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The first time I stood in the same room as Jay Bilas, it was also my first time inside Cameron Indoor Stadium. Duke was hosting Maryland--the Terrapins team with Lefty and Len Bias--in the kind of ACC tilt that defined the 1980s. Because I am a fortunate human being, I was a guest of Driesell and sat one row behind the Maryland bench and I'm sure Bilas ran by me at least once.
I can't remember the exact date, time has a way of removing specifics, but I do remember Johnny Dawkins hitting a scoop layup to open the game and the Cameron Crazies going nuts. Your memory is funny that way--I can't pinpoint a year, but I have a clear image of the Dawkins layup. I also remember Len Bias had the biggest, sculpted shoulders I'd ever seen, and the softest midrange jumper as well.
But this is about Jay Bilas 20 years later, the second time we were in the same room, his first time inside the Siegel Center. It was April 2005 when VCU had scheduled its season-ending banquet. Bilas was the featured speaker. He would tell a funny joke about holding Ralph Sampson to 38 points one night, as well as make a point to the gathering that VCU was building something special. He was not joking, and he was right.
It was during this time that I was crafting what would be the outline for Cinderella. It needed a boost, mostly because I had no idea what I was doing. I had this little blog called CAAHoops and had forged solid relationships inside the league. But the book was a big idea and it needed a level of big I didn't possess. It needed a national stage, a name that would catch a publisher's eye.
So there we were, one hour before Bilas' speech in one of those glad-handing receptions, when the idea hit me. It literally came like a lightning strike, without any pre-planning or forewarning. Jay Bilas. He was growing in stature at ESPN and you could see the direction he was headed. Of course.
I bounced the idea off of The Beautiful One, who encouraged me to do just that. Whatever was on tap at that reception helped as well. I would ask Jay Bilas, a man who had only ran by me a few times when he was a college basketball player and couldn't pick me out of a police lineup, to write the Foreword for the book.
Jeff Capel, who never gets the credit he deserves for what he accomplished at VCU, was one of the people I had come to know. Capel agreed with the idea and didn't give me time to argue or back down. Capel took me immediately to Bilas. After some small talk--I like to pick the brains of people who can offer perspective--I managed to ask, and Bilas graciously accepted. He gave me his contact information and said to contact him the following week.
That would have been enough, had working with Bilas not been such a tremendous experience.
Bilas was immediately responsive, hit every deadline I imposed, and his writing was very thoughtful. He didn't mail it in, not even close. I was particularly impressed, and happy, that his Foreword did not toe the mid major party line. One of the goals of the book was to spark a discussion, a different point of view, and that entailed admitting there are facts of life that are not in the favor of the CAAs of the world. Bilas delivered.
We smoothed out some language and he was thankful to me for understanding his point of view and a clean edit. Imagine that: he does me a favor, lends his time, credibility and intelligence to a project that's not from a nationally-known writer, and then thanks me.
The point of all this?
The end of this season will bring us to the tenth anniversary of that night in April 2005, and I can never thank Bilas enough. He was the first national personality to agree to help an unknown, a true act of selflessness. I will go to my grave grateful for this gesture. It changed the path of what I do and what you read here.
Your success, and perhaps future success, is likely due to the help of others. Never lose sight of those people. And the other side of the fence holds true: make time for somebody who asks for a favor. Do it, and do it well, because it may matter on a level you don't know.
You can continue to harbor ill will for the laugh test comments from March 2011. Not me. I prefer to listen to what Jay Bilas has to say because it's intelligent and thoughtful. It's a matter of invoking Don Miguel Ruiz's second agreement: take nothing personally.
This season, I believe, is the season where VCU will be truly judged on a different level. It's no longer an underdog story and the team with the improbable Final Four run. There's been continued success. Building--literally. This is the year that VCU goes from a program that could to a program that should. (h/t DF)
And with that may come harsh words, worse that passing a laugh test or anything that occurred in March 2011. Deal with it and appreciate the moment, this season. We have something special--something I'm not sure has a comparable--and my plan this season is to bring it to you on more than an X-and-O level. We're going to soak it up.
And if you like what you read, nod your head in the direction of Jay Bilas.
The story is convenient. Too convenient. It's the ideal sound bite for a recruiting pitch, the kind of story you expect to hear during the junior season of a star college basketball player. It's so perfect, and so smelly, that you also wonder if it ever happened.
It goes that Treveon Graham was told by Shaka Smart on a recruiting visit that he could be VCUs alltime leading scorer, breaking Eric Maynor's mark of 1,929 points. It came out in full last year, the product of Graham's assault on 16 points twice a week and some quick math. It's a fun story, rather like that largemouth bass you reeled in when you were a teenager.
We know Shaka Smart and have heard similar stories. The ironman drill. Navy SEAL training. His quote book and thoughtfulness. His defensive stance. 137 wins and the 2011 Final Four. Havoc. The process. There's a mountain of those stories and we've soaked them up like the warmth of springtime sunshine.
But this time, it isn't about the story.
It's about the product of the process, those drills, those soundbites. It's about the endpoint, or more accurately the midpoint, from when Shaka Smart brings a player into the VCU basketball program to that point where he leaves to move forward in his life. This is Treveon Graham's story at VCU, of where he began and where he is.
And if that first story is true, that story about a lightly-recruited kid being told he can be the school's alltime leading scorer, we also must give credence to a leadership trait we don't talk about enough: the prescience of Shaka Smart.
You don't remember Treveon Graham's performance in the 2012 CAA championship game. Darius Theus scored 16 points, dished out five assists, and had five steals. Troy Daniels hit four free throws in the final 19 seconds to preserve the 59-56 win. They were the heroes, rightfully, in the press room.
VCU assistant coach Mike Morrell remembers.
Graham, VCUs ever-improving freshman, scored 13 points that evening. Ironically points were not his greatest contribution. Graham drew the defensive assignment on Drexel senior Samme Givens. Those of you who remember know Givens was as tough of a player as VCU has played against. Givens knew how to use every bit of his 6-5 frame, and was the Dragons' second leading scorer. Givens took 301 shots on the year.
That night, guarded by Graham, Givens posted a meek 0-3 from the field.
"Coach was so excited about him as a freshman, you knew right away he was going to play," recalls Morrell. "It's amazing, coach (Smart) has an uncanny ability to predict the future. With Tre he knew this was going to be the guy moving forward. (Tre) did an unbelievable job on (Givens) that night."
Nobody knows Treveon Graham like Trina Graham. Moms always know. Moms are strong, they are willing to face reality with grace and courage. Moms will talk about reality in absolutes, without the veneer that ultimately clouds that reality. Moms always see the big picture even when they don't discuss it.
Trina Graham knew. She knew that her son was confident in his choice of a college 100 miles south down interstate 95 from their home. She had never heard of VCU before Smart and his staff began recruiting her son, but she became convinced by the words of her son.
"Tre was a very quiet kid," she says. "What really got Tre to pick VCU was because they made him feel at home and comfortable. He told me 'if I'm going to be away from home I want to be comfortable.' When Tre was being recruited I had never heard of VCU before, and when he selected VCU a lot of people told him 'why did you select VCU?' but it was because he felt comfortable and what the coaches have done for the kids."
"Coach Smart had so much confidence in him and they respected him so much. From his freshman to his sophomore year I saw a change in him. He was so much more talkative. What I'm saying is that he went from a boy to a man in the matter of one year, and he was still 18. Even talking to the other guys on the team I could see they all had respect for him and he was still one of the youngest. Even the seniors at the time had respect for him. That blew me away, to see that my little boy is now a man as a sophomore. As a mother to see that and hear that, that was really special to me. I thank coach Smart and the staff for that because they gave him confidence and believed in him. He wasn't on a certain AAU team or at a certain high school. He wasn't talked about. He had a little bit of confidence but they helped him become a man and stayed on him and made him confident."
"You look at a guy like Troy Daniels, a guy like Darius Theus, a guy like Juvonte Reddic and you say 'those guys were very, very good players and they won a lot of games and had great careers at VCU but man I wish Troy would've done this or done that, or Juvonte had done this'--not me but people from the outside that look at this.
This is not the end of their journey. They are 22 years old when they leave here. I don't know where you were at 22 but it's just the end of their time wearing a VCU uniform. No, they aren't going to score any more points or get any more rebounds here at VCU, but I do feel good that those guys made great progress while they were here, that they did help us win a lot of games and they've continued to grow afterward."
Because she is a mom, Trina Graham gets it.
"My main concern was the education," she says. "I like what coach Smart has instilled in him. They go to school in the summer time. They make sure it's a focus and they've stayed on top of him. Basketball wise, I see where my son started and where he is now and it has been a great experience to see him grow. I love the program and what coach Smart has done for VCU."
There is truly no better measure in this world than a mother's love.
I don't care if Treveon Graham reaches the scoring record or not. His jersey should hang from the Siegel Center rafters. The scoring record is a number, and while significant it's one piece of the puzzle. Graham's mom convinced me, ironically, and she didn't even know it.
You see, Treveon Graham's career is everything we should strive for in this business. He entered VCU a 17-year old baby, with only a modicum of self-confidence. He will leave it a young man, confident, with his degree, prepared to meet his basketball future or any other future. He carries with him an abundance of basketball skills, and life skills.
