University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Highlight Worthy
March 9, 2007 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 2007
By Adam Lucas
TAMPA--Brandan Wright will be all over your television tonight. But not for the reason he should be.
Wright's swooping gather-and-layup off an underhanded Quentin Thomas pass in the second half was the most "oooh"-inspiring play of Friday's game. But it was what Wright was doing when everyone wasn't looking that helped Carolina to a 73-58 ACC Tournament quarterfinal victory.
Florida State star Al Thornton tallied 29 points on the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. It was a "quiet" 29, if that's possible, but it was still 29. So Wright resolved to play him a different way in their second meeting.
"He's extremely quick for his size," the freshman said. "He's got very strong legs and a nice bounce. The key is keeping him in front of you at all times."
It sounds good on paper. It's even more impressive when it's executed.
Here's the thing about Wright: we think of him as a post player, because that's where he has scored most of his 458 points this season. But what makes him so appealing to the next level--a CBS Sportsline reporter spent several minutes of Friday's postgame feeding Wright questions about the NBA Draft--is his versatility.
He can score in the paint. But he's also athletic enough to defend on the perimeter. In truth, at this stage of his career, he's better suited for defending a player like Thornton than he is for a burlier post threat.
Against the Seminoles, he had an answer for everything Thornton tried. When the All-ACC selection worked inside, Wright's length changed the shot and forced a miss. When Thornton tried one of his favorite moves--a pump fake from the perimeter followed by a drive into the lane--Wright moved his feet and stayed with him, forcing a travel.
By the end of the game, Thornton looked winded, the expected result of having to defend Wright, Thompson, and Tyler Hansbrough on the other end of the court. Thornton is so important to FSU's offense that it's prudent for him to conserve as much energy on defense as possible in order to score in bunches. He didn't have that luxury against Carolina's depth.
One of the biggest differences between this game and the last meeting was that Wright had help on defense. Thornton didn't get many of his 29 against Wright in their first encounter. Instead, he simply waited for the Tar Heels to substitute and then took advantage of a more raw freshman like Deon Thompson.
That didn't happen on Friday. Sure, Carolina substituted with their usual abandon and Wright only had to play 28 minutes. This time, though, there was no relief when he left the game, because Thompson turned in one of his finest defensive performances as a Tar Heel (he even drew what turned out to be a big charge, forcing Isaiah Swann's third foul late in the first half).
Granted, he's still more advanced as an offensive player, and he had a lapse when he allowed Thornton a good look at a 3-pointer late in the first half. Overall, though, it was a credible performance against a very difficult matchup--and one Thompson never could have handled when he arrived in Chapel Hill eight months ago.
"I've come a long way on the defensive end," the Torrance, California product said. "I'm much more aware. I've learned you have to have the want-to to get there and help on the weak side and make thinking plays like that. He's a very tough guy to guard, so I concentrated on sliding my feet and getting a hand up on his outside shot."
The final results for Thornton: 4-for-13 from the field and just 1-for-3 from the three-point stripe. The Tar Heels even limited his offensive rebounds, a surprising turn of events given the struggles with boxing out athletic, slippery players in recent weeks.
"Brandan has really good feet and those tremendously long arms," Roy Williams said. "He's got good instincts. We gave him a little more help today when Al got on the left side and drove the baseline. Before his career is over, Brandan could be one of those guys who can defend a 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. His feet are that good. He can give the little guy space and bother people outside."
Oh, and he can also run the floor and make eye-popping catches on the alley-oop. But that wasn't the most impressive part of his game on Friday--no matter what the highlights show.
Adam Lucas's third book on Carolina basketball, The Best Game Ever, chronicles the 1957 national championship season and is available now. His previous books include Going Home Again, focusing on Roy Williams's return to Carolina, and Led By Their Dreams, a collaboration with Steve Kirschner and Matt Bowers on the 2005 championship team.
