of victory got smaller as the subs played?
That being said, I do think this make sense. In KenPom’s words, “It likes a team that loses a lot of close games against strong opposition more than one that wins a lot of close games against weak opposition.” So, strength of schedule does matter, but as 2012 said, it may look at metrics from the previous season, which makes little sense, especially given the massive turnover in college basketball due to the transfer portal.
I guess in the end I come back to what I’ve heard the head of the NCAA Selection Committee say year after year, “Who’d you play, where’d you play, and how’d you do?” It really is that simple.
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VCU85
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All good points. I'd say bench points weren't the issue, at least not our bench points. It was a porous defense that couldn't stop them from scoring.
CrozetRam
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People keep saying Fats isn’t ready. And I understand that. But how is Shriver ready? Is Fats really that much more unready than this guy? How could Fats be that bad? Maybe he’s got a bad attitude or something. But if he is less ready than Shriver then he should go play D3 ball
RAM_IT
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They play different positions, Fats would have to take minutes from Watkins, Kern, Banks. Shriver only plays as a stretch 4 and Fats is way too thin at this point for that. He will get minutes in this next stretch of games. Fyi he hasn't scored a single point when he's been in this season.
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Should we be discussing firing Rhoades currently? No. But if we’re not even gonna CONSIDER the idea of the discussion of it if that time comes well then no one should complain when players transfer. Players want to play. Players want to win. Players want to play in the NCAA.