In taking over the point, can Darius Theus improve his shot?
What do we know about Darius Theus?
Shaka Smart said he's seen Darius Theus' shot improve in practice from last season.
Jim Swing
Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times’ Sports Twitter
What do we know about Darius Theus?
For starters he’s quick, he’s a playmaker but most importantly, he’s not Joey Rodriguez. And in a lot of ways, he won’t need to be. But one of the biggest questions regarding Theus is his ability to shoot the ball.
Since he’s been at VCU, Theus has always been a shaky shooter. He’s gone 73-for-189 (.386) in his career from the floor and 10-of-54 (.185) from beyond the arc.
And it hasn’t really mattered considering he’s been in Rodriguez’s backseat in his first two years. But now that he will be the main guy at the point, his shot will be a factor, and Theus knows that. VCU head coach Shaka Smart said he doesn’t have an exact number, but Theus has put in bonus minutes after practice, shooting the ball “thousands and thousands of times.”
“I’m talking about tens of thousands of times on his own over the past couple months,” Smart said. “So he’s put the work in, now it’s a matter of carrying it over on the court.”
However, when pure shooters such as Bradford Burgess, Troy Daniels and Rob Brandenberg surround you, the pressure to be a sharpshooter is lifted a little bit.
“He doesn’t need to shoot a ton of times from outside,” Smart said. “He just needs to knock down an open shot from time to time.”
But can Theus be the guy to knock down crucial shots to close out games like Rodriguez did time and time again last season?
“He doesn’t have to shoot an incredibly high percentage but he has to keep the defense honest,” Smart said. “And he’s got to do a better job than last year, so I think he’s ready to do that.”