And yes, he enters his senior season with 82 wins, looking for his fourth NCAA tournament. He is on the precipice of that scoring record and has enough honors to fill an attic.
If that combination is not jersey-hanging-worthy, I don't know what is.
The email exchange ended at 1:32pm on November 10, 2010. It was full of the typical news and notes two days prior to the season opener that I get from Scott Day. He is very good about getting me the information I need. This email string was no different, and didn't really raise my eyebrows.
Until I got to the last sentence:
When the buzzer sounded at Barclay's Center on a warm Brooklyn Saturday this past March, VCU had dispatched GW in the A10 tournament semifinals with a strong finishing kick. Notably, with the win, Shaka Smart became the school's alltime winningest coach. Smart's 137th win surpassed Sonny Smith's total from more than a decade past.
It's a remarkable number considering Smart was finishing his fifth year and it took Smith nine seasons, but that's really just a data point. A number. Now don't get me wrong. Becoming your school's alltime winningest coach is impressive and worthy of note and it's how we score success in college basketball, but boiling down the impact of Shaka Smart on VCU to math is a mistake.
Those are the results, the product, of what he does, what he' leading, what he's building. Those numbers matter greatly, but what occurs in the weeks and days and hours that lead up to the games that provide those numbers matters more. There's emotion and thoughtfulness and guidance and meaning that's wrapped up in everything he does.
You see there's nuance to Smart, interesting tidbits he drops into conversations that makes you want to continue to try to understand the deeper meaning. It's nuance like winning one more game the season after the Final Four than in that special season. That's a number but it also carries a deeper meaning. It's nuance like a rhetorical from a recent discussion we had. He asked:
"What is the standard for what's enough winning?"
And you think about that statement. And then he tells you what he means, and you think "holy crap."
In the good way.
Shaka Smart: I think anytime you make the transition from assistant coach to head coach, there is hopefully a level of preparedness that goes into that, and hopefully you've done a good job being organized as an apprentice for another head coach, but you're never fully ready and you know that. You know there's going to be an adjustment. The number one thing is making sure that mentally and emotionally you do a good job of handling all the things that come with the job...the interactions, the highs, the lows, the feedback, the adjustments with relationships because they are really different when you are the head coach. Inside the program, outside the program, with the media, just the things that are part of the job are different.
As I told Will when he got his job, as long as you stay in a good place in terms of your mental health you're going to be highly successful and I believe that about all the guys that have gotten head coaching jobs.
Shaka Smart: Well the generic advice is that everyone gives is be yourself and don't try to be someone else. Don't try to be your heroes as a coach growing up or the guys you worked for. Truthfully, you are yourself and that's good advice, but sometimes it's easier to tell someone else that than to do that yourself because you're still trying to figure out who you are as a head coach. Even for Mike Rhoades. Who he is as a head coach now is going to be different than who he was as a head coach at Randolph Macon before he got here.
People told me that, and I got that advice, so I would not go back and warn myself but I would remind myself that that's okay and to enjoy the journey a little bit more. I'm someone...I don't particularly like change. I like familiarity, so there were growing pains, not just personally as a head coach but that go along with starting your own program. I was fortunate that I came in following a very successful coach, but it doesn't matter who you follow, when you come in you have to start certain things from scratch. There's a reason they call it growing pains.
Shaka Smart: The stuff you mentioned, but I'm not satisfied with anything. I want Troy to do better. Troy had 22 points the other night and he should've had 30. So I'm not satisfied. But I truly enjoy seeing those guys' success. Troy, Darius, Mike Rhoades, Will Wade, Mike Jones, Jamion Christian, other guys that have been here and moved on and had success. David Hinton is about to join the secret service. I feel good about the fact that every senior we've had has graduated but I'm not satisfied with anything.
There's a little bit of a disconnect between what we are viewed on externally, and what we believe our actual mission is. And that's okay. It is what it is and I'm not criticizing the system, but sometimes you wish people would understand the connection between moving people forward and winning but I understand it's not always a linear path. There are steps forward there's steps backward. There's peaks and valleys.
Shaka Smart: It's like, first of all how much winning is enough? I mean...one question I used to hate that I've learned to, uh, that's kind of how people are, is 'how many games are you guys going to win this year?' It comes from a good place but we're trying to win every game, but the only game we really are focused on is our next game, especially when that next game is a day, two days, or three days away.
So again it's how many? What is the standard for what's enough winning? You used the term satisfied. For us, we're not going to be satisfied from a winning standpoint unless we go win that game. And then we want to go win the game after that and we're not going to dwell on the last game much. Once the game is over and you've won or lost you're not getting it back and you have to move on.
Certainly in our situation at VCU that standard for winning has been raised, probably over the past 10 years. I look out the window all the time, I look at the banners out there in the Siegel Center. Ten years ago Jeff Capel did a terrific job in winning the CAA and he went to the NCAA tournament. Started a very, very successful 10-year run at VCU. But before that, there were several years with no NCAA tournaments and not as much success.
You go back to 1996 and that was the only NCAA tournament in the whole decade of the 90s, and in fact if you look before that the last NCAA tournament was 1985. So you know in any program there's going to be ebbs and flows and what you want to do as a coach is keep moving forward, and that's why our primary goal and mission is to move forward. But it's all relative to who you're playing and the situation, so we choose to focus on the things that we can control and we choose to put our guys in the best possible position to have success.
You look at a guy like Troy Daniels, a guy like Darius Theus, a guy like Juvonte Reddic and you say 'those guys were very, very good players and they won a lot of games and had great careers at VCU but man I wish Troy would've done this or done that, or Juvonte had done this'--not me but people from the outside that look at this.
This is not the end of their journey. They are 22 years old when they leave here. I don't know where you were at 22 but it's just the end of their time wearing a VCU uniform. No, they aren't going to score any more points or get any more rebounds here at VCU, but I do feel good that those guys made great progress while they were here, that they did help us win a lot of games and they've continued to grow afterward.
Shaka Smart (laughing): She's probably more about the winning than I am. She likes winning. She likes winning. She, uh, gets almost disgusted. She's probably more like some our hardcore fans.
But if she really took time to think about it and contemplate that question, what she would be most proud of is that when I was 21, 22 years old, when I decided to start this journey in coaching and a lot of people around me were critical of that decision, she was always extremely supportive because she knew it's what I wanted to do. She would be most proud that I've never wavered in my passion and my work ethic and drive to get better in coaching and to create good experiences.
Shaka Smart: No. I think the concern, if there was a concern, would be that people don't understand what that means. There tends to be an oversimplification sometimes about what people are trying to do. I'm not being critical; that's just how things work. So that would be the concern.
I'm not really worried about someone from the outside really knowing every detail about what we're trying to do to help move JeQuan Lewis forward as a person. It's not really their concern, but that is the most important thing for us, to move him and our other players forward and our team forward.
I was speaking to a group of students in the school of education earlier this week and a student asked a really good question. 'What do you do when moving the player forward goes a different path than moving the team forward?' And that does happen occasionally, you hope that what's best for the team is also what's best for the player and vice versa, but I was obviously hired here to help this program continue to grow and do good things.
I do believe that at the end of the day if our guys buy in and follow the plan and really do what we ask them to do, and sacrifice, there's going to be a great reward for them. Troy Daniels and Darius Theus are great examples of that. BUT sometimes it's delayed gratification, sometimes it's not going to happen when you want it to. Look at Troy. To be honest there are very, very few guys that have been here or are here now that we've coached that would be able to do what he did from his freshman to sophomore to junior years. Not in terms of making shots or physical transformation, but in terms of the mental part of it.
Shaka Smart: It's a balance that you've got to strike and organization helps with it. I need to continue to get more organized with that. Maya is very big on creating systems so that you don't have to think what to do next in a specific area. You just know 'this is the system this is the process' and it's in writing.
This time of year is a great example. Everybody asks me 'you getting some off time,' and NO this is much busier now, April, than during the season, from this standpoint. Obviously we're working a lot during the season and we're putting everything we can into our team. But during the season it's literally make sure guys are ready and prepared academically, practice, games, preparation for games, recruiting, spend time with the guys.
That list is so much longer now. It's not as much fun now because it's fun being on the court and fun playing in the NCAA tournament. That stuff is fun and now a lot of this stuff has less to do directly with playing basketball, but it obviously indirectly impacts our program and what we do.
To balance that stuff is still a work in progress. I need to keep getting better with organization and you've got to have a little bit of feel for it. Unfortunately sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the oil and I guess that's just how things work.
Shaka Smart: I'm lucky in that I have a job, a lot of this stuff that I have to do I want to do and that is something I appreciate about coaching. There are a lot of jobs out there that are "important" jobs or high paying jobs but they probably aren't as much fun.
But you have to look at it as a process that you enjoy, and I really enjoy the interaction with the staff. That makes it a lot of fun. But would I like to spend more time with my family on most days? Yes, but I think there is quality time that we are able to spend and continue to spend and that's what's most important.
Shaka Smart: There are a lot of self-improvement things that I need to and want to do more. At different times in the year it can fall by the wayside, so I just have to force myself to carve out the time to do those things.
One thing I learned from Billy Donovan...he's the best I've ever been around, in any walk of life, at constantly challenging himself to get better and organizing himself to grow and pushing himself; but at the same time making sure he's in a good place mentally, physically, and spiritually to do his job, specifically as it relates to his players and his team. So that's something that I want to keep doing better and more.
