RAMS BETTER ''BUY IN" TO PLAYING DEFENSE

 Now that VCU proved it can play defense, maybe the Rams will open up and resemble the team George Mason coach Tony Skinn described after Tuesday’s 54-50 win over the Patriots. The home team went 0-15 from beyond the arch. Said Skinn, “I thought their length and athleticism would bother us. VCU is a typical VCU team. They look like they belong in the SEC.”

First-year coach Ryan Odom would settle for the A-10 which, in recent 

seasons, hasn’t been as formidable as the league VCU joined in 2012. 

For Odom, this has been a work in progress … and that doesn’t figure to 

change any time soon.

His captain, guard Zeb Jackson, has lots of ability but little basketball 

sense which doesn’t translate well in a team game Odom is trying to 

install. Nevertheless, the 6-3 senior can get you the BIG shot – see his 

square-up three pointer that gave the Rams the lead to stay at Mason – 

after being so out of control, attempting (and missing) off-balance treys 

… and taking the ball to the basket with quickness and guile only to fail 

to convert.

For the most part, VCU has a bunch of one-on-one players who don’t 

look comfortable in a motion offense that, along with better defense, is 

their only chance for consistent success. If they buy in, the Rams could 

be the team to beat in the SE ...oops, A-10.

ADRIAN “ACE” BALDWIN, 2023 A-10 player of the year who left 

VCU to go to Penn State with former Rams’ coach Michael David 

Rhoades, 51, had his best game as a Nittany Lion before a sellout 

crowd of 6,200 at the Palestra in Philadelphia. The 6-1 senior scored 25 

points, with 4 assists, 3 steals, 2 rebounds and one blocked shot as State 

came from 14 points down to edge Michigan 79-73 … With 10 

transfers, including two from North Carolina, the Lions fell to 8-8 

overall Wednesday, blowing an eight-point halftime lead to bow 76-72 

to Northwestern (12-3). It was the Wildcats’ first win in Happy Valley in 

seven years … Next for Penn State is a Saturday date at No. 1 Purdue.

SPEAKING OF transfers … Tyler Burton, who left Richmond for 

Villanova, is averaging 8.5 points and a team-best 7.5 rebounds for a 

team that is 10-5 overall and 3-1 (tied for second) in the Big East 

Conference. The Wildcats lost at home to St. John’s last time out … and 

that served to turn up the heat even more on coach Kyle Neptune who, 

from the beginning, was not a favorite choice of Villanova fans to 

replace wildly-successful Jay Wright (retired).

WITH THE exception of the men’s basketball tournament, which has 

become so lucrative it is shared with Turner Broadcasting, CBS tied up 

exclusive coverage of the rest of the NCAA post-season sports in a new 

deal that pleased just about everyone but …

Proponents of women’s basketball are acting outraged because their 

competition wasn’t given the exclusivity they think it deserves. Post-

season ratings continued to soar, thanks to Iowa sharp-shooter Caitlin 

Clark and LSU’s villainous (their choice) duo of coach Kim Mulkey 

and player Angel Reese.

LSU ran through the field to claim its first national title in women’s 

hoops, beating Clark along the way while establishing a new rivalry 

reminiscent of the Uconn-Tennessee/Geno Auriemma-Pat Summit 

skirmishes that established their sport more than 20 years ago. The only 

difference between then and now was Mulkey and Reese did it in a 

personal attention--grabbing style that fed additional interest to 

themselves, not to mention a negative reaction they – surprisingly? -- 

embraced.

Add South Carolina, coached by former U.Va., All-American Dawn 

Staley, and Baylor, former home of Brittany Griner who was rescued 

from a Russian prison by Joe Biden after being arrested for trying to 

leave the country with a controlled substance … and you have headlines 

that can rival the men’s game … and then some.

Nevertheless, CBS and the NCAA agreed now was not the time to set 

the women apart. Why? Stay tuned.

Until next time ...