Game 14: AT Virginia Commonwealth University, Saturday, Jan 2nd, 5 PM, CBS Sports Network

[GSII]

They never criticize their own. Lappas and Hewitt are very similar.

didnt he work for lappas at villanova?

 

[99 Patriot]

Doesn't speak volumes to our team on the road, but I walk away a little bit gratified by the fact that this vcu team is also nothing special. Johnson can score, Lewis can penetrate and they defend pretty well, but the 0 wins versus BCS teams makes a lot more sense now. Awful half-court sets, little reliable offense, and constant gambling exposing them to veteran teams getting easy buckets against them has be thinking their NCAA streak is at risk.

As for us, we've been awful on the road against bad teams, makes sense we'd be awful against a decent one. Livingston showed signs and Marquise is a good calming force but I'm not sure where I see a road W this year unless we have Abrams or Grayer blow up on the road like they have at home.

 

[Washingtonian]

Doesn't speak volumes to our team on the road, but I walk away a little bit gratified by the fact that this vcu team is also nothing special. Johnson can score, Lewis can penetrate and they defend pretty well, but the 0 wins versus BCS teams makes a lot more sense now. Awful half-court sets, little reliable offense, and constant gambling exposing them to veteran teams getting easy buckets against them has be thinking their NCAA streak is at risk.

As for us, we've been awful on the road against bad teams, makes sense we'd be awful against a decent one. Livingston showed signs and Marquise is a good calming force but I'm not sure where I see a road W this year unless we have Abrams or Grayer blow up on the road like they have at home.

At St. Louis....remember last year, blew them out by 30.

 

[Vurbel]

Silver lining: None of us expected to go to the NCAAs this season or anything. We are just looking to be improving. We've found our point guard for the next 4 years in Otis. Abram and Grayer have shown flashes of greatness and Murrell will be a solid player. Then we have some real nice players coming in next year. Our coach is excellent. Our AD is great. Our school president is the man!

And the fact vcu isn't nearly as good as they've been in past years is a bonus!

So in the macro, things are good in Fairfax!

 

[MasonCrew]

Maybe it's because I expected us to lose, but I wasn't that disappointed. We had a lot of open looks that didn't drop, and unforced turnovers. I saw some flashes from the young players, and an offense that at times was clicking perfectly. I know it sounds foolish to say after a 25 point beat down, but I also wasn't that impressed with vcu. They're just better than us this year, but they're not like their teams in the past. We'll be even again soon enough.

 

[Bricker]

Not much to add. vcu is about where I thought they would be and we lay another egg on the road. Defense was actually good at times... and aside from some trouble with passing in the opening minutes, offense didn't look nearly as bad as, say, the Towson game.

I was watching the game with no sound and I saw the camera give us the full-body pan of Wade's hideous suit. Did the announcers mention how ridiculous he looked in that pinstriped mess with matching shoes? Also, he looks like Woody from Toy Story. To me, he's Woody Wade from now on...

Mosey on down to the Stu, Woody Wade. Someone get this man a 10-gallon hat.

 

[gmutom]

Bricker, Wade's cheesy piggy bank coaching technique fits perfectly into your Toy Story reference.

As a way to get his players to think about details that could help the team, vcu coach Will Wade started making deposits into a fairly good-sized, pink piggy bank about a week ago.

The Rams have been spotty at details this season. So Wade asked every player to give him something they could work on, from watching film to shooting routines to practicing hook shots. When all 15 have taken care of their details and initialed a sheet, Wade drops in a quarter.

“We put deposits in so in a close game … we have something to (symbolically) withdraw,” he said.

http://www.richmond.com/sports/coll...cle_b86bd2f3-3fe5-5a30-945e-181ff019317b.html

 

[KAOriginal]

Quarters? He makes almost a $1Mill a year in contract and benefits and all he has is quarters?

Nothing says racism is still alive in Richmond, Va than the rich white guy doling out quarters to black kids and 1 possible terrorist.....

 

[MASONscott]

Watched it late last night on DVR.

Horrible final score, but I was impressed when we got to within 6. As others had mentioned Shevon looks like a bad fit for the high pick and roll. It wasn't even just him our guards never even looked to pass. Jenkins might be a better fit in that role.

Our freshmen showed flashes, but at the end of the day looked like freshman.

I loved Paulsens constant coaching on the floor and when players subbed out. If a few more of our open looks actually fell the game could have been at least closer.

A player positive - Moore's penetration is Outstanding. They are different players but when it comes to actually getting to the basket he could get to a Bryon Allen level.

Sent from my SM-G900P using Tapatalk

 

[JimP]

Quarters? He makes almost a $1Mill a year in contract and benefits and all he has is quarters?

Nothing says racism is still alive in Richmond, Va than the rich white guy doling out quarters to black kids and 1 possible terrorist.....

