Does VCU losing by 16 to Western Michigan change anything?

[thebigabd]

When I saw that VCU lost to Western Michigan by 16 points, my first thought was that OU should win by double digits on Saturday.

Does VCU losing put more pressure on OU to win? Less pressure? More pressure on them?

I know they have to play regardless, but my expectations for the game changed when I saw who they lost to and by how much. But hey, its basketball, anything can happen.

 

[BigTime]

The VCU crowd will really help with this one. I am glad there is only one kid on that team that Capel recruited, so hopefully that will stop some of the "revenge" factor.

I think we win the game, but I am not comfortable to be calling for double digits in our first rowdy road test.

 

[MsProudSooner]

First away game of the year.

Several freshmen playing important roles.

It's hard to predict how they will play.

 

[campbest]

Defense and rebounding travel....come out and set the tone early.

 

[SoonerfanTU]

Defense and rebounding travel....come out and set the tone early.

I agree, but unfortunately, those are our weak spots.

Coming out and playing well, and with passion, early is the key though. We let them hang around, bad things can happen. WW needs to get us going early. This isn't the game to default to the others in.

 

[BigTime]

I agree, but unfortunately, those are our weak spots.

Coming out and playing well, and with passion, early is the key though. We let them hang around, bad things can happen. WW needs to get us going early. This isn't the game to default to the others in.

Excellent points, TU.

 

[Krugerfan52]

It changes it for me personally. It makes me less nervous about the game. It confirms for me that VCU is not as good as they were last year.

I think it will be a total talent mismatch. If VCU didnt have enough talent to get by Western Michigan, even on an off night, then they probably don't have enough talent to hang with a team with 3 MAA's.

MAA's aside, VCU would kill for guys like Pledger, Fitz and Crocker. Even Ray Willis would have a great shot at starting for them.

OU 80
VCU 69

 

[12th Street Baller]

Here is the link to the Rams official press release for the Western Michigan game.
VCU vs WMU

It looks like VCU has had trouble with rebounding and consistent defense.

According to their official stats from last season VCU averaged 6,326 in attendance. The largest crowd they had was 7,241 for the ODU (in state rival) game. The worst attended game was their second home game verses Elon with only 4,489 showing up.

With this being a Saturday night game against a nationally ranked foe I expect the attendance to be above average. Expect a crowd of 7,000 or better. When I attended the last game OU played @ VCU the crowd was very sparse and the Sooners got trounced. Coach Capel put VCU back on the map before coming to OU and created his own monster in a way. Now attendance is up and winning is expected.

Despite their bad loss to WMU, VCU should be a tough game for the Sooners. Especially if their center stays out of foul trouble and plays well. Look for OU to go inside early and often to draw fouls on Sanders and put him on the bench.

 

[NickZepp]

VCU won't be a blowout either way most likely. I think OU wins because they will play a style we want to play and we have better players. But it will be close for a while. We'll pull away late and maybe win by around 10 points or so.

 

[MNsooner]

I assume VCU was looking ahead to the OU game and got caught. They will play better against us.

 

[DenverSooner]

I think the guys are going to understand that this game is important for several reasons. It is the first road game and getting a road win a big hurdle every team must clear. It is important for rankings and ultimate seeding. If they go into Big XII with a strong record they have almost assured themselves of making the Tournament. Finally, they have to know Capel coached at VCU and that he really wants to win this game. I think you will get a really good effort from the guys and they will win a close game.

Coach Capel needs to use his timeouts wisely to keep the crowd out of the game. That is one area that I think Coach Capel has not yet mastered as well as some coaches.

 

[sincitysooner]

I fully expect we will get VCU's best effort, both from a player and crowd standpoint. I think we can win with a slightly above average performance though.

 

[vcuramfan]

Hey Guys,

One of your own invited us over here to get chatter started so I took the bait. We are excited to have you all come to the River City, better believe we'll be pumped up to play you guys at the Seigel Center.

One thing's for sure, that loss to WMU put us all back in our place. Ugly. Needless to say it really rattled our boards.

Fact of the matter is we don't know who is going to show up Saturday night.
We'll need as many as we can get to show with the talent on your squad.

