Game thread - @ VCU Tuesday 1/27 7pm CBS Sports Network

[Section9_RowD]

I’ve also shared the perspectives that a coach shouldn’t be using the media as an opportunity to criticize players or performance too much. Keep those things in the locker room. So it’s not what is said as much as the attitude in which it’s said. Like come on, this isn’t just another game, it’s our biggest rival. Also, maybe it’s just his personality or way he speaks to media but the way I see it is you can’t have both a lousy record and also (what comes cross as) a complacent attitude about this. We’ve lost the last 4 games in a row. If we were winning more than the results speak for themselves. Now, neither the on court results nor the off court press conferences are speaking for themselves.

I’ve shared many sentiments that you’ve had SpiderWill and still agree or at least completely understand where a lot of your points are coming from, but my perspective changed more just seeing how our women’s coach operates. Look at this tweet below. Roussell is out here promoting his team, who is 16-4 and shouldn’t need promoting, because he wants to continue energizing a fan base. Fans can feel it, the players can feel it. It’s palpable. Josh Schertz in year 2 is promoting his Saint Louis team who had a full crowd on a Tuesday night game. Even McKillop at Davidson said he would buy all 21+ students at Davidson’s last game a beer for going. When do we see this kind of energy from Mooney? Again, I don’t think it’s that important if we are winning but when you’re losing AND lacking energy then it just comes across as complacency.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2016514993299026420

Fully agree that having no social media presence as a head coach at this point makes very little sense, whether for team promotion or other reasons. At CofC and now at Louisville—recent losses aside—Pat Kelsey was excellent at energizing the core fan base and the broader city, not just through traditional press conferences but also via social media.

And for what it’s worth, Coach Roussell and his family were also at the VCU game last night

 

[*23*]

VCU sucks, we suck worse, Mooney sucks even more.

Well said. Took a peek at their message board. Sentiment is pretty low on Matelli so far. They basically chalked last night up to us being so bad. Good times. The good part (/s ) is that maybe in 3 yeas we have a new coach? But who knows how that process will go.

 

[MrTbone]

Yep. Little ol’ Richmond. Facing big bad bully vcu. They punched us in the face & took our lunch money - again - but we got a girly kick to the shins in. But tbh that interview is all about Moon. He’s gotta know he’s 9-28. So u spin a loss as a “win” & talk about being gutsy & hanging in. The last thing u ever ever do is take personal ownership.

This all goes back to the lowering of standards with U of R men’s hoops. Without dispute it’s occurred under Mooney regime. With help from friends like PQ, Big Hat No Cattle Hardt, and yes even MrTbone’s boy Hallock.

Think about Philly Bob’s old 1 in 4 ncaa MINIMUM. Marginal standard anyway & just Philly Bob’s but Mortal Lock guarantee with all of Ulla’s ranches that Philly Bob would walk that back today. Yet I bet he has Sirianni on the hot seat.

“We got a girly kick to the shins in” - peak comedy bruv, legit lol

And ftr, Hallock isn’t my boy, we aren’t doing brunch on sundays. I just happen to know him through my wife who works at UR. I think he cares. Can’t say if he cares enough to buck a 50-year trend of not firing a coach.

 

[RichmondNative]

The offense in the halfcourt is terrible. Multiple shot clock violations, several more last-ditch FGA at the end of the clock too. Even the shots that were made were incredibly difficult and not good looks, like most of Walz's tough fadeaways from 10+ feet, Johnston made a 18 foot floater to beat the clock, and Lopez made a 30 foot 3, also to beat the clock. Those were the types of things happening. Zero actions worked via the high post play.

The defense...at this point we know we won't stop anyone. It's just plain bad.

Extra props for obviously digging back through the play by play to get the details that I generalized in my post.

Want to give 1000 thumbs up to the section quoted above regarding the offense. I will give VCU credit for playing good D (ie 1000% better than Richmond), but I have seen much better offense from the Spiders. I really thought they understood the “system”, but in this game it was simply lazy passes and iso ball.

 

[Spider17]

Fully agree that having no social media presence as a head coach at this point makes very little sense, whether for team promotion or other reasons. At CofC and now at Louisville—recent losses aside—Pat Kelsey was excellent at energizing the core fan base and the broader city, not just through traditional press conferences but also via social media.

And for what it’s worth, Coach Roussell and his family were also at the VCU game last night

Absolutely. It’s one thing to be winning and generating excitement that way. While social media presence can be very important, it’s not the only thing, I get that. But the little things add up. To have no social media presence, complacent attitude with interviews, and losing the way we are, is where things should be questioned.

