Heels and Sooners keys to Detroit
Tar Heel cheerleaders celebrate during the NCAA Regional Semifinal game at the FedExForum in Memphis, TN, Friday March 27, 2009. Tar Heels beat Gonzaga 98 to 77. Photo by Todd Melet
Mar 29, 2009
Tags: ACC
This contest has everything that college basketball fans want, two high ranked teams, two of the best players at the forward position that the game has seen in years, and good shooters. Both teams breezed in the Sweet Sixteen match-ups so it is tough to gauge which team is really ready for this. The teams have had similar match-ups to get to today’s game. A month ago this game easily could have been for the NCAA title.
The keys to this game should be pretty simple:
North Carolina:
1. Attack Blake Griffin. The Sooner big man is a very good interior defender but make him work on both ends of the floor and try to tie him out. Run him through picks, make him defend on the perimeter and let Deon Thompson try to score on him. When Griffin has the ball on offense, send the double at him right away, disguise defenses when the game moves on, the double philosophy is risky because he is a good passer. It might be easier living with Toney Crocker trying to beat you instead of letting Griffin do it on the block.
2. Tempo, tempo, tempo: Oklahoma doesn’t want a track meet, well that is too bad. The Heels guards are too fast to play in the mud, let’s just forget about Ty Lawson’s toe because he is playing in his fifth gear, so play that high octane offense. The Sooners aren’t deep enough at guard to play there for 40 minutes. If the Tar Heels control pace they will advance, Gonzaga loved to run, but they were run right out of the FedEx Forum. Carolina will not be stopped if they dictate pace, so clear out rebounds and start the break, play as fast as they can and spread out Oklahoma. Both teams have athletes,the Heels just have a few more.
Oklahoma:
1. Make the Heels respect the perimeter. Toney Crocker is coming of his best game of his life at OU, he needs to be better today. The Sooners have to have offensive balance and keep the UNC defense from packing into the paint. If Carolina is allowed to put four players within 6 feet of the basket life will be miserable for the Griffin brothers. Austin Johnson and Willie Warren also have to drive to the basket and try to force the defense to rotate to them to get some easy buckets for the OU big men. The guards will be more important than Blake Griffin today.
2. Cut off the Heels transition game by valuing the basketball. Oklahoma cannot have double digit turnovers in this game, UNC had 19 fast break points and 17 points off turnovers against Gonzaga, and if the Tar Heels hit that number tonight it means they are running and that is the last thing that the Sooners need. Oklahoma can control the tempo of the game by shutting down the Heels running attack by taking care of the ball, easier said than done.
This game has potential to be as good as the Pittsburgh/Villanova game was, but if the Heels control the pace of the game, Carolina will get a second chance to see Detroit. Either way, the winner of this game I feel will be playing next Monday night.
