Richmond is forcing 19.0 turnovers per game and averaging 11.3 steals per game. The Spiders had double-digit steals in their first two games and forced 20 or more turnovers in their fist two contests.
Quick Hitters
Richmond's 44-point (103-59) win over VMI on Monday is tied for the 13th largest margin of victory in 98 seasons of Richmond basketball and is the fourth-largest victory margin since 1955...Richmond had held the starting lineup of its first two opponents to a total of 47 points in two games (23.5 ppg) before allowing William & Mary's starters to score 59 points on Thursday...the Spiders are scoring 23.3 ppg off of turnovers...Richmond had 48 rebounds against VMI, the most since pulling down 53 in a win over Mississippi Valley State on Nov. 17, 2003...Kevin Anderson has scored in double-figures in 48 of his last 50 games....the Spiders tied the school record for steals last season with 262 and have already grabbed 34 in three games this season....two of Richmond's signees for next season play on teams ranked in USA Today's Preseason Top 25 and both Derrick Williams (St. Anthony's/Jersey City, N.J.) and Cedrick Lindsay (Gonzaga College Prep/Washington, D.C.) were mentioned in the poll.
Preseason Hype
Richmond has been picked to finish third in the Atlantic 10 by almost every preseason poll, including the conference's coaches and media poll from which they received four first-place votes. USA Today and FoxSports.com have the Spiders in the 2010 NCAA Tournament field, while FoxSports' Jeff Goodman had the Spiders on his list of Twenty More To Watch outside the Top-25. ESPN's Jay Bilas, Fran Frachilla and Andy Katz mentioned the Spiders multiple times in their blogs and the Denver Post ranked Richmond as the No. 4 on its list of program's on the rise. Jay Bilas and Fran Fraschilla both picked the Spiders as the nation's sleeper team for this season. Lindy's ranked Kevin Anderson as the No. 17 best point guard in the nation and Dan Geriot as the No. 23 center, while FoxSports.com's Goodman tabbed Gonzalvez the No. 39 best shooter in the country.
Preseason Honors
The Spiders have piled up the preseason honors as the only Atlantic 10 team with three players earning preseason all-conference honors. Junior Kevin Anderson was named to the Atlantic 10 Preseason All-Conference First-Team, while senior David Gonzalvez was tabbed to the Second-Team and junior Dan Geriot was named to the Third-Team. With Anderson, Gonzalvez and Geriot, the Spiders boast three of the nine A-10 players who have earned all-conference honors in their career. Anderson was a Second-Team All-Atlantic 10 pick last season, while Gonzalvez was honorable mention all-conference. Geriot was named Third-Team All A-10 as a sophomore, before missing last season due to injury.
Gonzo Rising In Record Book
Senior David Gonzalvez enters Sunday's game 18th on Richmond's all-time scoring list with 1,262 points, needing 17 points to tie Kenny Foster for 17th.
Anderson Nearing 1,000 Points
Junior Kevin Anderson enters Sunday's game with 984 career points, 16 points away from becoming the 38th Spider and just the 11th junior to score 1,000 points.
A-10 tion
Only four of the 14 Atlantic 10 teams have finished in the top-5 in the conference standings in each of the past two seasons, Xavier, Temple, Saint Joseph's and Richmond.
4 Man
With three players earning Preseason All-Conference Honors the Spiders are looking very capable of scoring on the offensive end, but do not forget about forward Justin Harper. A sportswriter passed on that when doing a preview for one of the summer preseason publications, Atlantic 10 coaches mentioned Harper as the league's best NBA prospect. The 6-foot-10 averaged 9.2 points per game last season as a sophomore, but he showed signs of stardom, including a 28-point, nine-rebound performance in a win over Rhode Island with a Los Angeles Lakers scout in the Robins Center that earned him Atlantic 10 Player of the Week honors. Harper also had 20 points and eight rebounds in Richmond's win over No. 17 ranked Xavier. Harper is third on the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game.
