MBB: Duke 67, VCU 58 Post-Game Thread

[ice-9]

Didn't see one posted, so getting it started.

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What a great game. I really like this VCU team -- a well coached, defensive minded team. These guys should be ranked; they might be the best opponent we've faced so far. A quick look at their game history showed they only lost by 2 to Wichita State.

Mason and Kelly were key in breaking the press. I thought we didn't work hard enough to get Mason the ball in the last 10-15 minutes. How amazing is the improvement he's shown for free throws? His last two free throws were clutch to put the game out of VCU's reach.

Kelly was awesome on defense with 5 blocks.

Cook is a revelation. We are just a different team when he's running the point.

Curry did a great job drawing fouls, steadying the team and generally leading the way. We couldn't have won without him.

Rasheed rushed a few shots but you can see the potential there. All seven players who saw time on the court contributed.

The 9 point differential is misleading. If VCU made a few more of their free throws we might have lost. What a fantastic win

We look a little gassed towards the end, so here's to hoping they can rest up and be ready for Louisville.

P.S. This might be the first time I've actually felt angry about an announcer. If we didn't win, I don't know how many porn and Viagra sites I would sign up Donny Marshall for LOL.

[uh_no]

goods:
we won the game despite atrocious three point shooting
everyone getting in the scoring game…multiple ways to score...makes us very hard to defend
we seemed to have no trouble beating the press

bads:
16 offensive boards for VCU? need to work harder….i understand our defense might lend itself to a bit of a rebounding disadvantage, but we can't give up 16..
some bad three point shots…yeah we didn't shoot well overall, but not all of these were open or even good looks. we have so many weapons, there is just no reason to take those shots

so overall good win against what I think is a top 25 team

[sporthenry]

Tough game. Definitely a learning process for the team. A win is a win and getting better is what matters.

Seth has grown a lot. I was a bit skeptical but at the end of the game, he plays smart. He slows the game down and gets to the line. Reminds me a lot like Scheyer in those attributes.

Love Sheed and his resiliency and even though a few shots were down and out, he needs to attack the rim more in games where shots aren't falling.

Cook obviously has this team running on a different level. TT is a nice super sub and I'll chalk this game up to a stinker for TT but Cook makes the offense run.

Mason had a very good game and seems to provide some emotion.

Kelly is doing the little things especially on defense but started out very cold on offense this year. Once he gets going, look out.

[mapei]

Both Mizzou & Loouhvul play very aggressive, trapping defenses, so we'll need to be more effective, not just beating the 10-second line but scoring, on our possessions. The D isn't going to be much if any easier than what we just saw.

[Edouble]

I definitely like the Shaka Smart version of VCU better than the Maynor/Grant version. I have a feeling if they had won they would not have gotten all up in our face about it.

Quinn and Mason do not look like this is their first November playing significant minutes together. They seemed to have "it", sort of knowing what the other one is thinking, at many points in the game.

I am not worried at all about playing pressing teams with Mason, Ryan, and Quinn. In fact, I might welcome it, if that is part of the reason for VCU's poor free throw shooting down the stretch.

Rasheed looked mighty explosive. Teams can not sleep on him, or he'll have an easy 15. Takes pressure off of everyone else.

Ryan had a very nice game defensively. He and Mason bring so much to a front court, cumulatively. Shooting, toughness, rebounding, defense, driving, post-ups.

[sporthenry]

Both Mizzou & Loouhvul play very aggressive, trapping defenses, so we'll need to be more effective, not just beating the 10-second line but scoring, on our possessions. The D isn't going to be much if any easier than what we just saw.

Well we can't cite conspiracy because we got the early game so those extra 2 hours are huge especially with no days in between. Additionally, the fact both teams play a similar style, I expect tomorrows games to be very ugly.

[dchen09]

Pretty pleased with the offense this game. We were beating the press and getting into the lane fairly regularly. We stopped doing that when we started felling tired but how much can you blame them when VCU ran that swarming defense with 11! (holy crap how do you go 11 deep????) deep. That being said, I can't tell if VCU defends really well or the refs just let them get away with a ton of hand checks.

I said this earlier but the biggest problem with us rebounding is not boxing out. It seems that our bigs get caught looking at the ball. Mason in particular seems to depend on his athleticism rather than rely on fundamentals. Our guards also sometime seem like they want to run out rather than rebound the ball. I'm not sure how much of it is by design to run a faster pace offense or them just being young.

