Happy Holidays Spider Fans! Below is some information on our next opponent, Coppin State

Opponent: Coppin State (5-10) --> Preseason 5th in MEAC

Key Results:

• George Mason - L: 53-91 --> A-10 Opponent
• Georgetown - L (OT): 89-99
• NC State - L: 72-94
• James Madison - W (2OT): 107-100

Team Stats:

• Points Per Game: 76.2 (117th)
• Points Allowed Per Game: 87.2 (Worst in Nation)
• 2 PT Shooting: 52.9% (125th)
• 3 PT Shooting: 34.4% (152nd)
• FT Shooting: 71.5% (145th)

Key Player:

Sam Sessoms

• PPG: 23.5 (Leads team)
• 3PT Percentage: 38.4% (Leads starters)
• 2PT Percentage: 61.5% (Leads team)
• FT Percentage: 84.8% (Leads starters)
• APG: 5.4 (Leads team)

Sessoms, a star transfer from Penn State, is going to give Richmond all we can handle. He is their entire offense, so controlling Sessoms will all but guarantee a Spider victory. The rest of the team is fairly average, but watch out for Rojas off the bench as their 3 point specialist and Tarke, who was chosen to the Preseason All-MEAC First Team. Should be an easy victory, but Sessions can't go off like other star players have this year, or else it will be closer than we want.

Coppin State RPIM's

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I can't remember ever being more ready for A-10 play to begin...and I can't remember ever being so uncertain about the Spiders chances in the wide open A-10!

the team has been able to sustain periods of impressive play against outmanned opponents like Bucknell and FDU...and probably looked its best against a better opponent in Drake...but away from the Robins Center and against talented opponents we have not proven able to sustain a level of play strong enough to battle for a top tier A-10 finish...

maybe we'll find that something that has seemed to be missing in several of our head scratching performances that have left us with the mediocre 7-6 non conference record...

usually you can see a team's performance building to a more impressive level over the course of several games, but I'm just not sure convincing home wins over outmanned, double digit underdogs Bucknell, FDU and Coppin State have gotten us to the level we'll need to be successful in the A-10...

anyway, win, or lose, Saturday in Fairfax, I'm looking forward to at last seeing how we stack up on the road versus an A-10 opponent...

Go Spiders!

Taking this to the premium thread...anyone have the inside scoop on candidates for our open OC position?

Does anyone have any extra tickets to the game tonight that they will not be using. I have season tickets but I have a son from Virginia Beach that would like to go to the game. . Email me at easonron49@gmail.com if you have some you will not be using.

Starting the thread for Bucknell as I did not see anyone do so yet

Opponent: Bucknell (7-4) --> Preseason 8th in Patriot

Key Results:

• St. Francis (PA) - W: 89-65
• Georgia - L: 61-65
• La Salle - L: 72-82 --> A-10 Opponent

Team Stats:

• Points Per Game: 73.9 (154th)
• Points Allowed Per Game: 64 (71st)
• 2 PT Shooting: 55.9% (46th)
• 3 PT Shooting: 40.3% (16th)
• FT Shooting: 71.3% (143rd)
• Strength of Schedule: -9.29 (Worst in Nation)

Key Player:

Xander Rice

• PPG: 15.9 (Leads team)
• 3PT Percentage: 39.1%
• 2PT Percentage: 60.4%
• FT Percentage: 88.2% (2nd among starters)

Bucknell is a hard team to read. They shoot the ball well, but they've had the worst strength of schedule out of any team in college basketball and haven't beaten a quality opponent yet. Xander Rice is their team leader and shoots the ball fairly efficiently. However, they are a relative "team by committee" with everyone else playing their role, they have 5 other players with double digit RPIM averages within 4 points of each other. Look for Rice to run the offense, but watch out for Hopewell, VA native Elvin Edmonds IV in this one. He'll have plenty of home support and is one of their best overall shooters, hitting 51.5% from 3. I think we should be able to win this one, but if we let Rice run wild and Edmonds have a double digit scoring game, we might be in trouble.