It isn't necessarily that five years ago I did a great job of it. But there's so much growth for all of us that can occur, but sometimes, ironically, all of our daily tasks or weekly tasks and job stuff gets in the way of that. When you think about it that doesn't make sense, that you wouldn't be doing the things to make yourself better at your job and your interactions because those things will obviously lead to more good things. It's something we'll keep working on.
Outside each VCU basketball coach's office, center-hung above the door, is a placard. Each placard has a single word inscribed on it. Above Jeremy Ballard's door the placard says REALITY. Above Mike Morrell: STALWART. Above Jesse Bopp: ATTACK. And above Dwight Perry's doorway the placard reads ENERGETIC.
Down a short hall from the assistants is where Shaka Smart resides. He doesn't have an office; it's more of a laboratory. Oh it looks like an office from the outside and that's where Smart does office-type stuff.
However the inside reminds you of that scene from the movie A Beautiful Mind when John Nash has numbers and equations written all over the walls, a mass of information that seems to make sense only to him. Nash is constantly trying to figure out how it all fits together in the best possible way.
That's what Smart's office looks like. There are statistics, equations, words, names, diagrams on every surface. The back of his office door has been coated with the marker paint that turns it into a de facto white board, and it's so full you couldn't write a grocery list on it.
There is remarkable organization among the seeming chaos, the apparent havoc. Five years ago everything had its place in Shaka Smart's office, and it's no different now even though the job is very different.
It's a nuance, an irony, a consistency to the way Shaka Smart leads this program and moves people forward. It's been that way since November 2009, when a 77-51 win over Bethune-Cookman was win number one. But even that isn't the most interesting facet about Smart and his five years at VCU. Those are all just numbers.
The sign above Shaka Smart's door: LOVE.
The A10 Pooh-Bahs have released each team's pairings for next season, home and away games. Specific dates and times will be announced later. I think I can speak for everyone when I say hallelujah. This gives us something to overanalyze for a few days. Beats the NFL Draft and whatever NBA playoffs faux drama that's being crammed down our throats, no?
Last year, VCU hit the road for a gauntlet of games. The Rams played each of the top seven finishing teams in the A10 (not named VCU) in their barn. VCU went 4-4 after checking out of hotels. (Okay, 3-4 plus a win over Richmond. See how I slipped that in there?)
Enough foolishness. Here's what we drew with a quick comment:
Both home and road: Davidson, Mason, GW, Richmond, SLU.
Home only: Dayton, LaSalle, UMass, St. Joe's.
Road only: Duquesne, Fordham, Rhody, Bonnies.
Dayton: Flyers return a stockpile from its Elite 8 team and will be predicted at or near the top of the conference. VCU began its A10 life with a win over Dayton.
LaSalle: Explorers were a disappointment last season after a Sweet 16 run. Rams won in Philly last year in double OT, and LaSalle is the last visitor to win in That Animal.
UMass: Chaz and the Preying Mantis are gone, but Derek Kellogg also boasts a talented roster. Minutemen will also be a top four team.
St. Joseph's: Last time Martelli brought the Hawks to town, VCU played 14 Perfect Seconds to win in overtime. Hawks won in Philly (lousy charging call on Graham) and in Brooklyn last year. We owe them a little something, no?
Davidson: Need to study up on the newcomers. Lefty Driesell and Terry Holland coached there a long time ago.
Mason: This bunch needs no introduction.
GW: Mike Lonergan will again have a top team. Friggin' Garino is back.
Richmond: See "Mason."
St. Louis: Billikens are replacing five senior starters. Box of chocolates.
Duquesne: Played very well at the end of last year.
Fordham: Pecora landed another top recruit. VCU had sluggish half up there.
Rhode Island: This could be that year for Hurley, the one some folks said would occur last year. Plenty of talent.
Bonnies: They say the trip to Olean is awful. I didn't think it was bad. Schmidt replacing a bunch.
Davidson: See above.
Mason: See above.
GW: See above. And we owe them, too.
Richmond: See above.
St. Louis: See above. Funny fans dressed up.
We could not have landed a better home slate. There will be plenty of opportunities to give yourself a headache cheering loudly in a hotly-contested, fun game being played at a high level. And the road is a great balance of styles and tests. There are unknowns and some travel challenges that will help focus the team.
This, combined with the whack-a-mole nonconference slate, is setting up to be a (warning: Shaka word coming) phenomenal schedule and season.
Home- DAY, FOR, SBU, SLU, DUQ, MASON, GW, RICH, VCU
Away- LAS, UMASS, URI, SJU, DUQ, MASON, GW, RICH, VCU
Home – MASON, URI, RICH, SJU, DUQ, FOR, LAS, SBU, SLU
Away – DAV, GW, UMASS, VCU, DUQ, FOR, LAS, SBU, SLU
Home – MASON, URI, SJU, VCU, DAV, DAY, GW, SBU, SLU
Away – FOR, LAS, UMASS, RICH, DAV, DAY, GW, SBU, SLU
Home – DUQ, GW, SLU, VCU, DAY, LAS, UMASS, URI, SJU
Away – DAV, MASON, RICH, SBU, DAY, LAS, UMASS, URI, SJU
George Mason
Home- FOR, LAS, UMASS, URI, DAV, GW, RICH, SLU, VCU
Away- DAY, DUQ, SBU, SJU, DAV, GW, RICH, SLU, VCU
George Washington
Home – DAY, UMASS, SBU, SLU, DAV, DUQ, MASON, RICH, VCU
Away –FOR, LAS, URI, SJU, DAV, DUQ, MASON, RICH, VCU
La Salle
Home – DAV, DUQ, GW, RICH, DAY, FOR, UMASS, URI, SJU
Away – MASON, SBU, SLU, VCU, DAY, FOR, UMASS, URI, SJU
Home – DAV, DAY, DUQ, RICH, FOR, LAS, URI, SJU, SBU
Away –MASON, GW, SLU, VCU, FOR, LAS, URI, SJU, SBU
Rhode Island
Home – DAV, GW, SBU, VCU, FOR, LAS, UMASS, SJU, SLU
Away – DAY, DUQ, MASON, RICH, FOR, LAS, UMASS, SJU, SLU
Home – DUQ, FOR, URI, SLU, DAV, MASON, GW, SBU, VCU
Away – DAY, LAS, UMASS, SJU, DAV, MASON, GW, SBU, VCU
St. Bonaventure
Home –FOR, MASON LAS, VCU, DAY, DUQ, UMASS, RICH, SJU
Away – DAV, GW, URI, SLU, DAY, DUQ, UMASS, RICH, SJU
Saint Joseph's
Home – DAV, GW, MASON, RICH, FOR, LAS, UMASS, URI, SBU
Away – DAY, DUQ, SLU, VCU, FOR, LAS, UMASS, URI, SBU
Saint Louis
Home – LAS, UMASS, SBU, SJU, DAY, DUQ, MASON, URI, VCU
Away – DAV, FOR, GW, RICH, DAY, DUQ, MASON, URI, VCU
You exit the floor in San Diego State's Viejas Arena, and the back hall to the locker rooms is on your immediate right. For the NCAA tournament, a blue curtain had been set up to herd the media away from that entrance, straight down a long hallway, past the bathrooms and out a back door into a gigantic tent where the NCAA had set up operations for the media horde.
The media work room with its cafeteria-style seating and rows of computers and photographic equipment, the de facto eating cafeteria, and that God awful staging area that I did not want to visit, the place where press conferences took place, was under that same tent.
At this one particular moment I stood at the mouth of the locker room entrance, unable to continue straight as the curtain and security usher wished. I could only manage the go-stay, like when you pump your brakes in the car deciding whether or not oncoming traffic is too close to pull into an intersection. VCU had just lost in heartbreaking fashion to Stephen F. Austin in the NCAA tournament, and I was pondering options I didn't actually possess.
I didn't want to see my guys, our guys, Shaka Smart and the kids, deal with this raw moment in front of the world. Maybe if I didn't walk into that tent the press conference would never occur? I made it off the floor but wanted to go back, as if I had the ability to alter the course of events I had witnessed that led to the end of the season. If I could shoot from the exact spot JeQuan Lewis shot, in my coat and tie, and make it...
But there was reality. I knew it. There would be a press conference with uncomfortable questions. I understood it and knew it had to happen and that's how it goes, but I didn't have to like it. Still don't. Never will.
So there I was, not really paying attention to my surroundings in those minutes after the shocking manner in which VCUs season ended. And in that moment of hesitation, in that wisp of a moment where I thought I could do the impossible, when I pumped the brakes, I looked up and I was face-to-face with JeQuan Lewis.
His backpack was slung over his shoulder and for the first time all year he was not wearing headphones and listening to music. Lewis stared straight ahead as his weary legs carried him slowly forward.
People are going to forget JeQuan Lewis gave VCU 32 solid minutes as a freshman in the NCAA tournament, subbing for a foul-plagued Rob Brandenberg. They will forget his 13 points and the fact that he had but a single turnover in those 32 minutes. They will forget he swished a three to tie the game at 41-41 after VCU had languished through 27 minutes of action. They will forget he followed that with a natural three-point play to give VCU its first lead of the second half. Those 32 minutes were a season high for Lewis and the moment was not too big for him.
