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For a more complete breakdown of this year's SJU personnel, refer to this post from the day of the Virginia Tech game:
https://www.covers.com/postingforum/post01/showmessage.aspx?spt=40&sub=102214356
Onto tonight. Since the Rams joined the A-10, Martelli's teams have been pretty good against VCU's pressure. That said, this VCU squad is playing somewhat differently than Shaka's teams. Wade is relying more on a heavy ball-pressure defense in the half-court rather than the run-and-jump "Havoc" style that Shaka made famous. That defense, which SJU saw several times over the past few years, was susceptible to big men who could serve as outlets on the press break.
It is well-established among college hoops fans that the key to beating VCU is to avoid turning the ball over.
Here's VCU's result this year (# in parentheses is their opponent's ranking in turnover percentage):
Wins:
Prairie View (#347), Radford (#247), American (#350), ODU (#23), MTSU (#175), Buffalo (#196), Liberty (#341), North Florida (#43), George Mason (#283)
Losses:
Duke (#4), Wisconsin (#99), FSU (#129), GTech (#22), Cincy (#115)
-If you're not turning the ball over consistently against their pressure, there's a good chance you're going to end up with a decent or good look at the basket. SJU has been excellent all year at protecting the ball. Newkirk and Kimble are in almost even timeshare at the PG spot, but Bembry spends a ton of time with the ball in his hands as both a scorer and facilitator.
-I expect a lot of Jordan Burgess on Bembry. He's a veteran defender with the size, strength, and tenacity to compete, though DB can impact a game without scoring, as was the case on Saturday at Richmond when he went scoreless in the first half before scoring 16 in the second (including the game-winner on a step back with 22 seconds left).
-SJU needs to limit Melvin Johnson's looks. I'm not convinced Melvin is really meant to be "Option #1," but that's going to be the case all year for VCU. Lewis has his moments, but Johnson is the guy. He's a lethal (albeit extremely streaky) shooter from deep. Martelli will probably try to keep Demery on him as much as possible.
Out of time. Not sure how it ends up, but looking forward to it. Should be a stellar atmosphere on Hawk Hill.
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