Pre season A10

[Eight Legger]

Yep, I have seen a lot of outsiders say the same thing about our offense – "It all ran through TJ last year, so without him, what will happen?" As if we are just going to completely fall apart and score 10 points a game or something. I loved everything about TJ and what he did for or program, but we can't and won't wallow around in pity that he graduated.

I doubt Mooney in practice is telling guys "Ok, run this play through TJ...aww, crap. He's gone. Forget it. I got nothing."

I have mentioned this in the past, but I will not be surprised at all if we see Nick take on some of the role TJ had last year as a point man through which interior passes flow. He did this a bit last year and excelled at it. He has great instincts and seemed to find guys quickly in this role. I know he's a few inches shorter than TJ, so I doubt he'll be a primary replacement there, but I think it will work. And no doubt Grant will do some of that too, though he will need time to become more accustomed to that role.

 

[spiderman]

I hear often about how "it'll take time". time already started. they've been working on this since spring. yeah, it'll be different but it isn't rocket science. we'll be fine moving on without some guys. we do it every year. so does every other team.

 

[Ulla1]

I hear often about how "it'll take time". time already started. they've been working on this since spring. yeah, it'll be different but it isn't rocket science. we'll be fine moving on without some guys. we do it every year. so does every other team.

Grant has been working on this since last year. He is/will be ready.

 

[spider23]

Yep, I have seen a lot of outsiders say the same thing about our offense – "It all ran through TJ last year, so without him, what will happen?" As if we are just going to completely fall apart and score 10 points a game or something. I loved everything about TJ and what he did for or program, but we can't and won't wallow around in pity that he graduated.

I doubt Mooney in practice is telling guys "Ok, run this play through TJ...aww, crap. He's gone. Forget it. I got nothing."

I have mentioned this in the past, but I will not be surprised at all if we see Nick take on some of the role TJ had last year as a point man through which interior passes flow. He did this a bit last year and excelled at it. He has great instincts and seemed to find guys quickly in this role. I know he's a few inches shorter than TJ, so I doubt he'll be a primary replacement there, but I think it will work. And no doubt Grant will do some of that too, though he will need time to become more accustomed to that role.

Agree that Nick will be very good in the high post as a decision maker. As I expressed on another post, he seems to have a very nice ability to "slow the game down" and see plays and angles very quickly. He also has to be respected to shoot from anywhere on the court basically.

 

[Eight Legger]

I hear often about how "it'll take time". time already started. they've been working on this since spring. yeah, it'll be different but it isn't rocket science. we'll be fine moving on without some guys. we do it every year. so does every other team.

Right. I wasn't saying that Grant needed a lot of time to figure out how to pass from the post, but that it will take him time to become proficient at it the way TJ was, that's all. We shouldn't expect him to come in and be TJ Cline from day one.

 

[spiderman]

agreed. TJ was a special player and while Grant may end up being an all timer too, I don't expect him to be TJ. I just don't buy into how it'll take time in general to move on to life without TJ and SDJ. we're already planning on that. other guys will step up. happens every year.

 

[ur2K]

Nick or Buck can facilitate in the high post, but it makes a much bigger impact when its one of the bigs

 

[Stork3]

Observations from watching practice on Tuesday, July 11th:

Generally speaking, everyone looks to be in good shape physically.

Solly looks stronger and runs the court well. I am looking forward to watching him in some setting other than practice. He has the chance to be really good - but I just can't pick up but so much from these summer practices.

Was able to see Gilyard in scrimmage mode today. He is lightning with the ball; and, of course, others on SpiderNation have described his poise. Doesn't look quite as strong as Kendall did when he was a freshman; but he is just as smooth as silk when bringing the ball up the court under pressure. When ShawnDre was hanging 30 on VCU last year, I had trouble picking up the Spiders broadcast - so I tuned in to the Frat Boys (VCU radio announcers for basketball) to keep up with the game. One of them mentioned that "Richmond always has some midget who comes into the Siegal Center and torches us." Gilyard may very well be the latest midget, after KA and K0.

Cayo is getting some nice compliments. He moves well around the basket, and seems to have a nice stroke from outside. I still think that he will grow a bit more. Looks to be an excellent passer and plays confidently. I believe he really has a high ceiling. He makes a lot of things look easy.

Sherod still seems to have the best shooting touch this summer. Gilyard and Cayo were shooting the lights out at the end of practice; but they weren't being defended. At least they both seem to have a nice touch.

Grant looks happy to be playing, and seems to be more of a beast rebounding. I like the thought of having four years of him. He still runs the floor better than most big guys we have had.

Ford is raw, but has a really nice frame and is athletic.