[OldSchool]

Our free throw defense against VCU in the second half was outstanding, especially on the front end of those one-and-ones. Combined with our own free throw makes that was the difference.

Congrats to Mason on continuing to shoot free throws with confidence. If Mason does not make those free throws the game is a lot closer and there would have been much more game pressure on us and maybe a different outcome.

The full court press was a big challenge for us. One of my recurring concerns in recent years has been that we do not punish teams for throwing a gambling, full court press at us by quickly pushing it all the way to rim to take advantage of the temporary imbalance on the floor by the defense. UNC, by contrast, generally does a good job of this. We actually do have the personnel to do this, with good ball-handling guards and most importantly two bigs with good hands who are good passers and mobile.

Congrats to the team on a great win. Seth, get your rest tonight, we're going to need you tomorrow!

[drcharl]

24 of 27!!

[Les Grossman]

UConn Donny!

[Philadukie]

Good win against a frantic style of play. Here's to hoping we don't have to play VCU again for a long time.

For those that think that Duke got outplayed, you have understand how difficult this "havoc" style of basketball is to play against. There's a reason VCU went to the Final Four two years ago and made a small run last year. Shaka Smart has crafted a style of play that is meant to compensate for his mid-major talent in order to still compete with the big boys. The whole point is to use strength, athleticism, and endurance to attack, attack, attack, both on defense AND offense (note their lack of assists) and replace the natural pace of the game with chaos. This disrupts the other team's sense of flow and focus, where players get mentally frantic and frustrated. It takes extreme discipline and maturity to not let the chaos of the game create chaos in the mind. It's almost as if VCU says, "Hey, we know we're not going to beat you with talent, so we're going to do everything to create a chaotic atmosphere where you lose your heads and anything can happen." It's ugly basketball, but I guess it's working for VCU.

In any case, I'm glad it's over and we pulled out a tough win.

[Billy Dat]

It was a great win against a very tough minded and tough playing opponent. I can't really call it a great or even good game to watch because it had no flow, especially in the second half when, from about 14 minutes on, it was a foul shooting contest. The sequence of time when VCU missed those 6 consecutive free throws was really important. They had cut the lead from 12 to 6 and were surging on us. Had they continued to score through those exchanges, we'd have had even more game pressure on us, but they could never hit the one big shot or foul shots to get below 6.

I have to give their defense an enormous amount of credit. The press meant we weren't getting into halfcourt until 25 seconds or so on the clock, and, for the last 15 minutes of the game, we got NOTHING in the halfcourt. There was a period of 6-7 minutes of gametime when a Quinn Cook lay-up underneath, after he almost lost the ball, was our only field goal. They were very disruptive.

However, our defense was great, too, especially when we started switching on those high screens. After we got victimized a few times going under that screen and giving up 3s, we made that adjustment and VCU didn't handle it well at all. In fact, they looked like a pretty pedestrian offensive team in the halfcourt, but maybe that was just our defense.

Their big, Reddic (how funny was it hearing that name playing for the opponent) really impressed me. They should have gone to him more. They really worked us on the glass, but we got a few big boards down the stretch when it counted, Sheed got a big one as did Seth.

We looked gassed. So much for K working the depth over the 3 day death march. Amile barely saw the floor, Alex didn't see it at all. We're down to 7. Still, I think K has really improved his subbing for the bigs to keep them out of foul trouble.

Very tough VCU team. Many on this board vote Brad Stevens as a potential K successor. I'll take Shaka and his swarming style and bench passion over librarian Stevens any day of the week. He reminds me more of K because of his fire.

We'll get a great game tomorrow night regardless of who wins - but I'd rather play the Cardinals.

[Saratoga2]

We faced a swarming quick pressing defense in a hot environment while playing only 7 players. I wondered about potential foul trouble or just running out of gas, but fortunately neither happened. We only had 8 turnovers throughout the game, and that is a positive stat. Our switching defense borthered VCU,. Where they hurt us was rebounding and hustle.

While Mason played a good game and seemed to get into it in the last 5 minutes, I thought his defensive position, help defense and boxing out for rebounds needs work. Still he got 17 points and 10 rebounds and he hit foul shots. Mostly his game was full of positives.

