Sure, it's early ... but 'Horns have that championship look
ARLINGTON, Texas -- The last time thousands of fans dressed in burnt orange filled Cowboys Stadium, it was for a football event that launched Texas into the national championship game. This time it was for basketball. And the stakes were slightly different, if only because it's impossible to launch yourself into the national championship game with a December win in this sport.
But do you know what is possible in December in this sport?
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| While Texas looks impressive so far, coach Rick Barnes feels the team isn't 'there yet.' (US Presswire) |
Turns out, they belong to Rick Barnes.
They were used to destroy North Carolina.
"I think we showed we're a great team," said Texas point guard Dogus Balbay. "And we're going to continue to show that."
• Texas 103, North Carolina 90
The fact that Texas was in everbody's preseason top five suggests folks have long believed this team was special, and for good reason. The Longhorns have a unique blend of talented veterans (Damion James, Dexter Pittman, Gary Johnson, Justin Mason and Balbay) and heralded newcomers (Avery Bradley, J'Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton), and at least four players (James, Pittman, Bradley and Hamilton) who will almost certainly play in the NBA someday. They have two great perimeter defenders (Balbay and Bradley), a tremendous big man (Pittman), an elite leader and rebounder (James), a know-your-role wing (Mason), and the nation's deepest and most-talented bench (Brown, Johnson, Hamilton, Matt Hill, Alexis Wangmene, Jai Lucas and Clint Chapman). And they have all this despite losing Varez Ward for the season to a ruptured right quadriceps tendon.
In other words, Texas is loaded.
If you didn't realize it before, you should've realized it Saturday.
Roy Williams did.
"They're a really good basketball team," Williams said. "The substitutions don't hurt them."
But they hurt North Carolina.
Armed with that deep and talented roster, Barnes decided to run as much as possible, play as fast as possible, use as many bodies as possible and go at UNC for every second of every minute. The idea, obviously, was that it would tire the Tar Heels, make them huff and puff more than they're used to huffing and puffing. Then Texas could pull away in the final eight minutes and improve to 10-0.
How'd that plan go?
Texas led 82-78 with roughly six minutes left.
The Longhorns closed on a 21-12 run.
They won easily.
"I could tell they were getting tired," James said. "I knew they were juiced."
And thus rendered ineffective.
Deon Thompson was just 3 of 12 from the field as he finished with eight points and seven rebounds. In fairness, Tyler Zeller (16 points on 7-of-8 shooting) and Ed Davis (21 points and nine rebounds) were good. But Texas still dominated North Carolina on the glass by a 60-41 margin, and Pittman grabbed as many offensive rebounds (12) as the entire UNC team. "And people say that'sthe best frontcourt in the country," James said, and it wasn't difficult to read between the lines. What he was really saying, without saying it, is that if North Carolina has the best frontcourt in the country, where must a frontcourt of James (25 points and 15 rebounds) and Pittman (23 points and 15 rebounds) rank?
On this day, it ranked off the charts. As did Texas in general. And that's why Barnes, though guarded and careful like any coach, is no longer hiding from the reality that this might be the best team he's ever assembled, might well be better than the team he took to the 2003 Final Four.
"Could it be?" Barnes said. "Yeah, maybe, possibly. ... But we're not there yet."
No, they aren't.
It's still December, after all.
But after watching the Longhorns Saturday, it sure looks like they're on their way.
