This VCU team is deeper and more talented than the one that made it the Final Four. Havoc has evolved from a prototype, to a sucessful machine. However, with further development comes a bigger weakness. When the zone defense was first invented, it was unstopable... but as its use spread, more and more scouting teams dedicated time to putting a stop to it. Havoc is more vunelarable than ever, and good teams are able to exploit its weaknesses more and more. For one, teams can get out in transistion and score easy. For another, teams can get the ball inside, and easily post up against VCU. It's not that their interior is weak, it's that their defensive strategy leaves a hole their. As a fan of VCU, I've watched at least 7 of their games this year, and can say that this team is better at defense than that Final Four tema, but they aren't as good at offense. Troy Daniels gets national attention as a 3pt shooter, and against the weak defenses of teams like Fareleigh Dickinson, East Tennessee State, and Duquesne, he is a deadly exterior sniper, but against mid-major to major level defenses, he becomes a capacity scorer. There is where the problem lies. The problem is not that VCU is too reliant on the three, they are not. It's the 3's they take that are of concern to me. That final four team had a sucessful offensive identity, not just a defensive one. The Final Four squad would penetrate and kick, producing open 3 for their excellent shooters. The 3pt shooters this year are as good, if not better than that team, but they are forced to take unfavorable shots. The offensive identity of VCU this year is outside in. Redic and Haley don't get nearly enough touches on the inside. The majority of VCU's interior shots are layups by guards, who look to shoot the 10ft jumper, instead of kicking to the open 3 pt shooter. Troy Daniel's 3's are primarly jumpers either initatied by him, or by a short pass from a guard 16ft out from the basket. He is deadly off the catch, but the lack of screening and penetration means he takes shots that are too contested. If they penetrate and kick, they could be a final four, top ten type team.
Another offensive issue for VCU is pace. They do not get into an offensive flow well. They have seen sucess when they get out in transistion and get layups, then kick for a three. VCU is an energy based defensive team. They should translate that energy onto offense. They need to takes shots in the first 15 seconds of the shot clock instead of continuing on with the roller coaster that is their offense. They are a run based scoring team, by developing more of a high-paced constant identity on offense they will be more of a consitent scoring team. They also have issues of free throws. They have some great nights, and some bad ones. Perhaps their high pace game plan makes it tough to chill out and shoot a set shot. They need to develop more consistency on offense. VCU has the type of team to be top 10 in both defense and offense, but they avert to much of their practice to developing a Havoc brand defense... they need to take the time to develop a Havoc offense.