Quinn in definitely a solid point guard who pushes the ball, finds open men and can score if not defended closely. You can see that he makes a great difference with his improved play. Clearly coach K and his teammates see the growth there.

Seth also had a fine game and his calm coolness shows that he is the mature floor leader that we need. Hope Seth can play again tomorrow.

Kelly is missing his three point shots but he too contributed with blocks and good positional play. Give him room and he can find ways to score. I am hoping the 3 point shot comes back for him.

Rasheed is a very good player and will recognize that he can contribute more offense as time goes on.

Tyler and Josh helped. Cocah K must have felt Amile and Alex were not ready for such an intense game, although Amile might have helped with his length and athleticism. I defer to Cocah K's judgment as far as who plays. He has made outstanding decisions so far this year.

Good game, great learning experience, now on to the next test!

[dchen09]

We'll get a great game tomorrow night regardless of who wins - but I'd rather play the Cardinals.

I dont know. Watching the UL vs Mizzou game and UL's D is pretty damn good. I'm really worried about it. Mizzou seems a bit like a 1 man show.

[Cameron]

Great win over a very good team that plays an all-out, frenetic defensive style against which we aren't accustomed to playing. That's a sign that this team is not easily rattled and capable of adapting and competing against any variety of team that might come our way during the NCAA Tournament. We did a wonderful job of breaking through the havoc that VCU was trying to impose upon us by making every move with confidence, constantly moving the ball to find the open man and communicating with each other. We never once looked like we were not in control of our composure, which is the blueprint for beating a full-court trapping team like VCU.

After a tough start from outside, Ryan did a wonderful job in the second stanza of taking the ball directly to the rim and earning his points the hard way. Those couple of drives he had from the top of the arc were just plain pretty. He has very long strides when he attacks off the bounce, and a pillowy touch, making the play almost impossible to prevent. Ryan needs to forget about being Manute Bol and do this more often. Don't get me wrong. He's still a good, albeit a bit streaky, three-point shooter for his size when taking into consideration his entire body of work. Last year, Ryan shot over 40%. That's efficient for a near seven-footer and that kind of range creates a lot of trouble for opposing bigs. But, when the rifle isn't firing, it's time to choose another weapon.

I thought Rasheed played really well, despite an average night shooting the ball. The shots he took were all great looks, and a couple of them rotated the drain before jumping back out. He finished 2 of 5 from beyond the arc, but it easily could have been 4 of 5 if not for some unfortunate rolls. That's part of the game, however. The breaks do not always go your way. He looked poised against the VCU press, though, and on a few occasions really showcased how quick of handle he has with some superb dribbling to evade oncoming Ram defenders. Rasheed is averaging just under 12 points and shooting 45% from three (11 for 24) through five games, with games against UK, Minnesota and VCU under his belt. Couldn't be more pleased with how quickly the young man is coming into his own at this level.

[Billy Dat]

I dont know. Watching the UL vs Mizzou game and UL's D is pretty damn good. I'm really worried about it. Mizzou seems a bit like a 1 man show.

I want the better team, win or lose. This isn't March, let's see K and Pitino match wits!

[Native]

I thought Rasheed played really well, despite an average night shooting the ball. The shots he took were all great looks, and a couple of them rotated the drain before jumping back out. He finished 2 of 5 from beyond the arc, but it easily could have been 4 of 5 if not for some unfortunate rolls. That's part of the game, however. The breaks do not always go your way. He looked poised against the VCU press, though, and on a few occasions really showcased how quick of handle he has with some superb dribbling to evade oncoming Ram defenders. Rasheed is averaging just under 12 points and shooting 45% from three (11 for 24) through five games, with games against UK, Minnesota and VCU under his belt. Couldn't be more pleased with how quickly the young man is coming into his own at this level.

This. It's weird but I'm already trusting Rasheed to make good plays and take care of the ball when it's in his hands. There haven't been many freshmen I've seen who I can say that about.

[jipops]

I could be wrong, but it certainly seemed like we only got 1 FG in the last 10 minutes of the game. All those trips to the free throw line certainly had something to do with it, but the offense really struggled to get any flow. VCU pushed us far away from the basket and made us start late into the shot clock with their pressure.

