NCAA Tournament Preview: Minnesota won't mind chaos in first round versus Texas

Minnesota vs Texas - Time and TV: Thurs., March 19, 7:10 p.m., CBS

A lot of Minnesota's Big Ten battles this season were not aesthetically pleasing, as a young group of Golden Gophers found consistent scoring to be elusive. But as the NCAA Tournament begins for Tubby Smith's team on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C., an ugly game would represent a pleasing prospect.
 
The Gophers--in both defeat and victory--have not made James Naismith smile in 2009. Minnesota hasn't produced magnificent masterworks, even on winning nights and afternoons in a bruising Big Ten. A 59-36 triumph over Illinois and a 52-49 grinder against Iowa helped get Tubby Smith to the Big Dance, but those wins hardly featured artistic or confident halfcourt execution at the offensive end of the floor.
 
Guard Lawrence Westbrook is this team's most talented and capable scorer, but with Westbrook struggling for much of the year, Minnesota had to generate offense from multiple sources, often from a deep bench that was repeatedly asked to save the day. If guys like Devron Bostick and Paul Carter hadn't sparkled in a few select situations, the men of Minneapolis would be sitting in the NIT. The Gophers did deserve to gain a ticket to the field of 65, but they didn't get in the door by a considerable margin. While their fan base wanted to see improved offensive performance, the Gophers pieced together a tournament-worthy season only because their defense rose to the occasion.

 
This piece of background sets the stage for Minnesota's first-round game against the Texas Longhorns, the No. 7 seed whose coach, Rick Barnes, will be returning to his native state of North Carolina. The Gophers will want to allow Barnes to go home after this contest, and the irony for Tubby's troops is that an ugly 40 minutes will help the Texas coach to find offseason diversions a little sooner than he'd like.
 
Why do the Gophers want this game to be ugly? First of all, they're not used to winning pretty. Secondly, and more instructively, Texas wants this contest to look artful and elegant. If an opponent wants to play one way, your goal should be to create a different kind of competition, so if Texas wants style points, Minnesota shouldn't--and can't--allow the Longhorns to roam free in Greensboro Coliseum.
 
Texas will win this game if its halfcourt offense hums with rhythm and fluidity. If supreme sniper A.J. Abrams (averaging just over 16 points a game) gets free and knocks down bombs with his beautiful shooting stroke, Minnesota won't have the scoring punch that could offset such a force. If the Longhorns score big and use Abrams' marksmanship from the perimeter to open up the paint for improving 298-pound center Dexter Pittman (10 points and 5 boards per game), Minnesota's defense will be at the mercy of the 7 seed from the Big 12 Conference. It's up to the Gophers to keep the score down against Texas, and disrupt the Longhorns at every step along the way.
 
Here's how Tubby Smith--owner of a remarkably good 13-1 record in NCAA Tournament first-round games--can lasso the Longhorns: Make Dogus Balbay do all the work for Texas.
 
Last season, the Longhorns came within one win of the Final Four because they possessed a dynamic point guard in D.J. Augustin, who is now in the NBA. Augustin could slice and dice defenses and also knock down long-range shots to create space for Abrams and UT's other shooters. This year, Texas has become far easier to guard because Balbay--a native of Istanbul, Turkey--has no outside shot whatsoever. Big 12 opponents sagged off Balbay, giving the point guard not only open threes, but open 16-footers, that usually were not attempted.

Balbay admirably runs the Texas offense, and plays low-turnover basketball while providing solid defense at the other end of the floor. Nevertheless, the complete absence of a credible medium-range jumper from Balbay has created situations in which Texas seems to be playing an equivalent of 4-on-5 basketball against good teams inside and outside the Big 12. Minnesota's defensive assignment, then, becomes conceptually simple, even though it might be hard to execute.
 
If the Gophers can force Balbay to hit some of those 16-footers, the 10 seed can shadow Abrams and also provide help defense against the massive Pittman. Minnesota's big men aren't particularly strong, so if long wing defenders like Carter or Damian Johnson can rotate when Pittman touches the ball in the low post, the Gophers can contain Texas as long as Balbay, and not Abrams, is the player available for the kick-out on the same side of the court. Minnesota needs to know when to help, and when to stick to man coverage. By making Balbay beat them, and smothering the likes of Abrams and powerful forward Damion James (an owner of an eye-popping 15 double-doubles this season), Minnesota can shut down the Horns and perhaps generate offense from their defense.
 
One final note is worth mentioning as the Gophers try to tie down Texas. While Minnesota's centers are works in progress, it's clear that Colton Iverson will have more of a place on the floor in this game when compared to teammate Ralph Sampson III. While it's true that Sampson is a great shot blocker, only Iverson offers the width and muscle to bang with Pittman in the low post. If Minnesota somehow advances to play Duke in the second round, the more wiry and agile Sampson would be able to run with the Blue Devils. In this tussle with Texas, however, it's Iverson who will need to play extended minutes against the Horns' sizeable center.
 
Minnesota's fans have wanted to see a more attractive offense as this season has continued, but given their first-round opponent in the 2009 NCAA Tournament, the Golden Gophers will need to play one more ugly game if they want to Dance a little longer.
 

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