[Purple Haize]

Took McKay less than two years to vastly imrove the bball team and playing well against a vcu team that is one of the best mid-majors in the country. Gill on the otherhand....how many years in....

VCU is a shell of what it was under Shaka Smart

[jinxy]

Yeah thats not true. Still a top 35 program easy

[thepostman]

Yeah thats not true

PH is in full Turner Gill kool aid mode. You'll have to excuse him.

[VAGolf]

We're incredibly athletic. This is a really good loss.

[thepostman]

I'm proud of how we fought. We made some mistakes down the stretch but this team is growing up. Should be a fun year.

[Jonathan Carone]

I'll gladly live with this result. Hopefully the students can catch the basketball itch and keep coming. Basketball games were 100x more fun for us than football games.

[jinxy]

Weak foul call under the basket at the end. Solid senior laden squad. The big man was the difference. He made all kinds of free throws. When we get in our set offense we score. Against these type teams we have to move quicker to have success. Im starting to remember what it felt like to have good basketball.

[thepostman]

I thought the call underneath was weak too until I saw the replay. It was the right call but it still sucked.

[ballah09]

all i know the students and fans better pack the vines going further. Liberty has a very good team.

lastly ill just say this what an amazing accomplishment. I know moral victories don't can't but Liberty was in it til the end against a veteran VCU team. they're a top 30 team that will finish top three in the a10

Held them to 64 points just amazing and Liberty is full of freshman and sophomores.

[Purple Haize]

Yeah thats not true

PH is in full Turner Gill kool aid mode. You'll have to excuse him.

That's a quote from my cousin whose been a VCU season ticket holder for 15 years

[thepostman]

Ok. But even if that is true these are teams we would still get blown out by in past years.

I don't think VCU is a shell of its old self. I think your cousin is being over dramatic.

[flamehunter]

I think it's more likely they are a shell of where VCU fans had hoped they'd be if Shaka were still there.

[FlameFan11]

Tough loss but great showing especially for game #2. Love the competitive spirit of these guys. Great crowd! If we can consistently get that atmosphere, we will be tough to beat at home.

Would have loved to see a little larger lineup at times but very happy with how we played. Big minutes for Pacheco who played well. Myo gives us a legit body in the post with athleticism. Gardner was too unselfish early and Josiah looked good in his limited minutes. Team is only going to get better as those guys get more comfortable with the returners. Doesn't get any easier at #6 Indiana on Saturday.

[A Sea of Red]

Rapid Reactions

http://www.aseaofred.com/rapid-reactions-vcu-2/

[Purple Haize]

Ok. But even if that is true these are teams we would still get blown out by in past years.

I don't think VCU is a shell of its old self. I think your cousin is being over dramatic.

Absolutely agree that LU would have gotten blitzed by this team a couple of years ago.
My comment was directed at VCU not LU

[olldflame]

Ok. But even if that is true these are teams we would still get blown out by in past years.

I don't think VCU is a shell of its old self. I think your cousin is being over dramatic.

Absolutely agree that LU would have gotten blitzed by this team a couple of years ago.
My comment was directed at VCU not LU

LU DID get blitzed by this team just ONE year ago

[Cider Jim]

Our new point guards have really improved over last year: VCU's "havoc" defense couldn't trap us a single time last night when they tried their full court press. We passed or dribbled out of every potential trap situation.

[olldflame]

This is one of those games where if you told me at tipoff we would be in it til the last minute I would have been more than happy with that result, but after seeing as the game progressed that we actually had an opportunity to get the W, I am a bit disappointed Playing an opponent like VCU tough will raise an eybrow or 2, but to earn respect, you need to win Would have been nice to have Dawson out there for more than 7 minutes in the first half, but McKay has always been pretty consistent in sitting players with 2 early fouls, especially early in the season when he wants to get a look at everyone anyway

[olldflame]

Our new point guards have really improved over last year: VCU's "havoc" defense couldn't trap us a single time last night when they tried their full court press. We passed or dribbled out of every potential trap situation.

Hopefully that bodes well for us when we face UNCA down the road in games that ultimately are a lot more meaningful than this one We had 16 turnovers, which is not particularly good, but not awful against a pressing team like VCU Surprised to see we only had 14 last year against them, but in that game they decimated our defense, which was MUCH better this go-round, and in fact we actually forced them into 19 TOs

Kemrite's stat line wasn't impressive, but he played 34 minutes, which was more than anyone else by a fair margin He is obviously doing something right on the defensive end

[A Sea of Red]

Rapid Reactions

http://www.aseaofred.com/rapid-reactions-vcu-2/

Post has been updated with 2 quotes from Coach McKay

[TerraCottaGamer]

My two cents.....I was thrilled we kept it close and even closed in at the end. This tells me this team is strong mentally and has some heart and resiliency. I went in hoping we could keep it within 20. We did that and more and I can't wait to see this team compete in the Big South this year.

VCU was obviously bigger and stronger. Our "big" guys need to add muscle. I have not looked at the stats but my eyes tell me we got out rebounded pretty heavily.

The refs were ridiculously ticky tack in the first half but seemed to loosen up a bit in the second half.

Complaints: McKay's offense is very slow developing with alot of backside picks from guys coming off the blocks. This, to me, forced the team into alot of semi-hurried shots with the clock running down. However, it could have very well been by design with McKay wanting to slow the game down because it was clear, especially in the second half, that we could not play up tempo with VCU.

I don't know why anyone is complaining about the crowd. It was a good crowd that was into the game for the most part and got really loud when it mattered.

[TerraCottaGamer]

Took McKay less than two years to vastly imrove the bball team and playing well against a vcu team that is one of the best mid-majors in the country. Gill on the otherhand....how many years in....

VCU is a shell of what it was under Shaka Smart

This for sure on all counts. At one point the VCU coach turned to the fans and started hyping them up. I have never seen a coach do that. Very strange I thought.

[VAGolf]

I don't understand how some allow themselves to type things without actually doing any real research.

VCU has two legitimate NBA prospects. Will Wade is a very good coach. He had success at Chattanooga and he's doing well with the Rams. The only people who think VCU is a "fraction" of what they used to be, are the same people who still don't understand that Shaka Smart didn't invent the full court press. This may not be VCU's best year, but to argue that they've taken any significant step back is ridiculous.

Next to Indiana, VCU will easily be the best team we play all year.

[R i]

VCU has one of the nations top signing classes currently. They are not a shell of their former teams.

PH, Coaches turn to the crowd for engagement a lot. Coach K is good for it 10+ times a year.

Georgie earned some playing time, but I noticed in crunch time, he looked to get rid of the ball, instead of making plays for his teammates. I do not think he is a scorer or play maker. I think he is a consistent ball handler, and defender.

I am surprised that Gardner has not come in and been a force, and earned more minutes. As highly rated as he was, and how highly Mckay talked of him, I was expecting starters minutes and double digits.

[LUnpretty11]

...
Next to Indiana, VCU will easily be the best team we play all year.

Whoa. Bold statement. Are you sticking by this after knowing Indiana beat Kansas in OT to start the year? Also, Indiana has a lottery pick on their team right now.