Gone but not forgotten: VCU continues to carry chip on its shoulder as doubters diminish

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After winning three games in the NCAA tournament – a program record – VCU still looks to negative comments for motivation.

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Jim Swing
Assistant Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times Sports’ Twitter

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Photo by Kyle LaFerriere.

For the past couple of weeks, the VCU men’s basketball team utilized the words of doubters all over the country as a feeding source for motivation throughout its road to the Sweet 16.

The list went on and on, from a litany of ESPN analysts to several bracketologists alike, it became a majority television opinion that VCU did not belong in the NCAA tournament.

But now the debris has settled.

The Rams have proved themselves by knocking off three major programs in convincing fashion that has the doubters carrying very little doubt left in the chamber.

And so there maintains a crucial question that lies ahead for the surging VCU squad: where can it obtain the driving force and motivation that bolstered the growth of the tournament’s “Cinderella.”

Nevertheless, when taken into contrast, the Rams believe the search for new motivational material is unneeded. What’s said has been said and the words and opinions still linger fresh on their minds.

“The chip has been there and I just think it’s growing,” senior guard Brandon Rozzell said. “Even though the media is shifting on us and saying positive stuff, we still have the negative stuff in the back of our heads and that’s still fueling us to keep going in the tournament.”

Rozzell himself has especially put a dagger in the hearts of opponents and opinions for that matter. The sharpshooting transition sniper has averaged 14 points per game in the postseason so far including having shot just under 48 percent from beyond the arc in the tournament.

But perhaps no player on VCU’s roster has fed off of naysayer’s comments more than senior guard Joey Rodriguez.

Rodriguez – whose brother emails him video clips containing critical content of the Rams – took the job as resident bracketologist on the team, following VCU’s chances at an at-large bid and later breaking the news to many of his teammates.

Despite the unfavorable observations made by ESPN analysts Hubert Davis and Jay Bilas of his team, Rodriguez kept his confidence level high and now believes the cynical comments will soon change.

Said Rodriguez: “Jay Bilas won’t take anything back… maybe in a couple of weeks he’ll take it back.”

The high level of confidence has spread throughout the team, including to senior big-man Jamie Skeen who – when asked about his receiving on campus – joked about his favorable chances of acquiring a phone number from girls standing behind him at the Student Commons.

After facing some of the most resilient big-men in the nation – including All-American JaJuan Johnson of Purdue – and coming away successful, Skeen has proved critics wrong on both ends of the floor and looks back to before the start of the tournament.

“In the beginning there was no praise – there was nobody patting us on the back, we was regular old VCU that doesn’t belong,” Skeen said. “So I think we have to get back to that stage where it was just us as a team and that was it.”

The group of rising stars is anchored by a rising star himself in head coach Shaka Smart.

Following a CBI championship in 2010, the second-year head coach has led the VCU program to its first-ever Sweet 16 and even better yet, as a darkhorse.

After boasting his team’s overwhelming confidence all season long, Smart said creating motivation as the tournament moves on would be no problem if they continue to play their game.

Winning through confidence and motivation has become all the Rams have come to know over the past few weeks and it appears to have no plans of stopping.

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