Is It Too Soon to Compare 2009-10 Kansas to 2008-09 North Carolina?

The college hoops weekend was anything but boring. Two of the six unbeatens -- West Virginia and Syracuse -- each lost in peculiar fashion. (The Mountaineers were blown out, and the Orange lost at home.) Marquette nearly claimed another top 10 win, but just like its game against WVU, it slipped away. Duke made a huge statement with a 74-53 win against Clemson in ACC play on Sunday. Even off the court, Tennessee players were nabbed in a traffic stop for drug and weapons charges.↵↵But one of the games of great intrigue was No. 1 Kansas’ trip to Philadelphia to face No. 18 Temple. The Owls already claimed one big-time victim -- Villanova -- at the Liacouras Center, so the Jayhawks had to be on alert for a tough game. Or not. ↵

↵↵With the exception of a few early 3-pointers that briefly kept it around, Temple was outclassed from the jump. A few minutes into the game, it was clear that Kansas’ size was such an issue, the Owls had all but given up on anything inside the arch and would be content to swing the ball around the perimeter until the 35-second shot clock ran down, necessitating another long trey. But that’s kind of life against Kansas this year, a team only really threatened once this year, back on Nov. 17 in a two-point win over Memphis.↵

↵↵As mentioned before, they aren’t the only unbeaten team remaining. (Texas, Kentucky and Purdue also carry that distinction.) But the team’s dominance, depth and experience probably inspires the most sensible comparison to last year’s champions, North Carolina. Is it fair to stack them up against one of the better teams of the last decade?↵

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↵↵You won’t find a lot of college frontcourts better than the Tar Heels last season. In Tyler Hansbrough, Ed Davis and Deon Thompson, the team had three players who are or will be playing in the NBA at some point. What made them tough to check was their versatility as a group. Each player brought a slightly different skill set. While he wasn’t around for much of the season, Tyler Zeller added depth to last year’s group. ↵

↵↵As good as the Jayhawks’ bigs are, I can’t say they’re at quite that level to this point. Cole Aldrich is a problem for everyone down low and I’m not sure who, except perhaps Dexter Pittman at Texas, can even really attempt to guard him. Don’t let that average of 11.1 points fool you. The only reason it isn’t higher is because they don’t need it to be. The Morris twins, particularly Marcus, are flourishing this year as well. Thomas Robinson is the Zeller of Kansas’ group. He’s young, highly touted as an incoming freshman and could probably do more if minutes were available. In other words, to say this team probably has three NBA bigs is no stretch. But the Tar Heels’ post players were further along in their development last season, so I’d have to give them the nod.↵

↵↵The conversation on the wing and in the backcourt is interesting, because out of that group came two first-round picks (Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington) and a second-rounder (Danny Green). But this isn’t about the NBA, it’s about production, and did they ever produce. As Lawson became a knockdown 3-point shooter, the Heels went from difficult to guard to just flat-out impossible. Add Danny Green to the mix, and you’ve got three players shooting at least 41 percent from deep. The team also received valuable defensive work from Bobby Frasor and the occasional offensive shot in the arm from Will Graves.↵

↵↵This year’s Jayhawks can come close in certain areas -- Xavier Henry and Sherron Collins match up favorably to Lawson and Ellington in my eyes -- but after that it’s tricky and really more a matter of taste. Where North Carolina went with another big win (Green), Kansas counters with a second point guard, Tyshawn Taylor. Not to say that Larry Drew II wasn’t a fine reserve point guard, but no one will say he’s better than Taylor, who starts for Kansas. The return of Brady Morningstar for KU after a DUI suspension will probably tell the tale of the backcourts. For now, he’s seeing limited minutes. Will he slowly regain some of that playing time? It looks like he’s in a fight with Tyrel Reed for the scraps in the backcourt.↵

↵↵Maybe most importantly, KU has yet to face another team everyone is viewing as a legit Final Four contender. Temple will make the NCAA Tournament, but the other unbeatens have better wins under their belt to this point and so did UNC early in the season during the 2008-09 campaign. They took down Michigan State on Dec. 3 by 35, and then basically did it to them again in the title game showing it was no fluke.↵

↵↵So while I’m admittedly impressed by KU’s ability to turn potentially interesting contests into snoozefests with pure dominance, let’s not toss away one of the team’s of the decade so quickly. At least not until Feb. 8, when Kansas goes to Austin to face the Longhorns.↵

↵↵(Bonus debate: How does this year Texas team stack up to the 2007-08 Memphis team?)↵

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