Professional and College Basketball Forums banner

2017-2018 VCU Rams

363K views 3K replies 161 participants last post by  JonBoy 
#1 · (Edited)
VCU to A-10 Billboard

 
See less See more
1
#15 ·
I have a suggestion. Change the thread title to "2012-13 VCU Rams" and it can be an all-things-VCU catch all, for general discussion and minutiae like billboards. We'll need one anyway, as I'm betting the new kids in town will be making some noise in a few months.
 
#5 ·
Fair enough. It's nice to see that perspective from our new A-10 brethren. Some of our former conference mates would have seen something like this as unnecessary chest-thumping.

BigE is basically VCU's ambassador on most message boards that exist on the internet so there'll be a lot more where this came from. I try to keep up with him but he's got it down to a science lol.
 
#11 ·
How is St. Louis a part of the 'axis of power' when last year was their first year in the NCAA's since 2000 and they've only ever had 7 NCAA appearances in their history with 4 wins to show for it? Last year was the only year SLU has ever made the NCAA tournament as an A-10 member.

Butler and Xavier sure, but not buying the Saint Louis part of it.

As for VCU putting up a billboard in that part of the country, that makes zero sense unless the only point of your post was to chest-thump about your region being good at basketball.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I'm not disputing that, they were very strong last year and should be this year. I guess I was thinking he was talking in historical terms.

If you're talking in current terms, I don't know how you can call Butler and X part of the axis of power for next year when you have schools like SJU, Umass, and VCU predicted to be very good this year. If you're talking historically absolutely X and Butler are at the very top, but then you can't include SLU because they've only come on in the last year as far as national relevance is concerned.

I don't expect anyone to give VCU the benefit of the doubt being a newcomer, but we return a much better team than Butler had last year and are being talked about as a fringe top 25 team with only SLU getting more buzz than us nationally right now. We could certainly fall short of the buzz and we have a lot to get used to, but I find it amusing that Butler gets more credit being in the same situation when they are returning a CBI team. VCU loses one player from a 29-win team that beat 5-seed Wichita State (who many had as the strongest mid in the tournament and a possible Final Four contender) in the first-round and took Indiana to the wire and were a missed shot at the buzzer away from the Sweet Sixteen.

All the better for our guys though, Shaka is a master of using motivational tools to bring the best out of our squad. It'll be nice to have ample material this year.
 
#14 ·
No, I am talking about next year. Butler was decimated last year, this year they load up. As far as Xavier goes, many on this board will tell you you NEVER discount X. They win, and win consistently as much as anyone in America. 11 of 13 ncaas. ManY times people say x is done. CHILD PLEASE.

1 losing season in 22 years. Another so awful 13-15 our first a10 year.
 
#16 ·
Oh well then that's very subjective.

You have no idea how Butler or Xavier are going to do. Although I tend to agree that Xavier will likely reload like they always do. The top is very crowded in the A-10 next year, tough to say there is an axis of power that consists of Butler, Xavier, and St. Louis when SLU is the only team that is a known quantity going in and there are other teams that are returning more from good teams.

Again, I just think it's funny that Butler is being given the benefit of the doubt and VCU isn't. We lose one player and have 3 guys coming in including a 4-star ESPN100 guy. Butler gets Rotnei Clarke and Kellen Dunham who should be good, but the rest of that team was pretty mediocre last year.

sheg I like that suggestion. That makes more sense than spamming the boards with every thing VCU does in separate threads.
 
#27 ·
Oh well then that's very subjective.

You have no idea how Butler or Xavier are going to do. Although I tend to agree that Xavier will likely reload like they always do. The top is very crowded in the A-10 next year, tough to say there is an axis of power that consists of Butler, Xavier, and St. Louis when SLU is the only team that is a known quantity going in and there are other teams that are returning more from good teams.

Again, I just think it's funny that Butler is being given the benefit of the doubt and VCU isn't. We lose one player and have 3 guys coming in including a 4-star ESPN100 guy. Butler gets Rotnei Clarke and Kellen Dunham who should be good, but the rest of that team was pretty mediocre last year.

I agree with you here. Slu, UMASS, and JOES all bring back known assests to the table. We know what to expect. VCU and Butler should most definitely be competitive.

Xavier and Temple will per usual be competitive at near the top. Xavier's roster oozes with talent. The problem X faces is finding a way for that talent to produce on the floor. Until then not much can be said about X.

Now i will not say Butler or VCU should come in as favorites or visa versa as bottom dwellers. I think both teams probably could come in and win right off the bat. My curiosity will be the new experience of playing in a whole new conference. Most of these teams will be teams VCU and Butler know less about in terms of play style and personnel where as the rest of the league knows each other fairly well. The big question I have is if this unfamiliarity becomes an asset or liability. VCU and Butler for most of their conference games will play new opponents. The chance for a slip up along the way I think is greater for the two teams then everyone else because for the other A10 teams will only face two new conference opponents, not twelve as VCU and Butler will face. I also wonder if the sheer fact of a higher quality of opponent day in and day out will have any kind of effect as well.
 
#21 ·
VCU will host Lehigh this season at the Siegel Center just before the A-10 slate starts. Lehigh is the 15-seed that knocked off Duke in the NCAA first-round this year behind star guard and All-American candidate CJ McCollum (21.9 ppg last year). Lehigh went 27-8 last year and return their top 4 scorers this season.

