Opponent: Virginia Commonwealth Rams
Conference: Colonial Athletic Association (Finished 4th)
Record: 23-11 (12-6 in the CAA)
Coach: Shaka Smart (2nd season)
The 33-year old is one of the youngest coaches in college basketball, but he has won 50 games in his first two seasons at VCU. Smart worked for Oliver Purnell at Dayton and Clemson, which explains his full-court press style.
Inside-Out: PF Jamie Skeen and PG Joey Rodriguez (photo)
The 6'9" Skeen leads the Rams in scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg). While he represents their best threat in the paint, he can also draw his man out to the perimeter (38% from three).
Rodriguez runs the show for the fast-paced VCU attack with a controlled 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Poor Form: 3-5 in the final 8 games of the season
Common Opponents: Tennessee (L 72-77) and UCLA (W 89-85)
Style: Pace, Depth and Distance
As opposed to the Trojans, the Rams give double-digit minutes to 10 players. USC's rotation has been limited to seven guys, so expect VCU to press early and often in the hopes that they can wear the Trojans down. They will likely play small against USC and fire at will from three-point range (23 attempts per game).
Three Keys...
1.) Marcus vs. - ...probably point guard Joey Rodriguez. Simmons usually terrorizes the opponent's best wing scorer, but the Rams don't have a typical go-to guard. Instead, the Trojans' coaching staff may opt to chop the head off the monster by having their defensive specialist lock-up VCU's leader when the Rams go small.
2.) Tempo - "They are definitely a team that is going to try to speed the game up. We need to slow ourselves down offensively and get it to the player of the year in our conference Nik Vucevic and feed off him." - Jio Fontan
3.) Turnovers - The Rams should have no answer for the Trojan Towers, Vucevic and Alex Stepheson. So, they'll hope to deny the supply line by pressing Jio Fontan and Maurice Jones. On the season, they forced 15 turnovers per game, while USC coughed it up just 11 times per contest.
Remember...
VCU made a name for their program in the 2007 tournament when Eric Maynor stuck the final dagger in the Dukies.
Tweet
Conference: Colonial Athletic Association (Finished 4th)Record: 23-11 (12-6 in the CAA)
Coach: Shaka Smart (2nd season)
The 33-year old is one of the youngest coaches in college basketball, but he has won 50 games in his first two seasons at VCU. Smart worked for Oliver Purnell at Dayton and Clemson, which explains his full-court press style.
Inside-Out: PF Jamie Skeen and PG Joey Rodriguez (photo)
The 6'9" Skeen leads the Rams in scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.5 rpg). While he represents their best threat in the paint, he can also draw his man out to the perimeter (38% from three).
Rodriguez runs the show for the fast-paced VCU attack with a controlled 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Poor Form: 3-5 in the final 8 games of the season
Common Opponents: Tennessee (L 72-77) and UCLA (W 89-85)
Style: Pace, Depth and Distance
As opposed to the Trojans, the Rams give double-digit minutes to 10 players. USC's rotation has been limited to seven guys, so expect VCU to press early and often in the hopes that they can wear the Trojans down. They will likely play small against USC and fire at will from three-point range (23 attempts per game).
Three Keys...
1.) Marcus vs. - ...probably point guard Joey Rodriguez. Simmons usually terrorizes the opponent's best wing scorer, but the Rams don't have a typical go-to guard. Instead, the Trojans' coaching staff may opt to chop the head off the monster by having their defensive specialist lock-up VCU's leader when the Rams go small.
2.) Tempo - "They are definitely a team that is going to try to speed the game up. We need to slow ourselves down offensively and get it to the player of the year in our conference Nik Vucevic and feed off him." - Jio Fontan
3.) Turnovers - The Rams should have no answer for the Trojan Towers, Vucevic and Alex Stepheson. So, they'll hope to deny the supply line by pressing Jio Fontan and Maurice Jones. On the season, they forced 15 turnovers per game, while USC coughed it up just 11 times per contest.
Remember...
VCU made a name for their program in the 2007 tournament when Eric Maynor stuck the final dagger in the Dukies.
Tweet
Leave a comment