The unofficial online home for fans of the Old Dominion University Monarchs. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

Fck VCU. That's all the love I have for them.

To be the best we must beat the best. Beating a sub-par VCU squad every year would so nothing for the image of our program or the diminishing image of what used to be the best basketball rivalry in the state.

(04-29-2015 11:58 AM)Oduniceguy Wrote:  To be the best we must beat the best. Beating a sub-par VCU squad every year would so nothing for the image of our program or the diminishing image of what used to be the best basketball rivalry in the state.

"But wouldn't it give you a warm fuzzy feeling inside?

Beating names improves the image of a program. VCU beat the worst Duke team of the last 50 years and rode that notoriety into better recruiting and ultimately top 25 teams. They have a better name than we do at this moment. That will change, but for now, I want them to suck, and I want to kick their butt.

I'm not even sure what has driven a discussion about VCU declining. They hit that Final 4 line and cashed in in ways that they were never able to before. The first is that you cannot even buy a seat in that building. A full house with a true student section has a lot to do with why they are recruiting at that high level. I'd even say the Peppas have played a role as well. And the practice building they have been able to fund is big for them. So worse case: they won't have sustained lows in personnel. Those 3 things alone will resonate better than what we have.

Our arena is fantastic but we have to keep it at or near full to make it attractive to recruits. And, we need a college environment that can at least match theirs. Up until the NIT, it wasn't even close unfortunately.

The pre-final 4 reality is they made hay against us over about a 15 - 20 game stretch and we need some "get back". Some of us believe that despite a 10 game losing streak to them during the 2000s, we're still only a few games back and ODU needs to reclaim that spot of having more wins in the overall series.

So if VCU declines and struggles a bit, there is clearly no hurt for ODU.

My philosophy is that I want my favorite team to win the title and to beat their rival in the finals (in general; obviously since I have *both* dogs in this fight, my views skew a bit). Rivalries are good for both schools, and you get a lot more satisfaction beating a strong team than beating down a weak one.

In ODU's case, without VCU they really have no rivals. Administrators try to build up W&M as a rival, but that's never going to gain traction. Norfolk State is a few miles away as the raven flies but a few planets away as far as their place in college sports go. JMU would need to up their basketball game and get to FBS before they'd be a true rival, though clearly they would be a possibility. Richmond is a different bird than VCU. Nobody gives a **** about George Mason. East Carolina is a stretch goal as a football rivalry goes, but ODU-ECU basketball games have never stoked any fires.

And Larrier is definitely gone, apparently for personal/family reasons. That's going to be a big blow for the Rams no matter how you slice it.

(04-29-2015 12:28 PM)FearTheLion Wrote:  I'm not even sure what has driven a discussion about VCU declining. They hit that Final 4 line and cashed in in ways that they were never able to before. The first is that you cannot even buy a seat in that building. A full house with a true student section has a lot to do with why they are recruiting at that high level. I'd even say the Peppas have played a role as well. And the practice building they have been able to fund is big for them. So worse case: they won't have sustained lows in personnel. Those 3 things alone will resonate better than what we have.

Our arena is fantastic but we have to keep it at or near full to make it attractive to recruits. And, we need a college environment that can at least match theirs. Up until the NIT, it wasn't even close unfortunately.

The pre-final 4 reality is they made hay against us over about a 15 - 20 game stretch and we need some "get back". Some of us believe that despite a 10 game losing streak to them during the 2000s, we're still only a few games back and ODU needs to reclaim that spot of having more wins in the overall series.

So if VCU declines and struggles a bit, there is clearly no hurt for ODU.

I disagree with this as the LT and WKU crowds were both great, with great atmosphere.

...or our program can continue to play well against the 29 other teams we will face and we dont have to worry about what the little sheep in Richmond are doing. I think that would be better.

(04-29-2015 12:47 PM)paintedblue2 Wrote:  

(04-29-2015 12:28 PM)FearTheLion Wrote:  I'm not even sure what has driven a discussion about VCU declining. They hit that Final 4 line and cashed in in ways that they were never able to before. The first is that you cannot even buy a seat in that building. A full house with a true student section has a lot to do with why they are recruiting at that high level. I'd even say the Peppas have played a role as well. And the practice building they have been able to fund is big for them. So worse case: they won't have sustained lows in personnel. Those 3 things alone will resonate better than what we have.