They shouldn't forget any of that, but they probably will, and that's a shame.
Lewis's body was six inches from mine—closer than he ever got to Desmond Haymon—as he turned the corner, but his eyes were someplace else. They were empty but alive, wide, boring straight ahead searching for something only JeQuan Lewis could find. Lewis was in that place you go when you need to make things better for yourself but still cannot yet come to grips with your reality. It's a difficult place but it's also a healing place.
I instinctively stepped back so we wouldn't collide, but purposely slowed my walk so I wouldn't have to walk with him. Yes it was a bit cowardly, but what do you say to kid, such a nice kid who had just played his ass off so you could cheer and feel good, in a moment like that? What could Shaka Smart say to him? His teammates?
No, this was something that JeQuan Lewis would have to find on his own, even if he has an entire VCU family ready to climb a mountain to punch an echo for him.
Something was weird, or different, about this season. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I'm writing this now because I fear summer will pass and I still won't have the answers I seek and it's time to move forward.
Perhaps our constant wrangling with uneven play was rooted in something far more simple than Ken Pomeroy could ever offer, and far more simple than the esoteric concept of "leadership" or shooting percentages or the emotional barometer of Juvonte Reddic.
Perhaps what we missed on the floor was a glue guy. You know him. Selfless to a fault and dedicated to making those around him better. Darius Theus may have been a point guard and a leader, but he was a glue guy.
I'll never forget 2007 and VCUs greatest alltime glue guy. Duke's Greg Paulus had flailed an elbow at Eric Maynor and had been talking a little trash. Maynor was our star, the guy. Paulus knew getting Maynor out of his element was a key to beating VCU.
And coming out of a second half timeout after a mini dustup between Maynor and Paulus, Jesse Pellot Rosa flattened Paulus with a manly screen. It may have been a tad illegal, but notice was served to Greg Paulus that VCUs star would not be trifled with.
Dagger. Glue guy.
I guess I'm off kilter because I can't pin the season on anything, to be honest. VCU didn't win an A10 championship and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. But really, there wasn't much bad in the season either. I can intellectually understand every loss except perhaps Northern Iowa. And if a college basketball team can go through an entire season and really only lay one true egg, you're lucky.
We only played seven games that were decided by five or fewer points. Maybe that's the rub.
Or maybe, just maybe, this was the year the script flipped and VCU became the hunted. It isn't that "we arrived" or any foolhearty, arrogant concept like that. Rather, this was the year others viewed us with authentic respect, just as VCU approaches its opponents with authentic respect.
After all, authentic respect breathes life to the motivational fire of beating someone who is a worthy adversary. You aren't getting fired up to play the Nevada Culinary Institute, not like you get fired up to play the Florida Gators.
We sold out our building but also sold out road games. When VCU won it was supposed to win and when we lost it was news. The big boy reporters wrote long form articles a mere three years from considering VCU an upstart. They dug into our weaknesses and we had to stomach those words, because that sort of examination goes with national relevance. It was all new and we had to figure out how that tastes.
It was this way on the court.
The Florida State game comes to mind. The Seminoles did to VCU what VCU did to others in prior years. They used the motivation of playing the 10th-ranked team in the nation and the fire that they were going to take them down a peg. VCU was no more the 10th-best college basketball team this season than a Michigan or Villanova or North Carolina is ever the 10th-best team.
The Florida State game, I think, extends to you and me. Ever since the Final Four run we've often said we expect to win games over major conference teams like Florida State. I'm willing to admit those were hollow boasts, chest-puffing rhetoric designed to mask the fact that I was always hopeful we'd win those games but never expecting it.
Until this season, when I can honestly say I expected to win that Florida State game.
This, maybe, was the year of hopes turning in its learner's permit for the real thing. It was the year of authenticity.
Lament is a wasted emotion, so I refuse to lament any part of the last six months of my life. Not everything in the VCU basketball season was steak and cake, but then again what is?
Besides, there's nothing you can do about what's past. It isn't productive to play the "what if "game, and it isn't healthy to lament missed opportunities, or missed layups. What I choose to do is learn what I can learn from the experience and take that forward.
Memories will be pleasant memories, and that's a good thing because there wasn't really much bad in this season. If you think about it, there really wasn't.
You can't blame officials for anything, just as you can't deny they have an impact on the game. This was never more evident than the second half of the Georgetown game, where the officials had called eight total first half fouls on VCU and seven in the first 2:38 of the second half. The Hoyas shot three free throws in the first half and 34 free throws in the second half. And there was the charging call on Treveon Graham in the St. Joseph's game. I committed to never speaking of it again, but cannot let free from my mind.
I will admit I never expected to lose to St. Joseph's in the A10 championship game, and to SFA in the NCAA tournament. But those are on me, I am my own provider of hubris and grief. Okay maybe there are a couple negative things stuck in my crawl, but I will learn from those as well.
Otherwise there isn't pain from the year. We experienced the thrill of the Freight Train daggering Virginia. A stunning comeback and double-overtime win at LaSalle. A 31-0 run on Virginia Tech that I was told about, and finishing the year 6-0 against the major state teams and 18-0 on Commonwealth soil.
We won, convincingly, at Dayton, and St. Louis became the latest example of why teams don't want a piece of That Animal.
Personally, the St. Louis students mistaking me for Shaka Smart and heckling me is a proud moment in my life. I still remember being 15 feet down the hall from the entrance to the locker room and hearing "Mo Says No" emanating from the closed door after Mo Alie Cox swatted five Billikens shots. His teammates were proud.
For the fourth straight year, a VCU assistant landed a head coaching job when Mike Rhoades was hired to revive Rice.
Shaka Smart became the school's all-time winningest coach, but I'm here to tell you that man's impact on people and this program dwarfs his win total. I consider myself very fortunate to see this impact in the back halls of faraway arenas and unloading gear from the bottom of a bus.
Here's my summation: the season had its high points and low points, as does every season. In the end, we were a five seed in the NCAA tournament for the second straight season. Let that marinate, weighing its relative importance against single games versus Georgetown or Northern Iowa or St. Joseph's or SFA.
It may have been a season low on drama, but it was high on authenticity.
Someone who long ago was my friend but ceased being that a few years back coined the term "it always ends in a loss." I never really agreed with him on that front, even when we were friends. There are the pure wins and losses that are the ultimate arbiters in what we're all doing here, but on a wholly higher level it's about so much more. It's about trajectory and fellowship, and these shared experiences include wins and losses. We're better people for the journey.
My former friend shuttered his website this week, a place that was once beautiful but had turned into a carnival act, and near the end of his concluding post he saw the light that had escaped him for so long.
"It doesn't end in a loss, and any inflicted pain does not linger for long," he wrote in words we haven't seen in years. "It ends when it's over, and then something else happens. So it goes."
If you look at it in the broader picture, it hasn't ended in a loss for VCU in quite some time. Capel to Grant to Smart. Sander to Teague to McLaughlin. Walker to Maynor to Rodriguez to Theus to Weber. The fabric and the progress is right there in plain sight.
Late in this authentic season we were chosen as a "host school" in the Legends Classic at Barclays next year, alongside Michigan, Oregon, and Villanova. We announced a new $25 million practice facility. I don't follow recruiting but I'm told we have a crop of stallions on the way.
Something else happens. So it goes. And I can't wait.
Update, Monday morning: I have corrected two errors below to the NCAA tournament statistics. Thank you to the commentors. What's more, I want to be clear this is not an attack on Paul Woody--he is a good man whose body of work over the years deserves respect. I simply felt there was a great deal of information and perspective missing from his column, so I wanted to lay those facts out.
Who saw today's paper? I'm a dinosaur and picked it up from my driveway this morning, and boy, if you want to talk about blammo, check out A1 and Paul Woody's column, titled "Investment in VCUs Smart Demands More."
(I am half-joking. That baby made the rounds today.)
I don't disagree with Woody's high level assertion. For VCU to be consistently viewed as a national power in basketball, it will have to win important games in late March. There's no getting around that reality.
My issue surrounds the lack of comparative information and historical precedent needed to lend perspective to the viewpoint. What's more, it completely ignores what Smart contributes to the Richmond community and to the lives of the student-athletes in his charge. This is in addition to the curious front-page placement and timing of a piece so devoid of needed perspective.
I will begin by saying that VCU had better have doubled down on its basketball investment. I wouldn't want it any other way. Any responsible leader will invest in his greatest asset, the fulcrum that brought him that first level of success. That's expert vision from Dr. Rao and Ed McLaughlin. Drive 100 miles to the north and ask the people surrounding George Mason University about the impact of not investing in the assets that brought you a Final Four.
Where is the hand-wringing and Sunday front page positioning for Virginia Tech, a school that's on its third head coach since VCUs Final Four run and has an operating budget far superior to that of VCU? Virginia Tech has been to one NCAA tournament in 18 years and has one fewer NCAA tournament victory in its basketball-playing history (six) than Smart has at VCU in the past four years (seven). Let's calculate that ROI.
How about conference-mate Richmond? The Spiders have played in two NCAA tournaments in five years, and just spent $17 million upgrading the Robins Center.
I don't write that out of spite to the other schools--they too are trying for the same things as the VCU program and I wish them success. I just wonder how they were omitted from this column. After all, winning in the NCAA tournament and being nationally-recognized is not solely a VCU goal. Those schools have made investments, too, including the giant contract just given to Buzz Williams.