The non-conference portion of the schedule will be interesting. We have lots of guards who can play; Grant and Solly will play well inside; and the combinations that Mooney tries will be interesting to watch. I still believe that we will have another good season; but just how things will pan out prior to the conference games is anyone's guess. I am not going to make any predictions regarding playing time - it's just too early. Don't forget to order your season tickets if you haven't - the deadline is the 20th. Go Spiders!

 

[SpiderK]

I was there today also and Stork has made an excellent assessment of today's practice. I can add a few small things I saw.
1: Grant was moving very well and looked confident. He was running the high post and directing traffic with a forceful deep voice.
2: Solly is quick/fast and athletic. Nice touch from 15 ft in and he rebounds.
3: Gilyard is quick and confident as advertised. Gets his shot off quickly, but it starts off a bit low. Maybe not a true "jump shot". He sure makes them though. Cocky small guy, I love it.
4: Cayo definitely further along than AJ Ford. Both shoot pretty well for big fellas. Ford may end up being a nice rebounder for us. Still early to tell about these two.
5: Schneider is thin but fast and smooth. Left handed shot and not scared to go to the basket. Early on him too.
6: JuJu and Fore looked exactly the same as the season ended. Playing hard at all times.
7: DMB , man amongst boys. Best we have.
8: Sherod was making shots from everywhere on the floor. Looked bigger also. Sherod took a leadership role by taking the five freshman to do some shooting games at the end of practice and gave a few pointers and some encouragement. Great to see.
9: Paul was moving well and not favoring any injury. He and Grant look about the same size. He tends to cock the ball behind his head a bit when he shoots, but still shot fairly well. Missed a few free throws while I was there. Needs to keep the ball high when he drives and rebounds. Overall just glad to see him healthy.


Last observation: Dudes!!! We have some shooters. I don't think we will have to cringe when anyone of these guys shoots as we have in the past. Time will tell, but that part of the practice looked good.

 

[SFspidur]

 

[SpiderK]

AJ seems like a nice young man. Hope he accomplishes all those goals.

 

[gcarter52]

Very impressed with AJ. Much success over the next four years.

 

[Eight Legger]

Impressive kid for sure!

 

[fan2011]

Ford is very likable. Great interview.

 

[spider23]

Great reports, thanks K and Stork!

Was Verbinskis at practice? Any observations on him?

 

[spiderman]

AJ seems like another in a long line of Spiders I'll enjoy rooting for. Great kid. nice highlights, too.

 

[Ulla1]

Ford is very likable. Great interview.

AJ is so well spoken and good mannered. What a nice family. Happy they chose UR.

 

[SpiderK]

Great reports, thanks K and Stork!

Was Verbinskis at practice? Any observations on him?

Yes he was, forgot to mention him. Another lefty shooter. He is fairly thin but moves nicely and seemed to know where to be on the floor. The other players nicked named Schneider and Verbinskis the "lefty assassins" because they were shooting so well at the end of practice.

 

[spider23]

Yes he was, forgot to mention him. Another lefty shooter. He is fairly thin but moves nicely and seemed to know where to be on the floor. The other players nicked named Schneider and Verbinskis the "lefty assassins" because they were shooting so well at the end of practice.

Nice, Fezz has to like that.

 

[spiderman]

top down, I think the current roster has to be one of our strongest shooting rosters. we've said we're plenty athletic. ball handling should be solid. only negatives are that our depth is young, and with that could use work in the weight room. plus we're one big man short in case of emergency. very susceptible to a big man injury.

size wise ... can anyone make an educated guess to the height and weight of the freshmen?

 

[urmite]

Yes he was, forgot to mention him. Another lefty shooter. He is fairly thin but moves nicely and seemed to know where to be on the floor. The other players nicked named Schneider and Verbinskis the "lefty assassins" because they were shooting so well at the end of practice.

In trying to get a complete picture, do either of them appear much taller than Sherod?

 

[urmite]

top down, I think the current roster has to be one of our strongest shooting rosters. we've said we're plenty athletic. ball handling should be solid. only negatives are that our depth is young, and with that could use work in the weight room. plus we're one big man short in case of emergency. very susceptible to a big man injury.

size wise ... can anyone make an educated guess to the height and weight of the freshmen?

Yes, once shooting info was out of the way, that was my next question...

 

[MrTbone]

...plus we're one big man short in case of emergency. very susceptible to a big man injury.

Just a few big men names who got injured while playing for us:

Dan Geriot
Derrick Williams
Deion Taylor
Alonzo Nelson Ododa
Paul Friendshuh
Grant Golden

We've probably had fewer bigs not get hurt than those that did during the Mooney era. I think CM is trying to get our depth better but as noted, we are very young/inexperienced at 4/5 so we should wrap our heads around the notion that this isn't a distant or unlikely scenario.

 

[SpiderK]

Yes, once shooting info was out of the way, that was my next question...

In trying to get a complete picture, do either of them appear much taller than Sherod?

Yes both lefties are taller than Sherod, but both are also slighter than he is.