Also, has Mooney ever gone to a women’s game? Roussell is building a culture here and it’s wonderful to see. Pay that man!

 

[MrTbone]

Again I know for a fact the administration had told him to tone down his temper. As a younger coach he got lots of Tech's and of course Charlotte incident. Now he's mellowed out a bit, and he's criticized when he acts classy. tough crowd.

Not saying losing or the record vs VCU is acceptable but what do you want him to do--come out and say we sucked tonight, we were unprepared, etc? The interview was fine.

I think there are ways to demonstrate fire without going scorched earth, I doubt anyone told him to be mellow and casual about losing.

Is that interview fine? I mean sure, if you’ve been winning your other games and aren’t a losing program masquerading as a good one buoyed by a terrible OOC SOS.

The issue is that’s the 28th time we’ve heard about competing against VCU and being proud of our effort. It’s become normalized.

Stop the madness.

 

[RichmondNative]

There is another difference between all the other VCU losses and this one. Now the players are paid (in addition to tuition and room and board). I don’t know how much they are being paid, but many of them got paid for going through the motions against the #1 basketball rival. I’m not a donor as I am not even an alum, but if I was I would want accountability. Richmond Men’s basketball donors must be the most charitable people on the planet because they sure aren’t getting ANYTHING for the money they are spending.

 

[97spiderfan]

I'm not sure what is more pathetic. Us losing AGAIN to VCU in a fairly non-competitive fashion OR our coach and apparently some of our players congratulating themselves on their efforts in losing. Both of my kids played travel sports and or high school athletics, I have never seen a coach or a group of players even at that level being content with effort after a loss. And here we are a major D-1 basketball program being content with competing, not winning, competing. Embarrassing.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

Anyone watch Sean Miller's postgame presser about his team's defense and how they cannot stop fouling? Google it if not.

You don't have to single anyone out but you can point out the obvious flaws in your team in a way that challenges your team to get better, and shows how invested in that improvement that you are.

Or you can do what UR does and keep handing over your lunch money and saying you're not hungry anyway, and patting yourself on the back for having a job to have more lunch money tomorrow to hand over. Some real Stockholm Syndrome going on with the culture of UR basketball.

 

[CityStadiumFan]

There is another difference between all the other VCU losses and this one. Now the players are paid (in addition to tuition and room and board). I don’t know how much they are being paid, but many of them got paid for going through the motions against the #1 basketball rival. I’m not a donor as I am not even an alum, but if I was I would want accountability. Richmond Men’s basketball donors must be the most charitable people on the planet because they sure aren’t getting ANYTHING for the money they are spending.

Someone who is more connected please jump in and correct me but my guess (simply a guess based on zero personal knowledge) is that our biggest donors/boosters are getting access/status as their primary ROI. They certainly aren't getting NCAA tournament trips or big wins over top A-10 or OOC opponents. My guess is that there is a fear of losing this access if a coaching change is made therefore there is no real incentive to move on from said coach. Comfort over competition/accountability is the culture of our men's basketball program.

 

[brooklyn brownstone]

I know nothing of the donor aspect, but why wouldn't those same donors just shift their donations to support the new coach? It's not like CM recruited them personally to donate. If you make a good hire and start winning big, you think they would just sit out?

 

[Eight Legger]

Exactly. If you have that kind of money, you will always have access no matter who the coach is. This isn't complicated.

 

[97spiderfan]

Someone who is more connected please jump in and correct me but my guess (simply a guess based on zero personal knowledge) is that our biggest donors/boosters are getting access/status as their primary ROI. They certainly aren't getting NCAA tournament trips or big wins over top A-10 or OOC opponents. My guess is that there is a fear of losing this access if a coaching change is made therefore there is no real incentive to move on from said coach. Comfort over competition/accountability is the culture of our men's basketball program.

I think there are 2 reasons why Mooney retains some levels of support.

1. Mooney has been here so long that some of these donors consider Mooney to be a friend and perhaps they are actually friends now. So, it makes it really difficult to ask for your friend to be fired or even to admit your friend is not really great at his job.

2. Some have defended Mooney for so long, it makes it really hard to say, you know what I was wrong, the program is not getting better, it is really stuck in a rut. So, they just continue to defend him and in many respects they are defending themselves despite all of the mounting evidence against that point of view.