Our arena is fantastic but we have to keep it at or near full to make it attractive to recruits. And, we need a college environment that can at least match theirs. Up until the NIT, it wasn't even close unfortunately.

The pre-final 4 reality is they made hay against us over about a 15 - 20 game stretch and we need some "get back". Some of us believe that despite a 10 game losing streak to them during the 2000s, we're still only a few games back and ODU needs to reclaim that spot of having more wins in the overall series.

So if VCU declines and struggles a bit, there is clearly no hurt for ODU.

I disagree with this as the LT and WKU crowds were both great, with great atmosphere.

Seriously! We had a great atmosphere near the end of the year!

I'll admit that I saw the Ted more on TV this year so perhaps I gave too little credit to a few games. I was at the LT game and it was very good noise during the last 2 minutes of the game. Still not what it needs to attract these top classes of recruits though.

That said, I'll take the improvement and hope we can keep the momentum. To me, that's the required atmosphere to get the better kids value college ball in the 757.

(04-29-2015 01:45 PM)FearTheLion Wrote:  I'll admit that I saw the Ted more on TV this year so perhaps I gave too little credit to a few games. I was at the LT game and it was very good noise during the last 2 minutes of the game. Still not what it needs to attract these top classes of recruits though.

That said, I'll take the improvement and hope we can keep the momentum. To me, that's the required atmosphere to get the better kids value college ball in the 757.

1. Practice facility
2. Continued improvement of the Ted's gameday atmosphere
3. Return to the NCAAs
4. ????
5. PROFIT

That's a good list there. I'd place the game changers for ODU basketball as follows...

1. Consistently strong STUDENT gameday atmosphere (still in progress)
2. Return to the NCAAs (still in progress)
3. A coaching staff "particularly the bench" that recruits hard (done)
4. Practice facility (still in progress)
5. NCAA round of 32 or even Sweet 16 (not started)

We do these and we probably wouldn't have threads about VCU's coach and players leaving.

(04-29-2015 01:59 PM)FearTheLion Wrote:  That's a good list there. I'd place the game changers for ODU basketball as follows...

1. Consistently strong STUDENT gameday atmosphere (still in progress)
2. Return to the NCAAs (still in progress)
3. A coaching staff "particularly the bench" that recruits hard (done)
4. Practice facility (still in progress)
5. NCAA round of 32 or even Sweet 16 (not started)

We do these and we probably wouldn't have threads about VCU's coach and players leaving.

Also, an OOC scheduling upgrade should make the cut. CUSA hurts as much as it helps with your Louisiana Techs and UABs being counterbalanced by sub-250 RPI squads. I'm a little bit concerned about this year's schedule, because I don't know how much help the Hall of Fame tournament is going to be (does Florida take a big step back if Donovan leaves?). Presuming VCU will still be good, who else on the schedule can help with an at-large bid?

I was impressed with the team this year. I attended more game at the Constant Center this year than I ever have. I noticed talking to people at the game that we were attracting new fans from far and wide that had started following the team. We are on the way back and we have both wheels on the track as opposed to having one wheel off the track.

Vcu's Larrier has officially asked for his release:

http://www.richmond.com/sports/college/b...b0c56.html

Another casualty of the Shaka knife to the back. Couldn't happen to a more deserving group of d-bags.

This is what VCU's fanbase looks like right now.

From that article it seems as if Wade is upset and maybe taking jabs at him and his commitment to VCU. On their forums it was supposedly for family/personal reasons but Wades comments definitely dont back that up.

Wade sounds super butt hurt.

Hope Larrier actually follows through and doesn't return. VCU doesn't win the A10 this year without him. He is definitely their most talented player.

A couple days ago I posted this:

(04-28-2015 08:15 PM)Fatalisk Wrote:  They lost all 3 of their highly rated recruits; although they should feel pretty happy about the way things have gone. That no one transferred is surprising. They made out like bandits.

The next class is huge for VCU.

They still shouldn't feel too bad about it. This is pretty much a wash. Exactly what they should have expected upon Shaka's announcement. Any more they should feel a little butthurt. Any less they should feel ecstatic.