With Road Loss at Davidson, Rams Now Look to Atlantic 10 Tournament
See if this story sounds familiar since Davidson joined the Atlantic 10. The Wildcats win a home game versus the VCU Rams. This time, the Rams lost 65-57 without Bones Hyland and Keyshawn Curry. Additionally, during the second half, Vince Williams went down and out with an ankle injury, as well. VCU’s hardship at Davidson continues as the Rams lone win on the road of their A-10 rival dates back to January 2016.
At the end of the day, injuries are part of the game. The loss hurts and eliminates the Rams from winning the Atlantic 10 championship. More importantly, VCU drops lower in the NET Rankings, the rankings used to help seed teams for the NCAA National Tournament.
“We didn’t finish at the basket, that hurt us,” said Coach Rhodes. “The defense did enough, the offense didn’t.”
All things were not negative for the Rams as freshman Jamir Watkins continues to gain his stride. Watkins led VCU in scoring with 14 points and tied sophomore, Hassan Ward, with 10 rebounds for the team lead. Speaking of Ward, the big man finished with a double-double scoring a matching 10 points.
There are two directions head coach Mike Rhodes can go from here. One, address what went wrong and begin work this week on those specific items. Or two, know that the Rams will receive a double-bye in the Atlantic 10 tournament and prepare themselves for a run come next Friday.
If standings hold, VCU at 17-6, 10-4 could face the winner of George Mason and Rhode Island in the Atlantic-10 quarerfinals. Each has an important history with the Rams. This would prove to be the rubber match in either game, as well.
Resting Hyland might hurt in the short turn around, but giving the team’s leading scorer an extra few days rest and without pain could prove huge dividends come next weekend and beyond. It was the home loss versus George Mason on February 20th where Bones went down with his ankle injury.
The Atlantic 10 regular season officially ends on Monday. It is then where VCU will learn its fate. One thing the Rams know for sure is that they will not have to travel far next weekend. Based on the draw, the Rams will either play in the Siegel Center or the Robins Center (home of the Richmond Spiders).
The two semi-final winners next weekend will then have a week to pack their bags and begin and undetermined amount of time away from home. The Atlantic 10 championship game will be held on Selection Sunday in Dayton, OH. At minimum, the tournament champion will then immediately head to a location throughout Indiana to prepare for the national tournament starting the very next week.
VCU entered their regular season finale projected as a 10-seed. The loss obviously hurts. But as any bracketologist will tell you, there are so many moving pieces, so many other games factor in to the seedings, as well.
With one win in the Atlantic 10 tournament should lock up an at-large birth into March’s championship tournament. Having said that, no coach’s goal is to just win one. Rams, healthy, injured, young or all of the above will look to win their first Atlantic 10 tournament championship since 2015.
At the end of the day, injuries are part of the game. The loss hurts and eliminates the Rams from winning the Atlantic 10 championship. More importantly, VCU drops lower in the NET Rankings, the rankings used to help seed teams for the NCAA National Tournament.
“We didn’t finish at the basket, that hurt us,” said Coach Rhodes. “The defense did enough, the offense didn’t.”
All things were not negative for the Rams as freshman Jamir Watkins continues to gain his stride. Watkins led VCU in scoring with 14 points and tied sophomore, Hassan Ward, with 10 rebounds for the team lead. Speaking of Ward, the big man finished with a double-double scoring a matching 10 points.
There are two directions head coach Mike Rhodes can go from here. One, address what went wrong and begin work this week on those specific items. Or two, know that the Rams will receive a double-bye in the Atlantic 10 tournament and prepare themselves for a run come next Friday.
If standings hold, VCU at 17-6, 10-4 could face the winner of George Mason and Rhode Island in the Atlantic-10 quarerfinals. Each has an important history with the Rams. This would prove to be the rubber match in either game, as well.
Resting Hyland might hurt in the short turn around, but giving the team’s leading scorer an extra few days rest and without pain could prove huge dividends come next weekend and beyond. It was the home loss versus George Mason on February 20th where Bones went down with his ankle injury.
The Atlantic 10 regular season officially ends on Monday. It is then where VCU will learn its fate. One thing the Rams know for sure is that they will not have to travel far next weekend. Based on the draw, the Rams will either play in the Siegel Center or the Robins Center (home of the Richmond Spiders).
The two semi-final winners next weekend will then have a week to pack their bags and begin and undetermined amount of time away from home. The Atlantic 10 championship game will be held on Selection Sunday in Dayton, OH. At minimum, the tournament champion will then immediately head to a location throughout Indiana to prepare for the national tournament starting the very next week.
VCU entered their regular season finale projected as a 10-seed. The loss obviously hurts. But as any bracketologist will tell you, there are so many moving pieces, so many other games factor in to the seedings, as well.
With one win in the Atlantic 10 tournament should lock up an at-large birth into March’s championship tournament. Having said that, no coach’s goal is to just win one. Rams, healthy, injured, young or all of the above will look to win their first Atlantic 10 tournament championship since 2015.