It's going to be like that all game against Louisville whose defense is the best in the nation. They just took out a ranked Missouri team by 20+.

Cook is showing us a fine game but I would like to see him show it down a little bit, he seems to rush plays sometimes.

[superdave]

I have to give their defense an enormous amount of credit. The press meant we weren't getting into halfcourt until 25 seconds or so on the clock, and, for the last 15 minutes of the game, we got NOTHING in the halfcourt. There was a period of 6-7 minutes of gametime when a Quinn Cook lay-up underneath, after he almost lost the ball, was our only field goal. They were very disruptive.

However, our defense was great, too, especially when we started switching on those high screens. After we got victimized a few times going under that screen and giving up 3s, we made that adjustment and VCU didn't handle it well at all. In fact, they looked like a pretty pedestrian offensive team in the halfcourt, but maybe that was just our defense.

Their big, Reddic (how funny was it hearing that name playing for the opponent) really impressed me. They should have gone to him more. They really worked us on the glass, but we got a few big boards down the stretch when it counted, Sheed got a big one as did Seth.

We looked gassed. So much for K working the depth over the 3 day death march. Amile barely saw the floor, Alex didn't see it at all. We're down to 7. Still, I think K has really improved his subbing for the bigs to keep them out of foul trouble.

Very tough VCU team. Many on this board vote Brad Stevens as a potential K successor. I'll take Shaka and his swarming style and bench passion over librarian Stevens any day of the week. He reminds me more of K because of his fire.

I agree with all this. I think the point needs to be made that VCU presses you full court, but if you beat that, they do not give up. The lock into some pretty solid half court D as well. I actually enjoy watching this kind of ball, because guys are putting their all into defense. Shaka has their full attention and is really competitive. A worthy opponent.

But we played some pretty good D as well, except we gave up 15 offensive boards. We pushed their ball handlers, cutters and screeners off where they wanted to start their attack, and that adds up.

We only got sped up a handful of times. This was a growing game for Quinn and Rasheed. They will benefit for having faced this defense, and that is as important as anything.

[-bdbd]

I thought that we actually handled the very aggressive full-court pressure pretty well overall.

We should not be giving up so many O-rebounds to an opponent -- need to box out better and get really a lot better in scrapping for the ball in the paint. I thought a few times they just out-FOUGHT us for the loose ball.

Biggest issue tonight was that our shots just weren't falling, not like we'd expect from so many open looks.

VCU is a very good team and don't be surprised if we see them make some noise in March again.

Good, gritty win guys!!

[gwlaw99]

Just checked out a VCU forum. They whine almost as much as State fans.
http://www.vcuramnation.com/forums/threads/official-beat-the-blue-devils-thread.9984/page-10

[ice-9]

I said this earlier but the biggest problem with us rebounding is not boxing out. It seems that our bigs get caught looking at the ball. Mason in particular seems to depend on his athleticism rather than rely on fundamentals. Our guards also sometime seem like they want to run out rather than rebound the ball. I'm not sure how much of it is by design to run a faster pace offense or them just being young.

It's not entirely on mason. Seems like vcu's defence rebounding strategy is to have their big box mason out and letting their guards rebound the ball. You can see this in the stats - three of their guards got 19 rebounds!

There was one sequence where their bigs were getting a bunch of offensive rebounds that our bigs could've done a better job boxing out, but in that sequence they were also going over our backs like waves on a cliff.

[Cameron]

It's not entirely on mason. Seems like vcu's defence rebounding strategy is to have their big box mason out and letting their guards rebound the ball. You can see this in the stats - three of their guards got 19 rebounds!

There was one sequence where their bigs were getting a bunch of offensive rebounds that our bigs could've done a better job boxing out, but in that sequence they were also going over our backs like waves on a cliff.

Not only that, but at point point one of their players straight up slapped Tyler Thornton in the face at half court, then stole the ball as Thornton dropped to the floor and went in for a layup. So, basically, Tyler was assaulted and then robbed. This, of course, was viewed by Donny Yukon as excellent pressure d.

[Greg_Newton]

This. It's weird but I'm already trusting Rasheed to make good plays and take care of the ball when it's in his hands. There haven't been many freshmen I've seen who I can say that about.

He's got to have the highest "good things happen/time ball in hands" ratio on the team - it seems like whenever he touches out, we immediately score.

