The Official Beat the Vanderbilt Commodores at the Stu Thread

[BradRamFan]

I think he's the guy on the right. Bonus points to anyone who will take the time to photoshop Stack's face over the good doctor's....

View attachment 11878

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[BradRamFan]

I hope you are right. All I know is that the coaching staff aren't playing to deloach's strength and we have history littered with bigs we could not develop going back to Shaka.

The original forum excuse was the bigs weren't talented or highly touted enough. Then we started pulling in bigs with power 5 offers and results remained the same.

The fact that both Mason and Davidson, two schools with 1/4 VCU's basketball budget, can take a couple of journey man level bigs and turn them into first team A-10 selections says alot to me...what is even more amazing is they did without the benefit of having an actual big man coach on staff like VCU.

We can and should do a better job in this area.

Dude, DeLoach spends a lot of his time out on the perimeter. He has yet to take a shot from three....he has had the opportunity. Unless MR told him not to shoot from outside, he has had opportunities to shoot it from three.
And while we like to tout that we play in transition, a lot of our game is still very much half court and requires players to dribble. I think JJ simply had a late growth spurt and that has impacted his dribbling. JJ needs to get the ball closer to the basket and use some post moves with a pivot foot and just dunk the ball. He does have the little straight dribble to the basket from about the foul line but he still dribbles/bounces the ball about 4+ feet off the ground.

 

[PhantomRam]

I hope you are right. All I know is that the coaching staff aren't playing to deloach's strength and we have history littered with bigs we could not develop going back to Shaka.

The original forum excuse was the bigs weren't talented or highly touted enough. Then we started pulling in bigs with power 5 offers and results remained the same.

The fact that both Mason and Davidson, two schools with 1/4 VCU's basketball budget, can take a couple of journey man level bigs and turn them into first team A-10 selections says alot to me...what is even more amazing is they did without the benefit of having an actual big man coach on staff like VCU.

We can and should do a better job in this area.

You know VCU has a website where you could submit your resume if MR ever decides to replace Scott. I am sure he would love to have a person who can identify/recruit/develop our bigs

 

[G-Man]

I am gonna keep saying it.

Deloach originally came face up stretch four; we are trying to change him into a traditional post up big and he clearly isn't comfortable making back to the basket post moves. It isn't his game.

Tillman and Deloach are roughly the same size and body type. They had completely different games coming out if prep school and aau.

Tillman highlights at :30 mark showcase his ability to post up twice. He presents a wide target, gets the entry pass and uses his quickness to get off a turnaround jumper before the defenders gets set! He had a post up game BEFORE he got to VCU!

By contrast, you can't find any footage of Deloach scoring back to the basket. It's all in transition or pull up 3 ptrs and face up iso's.

Deloach vs IMG (black jersey #4)

My God..just look at his workouts from this summer..He looks at and l markets himself as a POINT FORWARD!..he shooting pull up 3's, driving to the basket, and practicing face up iso's off the wing just like he did in hs!

Why is Rhoades throwing all his training away forcing him to play with his back to the basket?

Deloach is more like Ty Foster than he is Levi Stockard. Let him play his game!

I actually hear and agree with a lot that you are saying. However, Deloach’s face up game is not prime time at this level. What happened the few time times last night that he drove it from facing the basket? He may have produced an assist there, but I recall turnovers or missed shots.

We need Deloach to at least have a serviceable post up game. He’s not there yet, but is closer to having any kind of offensive game than Ward ever was.

 

[theyaintwantit]

I hate to say it.. but I think he's gonna leave at the end of the year...just like Hason and Mikeal Brown Jones did last year because we tried to turn them into traditional bigs and they weren't comfortable back to the basket.

We’re not really doing this again are we?

 

[rambunctiousrowdyram]

It amazed me how many people thought we would (or should) just hum right along on offense immediately after losing Ace. I thought people were more knowledgeable than that. I had zero expectations for the games in NY. Winning one game up there was quite an accomplishment. Hard to believe we almost won two, and the loss had some questionable calls down the stretch.

