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Texas A&M coach Gary Blair compares DePaul to Paul Westhead's teams

Jim Hu of SB Nation's Good Bull Hunting previewed Texas A&M's path through the Lincoln region in the 2014 NCAA women's basketball tournament, including this nugget about coach Gary Blair comparing DePaul's style of play to that of the style that Paul Westhead has used in both college and pro basketball.

On TexAgs radio, Coach Blair compared DePaul to Paul Westhead's teams, first with the men at Loyola Marymount and more recently with the Oregon women. Like Mizzou, they embrace the 3-pointer. But in rewatching their OU game, they weren't shy about attacking the basket with drives and backdoor cuts. They took open threes, but there was less of the drive and kick play than Mizzou would use. The drive and kick was used more against the zone that Duke used against them. DePaul coach Doug Bruno disagreed with the comparison to Westhead's teams

"this is not a Paul Westhead copy up here, we're not trying to just give up points just to score points."

Regardless of whether they're actually using The System, DePaul does like to spread the court and shoot the three, which makes the defensive keys for Texas A&M quite clear: contain ball handlers off the dribble and close out on shooters in man-to-man defense, which TAMU might play better than either of DePaul's first two tournament opponents.

For more on Texas A&M's game and the region's Sweet 16, check out the full article at Good Bull Hunting. For more on the Lincoln region in general, check out our Lincoln region storystream.