2011-2012 NCAA Basketball Thread

[mlmpetert]

Wanted to start a 2011-2012 VCU BBall thread, but thought a more inclusive thread would be better.

I think i stated last season that i thought VCU was set up to be a better team this year then they were last. I definitely dont think thats true anymore, and was thinking Jamie Skeen was a junior back then. I didnt realize how young VCU was going to be this year, partly because weve had some very strong recruiting classes over the last 3 years. VCU is VERY young especially for a CAA or mid major team with only 1 senior this year, 6 freshman, 3 sophomores, 3 juniors.

Up until Sunday night i thought we had a long season ahead of us but even though we lost we played really well against Anthony Grant's Alabama team. I think Grant is an excellent coach and will continue to be one for a very long time to come. Alabama will always be a football first school, but i can see Grant bringing a lot big wins and taking Alabama deep into the NCAA tournament on a regular basis. I cant say enough about him, hes going to be a great coach.

Back to VCU. After tonight's win i think we are 4-3. We are clearly a young team and have had a lot of trouble (until recently) with shooting and turning the ball over. A lot of dumb mistakes and TONS of bad shots. The CAA looks a little weaker then what everyone thought it was going to be so we might have a chance at finishing in the top 3. However ill be surprised if we win more then 22 games. We always seem to do well in the CAA tourney and hopefully our guys will have matured a little bit by that point so maybe we can get a automatic selection. But I dont see a at large selection this year.

I think next year we could be really really good. After Jeff Capel turned the school around and once Anthony Grant came in and was able to bring in legit recruits year after year we have been loading up on talent. It should all come together towards the end of this year and through the next 2 years. A lot of people down here feel like our team is just as athletic, and in many cases much more athletic, then almost every other program out there. The difference is that our guys are a little more raw then the recruits the big named schools get.

Last year was definitely a fluke and we were a very up and down team and happened to get hot during the NCAA tourney. And even though everyone came to love Joey Rodriguez he was never a fan favorite until VCU's big run. He even took a lot of heat down here until he started playing lights out in the NCAA tourney, nearly transferring before the start of the season because his starting spot was in doubt. No one will ever come close to replacing Eric Maynor, but after you have a PG like that its hard to get used to average mid major PG play. Our new PG is junior Darius Theus and so far he hasnt really lived up to the hype he generate when he signed here. He has though looked really good in the last 2 games so maybe he just needs a little time stepping into his leadership role. I think hes going to be the biggest determinate to how successful we are or arnt this year. So well see.

We are probably just as good as we were last year and as long as we make our shots so we can set up our defense we can wear out almost any team with our relentless full court press... honestly our athletes are as good as anyones, even coming off the bench. Not making shots and not turning the ball over is and will be our problem this year.

Next year though we should be real good and I wouldnt be surprised to see us in and out of the top 25 rankings all year long. We also will have a lot of chances even if VT still refuses to play us. If anyone else is planning on going to the Bahamas next year, ill be there and so will be a lot of big named schools/opportunities. Besides tournaments the only other way we get to play big named schools is by putting clauses in former coaches contracts that we get to play a series with them. Next year Anthony Grant will return with the Roll Tide and hopefully we can pull of a big upset a la Jeff Capel's #18 Oklahoma in 2009. Im in the picture below fyi (and contrary to what most of you probably think, i did NOT play bball at the college level (weird right?)):



Either way should be a great season for college ball, shit even UVA won last night!

VCU!!

Also a big thanks to SS for getting the VCU ESPN3 contract done. I get to watch at least 25 games from home this year! Much appreciated!!

VCU Rams - from Barely Bubble to Final Four -...

[GMScud]

Ah yes, this reminds me very well of our bickering during the NCAA's last year. Good ol VCU. I had forgotten Anthony Grant is your coach. Another one of Billy Donovan's proteges. You're welcome.

Go Gators, and here's to college basketball season. Love me some college hoops.

[mlmpetert]

Yeah i think you were saying VT should have gotten the nod over VCU? The VCU selection was definitely a stretch but I still think VT, even though a household name, from the ACC and with their upset against Duke, would have been more of a stretch. There was another team (maybe Colorado) that I thought would have been the more reasonable choice. I have no idea how selection committees work, but can you imagine the heat they felt from colleagues, followed by the you guys got lucky jokes? I would love to see the minutes or hear the rationale they had picking VCU over the more politically friendly choices. They had to know it was going to be a unpopular choice, maybe not to the extent it was, but still a unpopular choice.

