Despite recent success, Smart stays tough in practice

Jim Swing
Sports Editor
Commonwealth Times’ Sports Twitter

VCU is on a roll. The Rams have won seven of their last eight games and their young team is blooming and prospering in their newfound roles.

The latest edition of the youth movement came Tuesday night when VCU forced UAB into committing 23 turnovers in a 68-49 shellacking of the Blazers in front of a ninth straight sellout crowd at the Siegel Center.

But that doesn’t satisfy head coach Shaka Smart, who said he and his staff were extra hard on their players over the course of the past week. He took a page from the book of Florida head coach Billy Donovan – who Smart served as an assistant under for one season – who subscribes to New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s theory of going against the grain.

“When you’re playing well and winning you kind of go the other way,” Smart said. “And you’re extra hard on the guys because they’re probably hearing a lot of positive stuff from everybody else.”

But the Rams are growing, and at a faster rate than most people expected. It’s easy to find proof in numbers:

– After forcing 28 turnovers against UNCW, then turning around the next game and turning UAB over 23 times, VCU now leads the nation in opponent’s turnover rate at 28 percent.
– The Rams have outscored opponents 92-21 in points off turnovers.
– Freshman Treveon Graham missed 17 of his first 19 attempted field goals. He’s coming into his own and has hit 16-of-30 since.
– VCU ranks sixth in the nation in steals per game, averaging 10.36 per outing. Freshman Briante Weber leads the Rams with 26 steals. He averages 2.36 a game, which is tied for 28th in the country.

Smart’s hard-nosed philosophy has only helped his young team, which continues to get better and better.

“We had some knock down drag out practice. Two days ago we practiced for about three and a half hours,” Smart said. “I think it’s carried over and we’ve played better.”