SLU learning from postseason play

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SLU learning from postseason play


St. Louis University has reached the finals of the College Basketball Invitational, which may not sound like a big deal. Sixty-five teams went to the NCAAs, another 32 to the NIT and then the best of the rest went to either the CBI or the Collegeinsider.com tournament.

But for the young Billikens, who don't, as guard Kyle Cassity has said, have any "post-postseason experience," it is a big deal.

"We're in the CBI championship and it's always exciting to play for a championship," center Willie Reed said. "It's always exciting to play again."



"It's a great accomplishment for our guys," guard Kwamain Mitchell said. "I'm excited we're in the championship and we'll bring it home."


SLU (23-11) starts play in the CBI final on Monday in Richmond, Va., against Virginia Commonwealth, in the best-of-three final. SLU will host Game 2 at Chaifetz Arena on Wednesday and, potentially, Game 3 on Friday. The extended season ? Game 2 will be the latest a SLU team has ever played and if the series goes three games, SLU will match the '89-90 team for its most games played in one season at 37 ? is helping SLU set some records. Reed has set the school single-season record for blocked shots and Mitchell needs 38 points for the SLU sophomore scoring record.

But the big thing the team is picking up is experience, and not just experience in the sense of raw numbers of games. (Even with his late arrival, Cody Ellis will appear in at least 22 games this season.) Even if the opponents are Indiana State and Green Bay and Princeton, SLU's past three games have been in a win-and-go-home situation, which creates a bit more tension. Other than the conference tournament, which is a different experience, SLU's young players haven't been put in that situation.

And that experience can pay off both in the regular season and postseason. The previous two seasons, Richmond went to the CBI and the lessons learned there were seen as part of the Spiders' growth, as they reached the NCAA Tournament this season.

"It worked for them," Cassity said, "If we get experience, it will help in the long run."

At the Midwest Regional at the Edward Jones Dome this weekend, the advantage of gaining postseason experience was on display. Two years ago, Ohio State didn't make the NCAA field. The Buckeyes instead went to the NIT and won the championship.

Ohio State coach Thad Matta said that playing five extra games that season made this year's Buckeye team possible. And since that NIT team was made up largely of freshmen and sophomores, it helped with the learning process.

"We had nobody else," Matta said. "And so the minutes those guys got as a freshman, was it the type of year that we wanted? Well, maybe not necessarily. We won the NIT. But that was a great experience to play 30-whatever games and play into April again for those guys."

It's no guarantee of success. Tulsa won the first CBI but has gone to the NIT the past two seasons, though they did finish with a 23-12 record this season. Oregon State won the CBI last season and finished 14-18 this season. Every game SLU plays is better than a game it doesn't, every practice one it wouldn't have had otherwise. And after the team lost to Rhode Island in the conference tournament, it's a much happier squad than when it left Atlantic City.

"We want to make the best of this opportunity," Reed said before the CBI began. "We're so young, we want to get some of our freshmen some tournament experience so they have something to look forward to next year."

They've got that done.

 

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SLU, VCU have common goal




St. Louis University and Virginia Commonwealth, the two teams meeting in the championship series of the Collegiate Basketball Invitational that starts tonight in Richmond, Va., may have already proved their case by reaching the final, but each is looking for the ultimate validation that they deserved something better than what they got in this postseason.

If teams that win the NIT can say that they should have been in the NCAA Tournament, then teams that win the CBI (or the Collegeinsider.com event) can say they should have been in the NIT. VCU was 66th in the final regular-season RPI, the highest team not to make the NCAA or NIT. SLU was 87th in the RPI. People in both camps have been making the case that their body of work should have put them in the NIT field rather than the CBI.

When it comes to snubs, VCU's is the flip side of SLU's. SLU finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 but lost out to teams it finished ahead of but had a poorer RPI than, while VCU had a high RPI but finished fifth in its league and lost out on the NIT to teams it finished behind.


The teams are also different on the court. VCU (25-9) is a more uptempo team, averaging 75.5 points a game (42nd in the nation), while SLU (23-11) averages 63.3 points a game, which is 284th out of 334 Division I schools. SLU runs a more patient offense, while VCU likes to press and run. In the Rams' three games to get to the finals, they scored 79, 93 and 88 points, while in SLU's three games, it scored 63, 68 (in double overtime) and 69 points.


It could be an interesting matchup in the post. VCU is led by 6-foot-11 forward Larry Sanders, who averages 14.5 points a game and makes 53.6 percent of his shots. He'll go up against SLU center Willie Reed, who hasn't had to deal with many opposing postmen that size this season, nor with many with a 7-foot, 7-inch wingspan like Sanders has. Both are in the top 35 nationally in blocked shots.

