A Sea Of Red

So I hear we have a game Saturday.

Do we run with them or do we slow it down? Seems like 5 guards could beat them at their own game, but it is their game and they're 6-0 playing it.

Coach said after the game last night that we are who we are. I think that means he's going to get us just to play our game which I think means we will run with them. I think our team could be REALLY fun to watch against VMI.

The key, I think, is rebound...rebound...rebound! We're not going to stop their scoring attack--they are focused on scoring and scoring in bunches. But we have to at least put a hand in every shot and try and limit the spurts. We can't allow them second chance points.

I think we'll run with them but we have to be careful not to get out of our offense.

I think we should take the full shot clock in the 1st half since normally we can't hit the side of a barn. We can run in the 2nd when we normally decide to start playing well.

don't jack up threes or you'll be playing right into their hands

but coach said we have to play our game.

The way we have played on the road lately, I am not to optimistic about this one. Maybe we can get a good number of fans to travel over to Lexington. I think that would be a big help.

Being on a Saturday I dont think it's required for the Kedets to go...which should help...I know there will still be a good crowd but it's not NEARLY as intense then when it's all Kedets


"LIBERTY GIRLS ARE EASY, EASY...LIBERTY GIRLS ARE EASY EASY"

They are tough...but one of the best atmospheres for a basketball game when they are all there.

Hold My Own wrote:Being on a Saturday I dont think it's required for the Kedets to go...which should help...I know there will still be a good crowd but it's not NEARLY as intense then when it's all Kedets


"LIBERTY GIRLS ARE EASY, EASY...LIBERTY GIRLS ARE EASY EASY"

You got that backwards. The cadets are required on the weekends. During the week they're not required.

ohhh dang...that's no good



I guess we'll hear the chants then...


I bet our AD now though isnt scared to take our cheerleaders...

kel varson wrote:The way we have played on the road lately, I am not to optimistic about this one. Maybe we can get a good number of fans to travel over to Lexington. I think that would be a big help.

count me in, plus SEVEN

Virginia Military Institute
Lexington, Virginia


VMI Hoops Official Site

Keydet Sportstalk Message Board



Duggar Baucom
4th Season as Head Coach



Cameron Hall
Seats 5800


2008-2009 Results

Overall ....... 14-2
Big South ..... 6-0
Home ........... 8-0

Key Players



#3 Chavis Holmes
6' 4" Senior Guard
Thru 15 Games: Averaging Team-High 21.9 Pts, 4.4 Rebounds and 42.5% on 3-Pt Attempts with 55 Steals



#23 Travis Holmes
6' 4" Senior Guard
In Just 12 Games: Averaging 18.9 Pts and Team-High 5.6 Rebounds and 3.9 Steals




#10 Austin Kenon
5' 11" Sophomore Guard
Thru 16 Games: Averaging 17.8 Pts while shooting 44.8% on 3-ptrs with 3.1 Rebounds




#21 Keith Gabriel
6' 2" Freshman Guard
Thru 16 Games: Averaging 15.9 Pts off the bench while shooting 43.1% on 3-Pt Attempts




#2 Willie Bell
6' 6" Senior Forward
Thru 16 Games: Averaging 9.1 Pts, 5.5 Rebounds and Team-High 3.3 Assists

i'll probably go to this one. i think lexington is a cool town

Beware of the speed trap on Rt 60 Right after you pass 81. I got caught by it once and have seen it there numerous times since.

would love to go...just can't do it...I love Cameron Hall

If you look at their results, you'll notice that they generally aren't blowing anybody out ... with the exception of Monday vs. PC it has primarily been Sub-DIs that they have smoked. Otherwise they tend to have games similar to ours that are decided in the final minute. They just have done a little better job of closing those out for victory than we have. But you would expect a senior-laden team like the 'Roos to find a way to win.

Duggar....he looks soooo good.

LCA&LU Mom wrote:

kel varson wrote:The way we have played on the road lately, I am not to optimistic about this one. Maybe we can get a good number of fans to travel over to Lexington. I think that would be a big help.

count me in, plus SEVEN

Me plus 4

From a couple of VMI fans on their site:

You geezers are out of your minds. While Liberty is a big game, they are barely .500 in conference and lose to bad teams. The Radford game next wednesday is a bigger game. Giving them 2 losses in conference to our 0 or 1 (if we dont beat liberty). would put us in the drivers seat for the second half of conference play. The quote about barely having a chance against Liberty without Travis is absurd. We beat Presybyterian by 15 without him and they beat liberty already.

I'm one geezer who agrees with you boof. Radford is a tougher nut than Liberty right now. They'll try to take the ball deep into the paint on every possession and kick out for 3 when that doesn't work. They'll run a 1-3-1 zone to try and stop our 3-pointers. We'll need to be at our best.