I like FL a lot, and am very thankful for Billy Donovan. Shaka Smart, our current coach, was also one of his proteges. Smart’s coaching style is wreck havoc on defense and take a shot when you want to. Donovan uses a press a lot, Grant uses/used it more than Donovan, but no one uses it more the Smart. Its aggressive hard defense the whole time with VCU. It catches teams off guard, wears them out and allows Davids to beat Goliaths. I think we’ll start to see it spread through the NCAA simply because of the success its given VCU over big programs for the last 5+ years. If youre a smaller program in a big conference, like VT, youd be foolish not to use it. As long as you have a athletic bench youre good.

Im not a big fan of Smart’s offensive philosophy which is basically shoot if youre feeling it. When we are up by 8 have 3 minutes left and our guard takes a shot from 4 feet behind the 3 point line with 25+ seconds left on the shot clock you cringed. But everyone says this is part of what helps us get a lot of highly ranked recruits. We let players play and develop their own game, win & have fun and let them try to make a name for themselves so they can go to Europe or maybe even the NBA when their done here.

Something else I don’t like is that we rarely set up and look to work down low even though we have 2 sophomores that could become really good. DJ Haley is a athletic 7 foot true center, that’s also American (kind of rare for mid majors). Im a little worried about his hands and overall strength, but he was highly prized and could be good. He’s supposed to be really smart and choose VCU because of a unique engineering program we have. Javonte Reddic is a 6-9 forward who plays more of a 4 but can shoot and is versatile enough to play the 3. He reminds me a lot of Jamie Skeen.

Im not hating on Smart, I just liked Grant’s style of coaching a little more. But Smart is apparently genius smart, works hard as hell and has a great track record. Its pretty easy to put a lot of faith and trust into people like that, so I am, along with everyone else down here, 100% behind him.

[GMScud]

Originally Posted by mlmpetert

Yeah i think you were saying VT should have gotten the nod over VCU? The VCU selection was definitely a stretch but I still think VT, even though a household name, from the ACC and with their upset against Duke, would have been more of a stretch. There was another team (maybe Colorado) that I thought would have been the more reasonable choice. I have no idea how selection committees work, but can you imagine the heat they felt from colleagues, followed by the you guys got lucky jokes? I would love to see the minutes or hear the rationale they had picking VCU over the more politically friendly choices. They had to know it was going to be a unpopular choice, maybe not to the extent it was, but still a unpopular choice.

I like FL a lot, and am very thankful for Billy Donovan. Shaka Smart, our current coach, was also one of his proteges. Smart’s coaching style is wreck havoc on defense and take a shot when you want to. Donovan uses a press a lot, Grant uses/used it more than Donovan, but no one uses it more the Smart. Its aggressive hard defense the whole time with VCU. It catches teams off guard, wears them out and allows Davids to beat Goliaths. I think we’ll start to see it spread through the NCAA simply because of the success its given VCU over big programs for the last 5+ years. If youre a smaller program in a big conference, like VT, youd be foolish not to use it. As long as you have a athletic bench youre good.

Im not a big fan of Smart’s offensive philosophy which is basically shoot if youre feeling it. When we are up by 8 have 3 minutes left and our guard takes a shot from 4 feet behind the 3 point line with 25+ seconds left on the shot clock you cringed. But everyone says this is part of what helps us get a lot of highly ranked recruits. We let players play and develop their own game, win & have fun and let them try to make a name for themselves so they can go to Europe or maybe even the NBA when their done here.

Something else I don’t like is that we rarely set up and look to work down low even though we have 2 sophomores that could become really good. DJ Haley is a athletic 7 foot true center, that’s also American (kind of rare for mid majors). Im a little worried about his hands and overall strength, but he was highly prized and could be good. He’s supposed to be really smart and choose VCU because of a unique engineering program we have. Javonte Reddic is a 6-9 forward who plays more of a 4 but can shoot and is versatile enough to play the 3. He reminds me a lot of Jamie Skeen.

Im not hating on Smart, I just liked Grant’s style of coaching a little more. But Smart is apparently genius smart, works hard as hell and has a great track record. Its pretty easy to put a lot of faith and trust into people like that, so I am, along with everyone else down here, 100% behind him.

Sigh. Let's call this thread what it is- The 2011-2012 VCU thread started under the guise of a generic college b-ball thread.

[mlmpetert]

Sounds good to me! I think there is another big VCU fan on this board. And i believe Chico is a GMU alumni who roots for the CAA so perhpas there will be more then just posts from me in this thread?