Halftime brawl vs. VMI, either 1974 or 1975.

Merry Christmas to all Spiders around the globe. I hope ever last one of you has an incredible day with your family. Let’s come out of the winter break with a win streak and good health!

Still a class act, no surprises here.

https://www.espn.com/college-footba...st-dave-clawson-isolate-wife-season-due-virus

Merry Christmas, and happy holidays, from this 1976 grad now living on the Left Coast for the past 38 years.

We may disagree on coaching, politics, etc., but we all share the same love for our great University. I will always be a Spider!

Enjoy the holidays with friends and family!

Current NCAA odds...13%
Team that is still finding its identity
About to make a run
Stay focused Spider fans!
Stay positive!

Unless I am mistaken, the NCAA passed rules allowing leagues and the NIT to experiment this year with five media timeouts in the second half, instead of four. Does anyone know if the A10 is planning to do this or not?

Will we get the Clemson team that beat Wake by 20, or the one that got trucked by Loyola. Let's keep up the solid defense and keep the W train rolling.

OK, enough with the negative nellies (takes one to know one, I know, I know) , but on to Drake.

ESPN analytics are giving us a 65% chance to win. https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game/_/gameId/401487673

Which I tend to agree with.

After two bad performances, and Mooney forcing the team to read the message board for an hour after practice, looking for an inspired performance.

Spiders 73 Hate the Drake 69 - is my prediction.

Grace with 12 pts 6 boards 6 assists. Burton big game. Neal solid game. Back on track in the land of the rising Moon.

Unless our guys have been studying so much, and had too much time off, and we have not been able to practice, and the Noyes flu is working its way through the team, and moon gave them the week off.

The man even makes time for interviews!

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Weddings:

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Football playoffs:

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Bigfoot and aliens:

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Dating:

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Dangers of Candy Corn:

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Would clearly be hard to top TJ but could see Isaiah challenging Greg Stevenson for our 2nd most impactful transfer ever. I still assume this is TB's final year and Isaiah could easily be our leading scorer and rebounder in 23-24. Thoughts from others?

... and if Quinn can keep it up as he did since the TJ coaching and Roche continues to get more looks, they could also be in the Top 10 transfers of all time?

Thought this should have its own thread in case some don't see it in the discussion of last night's misery. Sorry to see this and hope he heals well and soon.

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Can’t resist … New thread dedicated to our serious worries about the slow but steady decline of our RVA brother

thanks to our Drunk AD for posting the below …
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Automatic qualifiers for FCS playoffs:

AQ7: Sam Houston
Big Sky: Sacramento State
Big South: Kennesaw State
CAA: Villanova
MVFC: North Dakota State
Northeast: Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley: UT Martin
Patriot: Holy Cross
Pioneer: Davidson
Southern: ETSU
Southland: UIW

Matthew 6

5 “And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I guess the 6 RCs on the SCT decided to go low church undisciplined fundie Protestant for their political decision and collectively decided to ignore the teachings of SJohn of the Cross and Pere Grou.

This team is loaded with a lot of talent. It might be one of the most talented teams we have had. We have gotten good, but not great, players via the portal.

Early on, our guys looked like they were trying to play a one on one game, instead of a team game. We had guys trying to win individual match-ups, instead of working as a team. Our teams over the last two or three years were very willing to pass to the open man or throw to the guy with the hot hand. It seems that the Drake game was the first time the team really played together. How much of this chemistry was a result of the return of Matt Grace?

The Great One, Dick Tarrant, always preached the importance of team chemistry. Strong team chemistry was the way mid-major teams overcame the talent of the top programs.

In this era of immediate play and the transfer portal, one may conclude that the coach that gets his team to jell the soonest will have the greatest success. Thoughts?

Lots of Spider representation throughout

Let's keep the good vibe going.

This question is intended to consider the long term success of the basketball program