Just as the Richmond improvements, which are outstanding, should be judged over the long term, so should VCU success. You cannot call into question VCUs investment just as you cannot peel one orange and call into question the entire grove.
A USAToday report last year had Smart as the 27th highest paid college basketball coach. I counted 12 coaches who make more money than Smart but have seen less success than VCU. How do you think Oklahoma State feels about the $2.275 million it's paying Travis Ford? NC State and the $1.95 million it's paying Mark Gottfried?
My point here is not to quibble with numbers; rather, these are things that should've been in the column for perspective. As for deadlines, it took me five seconds to Google "ncaa basketball coaches salaries." It was the first link to click.
Similarly, Smart should absolutely be rewarded for what he has accomplished to date. In that same report, Duke's Mike Krzyzewski makes more than $7 million per year. Is that for what he's accomplished, or what they are going to accomplish? Again, I don't want to parse salary, but it's worth noting that VCU has won a game in two of the past three NCAA tournaments. Duke has not.
Let's also take into account outliers and second-level impact.
The $25 million practice facility mentioned by Woody does not occur without Smart's success on the court, and ability to create positivity off the court. People can see and feel the impact he is making and they want to be a part of that.
Smart is mentioned for nearly every head coaching vacancy for a reason--he is a good bet for an institution. Others see value in his transformative drive and passion. And that is on every level and in the community, not just basketball. There is value in that.
That brings me to loyalty.
Loyalty matters, and it should be rewarded.
Shaka Smart turned down the likes of Maryland, NC State, UCLA, and Illinois. He remains at VCU to further his vision and see it come to fruition. Loyalty and consistency is important in a leader, and that's what VCU has. Think of it this way: What did Anthony Grant do right after he was given a big raise? He left town.
Every senior--every single one--has graduated under Smart. The two student-athletes deemed partial-qualifiers by the NCAA were honor roll students their freshman year. People don't realize that the VCU players spent time during the NCAA tournament in study hall.
And while everyone sees his work with the Boys & Girls Club or Friends Association, Smart frequently speaks at elementary schools without prodding nor cameras and for no other reason than it fits into his schedule. He contributed $1,000 out of his own pocket to help send the VCU band to Brooklyn, and when Troy Daniels needed advice on what to do with his career, he immediately dialed up Smart. He is a unifying figure in a region that desperately needs that kind of humanity and leadership.
There is value in all of that.
And yes, VCU lost a game in the NCAA tournament it should not have lost. That doesn't change the direction of the investment. This is a world that values immediate gratification and sometimes that's not a realistic expectation. Some sucesses are built through a process that takes years to create. Of all of their columnists, I thought Woody understood this reality more than anyone.
If you look at where this basketball program was when Smart arrived, where it is today, and where it's headed, you can see the value of this investment. And to my original point, I do agree that wins deep into March will matter. The Times-Dispatch readers simply needed the perspective and data outlined above.
Considering the dreck in college sports, if you're telling me a few wins every now and then in late March is VCUs biggest problem, I'll take that. Besides, there's nothing wrong with being challenged and in many ways I like that there's an implicit challenge in Woody's column. But the way this was done, from the lack of important information right down to the positioning in the paper, I hate that.
Honestly, I think Shaka Smart is underpaid, and this column was disrespectful to a man that has accomplished more in five years than VCU--the university--could've dreamed. We're in good hands.
Divide each difficulty into as many parts as is feasible and necessary to resolve it. --Descartes
Firmness in enduring and exertion is a character I always wish to possess. I have always despised the whining yelp of complaint and cowardly resolve. --Robert Burns
When time and space and change converge, we find place. We arrive in Place when we resolve things. Place is peace of mind and understanding. Place is knowledge of self. Place is resolution. --Abdullah Ibrahim
At some point, this moment had to come. I would have to open the laptop and relive Friday's painful loss to SFA in the NCAA Tournament's first round. (I will not abide by the NCAAs foolish round nomenclature. It isn't my problem they cannot count.) Even in distress, we must move forward. We must resolve.
You see, the way this normally works is that I pop open the laptop on the plane ride home and write out thoughts and notes from the game VCU just played. I match those thoughts to stats and the boxscore, and turn them into sentences the next day. I do this even after losses.
However it's Sunday morning, and I can just now muster the desire to get in here and start the writing process. I kept the laptop and phone a safe distance yesterday. I wanted no part of it, save a quick phone call around 7pm. I even tried to watch the St. Louis/Louisville game but turned off the TV after five minutes. Couldn't do it. Yeah, it was, and remains, that painful.
But even in distress, we must move forward. We must resolve.
I don't know that we need to relive the pain in full, but on some level the words may be a salve.
VCU struggled defensively in the first half and cobbled together just enough offense to trail by a 36-30 margin. The Rams were shooting 40% and had knocked down a few threes--two by our version of Dougie Buckets. But SFA hit 15-25 shots, many of the backcut/layup variety. Ironically, that play is termed a UCLA Cut in coaching vernacular. VCU had forced just five tunrovers.
After a sludgy start to the second half that found VCU down 40-30, havoc awoke. A 24-3 blammo turned the game on its ear. It was vintage havoc, punctuated by three straight possessions in which SFA was unable to advance the basketball past their own foul line. You knew VCU was going to stroll home with this one and turn its eyeballs to the UCLA/Tulsa game. It was inevitable, only it wasn't.
SFA went to a 3-2 zone that re-changed the game. VCU still held a 10-point lead with about three minutes to play but backed of the gas pedal and sunk into exactly the pattern a 3-2 zone asks for.
That 10-point lead became four points, and you know the rest.
My official stance: no, JeQuan Lewis did not foul Desmond Haymon, and no, JeQuan Lewis should not have put himself in that position. These kids are competitors and Lewis was competing. It's one of those mistakes that, as Shaka Smart says, comes from a good place.
On some level you have to give SFA credit for never giving up and making the plays necessary to put themselves in that position. A lesser team folds. However I cannot escape the irony of the final three minutes of regulation being a microcosm of VCUs season-long struggles. The Rams missed free throws, played a little tentative and loose on offense, and did not grab a critical defensive rebound. The result was that we were in a game that was closer than we believed it should be.
If you ever want to know why Shaka Smart preaches the details, the focus, the little things that go into winning, you now have three minutes--and one season--that serves as the best possible example. Don't ever underestimate the details.
Yes, that is a game we should've won. We didn't. It was the absolute worst way to end a season. Looking back on this game does no more good because there's nothing that can be altered. We talked all season long about this basketball team having guts, resolve. They will need to tap into resolve now even though the season is done.
One loss does not change the trajectory of this progam.
Even in distress, we must move forward. We must resolve.
I have so many more thoughts and words for this team and this season, but we will get to those in the coming days. There are a few platforms I want to address. Some are fully-baked, some are half-baked, and some still await the oven to pre-heat. Paul Woody's column from today has me diving back into research mode. Stay tuned.
For now, life must move on. Nothing we say or do will change the fact that we flew home overnight from San Diego and the NCAA tournament continues without VCU. Even in distress, we must move forward. We must resolve.
But before that, there is one item that I've bottled up for about two years but want to get off my chest.
I've endured the criticism of Juvonte Reddic. Some has been warranted, but many times it's been irrational, unfair, and stupid. Some have argued, with me in person, that Reddic didn't make the most of his experience here, that he frittered away certain opportunities, that he "didn't bring it every night."
That's your perspective of Reddic's accomplishments, so any disappointment belongs to you. Don't put that on Reddic. You own your own emotion.
What if Reddic's experience at VCU was more than he ever thought it could be? What if Reddic came from a place, both experientially and emotionally four years ago, that kept him from ever believing he could get an opportunity to get a degree and play professional basketball?
What if the mentoring Reddic received from Shaka Smart and the coaching staff has blown away anything Juvonte Reddic could've thought would occur in his life? Smart quoted Tom Izzo the other day. Izzo said that "discipline is the highest form of love." What if Reddic, even if he doesn't yet fully realize it, has gained a level of discipline and a level of love in his life that hadn't existed prior to his stepping onto the VCU campus?
What if these relationships, both with players and coaches, allow Reddic to become a positive force in the world, basketball or not, instead of drifting and wondering because he went through four years of college without any direction, discipline or challenge?
What if Juvonte Reddic leaves VCU content and thankful for his college experience, on and off the court? Is that good enough for you?
Yeah, you can curse that Juvonte Reddic did not average a double-double and played disinterested in certain basketball games. I'm going to appreciate the career of a kid I saw play mostly outstanding basketball and blossom as a human being.
Juvonte Reddic finished his VCU career top 15 in scoring. Only two players in the history of VCU basketball grabbed more rebounds. Reddic was sixth alltime in blocks and ninth alltime in steals. He is one of only four players in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia to play in the NCAA tournament in all four years of his career. He went to a Final Four and won games in two other NCAA tournaments.
He earned his college degree and left VCU a more mature human being with better perspective and understanding, and a loving extended family that he can turn to as he grows older. He has professional opportunities either here or overseas.
And really, when you look at it, isn't that the damned point of all of this?