As for boxing out on the defensive boards, I think a lot of it has to do with putting combo guards under the rim and relying on them to box out with the big boys, which they're not really used to doing. This is the problem with such a small backcourt - weakside rebounding suffers, and Mason and Ryan kind of have to do everything around the rim themselves.

That said, very encouraging overall effort. We beat a very good team (#16 kenpom), really, by "just showing up" - no one really had a "great" game by their standards, except maybe Cook, who didn't score in double figures, and we couldn't throw the ball in the ocean. Yet still, I felt pretty comfortable with our chances all game. That's some margin for error we didn't have last year, when you kind of felt like we needed a heroic effort to beat good teams when the shots weren't falling.

[Jim3k]

... the offense really struggled to get any flow. VCU pushed us far away from the basket and made us start late into the shot clock with their pressure.



Not sure I agree. It is true that we got into the offense late in the shot clock toward the end. Still, that seemed deliberate to me, not forced by VCU's defense. More likely, it was a variant to milk the game clock. We had a lead of 10 points or so when that began to occur. The lead never went below 6. If we had stalled by spreading the court as K often has, we'd have lost some of our tempo. This way, our tempo continued and we ran half court sets that led to the foul line where we were money. (Man, the FTs, especially Plumlee's, won the game.) The tactic kept their possessions to a minimum.

I think K simply showed there is more than one way to skin the cat--er...milk the clock.

[tele]

Nice win against a tough opponent. Very frustrating team and style to play against. Duke only had 8 turnovers which was outstanding against that type of pressure and hacking defense. Having the bigs help bring up the ball really was, well, big.

Had the feeling Sulaimon could get to the rim whenever he wanted, that's on his own without any ball screen. He is fun to watch play.

I thought Curry did a good job helping set the tempo, after he sat for awhile early, and kept Duke's offense and the game in hand. VCU couldn't really match up and was forced to foul on most plays. According to the cliche-athon that was the color guy, Duke was causing this by flopping on offense which is unheard of. I hope they can dig up a color announcer that can actually speak for the Louisville game.

Mason said that banquet hall was like a sauna, hope the team is gettng their fluids down!!! Three games under the lights in three days is almost brutal.

[nyesq83]

I am a Duke grad, former NYC resident and I moved to Richmond in 2007.

The Fan is like a lady's hand-held fan, and it spreads out from the 'handle' just west of Belvidere Street; it goes West from Broad Street on the North and Cary Street on the South - the handle is where VCU's main campus is mostly concentrated (not including MCV) - it fans out all the way towards Boulevard in the middle and Thompson on its far west end, in a triangular shape.

1. Grace Street has some LGBT bars on blocks closer to downtown Richmond (east of Belvidere, east of the campus, which is east of the Fan). In my experience, and I walk or drive on Grace ALOT, coming home from lots of concerts at the National Theater at night, and I worked near Grace for two years, I have never seen a TV hanging out on Grace Street - like they do in NYC or Durham or Southside Richmond (as I understand from news reports). In five years, I also have NEVER seen a passed-out wino, though there is a bunch of alkies who hang out in front of a certain apartment building.

2. The VCU campus has grown massively in the last 5 years with major development overtaking more and more blocks in the Fan and beyond. It is no longer a typical commuter school - lots of new dorms are here now. The NCAA basketball effect has been extraordinary to observe.

3. Muggings are a bigger problem vs. murders (which are usually poverty and drug-based black on black killings here).

4. Lots of international students on the other sports teams, not so on the men's hoops team.

5. Shaka has very young kids (toddlers/infants). His wife is a professional. He is just not ready to pull up roots, he wants to be a program builder. VCU just joined the A-10. Richmond is a very manageable city. How is Jeff Capel doing in Oklahoma? How is Tommy Amaker doing at Michigan? How about Quin Snyder, how is Missouri?

Why didn't Cutcliffe leave Duke? LOYALTY.

[Indoor66]

I dont know. Watching the UL vs Mizzou game and UL's D is pretty damn good. I'm really worried about it. Mizzou seems a bit like a 1 man show.

Maybe that is why UL's defense looks so good?

