Scouting The VCU Rams

This is a game that Sooner Head Coach Jeff Capel is on record as saying that he isn’t looking forward to playing. VCU, Capel’s former team, finished the season 24-8 last season but failed to pick up a birth in the big dance. Instead the Rams went to the NIT where they were bounced in the first round. Now, in 2008 they are off to a 7-3 start with their losses coming to Rhode Island, East Carolina and Vanderbilt. 

The Rams are holding their opponents to 42% from the floor and 35% from three-point range. They appear to be weak on the boards and are getting out rebounded on average every game. That could pose a significant problem for them with the Griffin brothers living under the basket.

The Rams run a three guard offense led by Eric Maynor who is 6^th in the nation in scoring average with 24.4 points per game. He’s shooting 51% from the floor and has scored30-plus points in three different games this season. He was recruited by Jeff Capel and played his freshman season under Capel.

Guard Joey Rodriguez is shooting 47% from three point range and is scoring in double figures with 11 points per game. He also leads the team in steals with 2.7 per game. The third guard is Bradford Burgess. Burgess is a just a freshman but is also shooting 47% from three-point range.

The VCU big men are Larry Sanders and Kirill Pishchalnikov. Sanders is the team’s shot blocker with 3 per game and Pishchalnikov cleans the boards for the Rams with a team high 6.4 points per game.

Even though the Ford Center will be labeled a “neutral site” it will certainly be a home court advantage for Oklahoma. Save for the O-State fans who hang around to cheer against the Sooners there won’t be much fan support behind VCU at all. All of the advantages are in Oklahoma’s favor and hopefully this game will provide to be a good sendoff for OU because their next two games are on the road.