It’s not expecting us to bounce along the same. People are realistic. However our team has way too much talent or is suppose to to be that reliant on one person. Nevermind what happens if we don’t hit on some star player after Ace? We’ve had luck with Evans carrying us, then Bones with Ace’s help, and now just Ace. There has been a trend for years now of one player carrying the load on a statistically bad offense and god forbid they get hurt because we don’t have a plan B. People want to keep sweeping that under the rug. Until of course the end of the season when suddenly it’s a full flip flop to “Well the offense hasn’t been that good all year.” Ace had the game of his career and we almost still loss a 11pt lead at the end after ever 6 FT’s and a coach ejection.

 

[Mistachill]

It amazed me how many people thought we would (or should) just hum right along on offense immediately after losing Ace. I thought people were more knowledgeable than that. I had zero expectations for the games in NY. Winning one game up there was quite an accomplishment. Hard to believe we almost won two, and the loss had some questionable calls down the stretch.

I don't think people expected us to be unaffected by Ace's absence. But when his replacement was a point guard recruited out of high school who is preseason 3rd team All-A10 who filled in last year for Ace, and when the coach publicly claims this is the deepest team he has had at VCU, you would not expect the drop off to be as steep as it has been considering none of the teams we played were all-world type squads. And especially against a team like Kennesaw State at home. Not to mention, we weren't looking that great with Ace in the lineup before the injury.

Even with Ace back and balling out, we barely beat a mediocre Vandy team at home with Stackhouse gift wrapping this game for us? I'm trying my best to be patient and open minded and to let the season play out before passing judgment. I said this before, my hope is a duplicate of last season with the exception of winning our late must-win games and going deeper into the A-10 tournament. But I can't say I'm confident that will happen, with or without Ace.

And god forbid Ace (or any other key player) gets hurt again. That will be the excuse...I mean...the "reason" for yet another disappointing season that MR shouldn't be held accountable for.

 

[Mistachill]

It’s not expecting us to bounce along the same. People are realistic. However our team has way too much talent or is suppose to to be that reliant on one person. Nevermind what happens if we don’t hit on some star player after Ace? We’ve had luck with Evans carrying us, then Bones with Ace’s help, and now just Ace. There has been a trend for years now of one player carrying the load on a statistically bad offense and god forbid they get hurt because we don’t have a plan B. People want to keep sweeping that under the rug. Until of course the end of the season when suddenly it’s a full flip flop to “Well the offense hasn’t been that good all year.” Ace had the game of his career and we almost still loss a 11pt lead at the end after ever 6 FT’s and a coach ejection.

We practically wrote the same post at the same time.

 

[Ramaholic]

I don't think people expected us to be unaffected by Ace's absence. But when his replacement was a point guard recruited out of high school who is preseason 3rd team All-A10 who filled in last year for Ace, and when the coach publicly claims this is the deepest team he has had at VCU, you would not expect the drop off to be as steep as it has been considering none of the teams we played were all-world type squads. And especially against a team like Kennesaw State at home. Not to mention, we weren't looking that great with Ace in the lineup before the injury.

Even with Ace back and balling out, we barely beat a mediocre Vandy team at home with Stackhouse gift wrapping this game for us? I'm trying my best to be patient and open minded and to let the season play out before passing judgment. I said this before, my hope is a duplicate of last season with the exception of winning our late must-win games and going deeper into the A-10 tournament. But I can't say I'm confident that will happen, with or without Ace.

And god forbid Ace (or any other key player) gets hurt again. That will be the excuse...I mean...the "reason" for yet another disappointing season that MR shouldn't be held accountable for.

Although I understand the posters supporting MR, I 1000% agree with this post. Considering the amount of money VCU is putting into the program, I am not happy with the results. My take is do one of the following:
1. Get better results.
2. Allocate less money to the program
3. Make staff changes

 

[PhantomRam]

Although I understand the posters supporting MR, I 1000% agree with this post. Considering the amount of money VCU is putting into the program, I am not happy with the results. My take is do one of the following:
1. Get better results.
2. Allocate less money to the program
3. Make staff changes

Some of this falls under the ol' cliché be careful what you wish for.
How many years has this board opined for "Just please give us a stable coaching situation"
Well, Taaaa-daaaa!