They join Wichita State, Alabama, Western Kentucky and another mid-major that hasn't been released publicly yet as NCAA teams from last season that are on VCU's home OOC schedule this year. We also have 3 cupcakes scheduled at home and play ODU and East Tennessee State on the road that I know of.

In addition we will be playing in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament which looks like the premier preseason tournament in the country this season. We will play 3 of Duke, Louisville, Missouri, Memphis, Stanford, Minnesota, and Northern Iowa. The first 4 were NCAA tourney teams, Minnesota and Stanford played each other in the NIT final, and UNI also played in the NIT. All of those squads were top 100 teams last season.

It's shaping up to be a nice OOC schedule with a number of top-100 winnable games against teams that should compete for their conference titles at home with a chance at excellent marquee wins on a neutral court in our preseason tournament.

Combine that with the ultra-competitive A-10 schedule this year and RPI and SOS should not be an issue if VCU takes care of its business. We get St. Joe's, UMass, Dayton, Butler, and La Salle all at home which gives us a chance at 5 top 100 wins in conference if we can hold serve. Road games will be tough but hopefully we can break even and win the games we're favored in although that's no guarantee.

It will be a bear of a schedule and VCU may take its lumps getting used to the league, but I like that we've scheduled aggressively. We've done it in a way that positions us well for success in the OOC so we can help the A-10's RPI and grab some BCS scalps in the process. I am a little wary of the fact that we don't have that many OOC road games and the NCAA Selection Committee may frown on that if we are on the bubble. Hopefully we'll win enough games so that it doesn't come to that and we're safely in the field.
 
#23 ·

RAMS INK THREE-YEAR PARTNERSHIP WITH MCDONALD’S

RICHMOND, Va. – Everyone remembers the McDonald’s commercials of the 1990s that featured Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.

The next round of McDonald’s commercials may have Shaka Smart trying to outdo Mike Rhoades after VCU Athletics announced a new three-year partnership with the popular fast-food chain.

"McDonald’s is one of the great brand names in all of the world and we’re thrilled that they are now aligning themselves with VCU Athletics,” Associate Athletic Director Robby Robinson said. “Their sponsorship and the sponsorship of our other corporate partners allow us to further supply our student-athletes with the necessary resources they need to succeed both on the field and in the classroom.”

Some of the highlights of the new partnership include Rodney the Ram nights at local McDonald’s, where Ram fans can have dinner with Rodney. There will also be coupon opportunities throughout the school year for the Ram faithful at various VCU games.

In addition, VCU Athletics will partner extensively with the Ronald McDonald House to support their initiatives and bringing families staying there to Ram games throughout the year.


http://vcuathletics.com/features/McDonaldsPartnership
 
#28 ·
VCU just got a pretty huge late 2012 pickup as Melvin Johnson committed to the Rams today. He is a consensus ESPN/Rivals/Scout top-100 player (ESPN #85, Scout #76, Rivals #99 overall in the class of 2012). The St. Benedict's guard is known as a strong perimeter shooter who was drawing a lot of major interest after he opted out of his LOI with Miami this past week.

ESPN profile: http://espn.go.com/college-sports/basketball/recruiting/player/_/id/126605/melvin-johnson

Scout profile: http://scouthoops.scout.com/a.z?s=75&p=8&c=1&nid=5541448

Rivals profile: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/recruiting/player-Melvin-Johnson-117224

Nice pickup for Shaka Smart. Johnson joins Jordan Burgess as the second ESPN 100/Rivals150 player in VCU's 2012 class.
 
#29 ·
I think VCU comes in as the clear favorite. I think they'll have the most talented roster in the league, a very good coach, and unlike Butler they play a style "we" have to adjust to. They are every bit as quick and physical as A10 teams, and they excel in running around like bath salt zombies over all 94 feet for 40 minutes. To top it off they will have a home court advantage that rivals Xavier, Dayton, SLU and Temple.

They are going to be really, really, really good. And I thought all of this before they added another top 100 recruit. Now it's just silly.
 
#30 ·
http://rpiratings.com/homecourtrec.php

While home-court records are not the only metric in determining a home court advantage. VCU has the 11th highest home winning percentage in the country, only behind Xavier (5th nationally) in the A-10.

It's not the nicest facility in the league, but it is close and intimate and we pack the place having sold out the last 18 games in our 7,617 seat arena. It gets really loud in there when the Rams are rolling. I expect it to be one of the better home courts in the league.
 
#33 ·
You can't really rank home court advantage by overall win %. Beside such different home schedules, they are comparing schools with 8 seasons in an arena to schools with 40 or more. Going to guess Gonzaga's home win % in the last 40 years is quite a bit lower than their win % at the new Kennel.

I think we all have a good idea of the schools who, year in and year out, are the best on their home floor. Both VCU and Butler join the likes of Xavier, Dayton, SLU and even SJU (and the departing Temple). Would put Richmond in that group, too.
 
#34 ·
You can't really rank home court advantage by overall win %.
While home-court records are not the only metric in determining a home court advantage.
While I'm not sure about exactly what goes into creating a home court advantage (crowds, student sections, history, psychology, etc.), I'm fairly certain that the way to measure its effectiveness is by winning percentage. If it's not, then you really don't have any advantage.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top