We've got some pretty talented perimeter shooters if they are on, and a crazy and frequent press which quite frankly I've found to be rather sloppy. It could be very difficult if our guys play tighter, but that said you obviously have an excellent ball handler in Warren. Our half court sets and half court defense was awful against WMU. We'll need boards.

Larry Sanders will need to stay out of foul trouble and have his game on if we are to succeed. If you guys get him in foul trouble early it could be a long night for us as it was in Kalamazoo.

Unfortunately we don't have our transfer talent Jamie Skeen available or Terrance Saintil (surgery) so we are short on beef in the paint. That's gonna hurt us and why we'll suffer if Larry goes out.

We know you guys have strong talent. That being said this is a really important game for us and don't think everybody in the house doesn't know it. We'll need this win if we hope to put together any kind of resume come March.

Hope we give you guys a fit. I certainly wouldn't plan on anything less.

See you Saturday.

VCURAMFAN

 

[MsProudSooner]

Hey Guys,

One of your own invited us over here to get chatter started so I took the bait. We are excited to have you all come to the River City, better believe we'll be pumped up to play you guys at the Seigel Center.

One thing's for sure, that loss to WMU put us all back in our place. Ugly. Needless to say it really rattled our boards.

Fact of the matter is we don't know who is going to show up Saturday night.
We'll need as many as we can get to show with the talent on your squad.

We've got some pretty talented perimeter shooters if they are on, and a crazy and frequent press which quite frankly I've found to be rather sloppy. It could be very difficult if our guys play tighter, but that said you obviously have an excellent ball handler in Warren. Our half court sets and half court defense was awful against WMU. We'll need boards.

Larry Sanders will need to stay out of foul trouble and have his game on if we are to succeed. If you guys get him in foul trouble early it could be a long night for us as it was in Kalamazoo.

Unfortunately we don't have our transfer talent Jamie Skeen available or Terrance Saintil (surgery) so we are short on beef in the paint. That's gonna hurt us and why we'll suffer if Larry goes out.

We know you guys have strong talent. That being said this is a really important game for us and don't think everybody in the house doesn't know it. We'll need this win if we hope to put together any kind of resume come March.

Hope we give you guys a fit. I certainly wouldn't plan on anything less.

See you Saturday.

VCURAMFAN

Third game = third different style of play.

1. The opponent wanted to run at every opportunity.
2. The opponent ran the shot clock down to less than 5 at every opportunity.
3. A pressing team.

Good experience. It will be interesting to see how our 'babies' handle it.

 

[FaithfulSooner]

I think with a young team like we have double digits would be great. However this team just needs to win their first road experience. It's not about style points in this one. I think the team will take the win how they can get it. I feel like Coach Capel will really have our guys ready to play this one. Let's just get the "W". BOOMER SOONER BABY!!!:clap:OUbball-logo:

 

[OUHoosier]

Third game = third different style of play.

1. The opponent wanted to run at every opportunity.
2. The opponent ran the shot clock down to less than 5 at every opportunity.
3. A pressing team.

Good experience. It will be interesting to see how our 'babies' handle it.

I completely agree. The running game is probably a better style for OU's young guys given their athleticism and lack of experience. That slow down style really bothered the young guards and they weren't really sure how to handle it so that's good experience.

This will be a great warm up for Arkansas and Gonzaga with a team that likes to get up and run. Watching TMG and Willie's passing I think this will be a big opportunity for Crocker, Pledger and Cade to get a lot of open 3 looks.

 

[buttermaker1]

When I saw that VCU lost to Western Michigan by 16 points, my first thought was that OU should win by double digits on Saturday.

Does VCU losing put more pressure on OU to win? Less pressure? More pressure on them?

I know they have to play regardless, but my expectations for the game changed when I saw who they lost to and by how much. But hey, its basketball, anything can happen.

Yes if we lose we suck

 

[Sid]

When I saw that VCU lost to Western Michigan by 16 points, my first thought was that OU should win by double digits on Saturday.

Does VCU losing put more pressure on OU to win? Less pressure? More pressure on them?

I know they have to play regardless, but my expectations for the game changed when I saw who they lost to and by how much. But hey, its basketball, anything can happen.

The Rockets beat the Lakers in LA the other night. Does that mean the Lakers suck?

 

[playmakr]

The Rockets beat the Lakers in LA the other night. Does that mean the Lakers suck?

Yes!