Quote:Michigan destroyed that "havoc" defense a couple years ago in the NCAAT. Can't stand that style of play. Handcheck - handcheck - handcheck. I'm very glad the NCAA addressed those rules for the 2013/2014 season.

 

Me responding to this makes me feel dirty, but there are a few points I'd like to make...

 

Yes, Michigan did tear VCU apart in the Tournament and it was due to the obvious weakness that plagues a lot of the mid-major teams; the athletic big man. McGarrity pretty much had his way inside and VCU simply had no answer for him.

 

As for the hand check comment, despite the NCAA rules and so forth that they imposed, VCU still rolled out the Nation's leader in steals, steals per game, and steals per 40 minutes. He did this all while maintaining a top ten rank of steals to Personal Fouls ratio.

 

VCU also lead the nation as a team in steals per game and was fourth overall in turnovers forced. While hand checking is a component of their game, it didn't really affect them as much as might have been expected since they also utilize a full court press for the majority of their defense and rely on depth and athleticism to keep them competitive.

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