How many times have you heard the following during the NCAA tournament?
Imagine how good Butler would be with Gordon Hayward.
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Virginia Commonwealth coach Shaka Smart wondered on Tuesday why people don’t say the same about his team and 6-foot-10 Larry Sanders, who like Hayward, left for the NBA last season with college eligibility remaining.
“It’s interesting,” Smart said. “No one ever says, ‘Wow, imagine this team if Larry Sanders was here?’?”
But it’s tantalizing to imagine the possibilities with Sanders, the 15th pick in the 2010 draft, who would have given the Rams something they lack — a low-post threat and intimidating shot blocker. Senior Jamie Skeen has the size at 6-foot-9, but gravitates toward the perimeter.
Smart, however, doesn’t ponder the question.
“What Butler and VCU have done is they’ve moved on very quickly with the guys they have,” Smart said. “They’ve understood it’s a five-man game and if you go out there and work together, you still have more than enough talent to be successful.”
