Sound Off: The TU basketball Team: Just How Good Are These Guys?

Monday, February 7th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

So just how good is Tulsa? Anymore, a teamâ€™s place in history is defined simply by its success in the NCAA Tournament. If that is your sole criteria, then none of us will have a grasp on this Hurricane for more than a month.
There seem to be two trains of thought when it comes to TU. There are the diehard fans, caught up in a blue and gold frenzy, who just know Bill Selfâ€™s squad will end up with a number three seed or better in a regional. There are also those who are far from ready to give the Hurricane a â€œOne of the Best in the Nationâ€ seal of approval.
TU probably falls somewhere in between, much closer to the great than the above average category. Still, while Saturdayâ€™s romp over TCU showed off Tulsaâ€™s strengths, Thursdayâ€™s struggle against SMU was proof that there are ways to beat this teamâ€¦if you can make more than 30 percent of your shots. Strong rebounding teams can give the Hurricane fits.
At 22-2, with school records in sight, TU is in the midst of a special season. More people around here think the nation should be taking notes on just how special. The reality is since Tulsa is the only WAC team in the top 25, it has more ground to lose than to gain in the polls. More respect might come in handy for possible seeding purposes, but it wonâ€™t win any games. And thereâ€™s a bulls-eye firmly planted on Tulsaâ€™s back for the remaining six contests of the regular season.
As for the NCAAâ€™s? Check through the past dozen years or so and see how many championship teams had great play from the guard position. TUâ€™s pressure defense could make life very rough for opponents with even the slightest bit of nerves- and EVERYONE gets nervous at tournament time.
Is Tulsa this yearâ€™s Gonzaga? Now that really is something we canâ€™t answer. At least not until the end of March.