Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament: VCU versus the field in Brooklyn

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 08: A general view as the George Washington Colonials play the Saint Louis Billikens during the second half in the Second Round of the Atlantic 10 Basketball Tournament at Capital One Arena on March 8, 2018 in Washington, DC.(Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images) /

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DAYTON, OH – NOVEMBER 30: Trey Landers #3 of the Dayton Flyers reacts in the second half of the game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at UD Arena on November 30, 2018 in Dayton, Ohio. The Bulldogs won 65-58. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /

The other top contenders

Obviously, when dealing with a defense as ferocious as the Rams’, any extra rest that a team can afford could be the difference between stealing a win and getting run out of the gym. For that reason, the other teams that are set to have a double-bye — Davidson, Dayton, and Saint Bonaventure — have a massive advantage over the rest of the field. Should any of them face VCU, they’ll certainly have their work cut out for them and will have to play basically at their ceiling for a full forty minutes, but they’re each capable, for different reasons, of pulling out a win.

The Davidson Wildcats and Dayton Flyers, the #2 and #3 seeds, respectively, each have a plethora of offensive firepower in their starting lineups — enough so to score a winning amount of points if they’re clicking — but questions remain surrounding their depth. Davidson has possibly the best backcourt in the league between Player of the Year-favorite Jon Axel Gudmundsson and potential NBA guard Kellan Grady, but only four other players on the roster see the floor for more than ten minutes per contest.

It’s pretty much the same story with the Flyers — three players in their starting five will end up on one all-conference team or another, but their normal rotation runs just seven deep. There’s no doubt that both the Wildcats and the Flyers could get hot enough for forty minutes to beat the Rams, but it’s just tough to see them having the legs to do so with their short rotations having already played two games in a row.

Of all the non-VCU teams in the top four, it might just be #4 St. Bonaventure that will have the best shot at stealing the trophy. Not only are the Bonnies extremely well-coached, but also they’re red hot (winners in seven of their last eight), they have a solid amount of depth, and, perhaps most importantly, they would have fresh legs in a contest against the Rams.

One might point out that the Bonnies lost by thirty the last time they squared off with VCU, but it should be noted that they didn’t have nearly as efficient of a defense as they do now, and also that there’s no coach better equipped for the madness of a conference tournament than Mark Schmidt. They may just not be talented enough on the offensive end to get past the Rams’ defense, but a friendly New York crowd could be all that they need to get over the hump.

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