Districtballer Posted November 3, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 3, 2011 Ken Pomeroy is easily considered one of the top statisticians in college basketball and he recently released his preseason rankings and predictions for each team based on his statistical models. For what it's worth he has Akron ranked 95 nationally and going 18-12 overall, 10-6 in conference and beating VCU 69-67 this year. http://kenpom.com/team.php?team=AkronLooks like it will be a great game and I will be ecstatic if we can play with composure at the JAR and keep it close. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted November 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 VCU beat Cal (Pa.) in our exhibition opener tonight 71-48 before a crowd of 6,675. Our starting center DJ Haley did not play today and neither did 6th man Briante Weber. One of our freshmen, Treveon Graham led us in scoring with 16 points. There were 5 players in double-figures. Sophomore Juvonte Reddic picked up a double-double in Haley's absence with 13 points and 11 rebounds going up against Steve Swiech. Sweich had 2 points on a pair of free throws late in the game and 1 rebound in 21 minutes of play. The first half was very ugly with both teams seeming to struggle and VCU's young players seeming to really have a case of the jitters. It was 21-19 VCU at the half with VCU shooting 19% from the field. VCU came out of the locker room having made some adjustments and had a 50-point 2nd half. They missed their first 11 3-pointers and then went on to hit 7 of their next 10. They forced 24 turnovers (including 18 steals) and scored 32 points off of them . It was a tale of 2 halves. We definitely have some work to do but there are some very nice talented pieces to work with.Swiech is in black going up for the tip-off. He's also in the video clip below (#42). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted November 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Here's the video from our message board at VCURamNation. There are a couple of more Swiech shots in this one. http://www.vcuramnation.com/2011/11/video-...u-pennsylvania/Just scroll down for the story and video. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Thanks for the reports! It's always difficult to draw any conclusions from these exhibition games. VCU appears stronger than Miami, but that shouldn't surprise anybody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted November 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Thanks for the reports! It's always difficult to draw any conclusions from these exhibition games. VCU appears stronger than Miami, but that shouldn't surprise anybody.No problem. Swiech wasn't effective at all but the team was scrappy and fought very hard. The first half was one of the ugliest I've seen in a while. Replacing 62% of our scoring showed last night in the first-half. I'm hopeful we'll be better when Haley, Houston, and Briante Weber are cleared to play hopefully before our first game next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted November 4, 2011 Report Share Posted November 4, 2011 Swiech is a great guy. All of his teammates and all of the fans loved him as a person. His great high school playing results just didn't translate to the college level.By the way, Districtballer, you can play down this season's VCU team as "inexperienced" all you want here. But your link to Pomeroy showing the Zips ranked #95 also reveals VCU ranked #68. So no one here is going to believe that the Zips will be anything but underdogs, even with the home court advantage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Swiech is a great guy. All of his teammates and all of the fans loved him as a person. His great high school playing results just didn't translate to the college level.By the way, Districtballer, you can play down this season's VCU team as "inexperienced" all you want here. But your link to Pomeroy showing the Zips ranked #95 also reveals VCU ranked #68. So no one here is going to believe that the Zips will be anything but underdogs, even with the home court advantage. That same link shows us as losing our game to you, so clearly underdogs you are not. On a neutral court, I agree we're probably favored (with no games having been played yet) but this is at your house. As far as playing down the team as 'inexperienced' nothing to play down when you have 9 sophomores and freshmen and 1 senior. We're probably recruiting players who are more game-ready, but there is no substitute for experience and playing in hostile environments on the road is something every player has to get used to at the college level, talented or not. I have no doubt it will be a good game. If you watch the VCURamNation highlights, Burgess mentions that Shaka Smart basically begged them to beat Coach Brown's team in the post-game presser and mentioned it will be the same for Coach Dambrot. He doesn't like going up against his mentors, but when he does he wants to beat 'em. