"How do you explain George Mason University's unlikely Cinderella story during the 2006 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament? Was it raw talent that got them to the Final Four, toppling traditional powerhouses like Michigan State, North Carolina, and Connecticut? Was it pure luck? If you ask the folks at 2K Sports that same question, they might have a different answer for you: unity. The concept of team unity plays a big role in the gameplay of the publisher's upcoming college basketball game, College Hoops 2K7, and we got a hands-on look at how the concept is being worked into the game.

Unity is a measure of how well a team is playing together on the floor. It's dependent on a number of factors--how experienced your players are, how often you make substitutions, and, of course, how well you perform. Teams with high unity are better at nearly every aspect of the game, from the little things like setting up the screen and making smart passes to larger components of the on-floor action such as defensive ability and shot making. Conversely, teams with low unity will often be less apt at these team-related fundamentals, regardless of how talented a team they are. In fact, how unity is applied in the game means that a high-talent, mediocre-unity team such as UConn might struggle against a team comprising less talented but better-unified players (think George Mason and the Huskies). Unity isn't going to necessarily guarantee a win, but it might just keep you in a game or two.

FULL ARTICLE FROM GAMESPOT.COM HERE

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