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Not sure I agree. It is true that we got into the offense late in the shot clock toward the end. Still, that seemed deliberate to me, not forced by VCU's defense. More likely, it was a variant to milk the game clock. We had a lead of 10 points or so when that began to occur. The lead never went below 6. If we had stalled by spreading the court as K often has, we'd have lost some of our tempo. This way, our tempo continued and we ran half court sets that led to the foul line where we were money. (Man, the FTs, especially Plumlee's, won the game.) The tactic kept their possessions to a minimum.

I think K simply showed there is more than one way to skin the cat--er...milk the clock.
Agree. And let's not forget this was the second game in 2 days. In what was apparently a very warm arena (enough for Mason to say it afterwards which tells me it was hotter than Cameron). With a third game on tap the following day. And Seth playing through his injury. This was a slug fest. Get the win, preserve as much energy as possible for the championship bout. Have to believe this figured into the strategy somewhere at some point.

We're finding different ways to win. Frickin love this team!

[captmojo]

I am a Duke grad, former NYC resident and I moved to Richmond in 2007.

The Fan is like a lady's hand-held fan, and it spreads out from the 'handle' just west of Belvidere Street; it goes West from Broad Street on the North and Cary Street on the South - the handle is where VCU's main campus is mostly concentrated (not including MCV) - it fans out all the way towards Boulevard in the middle and Thompson on its far west end, in a triangular shape.

1. Grace Street has some LGBT bars on blocks closer to downtown Richmond (east of Belvidere, east of the campus, which is east of the Fan). In my experience, and I walk or drive on Grace ALOT, coming home from lots of concerts at the National Theater at night, and I worked near Grace for two years, I have never seen a TV hanging out on Grace Street - like they do in NYC or Durham or Southside Richmond (as I understand from news reports). In five years, I also have NEVER seen a passed-out wino, though there is a bunch of alkies who hang out in front of a certain apartment building.

2. The VCU campus has grown massively in the last 5 years with major development overtaking more and more blocks in the Fan and beyond. It is no longer a typical commuter school - lots of new dorms are here now. The NCAA basketball effect has been extraordinary to observe.

3. Muggings are a bigger problem vs. murders (which are usually poverty and drug-based black on black killings here).

4. Lots of international students on the other sports teams, not so on the men's hoops team.

5. Shaka has very young kids (toddlers/infants). His wife is a professional. He is just not ready to pull up roots, he wants to be a program builder. VCU just joined the A-10. Richmond is a very manageable city. How is Jeff Capel doing in Oklahoma? How is Tommy Amaker doing at Michigan? How about Quin Snyder, how is Missouri?

Why didn't Cutcliffe leave Duke? LOYALTY.

Just kidding...Back to the game.

Great job at the line!

VCU guys like to go over the back or/and don't mind giving a good shove in back if it will gather a rebound.

Duke guards need to learn more composure coming upcourt. Always leave yourself "an out". This is an attribute for life as well as basketball. Too often they were far too eager to give up the dribble when confronted by double-team defensive wall. VCU is well taught in the art of positioning for the best places to be that cause time usage from their offensive opponents. This once caused K to use/waste a valuable timeout to avoid a 10 sec call.

Rebounds...Many times the ball just doesn't bounce your way. Stuff happens.

It's obvious that it's still early in the season for all. This includes the officials.

I agree with Bobby Knight that the worst play in the game is a one-pass 3point shot. Others teammates are out of position for it. Treasure your possession. Then, make the most of it.

There is no honest excuse for Donny Marshall. He has bought in to the hater crowd. He needs to get over it.

Unfortunate I was unable to see Louisville. Falling into a leftover turkey stupor has been known to cause many to miss out on activities they wish they had participated in.

MOTM, not seeing a poll, Hmmm...I give it to Quinn. His point play is showing improvement and it's quite visible to see his value to directing the offense. That's not a knock on Tyler. His role is just a bit different.

[hillsborodevil]

The full court press was a big challenge for us. One of my recurring concerns in recent years has been that we do not punish teams for throwing a gambling, full court press at us by quickly pushing it all the way to rim to take advantage of the temporary imbalance on the floor by the defense. UNC, by contrast, generally does a good job of this. We actually do have the personnel to do this, with good ball-handling guards and most importantly two bigs with good hands who are good passers and mobile.

