Rick Barnes crossed over to the other side Jan. 26. Barnes’ teams had used zone defenses reluctantly, and his team was trailing Texas Tech by 10 points early in the second half.
Normally, Barnes would use the man-to-man defense, a more aggressive approach than the zone, when his team was so far behind. But the Longhorns remained in the zone, caught Tech at the end of regulation and won in overtime.
“That’s when I changed,” Barnes said. “That was the first time I’d ever used zone when we were down 10.”
The Longhorns now rely on their 2-3 zone as a regular complement to their man-to-man.
“One thing about coaches,” Barnes said, “is that we’ll do what we think will help us win, especially this time of year.”
Barnes will likely turn to the zone for at least part of the game Friday when the Longhorns face Xavier. If he does, his players will have to keep track of adept long-range shooters Lionel Chalmers, Romain Sato, Justin Doellman and Dedrick Finn. . . .
More than five years ago, Tiffany and Tom Thompson of Dayton, Ohio, decided to host a foreign-exchange student. All they knew about Romain Sato was that he spoke no English and had left behind his mother and three siblings in the Central African Republic.
“I was scared to death,” Tiffany said. “I was 26 years old. All I was thinking was, `How am I going to be a mother to him?’ My husband just kept insisting it was the right thing to do. He kept telling me, `You’ve got to have faith.’ As soon as I saw Romain [at the airport], I knew it was the right thing.”
The Thompsons and their two children, Madeson, 13, and Brooks, 11, will be in the Georgia Dome for Friday night’s game.
