VCU to take it all

VCU Rams / XJohnx/ Wikimedia Commons

The NCAA tournament this year has shocked many with its lack of #1 and #2 seeds in the Final Four. The Rams of Virginia Commonwealth hurdled tremendous obstacles to get to their current position in the tournament.

In order to get to the Final Four, the VCU Rams needed five wins, as they were required to win a play-in game to even have a spot in the round of 64. They had the tough task of defeating higher ranked teams every step of the way including Southern California, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State and regional number one seed Kansas, which they dominated by a whopping twenty points. Despite being the lowest ranked team in the Final Four, VCU will win the NCAA tournament mainly because of its three-point scoring ability. In their last game against Kansas, VCU hit twelve three-pointers, shooting almost 50% from behind the arc.

In addition to having good shooting, the Rams show a balanced offense where four or five players do the scoring, as opposed to having their offense centered around one player. Their bench does well in supporting the starters, as 22 points were scored by the bench against Kansas. The Rams two key players, Joey Rodriguez and Jamie Skeen are the generals of the team. Rodriguez is one of the quickest point guards in the college basketball, who has great range and can hit shots from 24 feet, especially in clutch situations. Skeen is a forward who can play almost the whole game while avoiding foul trouble, and in this tournament is averaging 21 points per game on 51% field goal shooting.

The Rams are backed by an intense desire to prove to the world that VCU has a great basketball program. Head coach Shaka Smart said,."Our guys have done a phenomenal job of putting all the doubters aside, all the people that didn't believe in us, and going out to do their job." They have sold out their allotted tickets the past few games, giving them a "home-crowd" advantage no matter where they play.

2011 NCAA Championship goes through VCU

On Saturday April 2nd, the NCAA Final Four contenders will match up and on that night only two teams will emerge as championship hopefuls. The Virginia Commonwealth Rams will square off against Butler, followed by UConn and Kentucky. Each team has coaches of different experience levels, as well as players who specialize in different areas of the game. VCU's own Shaka Smart is the least experienced from the pool, as he is relatively young and has never made it this far before. Despite their lack of experience, VCU has proven that they have rightfully attained their position in the Final Four.

VCU holds an impressive win over No. 1 seed Kansas, due largely in part to their coach Shaka Smart. One might have the preconception that Smart wont be able to deliver seeing as he is the second youngest coach ever to reach the final four with his team. However, it is apparent that he has what it takes to elevate the Rams to a better standing in a relatively short period of time. In 2009 after Shaka became head coach, the Rams were only one game away from reaching the final four. This year, he has led his players in the right direction after a troublesome 3-5 win/loss record in February. Smart has evidently found the right chemistry with his players, who also possess the needed strengths to win the entire tournament.

The Rams have shown exceptional shooting from behind the three-point line due to players Brandon Rozzell and Joey Rodriguez. In their win over Kansas, Rozzell sunk four 3-pointers thanks to Rodriguez's ability to locate him at the right time. Overall, this collaboration between their star players prevents the team from getting in each others way. This level of teamwork is their key to taking the 2011 NCAA Championship.