WHAT WILL IT TAKE FOR VCU TO KEEP WINNING?

BigTimeRamFan

BigTimeRamFan

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WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VCU TO WIN IT'S NEXT BASKETBALL GAME?
Does Joey have to have a big game? It helps. Does Brad have to step up? Does Jamie need to score 32? Does Shaka have to make all the right moves? Do we need to score 70+. Sure, it all would help, but when it comes down to it, all you have to do is ….score at least one more point than your opponent.
When pretty, win ugly, it doesn’t matter. Joey scores 20 or 2 points, doesn’t matter. It’s all about the effort. You can’t play your best every night, but you can always try to.
It takes a total team effort to win consistently. It takes every player and coach on the bench to contribute. Contribute small or large, doesn’t matter. Just contribute. Dive for a loose ball. Take a charge. Get a steal. Force a turnover.You've got to play hard, play Smart, value every possession. Play with desire to win! Give it a 100% every minute you’re out there.
Take a look at the Wichita St. game. Just a great total effort from everyone. Every guy contributed, whether it was the guy with 12 rebounds or the guy with 1. Whether it was the guy with 17 pts., or the guy with none. Thirty-seven minutes or just 3. Every contribution mattered last night.
Our team is talented. Our coaching staff is top notch. Don’t doubt it. It’s always been about the effort. We saw what this team is capable off last night because we finally got 100% effort out of every guy on the same night. I knew we could rebound if we would just commit to it. If we can play with that passion and effort every game, we’ll be hard to stop the rest of the way.
We saw a glimpse into the future with DJ last night. That pick and roll play is there any time we want it. It’s all about trusting DJ and JR to handle the pass, when we throw it to them and do something good with it. Rob in only 3 minutes of play was big. I would love to see more of him. That kid gives you 100% every second of every minute. That’s what it takes to win. Every minute you’re on the court matters.
JR played big. Toby was big. Every player stepped up! The coaches stepped up. The effort was there. We need it every night guys. Hats off to Hook for making the trip. Now that’s effort! GO RAMS!!!
 
Re: WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VCU TO WIN A BASKETBALL GAME?

More points than the other team.
 
Re: WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VCU TO WIN A BASKETBALL GAME?

This team's biggest challenge has been maintaining intensity [D and rebounding] when our outside shots aren't falling. I've oversimplified; but when we maintain our intensity on D and rebounding, we can win ugly, or lose close games we could have won [USF]. We simply do not have the talent, in our backcourt especially, to beat quality teams without significant intensity, especially when our O struggles.

[I'm not slamming our guards...but our coaching changes have been felt most there. When we lost at O.K. and in tournament to UCLA, our guard play was average to poor against those teams, and we had Eric. I mention this becuase VCU guard play has historically been outstanding. VCU coaching stability has hurt maintaining that high-level]. I love our three sr. guards, but sometimes they need help we simply do not have, especially on stopping dribble penetration and creating it on the other end to get off their own shot].
 
Re: WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VCU TO WIN A BASKETBALL GAME?

All of that said, I think Shaka has done a tremendous job coaching up our guards. People seem to forget Rozzell's horrendous shooting woes on the road and Nixon's horrendous shooting woes just about everywhere.
 
Re: WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VCU TO WIN A BASKETBALL GAME?

they actually have won 21
where have you been
 
Re: WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VCU TO WIN A BASKETBALL GAME?

vcubanana said:
More points than the other team.
Click to expand...

HqzjK.jpg
 
Re: WHAT DOES IT TAKE FOR VCU TO WIN A BASKETBALL GAME?

that's awesome
 
Let's not pretend; The Male Sheep turn the "V" in VCU into Victory when the three-balls are tickling the twine.

Pull up a chair; let me explain.

First of all, let me announce this has been the best season in VCU history, when you factor in attendance - an enormous factor that transcends W's and L's. Interest in the program has skyrocketed beyond what I thought possible.

Now for the Threedom of Speech discussion:

VCU has outscored its foes by a total of 133 points this season ... but the Rams have a 216-point lead from distance. That's a fairly shocking stat, especially considering the Rams holstered the long-ball in many wins during the final, milk-the-clock minutes.

Overall, the Rams are hitting 36 percent from beyond the arc ... in eight defeats, they are 51-170, 30 percent (lowpoint: 1-for-14 vs. UR). In the season-altering setbacks to ODU-GMU, the Rams were 12-for-46 on treys - 26 percent.

