The pressure is on for men’s basketball with the season tip-off being so close.
Last season, VCU won its first championship as a member of the Atlantic 10 conference before making its fifth straight appearance in the NCAA tournament, ultimately falling 75-72 in overtime to Ohio State University. In the 2015 season the Rams will aim for a sixth-straight NCAA tournament appearance.
“Our depth is going to have to really come through for us,” said Head Coach Will Wade. “We’re going to need to be consistent with what we do and how we approach each game every day. There’s very thin margins between being an NCAA tournament team and not. We have the talent to do it, we have the depth to do it and now it’s on us to make it happen by getting a little bit better every day.”
Wade will take the helm of VCU basketball for his first season as head coach. Wade served as an assistant coach at VCU for four seasons, 2009-13 including the Final Four run, before he went to coach for two seasons at Chattanooga.
“I can’t try to beat Shaka Smart,” Wade said. “I’m Will Wade, and we’re going to run the program how I run the program and that’s what I focus on every day, being the best head coach for VCU that I can be. I think if we can do that and work really hard, good things are going to happen.”
The Rams will be tested early in the season with games against Duke University and Florida State University. Duke will come into this season as the defending NCAA champions.
“I’m not too concerned about what they are right now,” said senior guard Korey Billbury. “I don’t care if you’re ranked No.1 or No. 351, you’re just not better than the team I’m playing for.”
VCU finished the 2014 regular season with a record of 22-9, and a record of 12-6 in the Atlantic 10. In the A-10 Tournament, the Rams were able to claim the championship with wins against Fordham University, the University of Richmond, Davidson College and finally Dayton University. Richmond, Davidson and Dayton all had wins against the Rams in the regular season.
“You can get beaten on any day in this league,” senior guard Melvin Johnson said. “Everyone’s good, everyone has good players. You just have to prepare well.”
The Rams averaged 72.5 points per game last year and in the Atlantic 10 averaged 69.3 points. They also shot an average of 34.3 percent in three pointers. From the free throw line, the Rams shot an average of 65.6 percent.
“Our guys are ready to play somebody else at this point,” Wade said. “We’ve been playing each other for a long time. I think the time in the summer certainly helped. It used to be you started practice on Oct. 15 and it was a huge deal. Now since we’ve got the players year round, it’s a bit of a continuum. It’s a different phase of practice and it’s a different phase of work.”
Last year in the A-10, the Rams lost six tough matches including two against crosstown rival Richmond. The Spiders came into the Stu last season and defeated the Rams 64-55, then later when VCU traveled to Richmond, they fell 67-63 in double overtime to U of R. They also suffered home losses to opponents like Dayton, in which the Explorers defeated the Rams 74-69 and the Flyers bested the Rams 59-55. All losses where the Rams potentially had the lead, but were unable to hold off their opponents.
“Taking care of the ball is a big thing we’ve been focusing on this summer,” said junior Mo Alie-Cox. “One thing the coach talks about is our effort. We should always be playing hard. If we play hard I think we can compete with any team.”
Alie-Cox is one of the returning starters for VCU, starting in all 36 games back in the 2014 season. His defensive presence for the Rams earned the “Mo says no” chant from the home crowd.
“On defense we always try to pressure the ball at all times,” Alie-Cox said. “We’re trying to get a lot of deflections and always get our hands on the ball on the defensive end, whether it be blocks, getting in the passing lane. On offense, we’re just keeping the floor spread and getting the ball in the post and play a little more inside out than we have been in the past.”
“The thing I’m looking forward to the most about this season is probably the home games,” said junior guard Torey Burston. “The fans coming out, just the new look, our new defense and new style of play with Coach Wade.”
The Rams will begin A-10 play on Jan. 2 with a home game against George Mason.
“Once you get into the conference play, it gets a little rough,” Wade said. “We’re just working daily to get better. We want to get better in the non-conference based on who we’re playing, how we’re playing, what we’re doing and we’ll certainly test some things out in the non-conference play that we’ll use for the A-10 play and setting things up in the non-conference that we’ll change for A-10 play.”
Article by: Peter Mason, Contributing Writer