FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Well, the NBA officially locked out its players today. If you think the NFL’s labor strife has been contentious, buckle up, this will likely be worse. It couldn’t happen at a worse time for the league, either. The NBA is coming off one of its best seasons. If the owners and players can avoid missing actual games, then no harm, no foul. Otherwise, it will be a huge step back.

It seems appropriate to talk about European basketball at this point. Many of you have seen that Jamie Skeen signed a contract with ASVEL of the French Pro A League. It’s the same league Jamal Shuler has played in the last two years for Vichy. I’m not sure if Jamal will stay with Vichy. I don’t know his contract situation, but we can all hope to see some former Rams square off next year.

ASVEL finished sixth in the Pro A League last year at 17-13 and reached the championship semifinals. That’s a bit more favorable of a situation than Shuler has been faced with. Vichy was 11-19 and ranked 15th in the 16-team league. That being said, Jamal had a very productive year, averaging 16.0 points while giving us one unforgettable buzzer-beater.

Think about this now. With Joey Rodriguez playing in Puerto Rico and now Skeen in France, VCU has a ton of former Rams playing professionally right now:

MEN
Eric Maynor (NBA)
Larry Sanders (NBA)
Michael Anderson (D-League)
Joey Rodriguez (Puerto Rico)
Jamie Skeen (France)
Jamal Shuler (France)
Jesse Pellot-Rosa (Puerto Rico & Mexico)
Calvin Roland (Mexico)
B.A. Walker (Finland)
Dom Jones (Germany and Belgium)
Kirill Pishchalnikov (Russia)

WOMEN
Quanitra Hollingsworth (WNBA)
Krystal Vaughn (Finland)
D’Andra Moss (Finland)
Kita Waller (Germany)

With the exception of Dom Jones, those are all players that have graduated since the 2006-07 season, mind you. That’s not bad at all. That’s 14 pros in the last four years alone, including three at the highest possible level.

QUOTE OF THE DAY
Comes courtesy of Charles Jenkins, who recently joined what is becoming my second favorite NBA team, the Golden State Warriors (look, if you can’t enjoy watching Steph Curry play, I can’t help you).

SUMMERTIME
No, it’s not the NBA Summer League, it’s Ben Wallace’s summer league, which, in some respects, is better (especially since there probably won’t be an NBA Summer League this year). Not only can you catch a glimpse of Wallace, but Eric Maynor, Larry Sanders and a bunch of other former Rams will be there. The league starts Wednesday. Check this link out for more details.

MORE SKEEN

Here’s an interview that Hoops World did with Jamie Skeen at the NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. Pretty tame by Jamie’s standards. I was hoping for some crazy story about how he was eating deep dish pizza and got a phone call that told him he had been invited to the combine, only he had pizza sauce all over his hands and couldn’t answer his phone. That type of thing.

BONUS
Here’s also an interview with Hofstra product Charles Jenkins

ALSO
Luke Hancock of George Mason is headed to Louisville.

SKEEN AT NBA COMBINE IN CHICAGO

A THING OF BEAUTY

HOUSTON, Tex. – Every day for the past four years, Shaka Smart has entered at least one quote, sometimes more, into a rapidly expanding dossier on his computer.

The word document is more than 115 pages long and literally includes thousands of quotes, some inspirational, some thought-provoking, from luminaries throughout history. But it started with one simple quote, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” from a John Keats poem.

When Smart gave me that quote back in August for a story I was writing, I didn’t give it much thought. Today, those words really hit home. VCU’s NCAA Tournament run, which included five wins over BCS conference schools, was a thing of beauty. I hope that when the sting of Saturday’s loss fades, that people can appreciate the gravity of what transpired the last three weeks. From a lightly-regarded bubble team that was trashed on ESPN, to America’s sweethearts, it’s been truly magical.

GLAD TO HAVE YOU

By their own admission, Jamie Skeen and Joey Rodriguez, two centerpieces of VCU’s Final Four run, probably shouldn’t even be here. Each wrestled with his emotions before making the decision for which VCU fans will be forever grateful, to be – or stay – a Ram.

Rodriguez’s internal struggle has been well-documented. Following the departure of former Head Coach Anthony Grant to Alabama, in 2008, Rodriguez actually announced that he was going to transfer to Rollins College. However, spurred by phone calls from his teammates, Rodriguez decided to return to VCU. Last week, following the Rams’ victory over Purdue, I asked him whether or not he had thought about what could’ve happened, had he never returned to the fold.

“Yeah, I’ve thought about it,” Rodriguez said. “Yeah, I could be playing in front of 200 people right now.”

On Saturday, he’ll be suiting up for the Rams at Reliant Stadium, which had a capacity of over 75,000 for basketball.

RULE OF (THE) THREE

Bradford Burgess has hit 13-of-22 3-point attempts (.591) in five NCAA Tournament games.

RICHMOND, Va. – I have to confess, “You live by the three, you die by the three,” might be my most-hated sports cliché. What does that even mean? Will excessive long-range shooting spark the ire of wild dogs? Will the hoisting of triples unleash marauding Vikings?

I get it. If a team forgets about the inside game and focuses too heavily on “low percentage” shots, it’ll be in trouble when a shooting slump takes hold. I suppose that’s correct, that balance is best. But – and this is the 12-year-old pretending to be Mark Price version of myself talking – isn’t this way more fun?