Nice...I was waiting for the idiotic terrorist post. Guy had a field day down low. Can we trade one of our forwards for him?

 

[GSII]

Shevon in the pick and roll is horrible. But our guards also don't trust him b/c he fumbles their passes almost. every. single. time. Either its mental or he can't take a bump and catch the ball at the same time. its a mystery to many.

When we play them at home, I won't be surprised if we beat them. I don't see an Ncaa tourney team.

 

[gmutom]

Shevon in the pick and roll is horrible. But our guards also don't trust him b/c he fumbles their passes almost. every. single. time. Either its mental or he can't take a bump and catch the ball at the same time. its a mystery to many.

They need to throw him alley-oops instead of bouncing the ball at his feet or trying to hit him with a chest pass. Shevon is only effective when he keeps the ball high, so why any of our guards would throw him low passes is beyond me. He is so limited offensively, so play to his strengths (height) with high passes that lead to dunks. We're doomed the second he has to put the ball on the floor.

 

[mkaufman1]

They need to throw him alley-oops instead of bouncing the ball at his feet or trying to hit him with a chest pass. Shevon is only effective when he keeps the ball high, so why any of our guards would throw him low passes is beyond me. He is so limited offensively, so play to his strengths (height) with high passes that lead to dunks. We're doomed the second he has to put the ball on the floor.

It seemed like the guards had so much trouble even just passing the ball and everytime they tried to get it to Shevon, either he was fronted or it would be rushed and vcu stole the ball.If they threw it high, the ball would probably be taken right away from him from the help on defense.

He's great at rebounding, but I have no clue why he can't push around a guy smaller than him, post up and move to the basket. But obviously it appears coaches have adjusted and know that if they deny that, they have a decent chance at winning. How Thompson can be 6'11 and only have 2 shots the entire game is beyond me.

 

[gmutom]

It seemed like the guards had so much trouble even just passing the ball and everytime they tried to get it to Shevon, either he was fronted or it would be rushed and vcu stole the ball.If they threw it high, the ball would probably be taken right away from him from the help on defense.

We're screwed if Thompson holds the ball more than a second, because he he either fumbles it away or has it taken away. He just lacks the skills, toughness and confidence to be a great offensive player. He and Moore should actually be a great tandem with the pick and roll, because teams have to respect Moore's ability to finish at the basket. Unfortunately, more often than not, Marquise looks to throw the ball back out when he doesn't shoot rather than looking to get it back to Thompson or Jenkins.

 

[smccart5]

we need to figure out a way to capitalize on Shevon being doubled immediately every time he touches the ball. Or figure out how we can get him more alley-oop opportunies since he doesn't have great post skills.

Either way, need to get him scoring more than once, especially against a smaller team.

 

[GSII]

if u look closely like i did at the replay of the game, shevon rolls, somewhat, but looks timid doing so. seems its mental.

 

[stimes]

They need to throw him alley-oops instead of bouncing the ball at his feet or trying to hit him with a chest pass. Shevon is only effective when he keeps the ball high, so why any of our guards would throw him low passes is beyond me. He is so limited offensively, so play to his strengths (height) with high passes that lead to dunks. We're doomed the second he has to put the ball on the floor.

I dont know if anybody knows, but Shevon has been having major problems with his foot. Its obvious in his lack of mobility! So lets give the guy a break, not once has he used that as an excuse.

 

[gmutom]

I dont know if anybody knows, but Shevon has been having major problems with his foot. Its obvious in his lack of mobility! So lets give the guy a break, not once has he used that as an excuse.

I was well aware of his foot injury, but he wasn't the swiftest of players even before the injury. That's not a dig at the guy, just the reality of his game. The key the rest of the year isn't to try to change Shevon's game but to play to the strengths he does have. And if the foot continues to hinder him, I think it would be wise for the coaches to limit the high pick and rolls.

 

[GMUgemini]

I was well aware of his foot injury, but he wasn't the swiftest of players even before the injury. That's not a dig at the guy, just the reality of his game. The key the rest of the year isn't to try to change Shevon's game but to play to the strengths he does have. And if the foot continues to hinder him, I think it would be wise for the coaches to limit the high pick and rolls.

To me, his strengths don't comport with Paulsen's half court offense. If he's going to score, it's going to be off of putbacks or being able to run the floor in the open court and trailing on fast breaks (unfortunately, something that's very rare).

In the meantime, I think he just needs to learn how to post up, absorb a double team and pass out of it. And if the double doesn't come? Well, lucky day.

 

[liem.le.3388]

Finally watched the first half of the game. Why does Shevon look tired constantly, can Mike Mo run him through a lesson of being fierce. We def didn't match vcu's energy but now the freshmen know what they have to bring into a10 play. Now time to brace myself to watch the second half.