With a shooting slump dragging on and thoughts outside of basketball cluttering his mind, Bradford Burgess sought advice from his mother recently.
Play in peace, she said.
"That's what I've been focusing on," Burgess said. "Not thinking about anything and going back to what I've been doing my whole career, and that's just going out and playing."
As uncomfortable as it may be for an unselfish player, Burgess, the lone senior, is the centerpiece for a Virginia Commonwealth club that began the season with youth and inexperience.
A terrific performance in VCU's run to the Final Four last year stamped the versatile 6-foot-6, 225-pound guard/forward as an NBA prospect and made him a player-of-the-year candidate in the Colonial Athletic Association.
Burgess leads the Rams in scoring (12.5 points) and he has been in double figures in 15 of 24 games. But shooting issues that were intermittent early in the season snowballed in a nine-game stretch, when he went 26 for 102.
The encouraging development is that even without its marquee player in top shooting form, VCU (19-5, 10-2) continues to win with defense and balanced scoring. Burgess hasn't had to carry the scoring burden because four other Rams average at least 8.6 points. Two more average 7 and 5.7 points.
"A lot of guys on other teams are having individual success and not winning," Burgess said. "Everybody wants to be known as a winner, not by individual accolades."
Burgess (98) is six victories from being part of more wins than anybody in school history. He has started 134 consecutive games, ranks 11th in career points (1,499), third in 3-pointers made (194) and ninth in rebounds (687).
A career 48.4-percent shooter (41.4 on 3-pointers) coming into this season, his numbers are down to 33.6 and 33.1, respectively.
No mechanical flaws have been detected, he said. An ankle injury he suffered in the summer is fine, and he's not particularly worried about his professional playing opportunities.
But he has been overthinking other things, he said. His college career is coming to an end. He's scheduled to graduate this semester. What about the future?
"I wouldn't say it's confidence," Burgess said. "That's one thing I have to continue to keep as a leader of this team.
"I'm not shooting as well as I'd like to, or as I usually do. But we're (19-5) being one of the youngest teams in the country. Not many people thought we'd be where we are at this point. The young guys are playing well. I'd like to think that's a reflection of my leadership and the coaches."
VCU coach Shaka Smart says Burgess continues to produce in other phases. He's averaging 5.5 rebounds, has gotten to the foul line 106 times and is shooting 80.2 percent on free throws.
"He's fine," Smart said. "He's obviously disappointed of late he hasn't been able to help the team, in his mind, as much as he wants to. When we win a game, it's not like he's sitting in the locker room sulking because he didn't have a great game individually. He's fired up for the team. He's always been that way."
Burgess continues to take extra shots after practice. He's heartened by a slump he endured his senior year at Benedictine, followed by a tear toward the end of the season.
And he's trying to play in peace.
"I know my day will come where I'm back shooting better than ever," he said. "As long as our team's success keeps growing, I'm perfectly fine with that."
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