By PAUL GOTHAM
PITTSBURGH, PA — In two short years as a VCU Ram, Justin Tillman has given fans plenty of highlight reel dunks. What can get lost in the mix is Tillman’s overall impact.
Playing 16-plus minutes a game in 2015-16, the 6-7 forward averaged 7.2 points and 6.1 rebounds a game, good enough for an overall top 100 finish in KenPom’s offensive rating at 121. In 21 Atlantic 10 games, Tillman shot 71.7 percent (83-of-113) from the floor.
“He’s really efficient,” second-year coach Will Wade said during Tuesday’s Atlantic 10 pre-season media conference at the PPG Paints Arena. “You can pretty much take it to the bank when we play him good things are going to happen especially on offense.”
Decreasing the sample size offers a better understanding of Tillman’s role in the VCU attack.
“When we played him 22 minutes or more last year, he averaged a double-double,” Wade noted. “You can pretty much bank on that if he gets those minutes.”
Among those 10 contests is an eye-popping 21-rebound performance in an overtime loss at Dayton where Tillman grabbed more than a third of VCU’s 52 caroms and nearly half as many as the Flyers (48).
KenPom ranked Tillman’s overall offensive rebounding percentage of 15.1 at 17th in the country and his 26.7 defensive rebounding percentage at 23rd.
Can Tillman maintain his efficiency with an increase in playing time?
“That’s something that we’re going to work towards,” Wade stated. “He’s got to continue to pick up what we’re doing defensively and be consistent with what we’re doing defensively…I want him to be more active defensively and block more shots, get more steals. Be a little bit more of a pest defensively.”
On the offensive end?
“It’s going to be pretty much the same. Get on the glass, shoot a high percentage around the rim and be able to make things happen.”
Video courtesy of VCU Athletics.
Charity starts in the home
A point of emphasis for the Rams this season will be getting to the free throw line.
“We’ve got to draw more fouls,” Wade said. “We didn’t draw enough fouls last year in league play. That ended up being our Achilles heel. We just couldn’t get to the free throw line enough.”
VCU finished eighth in the A-10 with 363 attempts from the charity stripe.
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