VCU is an average offensive team inside the arc and in earning trips to the charity stripe. It's from outside 20 feet that the Rams - relying on a bevy of sharpshooters - really sharpen their horns.

Class dismmissed: you're all free now to go to softball practice.
 
bighorn said:
Let's not pretend; The Male Sheep turn the "V" in VCU into Victory when the three-balls are tickling the twine.

Pull up a chair; let me explain.

First of all, let me announce this has been the best season in VCU history, when you factor in attendance - an enormous factor that transcends W's and L's. Interest in the program has skyrocketed beyond what I thought possible.

Now for the Threedom of Speech discussion:

VCU has outscored its foes by a total of 133 points this season ... but the Rams have a 216-point lead from distance. That's a fairly shocking stat, especially considering the Rams holstered the long-ball in many wins during the final, milk-the-clock minutes.

Overall, the Rams are hitting 36 percent from beyond the arc ... in eight defeats, they are 51-170, 30 percent (lowpoint: 1-for-14 vs. UR). In the season-altering setbacks to ODU-GMU, the Rams were 12-for-46 on treys - 26 percent.

VCU is an average offensive team inside the arc and in earning trips to the charity stripe. It's from outside 20 feet that the Rams - relying on a bevy of sharpshooters - really sharpen their horns.

Class dismmissed: you're all free now to go to softball practice.
Click to expand...

Precisely.

We play from the outside-in, meaning we rely on the three-point shot to spread the defense out and give ourselves space inside for interior penetration. We have Skeen inside for that. Our other bigs - Haley, Reddic, Veal - have not shown enough consistency yet to be considered proven, reliable options in the paint. They are showing tremendous signs of improvement, though, and hopefully will be more of a factor in the coming games.

When teams play a static 2-3 zone against us, our options are to 1) attack it inside with dribble penetration (the only player we have who can do that effectively is Skeen, who promptly draws a double-team as soon as he gets inside the arc), 2) overload one side (risky, since if we miss a shot and do not get an offensive board, this turns transition defense into a foot race and usually ends up as two easy points for the opposition), and 3) shoot over it (which is what I suspect Shaka is trying to do when he plays those 4-guard lineups some of you seem to hate so much).

A 2-3 matchup zone is even tougher, because the principle is man-to-man on the perimeter, making it more difficult to hit our threes. The 2-3 matchup zone negates any advantage we have in athleticism. All of the discussion about our players being "better" than the other team's becomes moot.

Most of the teams we have lost to have run some sort of matchup zone against us for an extended period of time (thinking back to the Tulane game, I believe they ran a 3-2 matchup zone which befuddled our offense and allowed them to claw their way back into the game at the end). Credit the opposing coaches for understanding our personnel, our strengths and our weaknesses, and taking advantage of them. The 2-3 matchup zone is the perfect tool for stifling our offense.

Defensively, I believe I heard the telecasters during the Wichita State game say that Shaka didn't like how our intensity on defense relied so much on our success on offense. If that's the case, it would certainly explain a lot about how we seem to "give up" on the other end of the floor after one of our threes rims out or gets an unlucky roll. The offensive "fouls" (none of which I agreed with - looking at replays the defenders' feet were clearly moving on all of them) in the Mason game killed any momentum we were trying to build, and our defensive effort showed as we allowed open looks on three-pointer after three-pointer.

We don't have a "spark plug" who can create on defense when we are running flat. If teams slow us down and we are not hitting our threes, we have trouble on both ends of the floor. We don't have a stone cold shooter like Eric Maynor, and we don't have a defensive freak of nature like Larry Sanders - two players who helped to "mask" the deficiencies we had on offense and defense the past few seasons.

That said, I think things are looking up. Everybody is learning - Shaka and the players alike. Changing the mentality of a team takes time (and usually comes at the expense of success in the early going - see Siena, Nevada, Creighton, Seton Hall, Charlotte, et cetera). The fact that we have had back-to-back 20+ win seasons is remarkable considering how competitive the CAA is (and considering the two teams at the top have had the benefit of stability at head coach).
 
I will post this over and over again until people stop asking the same questions...when Joey plays well we win, when he doesnt we almost always lose...vs. tenn. he could not buy a 3 and we lost. vs. Winthrop and wake and ucla he was on fire and we won. he carried us to victory at towson. vs. Mason and ODU at home he had very poor games and we lost. Friday night at wichita...double-double - 15 and 11 and some boards and he gets to the line and wins the game...it really does come down to joey...the other guys will get theirs for the most part. When joey is passing and shooting well we are very tough to beat !!
 
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