I'm going to be honest with you: I like this matchup for VCU. I really do. Now we can hedge and hem and haw all we want about The Fates, karma, and not overlooking our opponent. We can imbue our discussion with tales of upperclassmen and team basketball and 28-game winning streaks. Fine.
But I'm here to tell you that I've spent hours on angles and talked to coaches who don't wear VCU on their chests and the simple fact is that this is a good draw for VCU. The Rams have a physical advantage at every position, in both height and thickness. VCU is a stout team in comparison to its axe-wielding opponents.
VCU can run a lineup onto the floor in which four Rams are bigger than the Lumberjacks biggest notable player. Think about the devastation of a lineup of Reddic, Alie-Cox, Graham, Burgess, and Weber.
That's why if I'm Shaka Smart--and we can all thank the heavens I am not--I'm playing a constant loop of the running of the bulls in Pamplona in the locker room. That's what VCU has to do--play aggressive, downhill basketball.
What's more, SFA is small and scrappy and tough and crash the boards hard, but that diminuitive size crashing the boards leaves breakouts wide open.
Yes SFA turns teams over at a rate of 24.4%, third nationally. But the Southland Conference is 27th overall, with a turnover rate of 19.3% for all teams. Everybody turns it over. SFA is known to be aggressive and gamble, which leads to open lanes when exploited by bigger, longer players. It's worth noting that teams shoot 45% against SFA.
Do you see what I'm getting at here?
And so we are clear, I am not being overconfident nor taking them lightly. Not at all. VCU will have to go out and win a basketball game against a team that has not lost since November 23, 2013. That matters. What's more, this VCU team is prone to shooting droughts.
They've won 28 straight games so they know how to win. Only three of SFAs 20 conference victories were by fewer than seven points, and six were by fewer than 10 points. The Jacks also went 3-0 against the CAA, for what that's worth.
What I am saying is that straight anlaysis of this game comes up looking good for VCU. It's okay to believe that.
The Jacks are a tough and skilled bunch. They remind me of a blend of Davidson, Northern Iowa without the size, and Belmont. They do their thing, they know what do to, and they can shoot. They pass well, play together well and featured skilled players. Only one player who plays more than five mnutes per game has more turnovers than assists (Tanner Clayton 14/19).
SFA is one of just five teams to have the same starting lineup every game during the season.
Jacob Parker (14.2ppg, 7.1rpg) is the the Southland Conference Player of the Year and one of those guys that looks unspectacular, until he beats you. The 6-6 junior is shooting 54% from the field and 80% from the line. He's also hit 21-45 from three. Parker had 10 double doubles on the year. He is a very good offensive rebounder, so the Rams will have to punish him. What's more, Parker loves to go one-on-one from the elbow. VCU will have to play team defense on him.
Desmond Haymon (14.3ppg, 94 assists, 54 turnovers, 55 threes at 35% clip) has games of 36 and 30 points. This just in: he can score. Haymon is a 6-4 senior who can change games with his lightning-fast bucketmaking abilities. Haymon is a lefty who can shoot, and the Rams will have to cut off his left-handed drives. He will also play some point guard when needed.
Deshaunt Walker (12.0ppg, 79 threes at 38% clip) is the sixth man and a 6-0 combo guard. He hit six threes against Texas, and has made three or more threes in six of their last seven games. He's been in double figures in all seven games. Coach Underwood even said he is their version of Melvin Johnson--instant offense off the bench. Walker plays an aggressive style, so it's worth it for the Rams to bottle him up and not let him get going. Walker may be the key defensive assignment.
Thomas Walkup (12.9ppg, 5.0rpg) is a 6-4 three man who hit double figures in 11 of last 12 games and earned third-team All-Southland honors. He also won the conference tournament MVP honor. Walkup also made the Southland's all defensive team and is known for his energy plays. He is considered deadly in their trapping defense. Walkup is also the definition of their toughness.
Nikola Gajic (9.6ppg, 41 threes at 38% clip) is a 6-5 glue guy who can shoot if given the time. By glue guy, I don't mean "guy with little actual skills." Gajic can pass very well and is always on the move. When you hear the announcers talk about SFAs great spacing, it's because Gajic sees to it.
Trey Pinkney (3.0ppg, 115 assists and 57 turnovers) is a distributing point guard and a bit of a waterbug. Pinkney is listed at 5-9 and can pressure the ball with his low-slung frame and above-average quickness. VCU will have to protect the ball from Pinkney's curious hands. He isn't much of a scoring threat--just 3-23 from three on the year and has never scored in double figures in his career.
Tanner Clayton is their tallest player and best athlete as a former world-class volleyball player. Also, Dallas Cameron is a 6-3 freshman who is the backup point guard. He is a freshman point guard, and you know what that means: blood in the water. Finally, Connor Brooks looks like he just took your daughter to junior prom but can play. Brooks hit three threes in the Southland semifinals and has played more lately.
That's pretty good depth, but in actuality, as the season moved to grinding time SFA turned into a six man team. SFA got spot minutes for a bevy of players, but the Jacks put five guys in double figures plus the point guard skills of Pinkney in their conference season.
Okay, we've been over the offense. Downhill. Attack. Feed. The. Big. Man. VCU is 20-4 when scoring 30 or more points in the paint. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if we didn't see Shaka Smart go with a big lineup to start. Jarred Guest or even Mo Alie Cox could take off his sweats for the opening tip.
You get the picture.
However it's also about attacking in transition, sprinting to spots on the floor. All of this is part of the physically-stronger team taking the action to its opponent.
On defense, VCU has to assume control of the glass. SFA grabs 38.5% of its misses, which is 11th nationally. The Rams are 17-0 when it wins the battle of the glass and rebounds more than 35% of its own misses. So there's that.
But the Rams also have to turn the volume up to 11 on its havoc defense. Briante Weber has 25 more steals than anyone else in the country and he needs to widen his lead. The Rams have to make SFA uncomfortable. The biggest enemy of a patterned team is discomfort--guys flying around disrupting and getting deflections, denying entry passes.
So really, it's VCU doing VCU things. You know: aggressive, confident, and loose. It's a style of play night. That's how you advance.
I also think a punch smack in the mouth early is important. We will surely have that feeling out period--an ugly four minutes where everybody is getting accustomed to the surroundings and each other. But once we get past the under 16 media timeout in the first half, VCU is well-advised to crank up the havoc machine and hit SFA with a BLAMMO. A 12-2 run to say "this is what we do" will suffice.
Side note: if VCU wins, Smart becomes the only coach in the history of college basketball to start his career with 27 or more wins in each of his first five seasons.
I had to furrow my brow a bit when VCU came out of the locker room for its public shootaround yesterday. Normally the Rams charge onto the floor with its trademark spirit and ebullience, but this was different. It was more of a mosey.
It was atypical and a bit concerning, to be honest, but once the whistle blew and called the meeting to order, somebody turned on the wattage. It was a bouncy, loose, fun shootaround. I had someone from another university comment to me that "my God you guys are loose" and he wondered if we were always this loose.
Yes, we are. And our coach participates:
The practice ended, somewhat perfectly, with Juvonte Reddic giving Torrey Burston a bit of help in his leap to dunk the ball.
Yeah, I"d say the team is loose.
Last night the team went to dinner but was back early to watch more basketball and take it easy. (Side note: how much fun was that?) Our hotel had a faux fire alarm while they were out that stirred up the place, but it turned out to be nothing. All in all, it was a pretty standard pregame evening. That's exactly as we want it.
But that was yesterday.
Today, it's a different kind of meeting, and Shaka Smart will be in suit and tie, although he won't be wearing his jacket for very long. The guys will sleep in and then begin the gameday routine they've gone through 34 times already this year.
They will approach the SFA game with great seriousness but simply go play basketball, which is more fun for them than anything else.
Today was the beauty pageant portion of the NCAA tournament. Players and coaches from each team in San Diego went to the podium for high level, softball questions from the media. Each team also has a 40-minute practice that is really nothing more than basic drills, shooting, and some running to get used to the floor. It's all open to the public, so it isn't like a coach is going to run his offensive sets.
I actually like it, because it gets the smell of basketball into your system.
After sleeping in and a meal, VCU had it's actual practice in an undisclosed location, then took it's turn. Basketball is the talent competiton, and forutnately there is no swimsuit competition.
The best quote came froma random guy from another school who was on-hand to take in the VCU practice. I love fans who attend these shootarounds--if you're doing this you are my kind of fan. Anyway, the guy looked to the floor, then looked at me, and remarked:
"My God you guys are loose. Do you always have this much fun?"
Yes my friend, we do.
That said, instead of creating some faraway storyline, here is a dump of the better quotes from VCU today:
Juvonte Reddic, on being without Melvin Johnson tomorrow: "...we've been without players in the past and some of the guys have stepped up and did a good job so I think, you know, we're going to be all right."
Shaka Smart, same thing: "He's doubtful for tomorrow. We practiced earlier. He moved around a little bit and he can shoot which is the best thing he does anyway so maybe we will put him in the game and let him stay on one end of the floor and shoot, but he's not ready to move the way he needs to move yet to play, especially until our style of play.
I was telling someone earlier, we're thankful that he's much further along than he was several days ago. When he hurt his knee last Saturday, the way it looked we were worried that he was going to be out for a long, long time. He's still out now, but hopefully it won't be too long.
