Revved Up Rams
On Monday night, the Virginia Union Panthers paid their annual visit to the Siegel Center home court of the Virginia Commonwealth University Rams . The underdog Panthers came in having won two of the last three match-ups of a series of annual preseason exhibition games between two universities only a mile apart on the map, yet from different worlds in the collegiate hoops universe.
This time around, the Division I Rams, coached by Anthony Grant, had way too many bigger, faster and better basketball players running the floor than their Division II opponents. VCU came out on top 86-57.
"VCU is a very talented team," said VUU head coach Dave Robbins.
That's exactly why Grant has to be relishing getting his second VCU season under way at home at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, with Maryland-Eastern Shore serving as the designated cupcake.
While Grant's spectacular rookie campaign as a head coach ended in the second round of the NCAA tournament with a 28-7 record, this year's outfit shows signs of having the potential of being better.
In besting the visitors, Grant used all 13 scholarship players, plus both of his walk-ons. The Rams scoring was paced by senior shooting guard Jamal Shuler, who rung up 22 points; he sank five of his eight attempts from three-point land. Junior point guard Eric Maynor had what for him has become a typical day at the office -- 16 points, six assists and three steals.
"We made some strides, as a team, in terms of how we ran our offense" said Grant. "... Defensively, in spurts, we were very good."
Although VCU shot 50 percent from the field, it was the Rams withering defense in the second half that fueled the explosion of points that finished off whatever hope Robbins had of keeping it close. Union was held to making good on just 33.3 percent of its field goal attempts. Junior forward Greg Thondique led the Panthers with 12 points.
Two of the Rams' six freshmen from Florida had outstanding nights. Larry Sanders scored five points, grabbed five rebounds and blocked five shots in 19 minutes on the floor. Lance Kearse scored 11 points and pulled down four boards in just 10 minutes of play. At times, both showed a level of athleticism that was eye-popping.
Freshmen Joey Rodriguez, Myk Brown and Ed Nixon played well enough, although quick-as-a-cat Rodriguez was a little out of control at times. Sophomore transfer Kirill Pishchalnikov, from Russia, picked up seven points working close to the basket in just eight minutes. Freshman Brandon Rozzelle, who was a standout at Highland Springs, seemed reluctant to shoot, but made no glaring mistakes, either.
Senior Wil Fameni, sophomore T.J. Gwynn, and senior Michael Anderson who were key role players on last season's best Colonial Athletic Association team, started the game and played solidly. Sophomore Franck Ndongo, who played sparingly last year, showed improvement.
This year the Rams are even faster afoot. And, with Sanders, they have what appears to be a serious shot-blocker. In other words, the Rams are quite deep.
The starters for the season-opener will probably be Maynor, Shuler, Gwynn, Anderson and Fameni. That while Sanders, Rodriguez, Kearse and Pishchalnikov should be getting considerable playing time off the bench. For the six others, it's still too soon to tell. Based on Monday's exhibition game, Sanders and Kearse looked like they will be hard to keep on the bench.
For the upcoming season VCU was projected as No. 2 to George Mason in the CAA by the media that cover the league. Old Dominion was seen as third best. That same panel selected Maynor -- whose jump shot snuffed the Duke Blue Devils at the 1.8 second mark in the 2007 NCAA tournament -- as the CAA Preseason Player of the Year.
The first big test of how good VCU might be this year will come on Dec. 2 when the Rams will face the Maryland Terrapins.
2007 schedule Nov. 9 – Maryland Eastern Shore
Nov. 15 – Houston at Puerto Rico Tip Off
Nov. 16 – Miami or Marist at Puerto Rico Tip Off
Nov. 18 – TBA at Puerto Rico Tip Off
Nov. 24 – Elon
Nov. 29 – at Hampton
Dec. 2 – Maryland at Washington, D.C.
Dec. 5 – William & Mary
Dec. 8 – Richmond
Dec. 15 – Longwood
Dec. 22 – at Bradley
Jan. 2 – at James Madison
Jan. 5 – at UNC Wilmington
Jan. 10 – Georgia State
Jan. 12 – Hofstra
Jan. 16 – Delaware
Jan. 16 – at Old Dominion
Jan. 23 – at Hofstra
Jan. 26 – Drexel
Jan. 29 – at George Mason
Feb. 2 – Towson
Feb. 6 – at Georgia State
Feb. 9 – at Delaware
Feb. 13 – James Madison
Feb. 16 – Old Dominion
Feb. 20 – at Northeastern
Feb. 23 – ESPN Bracketbusters, TBA
Feb. 27 – UNC Wilmington
March 1 – at William & Mary
March 7-10 – CAA Tournament
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