Players 2023-24 Roster Thread

[rammad90]

We started the year with just one seasoned starter in Ace. All the other players were limited role bench players. Plus three of the potential starters were just coming off a freshman bench role campaign. Even the transfers were all role players (or taking a large step up in competition).
Over the course of the season, the team did exactly what you would expect a very good team would do......it got better every single month of the season, peaking with a long winning run to finish out the season. If you actually watched, you would have seen all the individual players move from being role players to high level starters over the course of the year. You could see them grow and develop into a very strong and talented cohesive team. I would loved to have seen that team stay together and bring all the development and skill to the new season. I think that team would have done a lot of damage in the upcoming preseason tournament. But it was not to be. Still, seeing that team group over the season was wonderful.

Brad, I really dont know how the naysayers didnt see exactly what you mentioned.

Where we the Broad Street bullies out of the gate? No, but at the end we were every bit a VCU team. Those guys gave all they had when it mattered. More importantly they learned how to when, and they never, ever gave up.

 

[rammad90]

VCU has been stomped twice by St Mary's. They should not be dominating VCU. Call me crazy. I don't care.

Both times SMC had a very. good big. The one they have now is legit, and the other kid finally made it in the NBA. We havent had a true big since Juvonte left the fold. With Ju SMC doesnt dominant the paint.

Plus SMC caught us both times when we were very good but we were not a very good VCU team. While both their teams were amongst their best, our teams were not.

It happens, and we weren't stomped. We were beaten.

 

[valley ram]

Totally agree. There were a ton of brackets with VCU over St Marys including many of the so called experts. I expect VCU to beat St Marys on any court in NY, especially with an early start time. St Mary's came out flat and still had a lead, and us in foul trouble. St Mary's got their blood flowing and it felt like they were about to blow it open. Ace gets hurt. We looked totally lost and St Mary's blows it open. Game over.

Im sorry, but that's not OK. No, I wouldn't expect that. St Mary's was #2 in the WCC, not the SEC.

But to me it exposed us as a very athletic team with low hoops skill levels and low maturity. We could defend one on one because we were more athletic. We didn't play zone very well because we didn't practice it very much. (I assume...I've haven't been to a hoops practice since the 80s). We couldn't shoot well, because great athletes who can shoot usually end up at Duke, UNC, Kentucky, etc. We didn't recruit actual bigs because they're "not athletic enough", so teams with real size could dominate the paint and get us into foul trouble.

We had the best player on the best team in the A-10 hence the POY. DPOY? He may not have been the best guard, defensively, on the VCU team, especially actually covering a quick guard man to man. Digging steals from the bigs, yes very good at that. Getting in the passing lane for interceptions, also very good at that.

Regardless, after being exposed, then you can analyze it and say, yes, we really never had a chance to beat St Marys. VCU 2022/23 was the best team in the very weak A10 and earned the auto-bid. We were probably over-seeded at 12 and should have been a 14 or 15. At large?? I guess you never know, but I don't think we had much of a chance.

So excited for the future and to see the 2023/24 roster perform.

Seeded 14 or 15??? Get a grip. St. Mary’s definitely wasn’t our best moment, however when you throw out those comments you lose all credibility.

 

[RamDanFan]

USU did the same thing bar winning the MW tournament. Lots of conjecture that Odom wanting to leave was well known by insiders mid season. Maybe that filtered down into the players who were already dreaming about their next landing spot and NIL deals.

Maybe people inside the program saw MR leaving as inevitable, and the team caved from there.

The chicken had already flown the coop. And to this day, I still believe Fermin’s unusual extended run against St. Mary’s was Rhoades dangling a carrot.

 

[RamJamFan]

St Mary’s was in control of majority of that game, particularly second half. Their bigs simply dominated our bigs. We were looking for rebounds like water in the desert. We were an average NCAA tourney team that got in from a 1 bid league because we won our conf tourney.

 

[BaNgMyPrOgRaM]

We got robbed. No way should that officiating should be so onesided. Johns and Deloach didn't get the calls like smu did/

 

[RamLover]

Wrong. A loss on Sunday to Dayton would have put us in the at-large pool. The committee, I suspect, inserts us into the last First Four spot, replacing Nevada (4th team from the MWC).

VCU loses Sunday to Dayton (MWC = 3 bids, A-10 = 2 bids).

VCU wins Sunday (MWC = 4 bids, A-10 = 1 bid).

Either way, P6 at-large bids = 31. Non-P6 at-large bids = 5. That profile/ratio is very typical.

The makeup (P6/non-P6 representation) of the committee likely wasn’t leaving a 26-win 1st place (by 3 games) A-10 (historical multi-bid conf) team out whilst admitting an 8th or 9th P6 conf 14-15 loss team like Ok St or Rutgers.

Our win against Dayton on Selection Sunday likely/effectively got Nevada a bid.

This is wrong. We would not have gone to the tournament without winning the A10. It’s just like saying 25 wins gets you in no matter what. That’s not always true anymore.

We needed that A10 win to go, and most people who get resumes understand why.

 

[Half-baked Mcbride]

The chicken had already flown the coop. And to this day, I still believe Fermin’s unusual extended run against St. Mary’s was Rhoades dangling a carrot.

I don't know, man....Rams/St Marys played 3/17....PSU lost to Texas the next day. Shrewsberry may or may not have known he was gonna leave....but let's not forget that PSU ripped through a who's who of candidates before they settled on (and overpaid) MR.