[mlmpetert]

The Black and Blue Classic tonight on ESPN! VCU vs UR (both sweet 16 teams) at VCU this year.

It should be a great game. VCU is favored by 4 just because its a home game but i could see UR winning. Tickets to the game have been going for 100+ (which is crazy down here) and have sold out for weeks. My friend just sent me a text and his boss game him 2 club level tickets! Should be a awesome game!

[GMScud]

Patric Young is looking like the class of the SEC as far as big men go. A couple of MONSTER games.

Side note- really pleased with the way G'Town has been playing so far as well.

And man, I really hate that that scumbag Calipari has the #1 team in the land.

[mlmpetert]

Originally Posted by GMScud

Patric Young is looking like the class of the SEC as far as big men go. A couple of MONSTER games.

Side note- really pleased with the way G'Town has been playing so far as well.

And man, I really hate that that scumbag Calipari has the #1 team in the land.

Im guessing you feel better?

[mlmpetert]

VCU is playing surprisingly well after looking like a very young team with growing pains to start the season. UR was a good test, but Georgia State on Jan 2nd and ODU shortly after should reveal how good VCU is going to be this year.

A couple notes:

Bradford Burgess is looking damn good, he will probably be given a shot at the NBA and could become a late first or early second round pick depending on this year. Hes still recovering from a broken bone and torn ligaments in his foot from an accident in July. Regardless he still has the longest active starting streak in the NCAA and now the longest streak in VCU’s history. If he continues to start and VCU wins the CAA tournament and somehow gets to the sweet 16 he will end up tying the record longest consecutive starts in NCAA history. Either way I would think he will be in the top 3-5 for most wins as a starter when his college career is over.

Burgess: 'The Cal Ripken of VCU basketball' | Richmond Times-Dispatch

Briante Weber is my new favorite player. Hes a freshman who wasn’t all that highly recruited but has ended up seeing a lot of playing time. The dude is from the tidewater area and is the most athletic on the team. Hes a 6’3” guard that has a 44.5in vertical. I didn’t realize how good of a vertical leap that was initially, especially considering his age. The kid is definitely a little raw but has the best motor ive seen, hes extremely quick and gets a lot of steals and rebounds. His dribbling is good and his shooting is decent. From the little ive seen I think he has a good chance of making the pros and could even be something extremely special, all depending on how hard he works.

Also I had the opportunity to “scout” 2 of our bigger recruiting selections for 2012 when Benedictine played Middleburg Academy last night.

Jordan Burgess (Bradford’s little brother) was a highly touted recruit that ended up picking VCU. Hes a 6’5” forward who will probably end up being a shooting guard for us next year. The guy could definitely be as good as his brother, which says a lot, but he needs some work. Whats crazy to me is how stacked we are going to be at guard next year.

Mo Alie-Cox is a 6’6” C/F that’s a freak of nature. Hes kind of like a poor man’s Charles Barkley. As an 18 year old he looks like a NFL TE and weighs 240-250ish of solid muscle and has a 7’ wingspan. He seems to be able to jump pretty good too, and has some of the most fluid dunks of a high schooler ive seen since Neon was slamming in that Louisiana recruiting scene in the movie Blue Chips. But the kid looks like he has a serious lack of poise. Ive never seen a player complain and cry as much as he was throughout the game. It was bizarre at points. He seems selfish, undisciplined and lazy at times. I definitely don’t see him doing anything his freshman year but if the coaches can turn him into a focused player he could become something special.

You Tube

[Chico23231]

Congrats to Coach Larranaga and Miami getting their first ever win at Cameron Indoor. Canes respectable this year.

[NC_Skins]

Big night on Tobacco Road. UNC vs Duke.


Tight game so far. It's 45-42 so far with 18mins left in the 2nd half.

[DC Tailgate]

Shame Georgetown couldn't pull out the W, but hell of a fight.

[DynamiteRave]

What an effing ending to that UNC game. Lot of pissy UNC fans right now.

[NC_Skins]

Roy Williams is very questionable when it comes to coaching. He has no concept of when to call timeouts, and the defense on his teams are lacking. Twice this year now, he's allowed a player from the other team to get hot and didn't adjust defensively to them. At some point, you have to say "we are going to make somebody else beat us". He really likes to rely on his talent to much to carry him. He is no Dean Smith, that's for sure.

[DC Tailgate]

Mason just had an awesome buzzer beater against VCU.