 

[carolinaspider]

You know I have seen seven VCU coaches moving forward to better programs and that says a lot about CM in that he is not
heavily recruited for bigger coaching opportunities and he must be extremely comfortable in his current situation where
he can just sit back and do the same thing over and over and leave on his terms. I am sorry our admin has no understanding
of what a rivalry means to the alumni, especially those of us from the 70s-90s. We truly dislike and loath VCU. It kills us to have to
work with them and be neighbors and not be able to come out on the winning side at least 50-50. Look at W&M and look at that football
rivalry. It is a true rivalry where we hold the lead but it is close to 50-50. I am ready for us to change the entire coaching staff and start
all over and have someone who respects the rivalry and has this series as the most important two games of the year. If our AD cannot feel
this, then he needs to go also.

 

[RichmondNative]

You know I have seen seven VCU coaches moving forward to better programs and that says a lot about CM in that he is not
heavily recruited for bigger coaching opportunities and he must be extremely comfortable in his current situation where
he can just sit back and do the same thing over and over and leave on his terms. I am sorry our admin has no understanding
of what a rivalry means to the alumni, especially those of us from the 70s-90s. We truly dislike and loath VCU. It kills us to have to
work with them and be neighbors and not be able to come out on the winning side at least 50-50. Look at W&M and look at that football
rivalry. It is a true rivalry where we hold the lead but it is close to 50-50. I am ready for us to change the entire coaching staff and start
all over and have someone who respects the rivalry and has this series as the most important two games of the year. If our AD cannot feel
this, then he needs to go also.

The point is that SEVEN different coaches have all had great success against Mooney. It isn’t like Mooney has had to face Coach K and simply can’t out coach a legend. Sure the VCU coaches have moved on to other programs, but it isn’t like all of them are unbeatable. One of them is Anthony Grant and he is obviously having his own major troubles at Dayton. Mike Rhodes sure isn’t a world beater at Penn St. Capel at Pitt same thing.

Talk is cheap and that is all Mooney is doing in terms of the “rivalry”. We all know this time is because he didn’t want to beat up on little Phil Jr. Give me a break.

 

[CityStadiumFan]

I think there are 2 reasons why Mooney retains some levels of support.

1. Mooney has been here so long that some of these donors consider Mooney to be a friend and perhaps they are actually friends now. So, it makes it really difficult to ask for your friend to be fired or even to admit your friend is not really great at his job.

2. Some have defended Mooney for so long, it makes it really hard to say, you know what I was wrong, the program is not getting better, it is really stuck in a rut. So, they just continue to defend him and in many respects they are defending themselves despite all of the mounting evidence against that point of view.

This is more along the lines of the reasoning of my post. At most schools donors/boosters can be almost too impatient and put too much heat on a coach while we seem very comfortable with Mooney and the lack of ROI. @Eight Legger brings up a good point that most donors just want to support UR and UR basketball so if Mooney (or anyone else) is coach that's who they will support. My analysis is probably driven by my own frustration and maybe there are influential donors that are also growing frustrated but we as fans sure don't see/feel that. Instead we see more extensions and JOC's softball coverage. No accountability or high expectations.

 

[sman]

we're not good enough. we're bottom half of the A10. the OOC doesn't hide that.

a few thoughts ...
VCU defends the perimeter. we didn't take a lot of 3's because they didn't allow them. we, on the other hand, continue to over-help and over collapse which gives up open looks from 3.

the refs didn't favor VCU. we fouled a lot. we even got away with a bunch that weren't called. and a lot of the reason we don't get fouled as much is the shots we take.

those midrange leaners and fadeaways sure look pretty when they go in. Walz looked like freaking Tim Duncan with that kiss off the glass and with his other turn around jumpers. and yet despite the success there, I still want to stop those. Tanner fades away too often in the lane too. it's pretty, but it's passive. you're going the wrong way. be aggressive.

Jaylen on the other hand seems to be watching Daughtry. loved the inside work. despite the fouls, Robinson was impactful in his short stints. Walz played very well on both ends. gritty on a bum ankle. Lopez was very good again. Daughtry was good. I didn't see the awful defense some of you point to. VCU only made 14 two pointers all game. we gave up a few too many threes and we fouled too much, but our interior defense was solid.
our guards on the other hand were nowhere to be found. they got outplayed. need more from Johnston, Thomas, Argabright, Tyne and Harper to beat good A10 teams.

 

[fan2011]

Can NIL include a bonus structure for beating VCU?

 

[carolinaspider]

Can NIL include a bonus structure for beating VCU?

How about give it to our wonderful coach as an incentive. Like split home and home each year or lose 20% of next years salary.

 

[sman]

did you guys catch on the broadcast that they told Martelli that job requirement #1 is to beat Richmond?