Heels have the (D)ifference
Mar 29, 2009
The myth was the North Carolina Tar Heels can’t play defense, and like most myths this was disproved Sunday night. Carolina’s perimeter defense held Oklahoma to 2-for-19 shooting beyond the arc and in the first half did enough on the interior to hold Blake Griffin scoreless for almost 12 minutes. Carolina heads back to the Final Four with the feeling of unfinished business after taking care of the Sooners 72-60.
It was a match-up billed as Tyler Hansbrough versus Blake Griffin and the two monsters in the post actually started out guarding each other. That didn’t last long, roughly four minutes. Hansbrough picked up 2 early fouls and only played 9 minutes in the first half, so the clash of the titans was limited. Still both players provided thunderous dunks in the first half. Griffin had 11 points and 9 boards in the first to Hansbrough’s 4 points and 1 rebound. Carolina did the smart thing and made it about the teams not the individuals.
The pace of play in the first half favored the Sooners, but at each dead ball time-out the Tar Heels increased their lead until the half. The Heels defense clamped down on Oklahoma forcing 9 first half turnovers and 0 for 9 behind the three-point line. The offense came from Danny Green, who spotted up for 14 points in 16 minutes, the swing man also played tight defense. The first half also acted as a barometer for the Heels, as they played slow and steady, knowing that they still were going to get fast break points. Carolina built an early double-digit advantage in the first 6 minutes and it was done with patience in the half-court sets. The Heels have shown so far in this tournament they can play any style they want to and still play winning basketball.
In the second half, Oklahoma had to pick up the pace and the Heels were more than happy to run putting up 40 second half points. All this on a night when Hansbrough scores just 8 points, but the man who everyone was so concerned about, Ty Lawson, answered the bell in the second to seal the game. Lawson named the region's most outstanding player, scored 15 points in the second half and after the game joked that his toe made him play slow so he could see more of the game.
In the end the Heels were a better team with more balance and quickness. In the locker room each Carolina player acknowledged how good Griffin is (the OU forward finished with 23 points and 16 rebounds), but let everyone know how good the UNC team can be. The hype around this game might have been about two players, but the substance was Carolina’s team game, a game that they feel can carry them to two more wins.