Like Father Like Son
Richmond junior Ryan Butler and his father Jeff Butler are the second father-son duo to play for the Spiders, joining Pat DiServio (1981-83) and Tony DiServio (1945-47). Jeff Butler was a star for the Spiders from 1975-77, leading the team in scoring both seasons. He averaged 14.3 points per game in 1975-76 and 16.3 points per game in 1976-77. Jeff Butler was later an assistant coach for the Spiders under Hall of Fame coach Dick Tarrant, who regularly attends games in the Robins Center. Ryan Butler grew up in the shadow of campus, a and starred at Douglas Freeman High three miles from campus.
The Posse Revisited
Tulane coach Perry Clark used a second unit called the Posse in the early 1990s to speed up the pace of the game and utilize his deep bench. Chris Mooney has begun using his own version of the posse in the first two games. Starter David Gonzalvez goes to the bench a few minutes into each half and returns two minutes later with Francis-Cedric Martel, Darrius Garrett, Darien Brothers and Kevin Smith. The group will look to press and push the tempo more while giving the Spiders' deep bench some minutes.
Spiders Sign 3
Chris Mooney announced the signing of guard Cedrick Lindsay (Washington, D.C.), guard Wayne Sparrow (Baltimore, Md.) and forward Derrick Williams (Staten Island, N.Y.) to National Letters of Intent. "We are thrilled with this recruiting class," Mooney said. "These three players come from three of the best high school programs in the country." Lindsay is a 6-foot-0 guard who plays for coach Steve Turner at No. 20 ranked Gonzaga College Prep, Sparrow a 6-foot-3 guard from St. Frances Academy who plays for former Temple star Mark Karcher and Williams is a 6-foot-6 forward who plays for legendary coach Bob Hurley at No. 24 ranked St. Anthony's High School in Jersey City. Lindsay averaged 17.2 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 3.1 steals as a junior as he helped lead Gonzaga College Prep to a 29-5 record and final national ranking of No. 9 last season. Sparrow averaged 15.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game as a junior at St. Frances, earning First-Team All-Maryland Interscholastic League and First-Team All-Baltimore City. Williams is a 6-foot-6 forward who played his first two years at Life Center Academy, earning Second-Team All-State Independent as a sophomore before transferring to St. Antony's. He helped lead St. Anthony's to a 24-5 record as a junior. and is ranked as the No. 96 senior by Hoopscoop.
Tenacious D
In Chris Mooney's first season at Richmond in 2005-06, the Spiders led the nation in fewest points allowed for most of the season, not allowing 60 points or more for the first 10 games of the year. with a complex match-up zone that frustrated opponents. The Spiders finished the year allowing 57.8 points per game, which ranked seventh in the country. In 2006-07, with five freshmen seeing the bulk of the minutes, the Spiders did not have as much success defensively, but the past two seasons Richmond has been better on the defensive end, allowing 67.5 ppg in 2008-09 and 66.0 ppg in 2007-09. After a slow start on the defensive end last season, Richmond held back-to-back opponents (Rice and George Washington) to under 50 points for the first time since the 1950-51 season. The Spiders have held opponents to 50 points or less 18 times in 129 games under Mooney and have held teams to 60 points or less 38 times. Richmond has allowed over 70 points just 35 times in Mooney's five seasons and has allowed 80 or more points just 12 times.
Guarded Optimism
Last season Richmond was the only Atlantic 10 team with two players in the top 10 in scoring with Kevin Anderson seventh in the league in scoring at 16.6 points per game and David Gonzalvez averaging 16.0 points per game.
Spiders Web Reaching NBA
While the Spiders do not have a former player on any NBA rosters, three Richmond former standouts are working the sidelines in the NBA. Kevin Eastman is an assistant coach for the Boston Celtics, earning a ring with the 2008 World Champions. Standout guard Ken Atkinson, a member of the 1988 Sweet 16 team, is in his second year as an assistant coach for Mike D'Antoni and the New York Knicks. Former guard Curtis Blair, who scored 18 points in the 1991 NCAA Tournament win over Syracuse, is in his second year as a referee in the NBA.
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