OK, four games into the season, Coach Mike Rhoades' 2017-18 VCU Rams team has had the opportunity to discover, firsthand, something important to most D-I teams striving to achieve their goals. Having lost two consecutive games, both against teams that will likely be in the postseason conversation in March – UVA's 'Hoos and Marquette's Golden Eagles – and the Rams should have seen that summer league defense usually won't beat such teams.

No doubt, this is something Coach Rhoades has already mentioned more than a few times in team practices. So, do his players – 10 of which have only played four games in black and gold – need to lose more games to learn the lesson? Or, have the kids discovered and taken to heart the unvarnished truth?

As Col. Nathan R. Jessep (Jack Nicholson) asked memorably, in "A Few Good Men" (1992), can these young and talented Rams handle the truth?

We'll soon see. They have two more games in Hawaii to start proving to themselves they can learn from the discovery of a truth that calls for a change in attitude and execution. 

In a nutshell, when can Rhodes' Rams start playing defense for most of a game's 40 minutes as a unit, rather than as five guys running around in the same uniforms?

Next tilt: Maui Invitational: Tues., Nov. 21, at 4 p.m: VCU (2-2) vs. California (2-2) on ESPN2. 

Note: One change in the starting lineup for today's game might be inserting Issac Vann. Malik Crowfield would come in off the bench. Crowfield scored his career high of 17 points against Marquette.