Picture perfect: VCU captures a snapshot of history with win versus Hoyas
It was well past midnight when VCU head coach Shaka Smart and his team stopped taking shots.
Adam Stern
Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times Sports’ Twitter
It was well past midnight when VCU head coach Shaka Smart and his team stopped taking shots.
Senior shooting guard Brandon Rozzell was no longer taking shots, canning 3-point bombs on nearly every possession while a crestfallen and condemned Georgetown team watched on. Smart was no longer taking shots at ESPN analysts, noting that the team had clearly just proven their worth, and they were moving on.
But, as it turns out, there was to be one last shot.
As Smart and his wife, Maya, made their way out of United Center Friday night after VCU’s 74-56 hammering of the Hoyas, they passed an enormous and updated tournament bracket on the arena wall. VCU’s name was now two spots from where they had originally started after being selected to the tournament; the first time in the school’s 43-year history they had won two games in the Big Dance in any given year.
So while Smart’s wife walked up to picture, pointed to VCU’s name and smiled while looking back, Smart stopped and took out a camera he had on him, taking one last shot for the night.
It was that sort of night for VCU.
It was a storybook night for VCU.
“Our guys are competitors; they love to respond when people disrespect them or doubt them,” Smart said. “They did tonight.”
And now they’ve made history.
And they’ve also made headlines. The team is all over ESPN, but this time for the right reasons.
“Any time people disrespect you, especially on national TV, it kind of hurts you a little,” senior point guard Joey Rodriguez said. “We had an opportunity to prove them wrong and hopefully we can keep them proving them wrong.”
Those chances will depend largely on the Rams’ core of four seniors. Versus Georgetown, they depended largely on those of senior shooting guard Brandon Rozzell.
Rozzell— a super-streaky shooter who features as one of two hometown talents on the team— was at his best yet again, this time against the Hoyas. The Highland Springs graduate shot the lights— and Hoyas— out with a stat-line that reads 6-10 from behind the arc to go along a game-high 26 points.
Those not accustomed to watching the team may be surprised by such a stunning statistics. Those who do, however, simply aren’t.
“He’s talking out there when he’s making shots; you saw his defense when he’s making shots, he’s all over the place,” Rodriguez said.
He certainly was on Friday.
“I think after the first [shot went in], I felt like it was going to be a good night,” Rozzell said. “That’s a good thing for any player; once the second shot went in, I just tried to keep it going.”
The Rams will keep it going, too, in the biggest of stages, in the Big Dance.
Next up is Purdue on Sunday.
“We have two games under our belt in the NCAA tournament,” Smart said. “But we’re not done.”
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Photo by: Kyle Laferriere