Tell you what, when he got hurt that was a big hit to our team psychologically, and when they saw him moving around the other day, you know, he was a little ginger but he moved around and clearly it wasn't as bad of an injury as maybe some people originally thought. Our guys ‑‑ it was like we had won a championship game or something.
He means a lot to the our team and without him we lose a guy who has scored a lot of points and a lot of three's and without him you have to have guys step up and I think we have some guys on the team ready to do that."
Rob Brandenberg, on being the favorite: "You know, since VCU, since I've been here and Bri and Ju, we have been considered the underdogs and to be the favorites does nothing to our psyches."
I think it is tremendous that VCU got to see today's action.
More Brandenberg, on being the favorite: "We proved seedings don't matter, when we were an 11 or 12 seed it didn't matter and the now we have the same mind‑set as a 5 seed as we did when we were a 12 or 11. Seedings don't matter and saw Ohio State lose to Dayton, so if you go by that, seedings don't matter."
Briante Weber, on Shaka Smart motivational techniques: "Coach always finds a way to help us with the game plan. It will be something different every time but he comes different with the approach he has on us. He thinks of different ways to make sure that we get up and play for this game, but he shouldn't have to do much when you're in the NCAA Tournament. It's all on the players, it's basically all on the players to do what they need to do to win."
Brandenberg, same quetion: "One thing Coach is good at, he has a way with words and tries to bring the best out of you. He brought the best out of Bri, myself, Ju, and he has a great way of instilling confidence in us. It's like, if you trust him, just believe the plan, believe the process and everything will be all right. I think he does a good job of making sure that we go out there, and just play, just play."
Smart, on his role with the players and confidence: "we just try to let the guys know we believe in them, we care about them. We know how good they can be. This is a process. We're trying to help guys usually come into our program at 17, 18 years old, help them become the best version of themselves at 22 years old, and that takes time. Even at 22 years old, a lot of times people are not going to be exactly at the finish line in terms of their maturation as a player or as a person. We want to keep moving them forward and let the guys know we believe in them. The confidence, I believe, comes from that.
Smart, on shot selection and confidence in taking good shots: "...we define early in the year what we think is a good shot and what we think might not be a great shot. We work hard as a staff to chart and monitor what we call "shot quality" every game. The shot quality does not always equate with a high shooting percentages because if you get an open 3‑point shot for a Melvin Johnson, for instance, that would be a high‑quality shot but it doesn't necessarily mean it's going in. All we can do is focus on the things that we can control. I think we can control our shot quality more than we can control our shooting percentage. We're just trying to get good ones.
You asked how I feel when guys don't take good once. You try to help them, especially the younger guys understand that our goal on offense is simple, to get a team score. It's not for one individual guy to score, no other agenda, just for our team to score, just like on defense our goal is to get a team stop. If we can keep guys on the floor focused on that, we will feel good about the results."


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A Daily Word - Feb. 27, 2011
Not one of us knows what we will become. We can study for a certain career, plan for a certain vocation…but we do not know what we shall be. When we come to Christ, we become members of His family, and He takes us on as His divine project. He alone knows what we will become. He knows the precise blending of blessing and brokenness necessary to conform us to the image of Christ and allow us to be used by Him.
Suppose there is a certain aristocratic family in London, England, and the heir to this family's fortune is Lord Something-or-Other. He is wealthy and cultured. He and his wife and all of their children are graduates of Oxford and Cambridge. Lord Something-or-Other decides rather late in life to adopt a child—a young boy— from the Belgian Congo. He brings the boy to London and sets about indoctrinating him into the family. What a challenge! This foreigner will need language tutors, etiquette lessons, and instruction on how to dress and act in aristocratic circles. It will be no small challenge to make him into "one of the family."
In one sense, that's what God has done with us. We have been adopted into His family…born again. Right now we do not know where the journey is going to take us. We can only be certain that through blessings and buffetings, He will shape us into the man or woman He desires us to become…and He will not stop until the job is complete.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be.
Deuteronomy 24; Matthew 19
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String theory.
Source: I Can Has Cheezburger?
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Each year, a day is set aside and proclaimed by the governor as Higher Education Day in Alabama. It is a day for students, faculty, staff, and other supporters to visit Montgomery and take part in a huge Higher Ed Day Rally that allows rally participants to voice their support for higher education. With 3,500 plus attending the festivities each year, legislators and other policy makers have a real-life "visual" of the huge support coming from Alabama's 15 public universities. In a relaxed setting over a free barbeque lunch, rally participants have the opportunity to advocate the importance of more funding for higher education face to face with policy makers. Without the needed funding in the Alabama colleges and universities, tuition will continue to rise and proration will occur.
More information for Higher Ed Day 2015 will soon be announced.
For more information, contact the STARS Coordinator, Jasmine Nelson, at email@example.com.


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Posts Tagged 'Web Designer'
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Product Reviews
Deep Water: Jaws
Maui in the morning and the North Shore in the afternoon. In the second part of the Deep Water series, Patagonia ambassadors Kohl Christensen and Ramon Navarro double-session one of the first swells of 2011 at Peahi and an Oahu outer reef.
Stay tuned for the next Deep Water feature from Christensen as he chases a swell to Mavericks
Wetsuit Room Build-out at South Coast Surf Shop in Ocean Beach
If you have visited our stores in Ocean Beach lately, you may have noticed some changes! As of April, South Coast Longboards was turned into South Coast Wahines OB- an all girls store mocking our PB location off of Crystal Pier. We gave it a face lift adding wooden floors, a chandelier, and some girly touches for an all around sophisticated yet fun and beachy boutique look! But with all this sprucing up, we couldn't forget about our oldest location-South Coast located on Newport Street in Ocean Beach! So far, we have made our wetsuit room more uniform (before it was wetsuits and surfboards combined) and moved our surfboards to what used to be the ladies section. For the next few weeks you will notice "Pardon Our Dust" posters as our remodel continues but we aren't closing our doors so stop in, say "Hi", and check out our new wetsuit section because the water is getting cooler and you may need that new O'Neill Psycho 3 soon!
Kids Surf Tees from Quiksilver and Billabong
Perfect time for baby showers and the holiday season! Young kids products are a hit right now and we have everything you need to style your young one or get the perfect present for that unborn child. Quiksilver and Billabong have products ranging from infant- boys (sizes 0-3 months to XL boys). We also carry baby Vans shoes along with Reef and Quiksilver sandals. TOMS makes adorable shoes too. Stop into South Coast Ocean Beach or South Coast Pacific Beach to pick up any products for boys! Looking for little girls presents? South Coast Wahines (OB and PB) have everything you need from Roxy and Billabong clothing to TOMS new Mary Jane sparkle shoes!


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Research Projects
Career Development Projects
Developmental Research (Pilot Projects)
Online Pilot Application
Specimen Requests
Of Events
American Cancer Society estimates 60,900 new case of lymphoma in the
year 2002. Of these, 53,900 are expected to be non-Hodgkin's lymphomas
and 7,000 cases of Hodgkin's disease. Along this estimates, 25,800 people
will die of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and 1,400 of Hodgkin's disease in
the year 2002. Since the year 1970, the incidence of lymphomas nearly
doubled. A stabilization of this trend in the years 1992-98 was observed
(except in black females) and there was a decline of Hodgkin's disease
incidence since late 1980's. Despite these favorable trends, lymphomas
remain a serious medical problem affecting thousands of individuals.
The SPORE program introduced Lymphoma SPOREs in the year 2001. As a
result, two Lymphoma SPOREs have been funded in the year 2002.


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Hey, folks. I'll be honest here, I've been losing interest in maintaining this account for a while now, and Isabel's resurrection (which is fully canonical and a long time in the making) provides me with an excellent excuse to stop. It's been great fun, and this is the best I've ever gotten to know a character — it's contributed to, quite possibly, the most fun I've ever had roleplaying a character.
If you're at all interested in whatever else it is I do, you can check out my Twitter, my pixel art, and my work at the SCP Foundation. I'm also on SynIRC as Scantron, so for the few of you who didn't already know, you can hit me up there.
I'll still be reading through my dashboard to completion, but I'm not really in a place where I want to actively blog, in-character or out-of-character. So I'll still be here — you just won't see me (well, you'll see me when akumeoy follows you, but I'm only using that to post art).
Maybe I'll rejoin the Tumblr community some day. I have plans for a social justice blog to keep my wits sharp, but it's not in the cards right now.
Here's hoping you all lead wonderful lives and find a conversation you can be a part of.
Scan out.
The big news is I am alive. I have a brand new, gorgeous living body due to a ritual I performed with Selim (that's brasslamps here on Tumblr). I breathe, eat, and sleep. My body moves on its own, because of my muscle memory. I will not have to spend my days in a freezer, trying desperately not to have my soul ripped out of my body. I can focus enough to speak and type in English without sounding like an inbred. It is the best thing that has ever happened to me.
On the flip side, the body comes with red-green colorblindness. They both look sort of brown to me. I need to relearn how to do some motions, now that I'm not hobbled by physical limitations. I keep forgetting that people can see all of the emotions I feel, and that I can choose to hide them.
Due to the literal emotional bond I've formed with Selim, my currently unused talent for focus and determination, and somewhat traumatic memories of falling off of a cliff and dying, I am experiencing mood swings that I can't fully predict. It's going to be really hard having him off at Bureau training.