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted November 5, 2011 Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Pomeroy is not credible on home court advantage. Zips will have to work hard to overcome huge VCU advantage. VCU players can relax and take it easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted November 5, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2011 Pomeroy is not credible on home court advantage. Zips will have to work hard to overcome huge VCU advantage. VCU players can relax and take it easy. He's the most credible statistician in college basketball. Valiant effort though Dave in Green... 'huge VCU advantage' made me chuckle. No one's taking it easy against your sweet 16 caliber squad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted November 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 More Swiech! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Pomeroy is not credible on home court advantage. Zips will have to work hard to overcome huge VCU advantage. VCU players can relax and take it easy. He's the most credible statistician in college basketball. Valiant effort though Dave in Green... 'huge VCU advantage' made me chuckle. No one's taking it easy against your sweet 16 caliber squad. Yeah, I'm not a very good bluffer in poker, either. :)I'm a big fan of Ken Pomeroy. So I'll accept that, based on his current estimation, UA and VCU are not that far apart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 More Swiech! Wow. Steve looks like a beast !!He's one of those down-to-earth guys that you will always root for. I'll always say that he was one of the nicest, friendliest, enthusiastic and most accessible guys that ever wore a Zips uniform. He loved talking to people. Considering the stuck-up nature of many college sports "stars", Steve was a breath of fresh air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZachTheZip Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Looks like Sweich hit the weight room since his time at Akron. I was sad to see him go, but I understand why he left. He just didn't fit into the new style of play that we're about to unveil.He graduated from Akron in just 2 1/2 years and left to pursue his dream of become an air traffic controller. All-around great guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted November 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Looks like Sweich hit the weight room since his time at Akron. I was sad to see him go, but I understand why he left. He just didn't fit into the new style of play that we're about to unveil.He graduated from Akron in just 2 1/2 years and left to pursue his dream of become an air traffic controller. All-around great guy.Swiech definitely passed the look test. His play didn't live up to it when we played (2 pts, 1 board in 21 minutes), but I can see how he was 2nd-team all-conference in his league. He's a big strong guy for a D2 squad at 6'9, 260. Coach Bill Brown (Swiech's coach) led a Global Sports Academy group of players to Europe this summer to travel and play against teams over there and VCU's Darius Theus and Troy Daniels were members of that group. Brown mentioned that Swiech would have also joined them but he was taking a test to get his pilot's license which he did get. I thought it was interesting that you mentioned the air-traffic controller goal, and thought you might like to know that he is flying high nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dboze Posted November 17, 2011 Report Share Posted November 17, 2011 If you would like to see VCU before their 'beat-down' by the Zips, their playing online @ ESPN against Seton Hall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted December 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 If you would like to see VCU before their 'beat-down' by the Zips, their playing online @ ESPN against Seton Hall. If you would like to see VCU before their 'beat down' by the Zips one more time, we're playing online on ESPN3 against UNC Greensboro tonight at 7. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDZip Posted December 22, 2011 Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 If you would like to see VCU before their 'beat-down' by the Zips, their playing online @ ESPN against Seton Hall. If you would like to see VCU before their 'beat down' by the Zips one more time, we're playing online on ESPN3 against UNC Greensboro tonight at 7. Darn it, DistrictBaller, don't you know we just hired a new football coach? We are very distracted, we can only focus on one thing at a time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted December 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2011 If you would like to see VCU before their 'beat-down' by the Zips, their playing online @ ESPN against Seton Hall. If you would like to see VCU before their 'beat down' by the Zips one more time, we're playing online on ESPN3 against UNC Greensboro tonight at 7. Darn it, DistrictBaller, don't you know we just hired a new football coach? We are very distracted, we can only focus on one thing at a time. Congrats and sorry to distract you, but you'll just have to deal with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 Didn't get to see the VCU-UNCG game tonight, which VCU won 80-68. But by the looks of the box score, it was fairly even in the stats department with the exception of shooting percentage, where VCU had a substantial 56.3% to 40% advantage. Box