With its offense lagging, VCU needs to switch things up

Ben Ashauer
Columnist
Commonwealth Times’ Sports Twitter

ANALYSIS/OPINION

The past two games against Georgia State and Drexel displayed VCU’s glaring weakness: a lack of a go-to shooter in key moments.

The team’s lone senior Bradford Burgess, who was also a candidate for Preseason CAA Player of the Year, racked up huge scoring outputs during the Rams’ previous eight-game winning streak. But then again, who wasn’t putting up big numbers during that period?

VCU barely squeaked out a victory on the road against Akron, but it was a true team effort that wore down the Zips offensively rather than one player leading the team to victory. A full team effort is always the best way to go, but it’s not going to work every time. Last season, the Rams were gifted with several players that were prone to catch fire down the stretch if a few of the others were struggling.

The Rams have a competitive advantage over their non-conference opponents in that they don’t have much experience with their “Havoc” style of play. However, teams within the CAA are either well acquainted with VCU or given enough time to prepare for them, which were the cases for Drexel and Georgia State.

One can give VCU the excuse of only having a day between their trip from Hofstra to Richmond to prepare for Georgia State, but the same can’t be said for the Drexel game.

VCU seemed rested and hungry against the Dragons, but the execution and focus just wasn’t there. Missed layups, forced shots and torturous trips to the free throw line shouldn’t be storylines that coalesce and lose games for the Rams.

At the center of many of those examples was Burgess. One of the early questions surrounding him to begin the season was whether or not he could handle the lead role on a young team. No one questioned his talent, but after playing a secondary role for the first three years of his career, it was impossible not to wonder how he would respond to being in a leadership role.

It’s early of course, so the team still needs to remain patient. However, this could be a good chance for head coach Shaka Smart to reevaluate his plan of attack on the offensive end. These past two games have shown that CAA coaches can slow down the Rams’ high-fly offense with relative ease. Smart will have to readjust accordingly or else teams in the future will take note and take advantage of VCU’s inability to score in a slowed down, half-court game.

The Rams can get back on track against JMU on Thursday, but it will be tough to make the press effective against the Dukes’ smart, veteran point guard Devon Moore. JMU could come out with another zone defense, which is a style that seems to be Smart’s kryptonite.

If they do have to face another zone, Juvonte Reddic needs to be put in a better position to score than he has in the past two games. He just hasn’t looked comfortable lately. He’s proven to be very capable of playing with his back to the basket, as long as he isn’t rushed.

While the Rams need to force their tempo on their opponents, they sometimes approach it the wrong way. Georgia State and Drexel have tough defenses, but there’s no excuse for rushed shots before the shot clock hits 10. VCU will find their success in quicker ball movement and patience in every sense of the form.