I also feel the emotions each time Selim has sex. Let that sink in for a minute. It's pleasant, and then horrifying.
On another personal note, which is the second biggest thing going on for me right now, my relationship with Ziggy is going forward and I love it. He is really an amazing and supportive boyfriend (but good god I need to teach him how the human body works), and he is everything I deserve.
And lastly: you've probably noticed that I don't post much here any more. And frankly, that's because while I love you all and this is a great place, I have better things to do than blog and less time to do them now that I'm alive. Thus, I am going to stop blogging. I'll probably check in every so often, but I'm not going to read everything and keep in touch with you all. I will miss you, but not horribly so.
It's been fun, guys. Cherish your life — you don't want to live without it.
Isabel out.
Reblog for a gift in your submit box! Please have submit boxes open!
((Have animated/non-animated trainers & animated/non-animated/shiny pokemon))
-Reblog once(multiple reblogs will not get you multiple pokemon/trainers, I will check)
-Have submit boxes open
-Likes don't count
-DO NOT COMPLAIN if you don't get an animated trainer or pokemon
Will do everyone who reblogs (◡‿◡✿)
Good luck pokemon lovers~(。・ω・。)ノ♡
I only did this because the nearest "book" was my Warhammer Fantasy Battle Magic Cards.
Ahem: "Waves of pure magic infuse the wizard's ally."
I'm good…
"The more he could get her to reveal of herself, the better"
The High Lord by Trudi Canavan
Well that could have turned out worse! :D
Ironhelm shook his head.
~ Battle of the fang
Well shit guys. I don't know what this means.
Ashdown was now in a position to force the war crimes tribunal issue, and was now able to target those he felt most responsible for the Bosnian bloodbath: Radovan Karadzic and Ratko Mladic.
—the Quest for Radovan Karadzic
Dunno what this means….
"I must not fear, fear is the mind-killer, fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration."
"He had no planes ready to base there in any event."
"When Breslau turned back, Kelly decided to attack her and thereby force the battlecruiser also to turn and deal with him."
"The general was a bemused cynic"
"Meanwhile" - the captain looked out through the glass- "let's see what the counselor discovers."
Thank you, Picard.
"The chances that your tombstone will read 'Killed by Asteroid' are about the same as they'd be fore 'Killed in Airplane Crash'."
…thank you, Neil deGrasse Tyson…
Friggen chapter on killer asteroids.
"At much the same time, the difficulty of understanding gender on a world scale began to concern theorists in the metropole."
I think that's beautiful.
[ooc: "Well, Tiger, he kills her, even though his wife loves her, and he places her body on a handcart." D: ]
I can't scroll past this without feeling guilty.
:) :)
what do you do when you don't have one? …then you look in the mirror and tell yourself how beautiful you are.
All of my followers are my best friends
my pizza is beautiful I love you pizza you're beautiful
All my friends are cats.
I keep wanting to explicitly kink blog but I know people on here which is weird
The trick is not having shame. They can't be weird to you about it if you makes it yours.
listening to your favorite band with your friend
Liche Priest
That's about right
Now gimme JUST reds and i will belieeevvee
Just red? That's blasphemy
There's nothing like laying in the sun with cats, listening to classic rock, and reading fanfiction.


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Reblog 7 notes Feb. 4, 13 #diet aids#over#phentabz#weight loss#weight loss pills#walterllc.com#weight-loss products#diet pills
About Healthy YouToday's Lifestyle For A Healthy You
View other posts by Healthy You
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To be able to wear what I want. To feel comfortable eating in front of people. To feel healthy and energized. To smile...
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211105: Case/IH
211107: Ford/New Holland
211110: Ford/New Holland
238684: Freightliner
238685: Columbia
238686: Freightliner/Sterling
238687: Freightliner/Sterling
238688: Western Star
238690: Coronado
Las Vegas Convention Ctr
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Nov. 4-7, 2014
Booth # 20547
Indianapolis Conv. Ctr
Indianapolis, IN
Dec. 11-13, 2014
Booth # 4739
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93,000 original miles loaded with options! factoty hardtop... More
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Thunderbirds have been a staple of the car hobby well since they were new. Immensely stylish and fun to drive this 1956 T-Bird offers... More
This 1962 Ford Thunderbird Hard Top Coupe features a 390 V-8 8cyl Gasoline engine. It is equipped with a 3 Speed Automatic transmission. The... More
2003 Ford Thunderbird Convertible, Triple black. Chrome wheels. Fog lights. Car cover. Excellent service. Garage Kept. 45K miles. To a good home! Possible Finance... More
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Blackbird: Highly Acclaimed, Emotionally Raw Drama
* Additional fees apply.
The last date listed for Blackbird was Saturday March 21, 2009 / 4:00pm.
Currently at Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts
Far From Heaven: Oscar-Nominated Film Now a Lush, Romantic Musical
- Full Price:
- $46.00 - $61.00
- Our Price:
- $23.00 - $30.50
The picture-perfect facade of '50s-era family life is torn away in Far From Heaven, the ...Learn More
Venue Details
Aquitaine is nearby at Clarendon & Tremont -good food and convenient locEther Dome dining • Oct 30 2014 star this tip starred
parking at Clarendon garage - 100 Clarendon St - was $17 for matinee performance - great daytime rate!Ether Dome travel • Oct 30 2014 star this tip starred
Reviews & Ratings
Featured review from Goldstar Member
view more less of this review
Blackbird is basically a two-person play taking place in a lunchroom of a business with intense dialog between a man and a woman 28 years his junior with whom he had a scandalous affair with 20? years prior. The woman is confronting the man about his actions of which there had never been any closure and which had disrupted both of their lives. It was intensely and passionately acted and I was drawn into the play immediately and remained so for the entire play.
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This was a powerful show with intriguing twists and turns. There were times when I laughed and times when I felt extremely uncomfortable - but in a good way! I really enjoyed the performance and think the actors did a great job!
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An interesting play but the acting is poor, making it hard to appreciate or enjoy. Try to walk out before the scene where both actors throw trash around the stage for a minute.
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Great acting. Excellent writing.
Intensity of Albee's "Virginia Wolf".
Go see it.
Quotes & Highlights
"Powerful… Theater at its most elemental." — The New York Times
"A riveting study in sexual obsession that leaves one both shaken and stirred." — The Guardian [UK]
2007 Olivier Award — Best New Play!
By David Harrower
Directed by David R. Gammons
It's the show that has shocked audiences around the globe. And now Boston theatergoers will have the chance to see what everyone has been talking about when SpeakEasy Stage Company presents the area premiere of David Harrower's compelling drama Blackbird.
Winner of the 2007 Olivier Award for Best New Play, Blackbird tells the story of a chance meeting between two people who fifteen years ago had a passionate affair. Emotions run high as the pair recall their relationship and attempt to come to terms with the shattering truth of their abandoned love.
Elliot Norton Award-winning director David R. Gammons (Titus Andronicus) will helm the production, which will mark the SpeakEasy debuts of two of the city's finest actors, Marianna Bassham and Bates Wilder.
A graduate of the Masters program at Brandeis University, Ms. Bassham was most recently seen as Nerissa in the Actors' Shakespeare Project production of The Merchant of Venice. She has also been seen locally in The Tempest, Hamlet and Love Labour's Lost (Actors' Shakespeare Project); Miss Witherspoon and Talley's Folley (Lyric Stage) and as Stella in the New Repertory Theatre's production of A Streetcar Named Desire.
Mr. Wilder won the 2008 Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of Mitch in the New Rep production of Streetcar. He also earned a 2007 Best Actor IRNE for his work in New Rep's Frozen. Mr. Wilder also works regularly as the Production Stage Manager for the long-running hit comedy, Shear Madness.
Blackbird was first commissioned and presented by the Edinburgh International Festival at the King's Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 2005. Subsequently Blackbird played in London's West End at the Albery Theatre where it won an Olivier Award for Best New Play.
Blackbird made its American debut in New York in April 2007 at the Manhattan Theatre Club in a production which featured Jeff Daniels and Allison Pill. David Harrower was born in Edinburgh in 1966. His first play, Knives in Hens, was produced at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in 1995. He is also the author of the plays Kill the Old Torture Their Young, The Chrysalids, Presence, and Dark Earth. He has also recently written a new version of Odon von Horvath's Tales from the Vienna Woods for the National Theatre, London. Harrower is also working on a screen adaptation of the novel White Male Heart, and of Blackbird for Jean Douminian Productions and is under the commission to the National Theatre of Scotland.
David R.Gammons is making his SpeakEasy debut as the director for Blackbird. A graduate of American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University, David won an Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Director in 2007 for Actor's Shakespeare Project's production of Titus Andronicus. Other local credits include The Duchess of Malfi, (Actor's Shakespeare Project), The Lieutenant of Inishmore and My Name is Rachel Corrie (New Repertory Theatre), and productions at MIT, Boston Conservatory, and Harvard University.
About the Ticket Supplier: SpeakEasy StageOver the past nineteen seasons, SpeakEasy Stage Company has distinguished itself as Boston's premier theater staging Boston premieres. Year after year, SpeakEasy has won acclaim for presenting top-quality productions of vital, cutting-edge plays.
Recently, SpeakEasy was singled out by Variety, the entertainment newspaper, as a force in regional theater and a champion of small, often overlooked musicals.