Score Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted December 23, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 Didn't get to see the VCU-UNCG game tonight, which VCU won 80-68. But by the looks of the box score, it was fairly even in the stats department with the exception of shooting percentage, where VCU had a substantial 56.3% to 40% advantage. Box Score It was an ugly game. If we play that way at the JAR we will get blown out. Hoping it was the whole trap game scenario since we played on Tuesday and this was on the road in an empty cavernous arena. Credit UNCG for playing well and handling the press better than most of our opponents. A W is a W but I'm sure Shaka will have the guys in the gym a lot after this game. Akron will be a stiff test and we can't play like that and expect to have a chance against you guys. We'll be riding a 6-game winning streak into the JAR but I don't have any qualms about saying this will be a tougher game then any of those games. It will be a very good test as the last game before our conference slate picks up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Kangaroo Posted December 23, 2011 Report Share Posted December 23, 2011 If Abreu can play at 70% or better, we have a good chance at a win. If Abreu and Harney are back, at 70%+ and [100%- a little rust] respectively, we should win the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hip Zip Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 What a difference when your hated coach (Shaka Smart) runs your team to the Final Four. All of a sudden Shaka is a darling. Tell the truth, Baller, you and the rest of your fans were ready to tar and feather Shaka midway through last season. Frankly, I would not blame Shaka for shaking Richmond dust from his heels and taking a better job. A couple of years ago I posted on your boards that you would love Shaka as your coach. The VCU fans ran me off the boards as, and I quote, "an idiot who knows nothing about basketball". I am still waiting for an apology. Why should you expect an apology ? That's funny but keep on waiting. We'll bring food and water as you age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hip Zip Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 Swiech is a great guy. All of his teammates and all of the fans loved him as a person. His great high school playing results just didn't translate to the college level. By the way, Districtballer, you can play down this season's VCU team as "inexperienced" all you want here. But your link to Pomeroy showing the Zips ranked #95 also reveals VCU ranked #68. So no one here is going to believe that the Zips will be anything but underdogs, even with the home court advantage. I'd put the line at VCU -3, We shall see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Districtballer Posted December 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 What a difference when your hated coach (Shaka Smart) runs your team to the Final Four. All of a sudden Shaka is a darling. Tell the truth, Baller, you and the rest of your fans were ready to tar and feather Shaka midway through last season. Frankly, I would not blame Shaka for shaking Richmond dust from his heels and taking a better job. A couple of years ago I posted on your boards that you would love Shaka as your coach. The VCU fans ran me off the boards as, and I quote, "an idiot who knows nothing about basketball". I am still waiting for an apology. Why should you expect an apology ? That's funny but keep on waiting. We'll bring food and water as you age. It's actually more funny because what he said happened never actually occurred as I explained later on in the thread. As for being favored, I highly doubt that we would be at your place. Perhaps on a neutral court, but definitely not at your house. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted December 26, 2011 Report Share Posted December 26, 2011 What a difference when your hated coach (Shaka Smart) runs your team to the Final Four. All of a sudden Shaka is a darling. Tell the truth, Baller, you and the rest of your fans were ready to tar and feather Shaka midway through last season. Frankly, I would not blame Shaka for shaking Richmond dust from his heels and taking a better job. A couple of years ago I posted on your boards that you would love Shaka as your coach. The VCU fans ran me off the boards as, and I quote, "an idiot who knows nothing about basketball". I am still waiting for an apology. Why should you expect an apology ? That's funny but keep on waiting. We'll bring food and water as you age. It's actually more funny because what he said happened never actually occurred as I explained later on in the thread. As for being favored, I highly doubt that we would be at your place. Perhaps on a neutral court, but definitely not at your house. Are you aware yet that this is also going to be some sort of Terry Bowden night? Tickets were selling well already, but now it mighit be an extremely excited crowd and a possible sellout. This timing is bad for you guys, but if you are hoping for a crazy atmosphere, this is probably going to be the case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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