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email John Stansberry |
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AROUND THE NATION
Nov. 24, 2009
John Groce is a name to remember
What's not to like about Ohio's John Groce? The
second year head coach is kind of an intimidating
looking dude, he could definitely have played a
Colonial Marine in the movie "Aliens." When he
talks, I bet every Bobcat on the roster listens
INTENTLY.
He's got a great pedigree, cutting his teeth first
as an assistant to Herb Sendek and then spending
eight years assisting Thad Matta. More than a few
people credit Groce for playing a huge role in
signing Ohio State's "Thad Five" class back in 2006
(Mike Conley, Daequan Cook, Othello Hunter, David
Lighty and Greg Oden, for those who've already
forgotten).
In terms of the product he puts out on the floor,
who can argue with the high octane style he favors?
In his first season in Athens, Ohio led the MAC in
three-point field goal percentage, the first time
that's ever happened. The team also led the league
in assists per game at 13.6.
The transition to Groce's aggresive style resulted
in a 15-17 record last season that was off the pace
of the 19 wins the program had averaged the previous
four campaigns. But a first year coach should always
get a pass, and Ohio's 3-0 start to this season is
proof that Groce and his team are really starting to
read from the same sheet of music.
A great recruiter continues to recruit well
regardless of who's employing him, and in this case
it's no different. Two true freshman guards, D.J.
Cooper and Jay Kinney, currently rank fourth and
fifth on the Bobcats in scoring (at 14.3 ppg and
14.0 ppg, respectively). Another solid recruiting
class, this one headlined by Clark Kellogg's son
Nick, is already in the pipeline for 2010-11.
Keep an eye on Groce's team in the month of December
when they embark on their more ambitious non-league
road games, those being trips to Tulsa on December 6
and Pittsburgh on December 22. Ohio's style puts a
ton of pressure on opposing teams, so these contests
appear to be, at least on paper, excellent upset
opportunities.
VCU is stunned and then does the stunning
The early season has already produced some head
scratching results, and Virginia Commonwealth
happens to have been involved in two of them. Back
on November 18, the Rams traveled to Kalamazoo to
tangle with a Western Michigan team that had won
only 10 games a season ago.
VCU went into the break with a 7-point lead but left
town with a 16-point loss. The second half collapse
was about as complete as you'll ever see, with the
Broncos forcing VCU's Larry Sanders into foul
trouble and then taking advantage of the resulting
gaping hole in the middle. En route to the 83-67
win, Western Michigan scored 48 points in the paint
compared to a paltry 26 for VCU.
Fast forward to this past weekend and VCU was
playing host to nationally ranked Oklahoma. The game
was a homecoming for Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel,
whose previous coaching stop had been at VCU. In the
end, the Sooners were wishing they had never made
the trip to Richmond.
With Sanders once again enduring foul trouble, the
Rams' made up for it by nailing 6-of-9 3-pointers in
the early going to build a double digit lead. Sooner
star Willie Warren struggled with his shooting
(3-of-14) and then struggled with cramps, eventually
finishing with eight points.
VCU never really let Oklahoma get back into it rest
of the way and closed out the Sooners by a 82-69
count. Coming into the contest, this was a program
that was only 2-12 against ranked opposition.
Oklahoma was the first ranked team to visit VCU's
current venue, the Siegel Center, since it opened in
1999.
For first year head coach Shaka Smart, the win was
just what he needed coming off of that train wreck
of a second half at Western Michigan. His
predecessor Anthony Grant was, just as Capel had
been, a beloved coach among the VCU fan base. An
ugly loss in your second game out gives even the
most patient among the Ram faithful a split second
of doubt as to whether the new guy is as good as the
last two they've had.
Of course, the downside for VCU fans is that if
Smart starts winning at the same clip that Capel and
Grant did, they'll lose another coach they love to a
higher profile job somewhere else. If that comes to
pass, they might as well nickname this job as "The
Launching Pad."
This and that
Auburn's injury woes have probably already derailed
their season. With Tay Waller and Kenny Gabriel
unavailable, the Tigers dropped a 60-58 decision to
NC State in the Glenn Wilkes Classic that dropped
them to 2-3 on the young campaign....Miami's James
Dews has really bounced back from that terrible
2-of-9 shooting effort against Tulane. He shot 16-21
from the field in wins over UNC-Wilmington and South
Carolina in the Charleston Classic, and now the
Canes sit at 5-0....After being blown out by Texas
A&M-Corpus Christi to start the season, things
haven't gotten much better for Oregon State. The
Beavers are an ugly 1-3 following a loss to
Sacramento State....Rick Majerus has St. Louis off
to a 3-0 start, with each win being of the double
digit variety. Looking at their schedule, there's no
reason the Billikens can't be 11-1 heading into
2010....Roy Williams has a very talented North
Carolina team, but he'll be frustrated by point
guard play the rest of the way. Larry Drew is good,
but he doesn't fit Williams' preferred style of
transition basketball the way that Raymond Felton
and Ty Lawson did....Mid-Major leagues would kill
for the kind of day the Colonial had last Thursday.
On that day, William & Mary knocked off Richmond,
Old Dominion trounced Liberty, UNC-Wilmington beat
Penn State and George Mason came oh-so-close to
upsetting Villanova before falling by a point,
69-68.
John Stansberry is in his thirteenth season as
a senior writer for collegeinsider.com.
EMAIL JOHN |
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