 

[theyaintwantit]

Although I understand the posters supporting MR, I 1000% agree with this post. Considering the amount of money VCU is putting into the program, I am not happy with the results. My take is do one of the following:
1. Get better results.
2. Allocate less money to the program
3. Make staff changes

4. Bring Air Rodney back

 

[Mistachill]

I am gonna keep saying it.

Deloach originally came face up stretch four; we are trying to change him into a traditional post up big and he clearly isn't comfortable making back to the basket post moves. It isn't his game.

Tillman and Deloach are roughly the same size and body type. They had completely different games coming out if prep school and aau.

Tillman highlights at :30 mark showcase his ability to post up twice. He presents a wide target, gets the entry pass and uses his quickness to get off a turnaround jumper before the defenders gets set! He had a post up game BEFORE he got to VCU!

By contrast, you can't find any footage of Deloach scoring back to the basket. It's all in transition or pull up 3 ptrs and face up iso's.

Deloach vs IMG (black jersey #4)

My God..just look at his workouts from this summer..He looks at and l markets himself as a POINT FORWARD!..he shooting pull up 3's, driving to the basket, and practicing face up iso's off the wing just like he did in hs!

Why is Rhoades throwing all his training away forcing him to play with his back to the basket?

Deloach is more like Ty Foster than he is Levi Stockard. Let him play his game!

1) I think you put way too much stock in highlight videos. A player could be the worst shooter in the history of basketball, but if I splice together a 2 minute video of him draining the 20 three pointers he hit and omitted the 2,000 he missed, you'd call him the next Steph Curry.

2) Perhaps the coaching staff knows it is unlikely that those skills will translate at the D1 level where he'll be playing. The staff's job is to project what a player will/could become at the next level. Just because you can do it against varying levels of high school kids doesn't automatically mean you'll get away with it at the college level.

3) Remember in his first year when Shaka tried to convert Sanders from a shot blocker/rebounder into an all-around big? How did that turn out? Maybe it helped Sanders get to the league, didn't help the team like we expected.

4) You mentioned Hasan Ward somewhere in reference to transferring because they're skills aren't being properly utilized here. Check out his Iowa State stats so far. Not exactly lighting it up so far, though the team is actually doing well.

 

[theyaintwantit]

I don't think people expected us to be unaffected by Ace's absence. But when his replacement was a point guard recruited out of high school who is preseason 3rd team All-A10 who filled in last year for Ace, and when the coach publicly claims this is the deepest team he has had at VCU, you would not expect the drop off to be as steep as it has been considering none of the teams we played were all-world type squads. And especially against a team like Kennesaw State at home. Not to mention, we weren't looking that great with Ace in the lineup before the injury.

Even with Ace back and balling out, we barely beat a mediocre Vandy team at home with Stackhouse gift wrapping this game for us? I'm trying my best to be patient and open minded and to let the season play out before passing judgment. I said this before, my hope is a duplicate of last season with the exception of winning our late must-win games and going deeper into the A-10 tournament. But I can't say I'm confident that will happen, with or without Ace.

And god forbid Ace (or any other key player) gets hurt again. That will be the excuse...I mean...the "reason" for yet another disappointing season that MR shouldn't be held accountable for.

By no means is Vandy a juggernaut, but last year their NET was 62 and KP was 64 and through 7 games this season their NET is 78.

Those ratings are typically inline with teams ranked roughly 3-6 in the A10 in recent years. Whether or not you find a home win of Vandy to be quality is up to you, but beating a team that would most likely compete towards the top of the A10 is a good win, imo.

 

[CasualObserver]

Good to have Ace back and nice to get some of our Stu home cooking back. Feels good this morning.

 

[Mistachill]

Some of this falls under the ol' cliché be careful what you wish for.
How many years has this board opined for "Just please give us a stable coaching situation"
Well, Taaaa-daaaa!

lol...yeah. I long for the days when every spring we worried about a big time school stealing our coach and people checked private jet flight websites to see who was flying into Richmond.