 

[VT_Spider]

Guys I'm gonna settle this right here. We're not going to be good next year. Anyone who expects an NCAA year will be dead wrong. We won't even sniff the nit. If we make the NCAA tournament I'll pay someone a lot of money.

 

[gcarter52]

Guys I'm gonna settle this right here. We're not going to be good next year. Anyone who expects an NCAA year will be dead wrong. We won't even sniff the nit. If we make the NCAA tournament I'll pay someone a lot of money.

Get your money ready VT!!

 

[fan2011]

Guys I'm gonna settle this right here. We're not going to be good next year. Anyone who expects an NCAA year will be dead wrong. We won't even sniff the nit. If we make the NCAA tournament I'll pay someone a lot of money.

You sound pretty confident. In my opinion we just don't know enough about the team to know if we will be good or bad. In my opinion we have an NCAA quality back court, but how we do really depends on how good Solly and Grant are, and how good their backups are, but we don't really know the answer to that yet. I am cautiously optimistic, and if you want to make next season interesting with a friendly message board wager I could be interested.

 

[SpiderK]

Guys I'm gonna settle this right here. We're not going to be good next year. Anyone who expects an NCAA year will be dead wrong. We won't even sniff the nit. If we make the NCAA tournament I'll pay someone a lot of money.

I think you confused UR with the Hokies, who will be terrible.

 

[VT_Spider]

I think you confused UR with the Hokies, who will be terrible.

Wrong we return 4 starters from a 20+ win team and are going to be very good.

 

[VT_Spider]

You sound pretty confident. In my opinion we just don't know enough about the team to know if we will be good or bad. In my opinion we have an NCAA quality back court, but how we do really depends on how good Solly and Grant are, and how good their backups are, but we don't really know the answer to that yet. I am cautiously optimistic, and if you want to make next season interesting with a friendly message board wager I could be interested.

Ya if y'all set up a wager I'll participate. I just don't see us being very good. We saw what it looked like in stretches this year when TJ wasn't out there and it didn't look good. As far as these new players go I've heard it before. Every year everyone talks about how great so and so is supposed to be and more often than not in recent years with Mooney they end up either transferring out because they are terrible or they just ride the pine. I think Cayo, verbinskis, Schneider, and ford all fit that bill. I could see Solly being alright but I don't even think he will live up to the hype. Really hope I'm wrong.

 

[urfan1]

pretty bleak picture you paint care to predict a number of wins for regular season

 

[VT_Spider]

pretty bleak picture you paint care to predict a number of wins for regular season

I haven't seen the schedule yet but I would say 15 or less. Somewhere in the 10 to 15 range.

 

[Spiders05]

I'll wager a donation to the spider club on the over @ 12.5 wins.

 

[Ulla1]

I'll wager a donation to the spider club on the over @ 12.5 wins.

05, I'm with you.

 

[Ulla1]

Believe the Spiders have another 20 win season. Yes, I understand that the Ulla is always optimistic, but barring injury, we will be a contender.

 

[kneepadmckinney]

Guys I'm gonna settle this right here. We're not going to be good next year. Anyone who expects an NCAA year will be dead wrong. We won't even sniff the nit. If we make the NCAA tournament I'll pay someone a lot of money.

I always feel better when VT says something like this, since he's always so wrong. Have fun building your team with Mark Gottfried.

 

[VT_Spider]

I always feel better when VT says something like this, since he's always so wrong. Have fun building your team with Mark Gottfried.

I'm just tired of getting my hopes up on our basketball team. It's been 6 long years of disappointment. The last time we were in the tournament was when I was in 8th grade. You know how much has changed since then?

 

[fan2011]

I haven't seen the schedule yet but I would say 15 or less. Somewhere in the 10 to 15 range.

Considering we've won over 15 games in every season for the past decade, I am confident that we will win more than 15 games. The only way I see us winning fewer is multiple injuries to our thin front court. I would be willing to do the same bet I had with eight legger last season, winner gets to choose the losers avatar for the next year. If we win 16+ I choose your avatar, if we win 15 or fewer you can choose mine.

 

[Ulla1]

Considering we've won over 15 games in every season for the past decade, I am confident that we will win more than 15 games. The only way I see us winning fewer is multiple injuries to our thin front court. I would be willing to do the same bet I had with eight legger last season, winner gets to choose the losers avatar for the next year. If we win 16+ I choose your avatar, if we win 15 or fewer you can choose mine.

Nice wager, 2011. Hope VT accepts. You should be safe.

 

[gospidersgo]

Our front court is full of inexperience and question marks. But I feel very confident saying there's no way Buck, Khwan, Nick can't get us past 10 wins. 10 wins would make this the worst team since Mooneys first season - not happening barring some major injuries.

I can understand not predicting a huge season, we have too many holes to confidently do that. But we should be fine.