RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Will Wade did not mince words Tuesday when talking about Virginia Commonwealth University’s two losses to Duke and Wisconsin over the weekend at Madison Square Garden. In fact, he was all business during his weekly media press conference — and business for the Rams has not been good.
“Right now, we’re just a good team. We’ve got to be better with the details.” — VCU Head Coach Will Wade
“Overall, it was not a good trip for us,” he said. “We need to win games — we had a chance to win both of those games and we didn’t.
“I’m not happy. I was really disappointed in some of our guys.”
VCU led Duke after the first half last Friday, 39-38. The game got away from them in the second half as the Blue Devils out-paced the Rams, 79-71. They also had a 43-37 halftime lead against Wisconsin. With three starters sitting on the bench for large chunks of the second half, the Rams fell to the Badgers in the final seconds, 74-73. Duke beat Wisconsin in last year’s National Championship game. A win against one or both teams would have given Wade and the Rams some early signature wins.
When asked what is in store for the Rams, he said change.
“I’ve got to change the starters,” he said.
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Wade later said, “Right now, we’re just a good team. We’ve got to be better with the details.”
Although Wade was very critical of his team, he did praise the play of Melvin Johnson, Korey Billbury, and Ahmad Hamdy-Mohamed.
“We need more guys like him,” he said of Johnson. He described Billbury as a player who is “wired to score.”
Johnson and Mo Alie-Cox both confirmed that Wade was tough on the team since returning from New York — and deservedly so.
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“He wants some of us to be more vocal,” explained Alie-Cox.
Johnson admitted that he was one of the players Wade called out. He quipped, “The baby-face (of Wade) will fool you sometimes.”
As far as their next test, the 2-2 Rams will face an American University (0-3) on Wednesday night squad that, according to Wade, “plays at a snail’s pace.” American uses the Princeton-style offense that is reliant of accurate jump shooting.
This blog will be live from the “Stu” on Wednesday night. Tip off is at 7 p.m.
Do you want to be part of the fun? Send me a video of your pre-game, in-game, and/or post-game analysis to rcrocker@wric.com and I might post it. Remember kids, keep it clean, your parents could be watching!
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
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Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
Image may be NSFW.Clik here to view.
