The University of Texas at Austin Athletics
01.23.2006 | Men's Basketball
Growing up in the hoops hotbed of Houston, Texas, Daniel Gibson had no other choice but to play defense.
While competing against professionals and playground legends at the local rec center, the then middle-schooler made defense a priority out of fear of being humiliated.
"You had to play defense or else you would just be embarrassed on the court," said Gibson.
Now as a 19-year-old sophomore, Gibson no longer worries about being embarrassed, but rather winning basketball games.
After playing zone and focusing on running the UT offense throughout much of his freshman year, college basketball fans around the nation had very little idea of how good the 6-2 guard could be defensively.
With a full arsenal of offensive weapons on the Longhorn squad in place, he has turned his focus toward shutting down some of the premier scorers in college basketball.
"Playing defense is what makes you a complete player," said Gibson. "Taking on the challenge of stepping up and stopping another player who is playing great, that's something I take a lot of pride in."
During the Longhorns current eight-game winning streak, Gibson has drawn the assignment of guarding the likes of Colorado's Richard Roby, Iowa State's Curtis Stinson and Villanova's Allan Ray, each of whom averaged over 15 points a game at the time of the match-up. Gibson held each of them under their season scoring average and a combined 10-43 (.233) from the field.
Texas head coach Rick Barnes knows that Gibson' stopping power is something his team certainly needs to continue winning.
"It's important, whether we're in man or zone, to have someone guard their best player, and Daniel gives us that option on the perimeter," said Barnes. "He takes pride in it, and it's something that he wants to do. When you get a guy that has that attitude and wants to get lost on the defensive end, it's always a good thing for your team."
Throughout the off-season, Gibson took it upon himself to improve on the defensive end. He would hit the weight room twice-a-day on many occasions to get stronger. He worked on his conditioning, and he always made it a point to shut down whoever he was guarding in pick-up games.
"I tried to play against the best players I could find,"said Gibson. "I'd take it personal if someone scored on me. Even though it was a pick-up game, I just tried to stop whoever I was guarding. That's always been something that I try to do."
With that will and determination, Gibson is beginning to remind his coach of two former tenacious Longhorn defenders, Fredie Williams and Royal Ivey.
"He's different. He's probably somewhere in-between the two," said Barnes. "I would put the two of them together, but with his strength and the way he can get up under people, he's probably a little bit more like Fredie."
Now as the Longhorns begin the stretch run and get deeper into Big 12 play, Gibson will be called on to shut down the opponent's best player night in and night out. And while people may come to the Erwin Center to see highlight-reel dunks and NBA-range threes, he knows that defense will be his most important task.
"If we make defense our identity and get out there and lock people down, we will win games," he said. "I think it's real important to be defensive-minded, and I'm just going to do whatever coach needs me to do to win," said Gibson. " If coach needs me to stop their best player, then I'm going to get out there and do it. I just want to do whatever it takes."
