How do You guys like this VCU in the C7 with 12-14 teams

[Natty]

VCU will probably have a longer staying power than George Mason did after its Final Four run, but I wouldn't elevate them to national power status by any stretch. They play a unique full-court press but it's not like no one has ever seen this before. People get overly hyped up about it because they gave it a catchy name. It's a press. Well-disciplined teams can beat a press and beat VCU. Undisciplined teams that don't prepare for it, don't have much time to prepare for it or don't have strong ballhandlers will struggle against it. It's done well in the past couple years because it's still relatively new to a lot of VCU's opponents. People are beginning to figure it out a little better, and that will make it less of a factor in VCU's ultimate success or failure.

At some point, I would imagine Smart will leave because VCU is not going to be able to afford to pay him $2M or $3M a year and someone else will. At that point it will become a question of whether one of his assistants can keep the same system in place effectively or not.

Shaka Smart took VCU to the Final 4 in his second season as a head coach, and at a CAA team no less. That's impressive.

How many top-100 players was VCU recruiting before the Final 4 run? None. We landed two last season: Melvin Johnson and Jordan Burgess. Add the C7 to VCU's equation, and games against Georgetown, Marquette, etc...and those top-100 recruits increase (for what it's worth, those two top-100s committed before we even joined the A-10), and I think the sky really is the limit for VCU. Hell, we were a game away from a National Championship appearance already, so getting pretty close to the sky already.

Seriously, both Big East and A-10 fans have to be impressed with what Shaka did at VCU while in the CAA, and even in the A-10 now. Sure, we've got a ton of tough games coming up (and a real tough one tonight), but 9-2 in the A-10 is still 9-2. Ask St. Louis what happens when you don't show up for Rhode Island or Temple what happens when you take Duquesne too lightly.

As for downplaying Shaka's "havoc" defense...sure, it won't dominate every game (especially with 2 and 3-star recruits running it), but VCU LEADS THE NATION in forced turnovers and steals percentage. Hate Shaka and VCU all you want, but you can't say it doesn't work if the numbers argue differently (VCU's Briante Weber and Darius Theus rank 1 and 2 in the country in turnover %). I'd say UMass had enough time to prepare for it (5 days) and have a pretty solid and experienced guard in Chaz Williams (A-10 preseason first-teamer), but they still turned the ball over 24 times against the Rams.

The thing with all of our schools is our games are played by humans. They aren't robots. You can't press a button and expect them to perform the exact same way every time. If Richmond doesn't make threes does that make them a bad shooting team? If SLU gives up 82 to Rhode Island in St. Louis, does that make them a bad defensive team? Of course not.

VCU may very well get left behind because we're a public school, but if you get down to just basketball, with Shaka Smart running the show, a passionate fan base, and a ton of talent coming through the system, VCU would certainly be an amazing addition to the C7.

PS. My wife is Catholic, I am not...but I'm proud to say she still let me in her conference. Wait, that sounded weird. Anyway, give VCU a chance ya d'jerks!

[Jet915]

I agree Aug...

VCUs press really is good at stopping fast brake teams and ill disciplined teams. It had a disaster with Richmond and their Princeton offense. And if you notice has had trouble up and down the A-Ten at one point they had the 12 best defense in the league. They have still to play SLU Butler Xavier Temple they also have to deal with richmond again. none of these teams like to move quickly and all pose serious matchup problems for VCU.

I will note like all press teams it sucks to play them at VCU especially with the ATens usually bad homer reffing style.

That style of pressure defense really depends on the refs. If the refs let them play, it's tough for the opposing team. If the ref's are calling it close, then the pressure won't work. Creighton dealt with that for years against the old SIU teams as they played a similar style of defense. If the refs were calling hand checks and bumps, their defense was very foul prone. If the refs were letting everything go, it was difficult for opposing team. They nicknamed SIU "Floorburn U."

[BillEsq]

the press just doesn't stop strong half court motion offenses and have a severe disadvantage on the road. Do they work yes... and hell i'm in ky so can't say a bad thing about pitino and i'll be honest i have a soft sport for the 40 minutes of hell. but they can be beat by disciplined and tough teams.

LOL and as much as VCU messed up my bracket that year i will for your wife's sake give them a chance... (honestly i wanted them to win but i didn't want to take a play in team on my bracket... so i punted hindsight is so 20/20)

[flyerlax06]

I agree Aug...

VCUs press really is good at stopping fast brake teams and ill disciplined teams. It had a disaster with Richmond and their Princeton offense. And if you notice has had trouble up and down the A-Ten at one point they had the 12 best defense in the league. They have still to play SLU Butler Xavier Temple they also have to deal with richmond again. none of these teams like to move quickly and all pose serious matchup problems for VCU.

I will note like all press teams it sucks to play them at VCU especially with the ATens usually bad homer reffing style.

That style of pressure defense really depends on the refs. If the refs let them play, it's tough for the opposing team. If the ref's are calling it close, then the pressure won't work. Creighton dealt with that for years against the old SIU teams as they played a similar style of defense. If the refs were calling hand checks and bumps, their defense was very foul prone. If the refs were letting everything go, it was difficult for opposing team. They nicknamed SIU "Floorburn U."

Absolutely agree. Though the game has been going away from hand checks being called and there is a lot more bumping and contact allowed. It's kind of like the college game has gone in the opposite direction of the NBA on this. It does seem that if you can beat/break the press, VCU has a very hard time stopping teams. Last night is a prime example.