Office talk cheat sheet for VCU

When you go camping, suddenly everyone's an Eagle Scout. Pop the hood of a car and everybody transitions into gearhead. And when March comes around, the lunch room at work morphs into a round table of college hoops analysts.

Of course the very last thing you want to do is show up unprepared for the conversation, so when an underdog such as Virginia Commonwealth University rolls over a team like Purdue and advances to the Sweet 16,  it's understandable if a little concern over your knowledge base sets in.



However never fear. The Back Porch is here to provide you with a few nuggets of information to help you navigate any tricky VCU conversations you might face.

People to know: 

Jamie Skeen. vcuathletics.com

Jamie Skeen - 6-9, 240 lbs. - Forward - 15.2 ppg., 7.3 rpg.
 - Transferred to VCU from Wake Forest following the 2008 season.
 - Scored a career-high 32 points against Delaware. 
 - Has seven double-doubles this season.  
 - Has a combined seven rebounds in the Ram's past two games.

Bradford Burgess - 6-6, 225 lbs. - Guard - 14.1 ppg., 6.4 rpg., 1.1 spg.
 - Was extremely hot against Purdue, scoring 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting, while also going 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
 - Has shown the versatility to play in the post when needed. 
 - Went to high school less than two miles from VCU at Benedictine High School in Richmond. 


Brandon Rozzell - 6-2, 182 lbs. - Guard., 11.6 ppg., 2.3 rpg., 1.4 spg.
 - Had a career-high six 3-pointers against Georgetown and led the Rams in scoring with 26 points.
 - Extremely athletic on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court and has been dubbed by Coach Smart as one of the "Energy Brothers."

Head Coach Shaka Smart - 33 years old - VCU head coach since 2008.
 - Prior to VCU Smart was an assistant under Billy Donovan at Florida (08-09) and under Oliver Purnell at Clemson (06-08).
 - Known as a great recruiter, his 10-11 incoming class at VCU is one of the most highly-touted in school history.
 - In his first season at VCU he led the Rams to a 27-10 record and a CBI championship.
 - Typically runs a system known "havoc" in which the Rams use a full-court press to force their opponents into playing an uptempo style of play.

A breakdown of VCU's half court offense from HoopGroup.com 



On Friday night at 9:45 the Rams will face the Florida State Seminoles (23-10) in San Antonio. Here's a glance at VCU and FSU's common opponents this season.

Wake Forest  
11/17 - VCU won 90-69
2/1 - FSU won 85-61
2/19 - FSU won 84-66

UNC Greensboro 
11/12 - VCU won 101-86
11/14 - FSU won 97-73


* Using some of the ever-popular lunch room logic, it is also interesting to note that VCU defeated both Purdue and Wichita State as well. Though Florida State did not play either of those schools, Virginia Tech did and Florida State lost twice this season to the Hokies.

A quick argument for VCU:
 -  23.1-percent of the Seminoles possession end in a turnover, which very much lends itself to the Rams style of play.
 - Over the past two games the Rams have outscored Purdue and Georgetown by a combined score of  168-132.

A quick argument for FSU:
 - The Rams are the 301st (32.0 rpg) school in rebounding this season, while the Noles are the 13th (39 rpg.).
 - FSU has held their past two opponents, Texas A&M and Notre Dame, to shooting percentages of 31.4-percent and 30.4-percent.