RTD: Rodriguez getting stroke back, Smart not happy with D

[districtballer]

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/rtd/s...etball/article/VCUB01_20091231-222203/314797/

Inconsistent shooting was starting to wear on Virginia Commonwealth point guard Joey Rodriguez. That's why a trip home to Florida for Christmas and a big game Tuesday came at the right time.

Rodriguez hit 7 of 14 shots and finished with a season-high 19 points in an 82-74 victory over East Carolina. Seven of his points came as the Rams pulled away with a 19-5 finishing kick.

He also had five rebounds, five assists, three steals and one turnover in 33 minutes.
....
Rodriguez was shooting just 22.2 percent on 3-pointers and 33.3 percent overall before Tuesday. The trip home, he said, served as a refresher.

"I've been concentrating on other things," said Rodriguez, now 11 for 22 in his past three games. "I'm definitely starting to get back into the groove and shoot a little bit more."

VCU coach Shaka Smart was not happy with the Rams' defensive effort against East Carolina and labeled their shot selection as "fair."
....
"Larry caught the ball a lot of times in the long post, which is not the low post on the block and in the lane," he said. "It's outside, 6, 7, 8, 9 feet from the basket or even more.

"We ended up shooting a lot of jump shots. We shot 29 3s for the game, which normally I don't mind, but I think that's a little bit too many for a game when a huge point of emphasis was to touch the paint. . . . I think we had an advantage there we could have exploited better."

 

[ram4life]

Reading the "odds and ends" section of the above R/T Dispatch article sounds as we are playing better than last year. Interesting. Who would have predicted that when both Grant and Maynor left last spring?

 

[ramathon74]

At least Coach Smart recognizes we are not wreaking havoc, just more like reeking on the defensive end.

 

[ndnballer09]

Shaka keeps it real, son