Duke has the weapons this year to break a press and punish the defense by taking it straight to the rim. Disappointing Duke settled for regular sets after crossing midcourt. If Duke attacked the pressure, Shaka wouldn't have looked so Smart. :p

VCU and Mr. Smart remind me of Baylor - play hard and seem very humble

[Gthoma2a]

The only reason to use one word, flop, that much during a broadcast is if there is a drinking game. That was just overkill of a false meme.

Glad we won. Now, Louisville goes down tonight!

[captmojo]

The only reason to use one word, flop, that much during a broadcast is if there is a drinking game. That was just overkill of a false meme.

Glad we won. Now, Louisville goes down tonight!

Good excuse. I recant previous complaint.
Mr. Marshall was simply trying his hand at booze promotion.
Shrewd! Very shrewd, indeed. (rubbing chin)

[oldnavy]

Ok, thanks to all of you who have validated my anger over the announcer (Marshall). I once again reverted to turning the sound off and just watching. I have found that you really do not miss anything since MOST of the announcers never actually "announce" the game. Rather they "comment" on junk surrounding the game...

I accept my bias and realize that I am sensitive, so I wasn't sure that Marshall was as bad as I was thinking, but I guess he was.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Why no pre-game thread for Louisville this morning?

[JNort]

Just watched the Top Plays from Duke Blue Planet (Check em out!) against VCU. After the game Marshall interviewed Quinn Cook and asked why he gave up the ball to Mason on the fast break when Quinn had the easy score. Quinn's response was basically because Mason was the one who deflected it for the steal and he is the team leader and deserved the points. Talk about unselfish!

[Edouble]

I am a Duke grad, former NYC resident and I moved to Richmond in 2007.

The Fan is like a lady's hand-held fan, and it spreads out from the 'handle' just west of Belvidere Street; it goes West from Broad Street on the North and Cary Street on the South - the handle is where VCU's main campus is mostly concentrated (not including MCV) - it fans out all the way towards Boulevard in the middle and Thompson on its far west end, in a triangular shape.

1. Grace Street has some LGBT bars on blocks closer to downtown Richmond (east of Belvidere, east of the campus, which is east of the Fan). In my experience, and I walk or drive on Grace ALOT, coming home from lots of concerts at the National Theater at night, and I worked near Grace for two years, I have never seen a TV hanging out on Grace Street - like they do in NYC or Durham or Southside Richmond (as I understand from news reports). In five years, I also have NEVER seen a passed-out wino, though there is a bunch of alkies who hang out in front of a certain apartment building.

2. The VCU campus has grown massively in the last 5 years with major development overtaking more and more blocks in the Fan and beyond. It is no longer a typical commuter school - lots of new dorms are here now. The NCAA basketball effect has been extraordinary to observe.

3. Muggings are a bigger problem vs. murders (which are usually poverty and drug-based black on black killings here).

4. Lots of international students on the other sports teams, not so on the men's hoops team.

5. Shaka has very young kids (toddlers/infants). His wife is a professional. He is just not ready to pull up roots, he wants to be a program builder. VCU just joined the A-10. Richmond is a very manageable city. How is Jeff Capel doing in Oklahoma? How is Tommy Amaker doing at Michigan? How about Quin Snyder, how is Missouri?

Why didn't Cutcliffe leave Duke? LOYALTY.

Attended MCV and lived in Richmond, VA for 5 years. I agree that the DBR description of Richmond was off.

I lived on Grace St. for 3 years back in the early 2000s. As a person who has seen a lot of gentrification, living in Atlanta when I was not in Richmond or Durham, I have to say that DBR is incorrect saying that Grace St. has undergone gentrification. Not a big fan of the term wino either.

As Grace St. is one block (more of a short side street really) from the multi-million dollars houses/mansions on Monument, I can't see how Grace St. was ever a candidate for gentrification. It's been home to rich white folks since pre-civil war... a period of history that Richmond does not want to forget, which is why I will never consider Richmond a "wonderful" city. As far north as it is geographically, it was a culture shock for me to live there, having grown up in Atlanta. I experienced much more racism (and homophobia) in that place than I knew still existed.

Monument Avenue is a monument to the heros of the confederate army. A statue of Arthur Ash was added and subsequently egged, graffitied and defaced on a regular basis. Not my favorite street in the US.

VCU being a commuter school is ancient history. Like Georgia State here in Atlanta, the explosion of the college student population has made schools that were previously commuter schools great options for high school seniors.