Fermin barely played....and that was with DeLoach absolutely laying a massive egg and Johns living in foul trouble.
Heck the entire bench and JJ shot 4-19 from the field....pretty awful "team effort"

postgame, I'm sure MR was thinkin he'd be running it back in RVa for the next season....it's not like he was a super sexy candidate for any NORMAL P6 position.

 

[AlienAiden]

We started the year with just one seasoned starter in Ace. All the other players were limited role bench players. Plus three of the potential starters were just coming off a freshman bench role campaign. Even the transfers were all role players (or taking a large step up in competition).
Over the course of the season, the team did exactly what you would expect a very good team would do......it got better every single month of the season, peaking with a long winning run to finish out the season. If you actually watched, you would have seen all the individual players move from being role players to high level starters over the course of the year. You could see them grow and develop into a very strong and talented cohesive team. I would loved to have seen that team stay together and bring all the development and skill to the new season. I think that team would have done a lot of damage in the upcoming preseason tournament. But it was not to be. Still, seeing that team group over the season was wonderful.

They were underwhelming early and got it together in February for a great run. It fizzled out in Albany. I agree with most of what you said. I wanted them back too but the coaches and most of the players disappeared.

Since this is the roster thread....it is quiet on that front.

 

[BGDragoon80]

We started the year with just one seasoned starter in Ace. All the other players were limited role bench players. Plus three of the potential starters were just coming off a freshman bench role campaign. Even the transfers were all role players (or taking a large step up in competition).
Over the course of the season, the team did exactly what you would expect a very good team would do......it got better every single month of the season, peaking with a long winning run to finish out the season. If you actually watched, you would have seen all the individual players move from being role players to high level starters over the course of the year. You could see them grow and develop into a very strong and talented cohesive team. I would loved to have seen that team stay together and bring all the development and skill to the new season. I think that team would have done a lot of damage in the upcoming preseason tournament. But it was not to be. Still, seeing that team group over the season was wonderful.

Jayden Nunn was a returning starter with Ace. He wasn't a role player. His VCU two year stats are below.
Career STATS
2022-23
2021-22
GP MIN FG% 3P% FT% REB AST BLK STL PF TO PTS
35 28.5 43.3 40.4 70.0 2.5 1.5 0.5 1.5 2.1 1.2 9.3
31 29.1 40.2 36.0 75.6 2.5 1.8 0.3 1.5 1.5 1.6 8.6

 

[TampaKAP]

Not to derail the roster thread and I have thought long and hard about this as there seems to be a pretty wide divide regarding MR. Not everyone as the same perspective and as such not everyone has the same or similar opinions. From a personal interaction level, my experiences with both WW and MR were very similar. They were always friendly and cordial with the real difference being I felt WW had a better basketball mind and MR was better at telling you what you thought you wanted to hear. As to which one I would prefer my kid play for, it's probably WW. I have a strong dislike for the "participation award" culture. WW was not there to be your friend or family but to win and make you better. I readily admit, I was excited when MR was selected as head coach. What I expected to get was that guy represented in the picture where he teeth were knocked out but I never really saw that guy. For every season that was less than ideal, I have seen people provide "reasons" and some of them may be valid. If you consider all of those reasons as "bad luck" then a reasonable person would take steps to change their luck.

Is MR a good coach? There are stats that say yes. Was he just terribly unlucky the past six years? There is data to support that as well. I am glad for VCU's sake that his luck "changed" in the form of the "perfect" opportunity before his luck "ran out" at VCU.

Two simple ask

1. Can we focus on the name on the front of the jersey first and foremost
2. Focus on the players and staff that represent the university

 

[KentuckyRam]

We got robbed. No way should that officiating should be so onesided. Johns and Deloach didn't get the calls like smu did/

The Kickout call on Ace was the one that got me. Every NBA game there is a similar incident where the shooter is always given the opportunity to have a safe landing on a jump shot. It never crossed the refs minds. That play was critical.

 

[AlienAiden]

Jacob Patrick has 2 points in 15 minutes of play as MHP advance to the next round.

MHP beat Baskets Oldenburg 3-0. Interestingly, the Oldenburg Wikipedia page lists former Ram Tyrone McCoy in the retired numbers section. Tyrone is an assistant coach in the BBL for a team on the other side of the bracket.

Tyron was an all-time great VCU Ram. I have been checking out highlights. Patrick has been playing in sold out arenas that are wild against tough competition. Hopefully we get him signed soon. I think he is gonna come in ready to play.

 

[theyaintwantit]

We lost Briante Weber for the season in 2015 and went on to win 4 games in Brooklyn and almost beat Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament. That team had a lot of players recruited while we were in the CAA and played in a much better A10.

Bri might not have been our best player, but he was the key to our defense and the heart and soul of our team. It’s not unrealistic to expect a team to be built to make it through a major injury.

As much as I loved that weekend in Brooklyn, VCU went 5-5 after the Bri injury and had some pathetic losses (at Davidson being the big one). Not to mention, Fordham had us on the ropes in the Thursday 5/12 A10 game.

 

[mrgeode]

As much as I loved that weekend in Brooklyn, VCU went 5-5 after the Bri injury and had some pathetic losses (at Davidson being the big one). Not to mention, Fordham had us on the ropes in the Thursday 5/12 A10 game.

I was sweating bullets trying to refresh the score while I was at work for that one.