On the other hand, if we have our standard shooting game, we'll beat Liberty.

kel varson wrote:The way we have played on the road lately, I am not to optimistic about this one. Maybe we can get a good number of fans to travel over to Lexington. I think that would be a big help.

I guess I'm just Peter Positive, but I really don't think we necessarily played that badly to lose those 2 close games on the road. Not well enough to win obviously, and we would be in a much better position now if we could have pulled even one of them out, but we were very competitive (which has not always been the case in the past when we played outside the Vines).

CCU literally came within an inch of taking VMI to overtime Saturday in a game that was played at VMI's pace. Based on
what I saw of CCU last night, I think we are better equipped than they are to play end to end with the Keydets. They consistently ran the shot clock down against us, and we looked much better in transition than they did.

I would have loved to make this trip to Lexington, and would have if it were a night game, but I work til 1:00, so I'll get off just in time to catch the opening tip with JE (or I might spring for the BS edge videocast).

jcmanson wrote:From a couple of VMI fans on their site:

You geezers are out of your minds. While Liberty is a big game, they are barely .500 in conference and lose to bad teams. The Radford game next wednesday is a bigger game. Giving them 2 losses in conference to our 0 or 1 (if we dont beat liberty). would put us in the drivers seat for the second half of conference play. The quote about barely having a chance against Liberty without Travis is absurd. We beat Presybyterian by 15 without him and they beat liberty already.

I'm one geezer who agrees with you boof. Radford is a tougher nut than Liberty right now. They'll try to take the ball deep into the paint on every possession and kick out for 3 when that doesn't work. They'll run a 1-3-1 zone to try and stop our 3-pointers. We'll need to be at our best.

On the other hand, if we have our standard shooting game, we'll beat Liberty.

Nice, they've already got their excuses loaded and ready to go.

flamerbob wrote:

LCA&LU Mom wrote:

kel varson wrote:The way we have played on the road lately, I am not to optimistic about this one. Maybe we can get a good number of fans to travel over to Lexington. I think that would be a big help.

count me in, plus SEVEN

Me plus 4

me plus how ever many people we can fit legally in my civic.

LUconn wrote:but coach said we have to play our game.

if you want to lose to VMI then you jack up threes. it's the same formula with every team that runs the ccrap they run. you shoot a bunch of 3s you lose 99% of the time. Patience is always key against such a system because if you are patient you can get layups or get fouled going for layups. Just look at what Jacksonville St. and UVA did: Jack. St. shot 12 threes the entire game and made 6, but they made 63.5% of their two pointers (33-52) and had 19 attempted FTs. UVA made 3 of their 16 threes (18.8%), but shot 63.5% from two point range (40-63) and had 76 on their 107 points in the paint (doesn't have points in paint for the jst. game, but considering their two point percentage I imagine it's obscenely high) alogn with 28 attempted FTs.

Now let's look at what D1 teams ahve done that have lost:
PResby: 42 points in the paint, 19 attempted threes, took only 39 two pointers (58.9%), 25 FTs
Coastal: 58 points in the paint, 20 attempted threes, 33 of 57 from two point range (57.9%), 16 FTs
CSU: 44 points in the paint, 17 attempted threes, 25 of of 44 on two pointers (56.8%), 24 FTs
GW: 59 points in the paint, 24 attempted threes, 31 of 58 on twos (53.4%), 11 FTs
Richmond: 32 points in the paint, 19 att. 3s, 20/42 twos (47.6%), 18 FTs
Army: 22 points in the paint, 15 attempted 3s, 16/39 twos (41%), 14 FTs
Campbell meeting #2: points in paint n/a, 12 attempted 3s, 26/49 twos (52.1%), 14 FTs
UNCA: points in paint n/a, 28 att. 3s, 20/36 twos (55.5%), 22 FTs
Winthrop: points in paint n/a, 14 att. 3s, 25/52 twos (48.1%), 10 FTs
Campbell: 64 points in paint, 11 att. 3s, 34/59 twos (57.6% ), 21 FTs
Kentucky: 70 points in paint, 16 att. 3s, 36/54 twos (66.6%), 33 FTs

So with the exception of Kentucky, who lost the game because their three point defense was awful, teams who get a ton of points in the paint and convert an extremely high amount of their two points baskets due to getting into the paint win the game. YOu don't win the game shooting threes at the expense of layups. Now you tell me what you should do, stick to the game plan and jack up a ton of 3s or look to penetrate to get easy two point baskets and get to the foul line. Only way you win the game shooting a bunch of threes is if you are lights out from long range, which won't happen for a full 40 minutes because you'll be too tired too, and play good three point defense. Just ask any decent coach who has had to play against VMI or teams who run a similar system to VMI, every single one will tell you that the formula to win is to limit the number of threes taken and to be patient so you can get layups, high percentage twos, and free throws.