Seemingly tireless VCU wins second game in three days

Jim Swing
Sports Editor

“Do you guys ever get tired?” asked a reporter to three VCU players following their second win in three days.

“Yes,” senior guard Troy Daniels put simply in an obvious tone.

Fair question.

VCU was coming off a win over Massachusetts Thursday night that nearly lasted into Friday.

Less than 48 hours later the Rams would choke out George Washington 84-57 for their fifth straight win.

The effort appeared tireless. VCU seemed as energized as it’s ever been against the Colonials even with the short rest.

Maybe they do get tired, but not in the form that opponents do.

“If we’re tired we think the other team is even more tired,” Daniels said.

The numbers the Rams put up over a two game, three day stretch are astonishing.

VCU forced UMass to turn the ball over 24 times Thursday, then literally one-upped itself by taking the ball away from George Washington 25 times Saturday night.

The Rams caused 14 turnovers between two different point guards – UMass’s Chaz Williams (6) and George Washington’s Joe McDonald (8) – in a matter of three days.

George Washington had a week off before playing VCU. Still, the Colonials matched a season-high in turnovers.

Of the 12 players VCU head coach Shaka Smart put on the floor Saturday night, nine had one or more steal. They flew around the court and dove after balls that were destined for the press tables.

It was reckless abandon. Havoc.

There’s a chant that can be heard coming from the deafening VCU student section that says, “It’s havoc you fear.”

George Washington head coach Mike Lonergan shared that sentiment.

“This is a game I’ve been worried about for awhile,” he said. “Because you can’t really do it in practice what they’re going to do unless you put six guys out there.”

Smart said he didn’t notice physical fatigue from his team, but rather more of a mental fatigue that prevented them from being able to reset.

“I didn’t really sense earlier today the same urgency,” Smart said.

Perhaps he was referring to VCU’s first couple minutes against George Washington. The Colonials took advantage of a lethargic VCU, charging out to an 8-2 lead 4:15 into the game.

From then on it seemed as if any kind of fatigue wore off, and the energy set in.

There were the dunks – six of them to be exact. With former VCU star, and current Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders in attendance, someone had to be putting on a show.

It’s unknown how many more Juvonte Reddic dunks the Siegel Center had in it before the roof collapsed. Reddic accounted for five of VCU’s six dunks, including a ground shaking alley-oop he ascended into the sky for on the third possession of the game.

“It created a great atmosphere and made it hard for the opponents to play their game,” Reddic said.

The other dunk came from Daniels who, in his senior season had yet to throw one down. Daniels got his chance when he came away with a steal and went up with two hands.

“I have to get a dunk before I leave,” Daniels said, wanting to discount the slam, because he bobbled the ball in mid-air.

Do the math: There were six dunks, 25 forced turnovers, 19 steals and four players scoring double-figures for VCU. Does that sound like a team experiencing fatigue? Not in the slightest.

Chalk it up to the crowd, the summer workouts and most importantly the style.

“We get tired every game,” Daniels said. “But a lot of teams can’t play 40 minutes with us.”