RIVALS: VCU's Sanders a fast riser

[xjohnx]

http://collegebasketball.rivals.com/con ... CID=995778

Whenever his high school basketball coach used to mention the possibility of a future in the NBA, VCU forward Larry Sanders would reject the idea as if it were a weak floater from an overmatched opponent.

After all, Sanders hadn't played organized basketball until his sophomore year at Port St. Lucie (Fla.) High School. How could he expect to play basketball in college, let alone the pro ranks?

"My high school coach always said little stuff about the NBA or a little stuff about college, but I never really paid attention," Sanders said. "It was like a foreign language to me. When he said the NBA to me, I would say, 'Coach, calm down.' "

Those NBA discussions don't seem so outlandish anymore.

 

[ramathon74]

"I want to try to lead the nation in rebounds," Sanders said. "That's one of my goals. I want to be in the top five, if not leading the nation."

Great goal for the year - hope it is achieved.

 

[Half-baked Mcbride]

I only went back as far as the 1999 season...but who was the last Ram to avg. double digits in boards???
LF had a 7.7 in 01-02
Troy had an 8.2 in 02-03
Larry had 8.6 last season

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've always felt like rebounding was a consistent weakness for the program as far back as I remember (1992 freshman year for me). Maybe I'm wrong....but it certainly seems that way.
Hopefully Larry/Jamie/Terrance? could change that

 

[Mercury]

This should be the first season in a while where we actually have solid rebounding

 

[artRAMinMN]

If we're pressing a lot, and with Larry's power to intimidate and give potential shooters second thoughts, there may be fewer defensive rebound opportunities than other teams might have on average... and hopefully we won't be making up the difference with our own misses/offensive rebound opportunities.

I assume a blocked shot does not count as a rebound, and every steal, forced turnover, offensive foul, or shot clock violation is better than a defensive rebound, because there's no lower percentage shot than a shot never taken (plus fewer chances for an over-the-back foul on Larry).

Rather than lead in the pure number of rebounds, I'd love to see him lead in the percentage of rebound opportunities achieved.

 

[rollins77]

I only went back as far as the 1999 season...but who was the last Ram to avg. double digits in boards???
LF had a 7.7 in 01-02
Troy had an 8.2 in 02-03
Larry had 8.6 last season

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've always felt like rebounding was a consistent weakness for the program as far back as I remember (1992 freshman year for me). Maybe I'm wrong....but it certainly seems that way.
Hopefully Larry/Jamie/Terrance? could change that

Bighorn's going to be upset he didn't post this first...

Bernard Hopkins, 1995-96, 10.1 rpg.

There have literally been two guys to average double-digit rebounds in a year for VCU since 1979. Two. Kendrick Warren is the other.

 

[xjohnx]

Bighorn's going to be upset he didn't post this first...

Bernard Hopkins, 1995-96, 10.1 rpg.

There have literally been two guys to average double-digit rebounds in a year for VCU since 1979. Two. Kendrick Warren is the other.

I'm sure he'll appreciate it. He's been very busy tallying the statistics of the RTD's coverage of UofR that he promised everyone.

 

[Mercury]

Bighorn's going to be upset he didn't post this first...

Bernard Hopkins, 1995-96, 10.1 rpg.

There have literally been two guys to average double-digit rebounds in a year for VCU since 1979. Two. Kendrick Warren is the other.

I'm sure he'll appreciate it. He's been very busy tallying the statistics of the RTD's coverage of UofR that he promised everyone.

Last I heard he was still counting

 

[artRAMinMN]

Bighorn's going to be upset he didn't post this first...

Bernard Hopkins, 1995-96, 10.1 rpg.

There have literally been two guys to average double-digit rebounds in a year for VCU since 1979. Two. Kendrick Warren is the other.

I'm sure he'll appreciate it. He's been very busy tallying the statistics of the RTD's coverage of UofR that he promised everyone.

there's a pretty long wait to time-share on the NSA's Crays up at Ft. Meade, and even those monsters will probably take a while to crunch those numbers

 

[Half-baked Mcbride]

I only went back as far as the 1999 season...but who was the last Ram to avg. double digits in boards???
LF had a 7.7 in 01-02
Troy had an 8.2 in 02-03
Larry had 8.6 last season

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've always felt like rebounding was a consistent weakness for the program as far back as I remember (1992 freshman year for me). Maybe I'm wrong....but it certainly seems that way.
Hopefully Larry/Jamie/Terrance? could change that

Bighorn's going to be upset he didn't post this first...

Bernard Hopkins, 1995-96, 10.1 rpg.

There have literally been two guys to average double-digit rebounds in a year for VCU since 1979. Two. Kendrick Warren is the other.

cool thanks Rollins...the sad thing is I was in the pep band for both of those guys. In my defense...the Coliseum had a bar and the band took our breaks there before returning to the stands.

 

[BradRamFan]

While I like Larry's goal, we won't be an overall team leader in rebs unless we have others that go after the ball too. TJ has always been a go getter for the ball.

When Capel was a coach here we consistently out rebounded opponents (well there were a few games we sucked at it...like the time we just picked up players from around town...lol). The point being we will need others to go after the ball. Sometimes that is difficult if you are a fast paced, transition game team....players are all trying to get down the court.

 

[VCUFTW]

When I think of an exceptional display of rebounding with members of our current squad, I always go back to the UAB-VCU heart breaker. KP snatched 9 boards in 19 minutes that game and I remember how much heart he showed in that break out performance.

Not to be a downer, but when I glanced at the box scores just now I had forgotten that Kearsed had 16 and was 4 for 5 from three point land

 

[BaNgMyPrOgRaM]

Karill's gonna be awesome this year for us. He loves to play with Sanders and I think the feeling is mutual.