VCU Has Become a Good Passing Team

Commentary on College Basketball 

by Mutt DeVille

The VCU Rams (7-2) have completed one-third of their 2020-21 (somewhat improvised) regular season schedule. All in all, the Rams have probably been a little better than what was expected. 

Note: At this time I'm not going to write about the changes that have already been imposed on the Rams' schedule by COVID-19. Plenty has already been written/said about that angle.

So much for the Rams' nine out-of-conference games that have preceded their upcoming 18 matchups with Atlantic 10 Conference foes. Next: VCU visits St. Joe's at noon on Wed., Dec. 30, in Philadelphia.

This short piece is about one particular aspect of Coach Mike Rhoades' team's performance on the court that has improved noticeably over last season -- its passing game is night-and-day better.

Which means I have to start with citing what an essential part of that passing game freshman point guard Ace Baldwin has become. Next, he plays like a veteran. Then, Baldwin is a natural at the point. 

So, rather than using a multi-talented scorer/ball-handler at that position, as the Rams settled for last season, Ace is the real deal. His overall orchestration of the offense has meant that if one of his teammates makes a move to get open, Ace notices it and he makes a good decision about whether to pass the ball to him. As a proper point guard should, he generally makes good decisions on the fly, because he trusts his instincts and he sees the whole court well. 

Then, if the decision is made throw it to a teammate, Baldwin usually passes the ball in such a way that it has a good chance of arriving right where and when the receiver needs it, to make the move he  wants to make. Being able to count on this simple feat running smoothly creates order and tends to make for better angles and quicker moves. 

Which, frequently makes for better openings to score points. While Baldwin has made the offense better, the whole team seems to be making more good passes this season. Some say the coaches put more emphasis on passing in the off-season. 

Perhaps more credit should be given to individual players who've improved, because they worked all summer on improving. Talented as he is on offense (18.2 points-per-game), sophomore Bones Hyland isn't a natural point guard, although he's a decent passer and he's good at getting open for a pass, which is another part of passing that matters. Bones is quite at home as a shooting guard; most of the time he's not thinking, pass-first.

Junior small forward Vince Williams has improved as a passer and as a shooter, too (10.6 points-per-game). Both he and sophomore power forward Hason Ward, who comes off the bench, are also decent passers. Second string point guard Jimmy Clark also plays with confidence; he would be starting on a lot of college teams.

In Zoom pressers Rhoades has praised his team for being "willing passers." That works for me. 

For VCU team and individual statistics go here.

-- 30 --