VCU’s five-game blitz to the NCAA Final Four has been fueled, in part, by impressive 3-point shooting. The Rams have hit 44 percent (53-of-121) from long range in the tournament. In wins over Georgetown, Florida State and Kansas, VCU knocked down 12 3-pointers. The Rams’ previous season-best had been 11, reached 10 times. Against top-seeded Kansas, the Rams hit 9-of-11 3-pointers in the first half and built an 18-point cushion on the way to a 71-61 victory.

That’s not to say that VCU hasn’t been productive in other areas. In the tournament, the opposition is shooting 39 percent from the field, including 23 percent from 3-point range. The Rams also hold a plus-4.0 turnover margin, so defense has been a big part of the equation. But on offense, the talk has been all about the three.

WOW FACTOR: RAMS SHRED PURDUE, MARCH INTO SWEET 16 FOR FIRST TIME

Joey Rodriguez scored 12 points and had 11 assists in Sunday's win over Purdue

CHICAGO – Ed Nixon tried to craft his best composed, politically correct, answer, but teammate Brandon Rozzell wasn’t having any of it. As Nixon tried to describe how it felt to be headed to the Sweet 16, the first such trip in VCU history, Rozzell – amidst a jubilant locker room celebration – butted into the conversation.

“Woooooowwww. Wow,” Rozzell blurted.

Far from an eloquent, but dead on in its raw emotion and simplicity, Rozzell’s sentiment was essentially perfect. Wow.

Playing their third NCAA Tournament game in five days, the 11^th-seeded Rams shot 57 percent from the field to shred third-seeded Purdue’s vaunted defense in an NCAA Tournament third round 94-76 victory.

Make no mistake, this was the biggest win in VCU history. There’s room for you to debate whether Eric Maynor’s “Dagger” against Duke was a more memorable moment or whether the powerhouse squads of the J.D. Barnett era in the early 80’s were better from top to bottom, but there is no dispute that Sunday’s victory was the program’s greatest.

Superior defense keyed VCU in first and second round wins over USC and Georgetown, respectively, but the Rams’ triumph over Purdue highlighted a multifaceted, up-tempo offense clicking on all cylinders. The Boilermakers boasted one of the top defenses in the Big Ten and had allowed more than 80 points once this season, but the Rams made Purdue look ordinary, and, at times, even helpless.

VCU STRIKES BACK AT DOUBTERS WITH GRITTY NCAA PERFORMANCE

Jamie Skeen scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds Wednesday.

DAYTON, Ohio – VCU spent a good portion of Sunday taking abuse. On Wednesday, the Rams finally had an opportunity to give some back.

Behind its best defensive performance of the season, VCU grinded out a bruising, 59-46 win over USC in the first round of the NCAA Tournament Wednesday at University of Dayton Arena.

The Rams’ inclusion in the field of 68 drew sharp criticism Sunday from a number of talking heads at ESPN. however, VCU (24-11) showed it belonged, beating the defensive-minded Trojans (19-15) at their own game.

After hearing all the reasons why the Rams shouldn’t be in Dayton, VCU Head Coach Shaka Smart couldn’t help but push back with a playful jab.

“You think Jay Bilas was watching that game?” Smart asked of the ESPN analyst who leveled some of the harshest remarks at VCU and UAB.

It wasn’t just that the Rams beat USC, it’s how they did it. ESPN “Bracketologist” Joe Lundari commented that he didn’t think VCU could guard him. Well, if they can’t, he must be superhuman, because the Rams smothered USC at every turn Wednesday night.

LONG MEMORIES HELP CONJURE UPSET OF GEORGE MASON

RICHMOND, Va. – When Old Dominion captured the Colonial Athletic Association Championship last year, Joey Rodriguez made sure to cut out the newspaper article and save it. It wasn’t a souvenir as much as it was a painful reminder.

ODU, on the way to that victory, shredded a 12-point VCU second-half lead in the semifinals. Rodriguez didn’t want to forget, and kept the article in his room all season. Sunday, when the Rams stormed to a 14-point halftime lead, Rodriguez wasn’t going to get comfortable. He retrieved the article from his backpack as a reminder to himself and his teammates.

That message was heard loud and clear, as VCU held to upset the 25^th-ranked and top-seeded George Mason Patriots, 79-63 in a CAA Tournament semifinal Sunday at the Richmond Coliseum. The win sends the Rams to the CAA Championship on Monday for the fifth time since 2004. READ MORE…

RAMS GO TO THE BLOCKS FOR THRILLING WIN

Thanks to VCURamNation.com for the pic

RICHMOND, Va. – Calling VCU’s win over Drexel Saturday ugly is a bit of an insult to all the ugly basketball games out there. But like a made-for-CBS March Madness snapshot, the lasting memory from the Rams’ 62-60 victory will be Jamie Skeen’s season-saving layup at the buzzer.

Skeen’s baseline spin and subsequent bucket capped a thrilling, albeit forgettable, contest in the Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinals. The fourth-seeded Rams advance to face top-seeded and 25^th-ranked George Mason in the semifinals Sunday at 12 p.m. at the Richmond Coliseum.

It was two weeks ago to the day that VCU (22-10) traveled to Philadelphia and lost a similarly bruising contest to Drexel (21-10), 64-60.

But the difference on Saturday was the Rams’ ability to pound the ball inside to Skeen and Bradford Burgess against the physical and foul-prone Dragons, something VCU could not do last time around. Skeen and Burgess combined for 24 second-half points Saturday. Skeen finished with 24 points and eight rebounds, while Burgess scored 15 points. READ MORE…