RTD: Reinforcements, health problems, and 2nd half-defense

districtballer

districtballer

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http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/s...etball/article/VCUN11_20091210-223007/310899/

Virginia Commonwealth's basketball team has been thin on big men, but inside help is on the way.

Sophomore forward Terrance Saintil has been cleared to play and will be available for tomorrow's game against cross-town rival Richmond at the Siegel Center.

The 6-8, 240-pound Saintil had surgery in late October to repair ligament damage in his right thumb and wasn't expected back until the end of this month. He practiced Tuesday for the first time. Saintil averaged 1.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 7.7 minutes as a freshman.

Additionally, 6-9, 245-pound junior forward Jamie Skeen will become eligible after the Richmond game. Skeen, who transferred from Wake Forest, had to sit out the first semester under NCAA transfer rules.
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Point guard Joey Rodriguez hasn't been 100 percent because of a bruise around the thumb on his shooting hand. Sanders has been plagued by headaches and nasal problems. He almost didn't play against William and Mary -- scoring 14 points and getting 10 rebounds -- and didn't practice earlier this week.

"Larry's been really sick," Smart said. "It's a real testament to him that he could come out and battle through that and get a double-double. As of an hour before the game, we weren't sure he was going to be able to play."
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The Rams are allowing 29.1 points during the first half. That figure jumps to a whopping 40.3 points in the second half.

Three teams have scored 48 points on VCU after intermission.

"It's certainly a trend you want to reverse and keep from happening," Smart said. "I think we're still in transition being able to play the way we want to play for extended stretches of time. We're not there yet. . . . We're still figuring out the way we want to press, the way we want to run, for longer stretches of time. That takes time to adjust to mentally and physically."
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Point guard Joey Rodriguez hasn't been 100 percent because of a bruise around the thumb on his shooting hand.
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Haven't heard about this, do you think this is the real reason why he's not hitting as many 3s as last year?(provided that it's not because that it's the beginning of the season)
 
OK article - - at least the inference is there...

We are short, short-handed, and sick and are winning anyway. Though, does anyone see a correlation between this and losing big 2nd half leads? The guys are running out of steam!
 
VCU RAM said:
Point guard Joey Rodriguez hasn't been 100 percent because of a bruise around the thumb on his shooting hand.
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Haven't heard about this, do you think this is the real reason why he's not hitting as many 3s as last year?(provided that it's not because that it's the beginning of the season)
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He had his hand wrapped before the W&M game. I honestly thing his shooting problems are in his head not his hand.
 
Rambunctious said:
OK article - - at least the inference is there...

We are short, short-handed, and sick and are winning anyway. Though, does anyone see a correlation between this and losing big 2nd half leads? The guys are running out of steam!
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A system that was designed to wear down the other team may be wearing down our own team
 
Mercury said:
Rambunctious said:
OK article - - at least the inference is there...

We are short, short-handed, and sick and are winning anyway. Though, does anyone see a correlation between this and losing big 2nd half leads? The guys are running out of steam!
Click to expand...

A system that was designed to wear down the other team may be wearing down our own team
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I don't wants to hear this! May be right, however.
 
Relax guys. One, I repeat ONE guy was sick and is ready to go. Joey has a bruise on his shooting hand, okay I understand that. How do we get from there to our guys are running out of steam? We just lost a game by 1 point on the road to the hottest team in the conference and we're making statements like that?! Let's step back from the ledge a bit.

The guys will be fine. Larry didn't catch a cold because he was working too hard on the court. :?
 
districtballer said:
Relax guys. One, I repeat ONE guy was sick and is ready to go. Joey has a bruise on his shooting hand, okay I understand that. How do we get from there to our guys are running out of steam? We just lost a game by 1 point on the road to the hottest team in the conference and we're making statements like that?! Let's step back from the ledge a bit.

The guys will be fine. Larry didn't catch a cold because he was working too hard on the court. :?
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It has nothing to do with the injuries our first and second halves have been night and day. Look at the stats 29PPG in the first half 48 PPG in the second half. What else can explain this besides fatigue? We ran W&M all over the place jumpshots fell in and everything in the first half. Second half comes around and you know the rest.

All our games minus OU have gone the same way we come out running flying all over the place making all our threes and what not. Second half comes around the other team routinely doubles what they score in the first half and all our jump shots stop falling etc.

Getting Saintil and Skeen back will help out
 
You make a great point...perhaps we have to work on carrying our stamina into the second half. The same thing happened with WMU after we were up big-time and then got blown out in the 2nd half. Having Saintil will give us that much more depth and Skeen the game after should also help us. KP really does seem caught out of the loop with this style of play and will likely lose the few minutes he has had to this point unless he fits a particular matchup where his bulk is needed.
 
districtballer said:
You make a great point...perhaps we have to work on carrying our stamina into the second half. The same thing happened with WMU after we were up big-time and then got blown out in the 2nd half. Having Saintil will give us that much more depth and Skeen the game after should also help us. KP really does seem caught out of the loop with this style of play and will likely lose the few minutes he has had to this point unless he fits a particular matchup where his bulk is needed.
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Same thing happened vs Nevada (free throws make it look larger) we were up 16 almost blew it but time ran down on them
 
Its almost like an Ali fight our opponents let us go all out in the first half and they just take the blows then when we get tired in the second half and they take over and win the fight
 
Mercury said:
districtballer said:
Relax guys. One, I repeat ONE guy was sick and is ready to go. Joey has a bruise on his shooting hand, okay I understand that. How do we get from there to our guys are running out of steam? We just lost a game by 1 point on the road to the hottest team in the conference and we're making statements like that?! Let's step back from the ledge a bit.

The guys will be fine. Larry didn't catch a cold because he was working too hard on the court. :?
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It has nothing to do with the injuries our first and second halves have been night and day. Look at the stats 29PPG in the first half 48 PPG in the second half. What else can explain this besides fatigue? We ran W&M all over the place jumpshots fell in and everything in the first half. Second half comes around and you know the rest.

All our games minus OU have gone the same way we come out running flying all over the place making all our threes and what not. Second half comes around the other team routinely doubles what they score in the first half and all our jump shots stop falling etc.

Getting Saintil and Skeen back will help out
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I have to agree with merc unfortunately. Our opponents are averaging 29 points in the 1st half and 40 in the 2nd. There is really nothing else to attribute that to except us not being able to keep up our tempo.
 
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