 

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Projected starting lineups:
SAINT LOUIS Ht. Ppg. Rpg. Apg. Pos. VCU Ht. Ppg. Rpg. Apg.
Mitchell 5-10 16.3 3.0 3.0 G Rodriguez 5-10 12.7 2.7 5.9
Cassity 6-3 6.2 3.2 3.1 G Nixon 6-4 8.4 2.5 1.8
Salecich 6-3 6.3 2.4 1.8 G Burgess 6-5 10.7 5.1 1.2
Reed 6-9 12.4 8.1 0.7 F Sanders 6-11 14.5 9.2 1.0
Ellis 6-8 10.9 5.1 1.3 F Skeen 6-9 7.9 4.5 0.9
Notable: VCU (25-9, Colonial Athletic Association) and Saint Louis (23-11, Atlantic 10) have never met, but they'll get to know each other in the best-of-three championship series of the College Basketball Invitational. Series moves to Saint Louis for Game 2 on Wednesday and, if needed, Game 3 on Friday. The Rams have averaged 86.6 points, making 29 3-pointers, in three CBI wins. Point guard Joey Rodriguez has averaged 18 points during that span. Saint Louis features one of the stingiest 3-point defenses in the country (28.2 percent) and allows just 59.7 points, the ninth-best mark in Division I. The Billikens have yielded 54, 62 and 59 points in their three CBI games. Saint Louis has the youngest team in the nation: eight freshmen, four sophomores and one junior. Sophomore Kwamain Mitchell, a second-team A-10 pick, has made 23 of 46 3-pointers in his past eight games.

 

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VCU?s Sanders weighs NBA decision


Sometime this week, after Virginia Commonwealth University plays two or three games against Saint Louis and the champion of the College Basketball Invitational is crowned, the Rams' season will end and they will think about the future.

And Larry Sanders will think about his.

The 6-11 junior forward is projected to be a first-round pick in the upcoming NBA draft. While he's not NBA-ready in some areas, he has a package of potential and tools that scouts covet: athleticism, height and an incredible 7-7 wingspan. He can run, rebound and block shots.

Sanders said he hasn't decided whether he will declare himself an early entrant for the draft or return for his senior season at VCU. He has until April 25.

"I want to get all the information I can about where I would be [in the draft] before that decision is made," he said.

If he declares, he said, he does not intend to withdraw. He would have until May 8 to do that and be eligible to return to school. The draft is June 24.

"I'm not going to test the waters," he said.

A looming lockout in the NBA may make it difficult for Sanders to resist this draft. Owners are threatening to lock out players after next season, when the current collective bargaining agreement expires, unless salaries decrease.

That has created uncertainty about what will happen after next season. Accordingly, more early entrants are expected this year.

Depending on who enters the draft, Sanders is projected by one scout and various Internet sites to be among the latter half of the 30 players picked in the first round. Under the NBA's rookie scale, the 20th pick this year receives a two-year contract worth more than $2.3 million.

Sanders said the NBA talk has weighed on him in what has been an inconsistent season. He really has never been the spotlight player -- that role belonged to first-round pick Eric Maynor last season -- and never had to cope with expectations and scrutiny because his basketball career started late and he still was developing.

The less he's tried to think about it, he said, the more he has.

"It's had its good moments, but if I could describe it in one word, underachieve," he said. "It wasn't what I wanted it to be. I wanted another championship, regular season and tournament. I wanted my numbers to be a lot better. I wanted to lead better.

"It was just such a different year, and dealing with all of it at once like that, it was hard. All I've known since I started playing in high school was just play the game. There's never really been anybody watching. There really wasn't a lot of pressure."

Sanders' scoring (14.5 points) and rebounding averages (9.2) are up, but his blocks are down (2.5) as the Rams (25-9) take on Saint Louis (23-11) in Game 1 of the best-of-three CBI championship series tonight at 7 at the Siegel Center.

At times, he has been dominant. He had 29 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks against Drexel. At other times, he has not been as engaged. Sanders had six points and six rebounds against Old Dominion in the CAA tournament semifinals.

"I never expected for the NBA and my name to even be in the same sentence," he said. "I've handled it good sometimes. Sometimes I've handled it bad. Sometimes . . . it kind of seems like I have a lackadaisical attitude out there, and really I'm trying to relax. When I look back on it, maybe it took some of my edge away."

VCU coach Shaka Smart said Sanders' limited basketball background is an important point. He has made such rapid progress that it's easy to overlook the fact that he did not begin playing basketball until he was in the 10th grade.

"He's in a place in life and basketball that so many of us dreamed of being in when we were kids, or would love to go back and be in," Smart said. "How many people . . . would love to be 21 years old and be projected to be a first-round draft pick in the NBA?

"But that doesn't mean that all of us who would love to trade positions with him . . . understand what he goes through on a day-to-day basis. There's certain things that go along with being in that position that the average person has no understanding of."