Basketball Articles
Lobotomized in Lubbock
Posted by Scipio Tex on March 2nd, 2008 under Basketball
I’m having a tough time getting that exercised about this loss in Lubbock.
Passive offense and an early lack of intensity on defense allowed the referees to participate in the Tech gutty-home-win narrative. A 43-13 free throw margin raises an eyebrow, but we’re as responsible for that fact as the zebra’s weird inconsistencies. The Mason technical was a good example of the absurdity of this game. The more we fell for the fool’s gold of a bricked three pointer without running some semblance of offense, the more the referees began to consider it a right for a Tech player to grab Augustin to slow up a fast break or for Tech defenders to undercut rebounders and shooters when they leave their feet. Play like chumps, be treated like chumps. Happens all of the time. When you play dumb basketball on the road, you open up the possibility for the referees to create their own game. The mirror is always the best place for assigning blame.
Somewhere, Bob Knight was displeased with the officiating. In principle.
Tech’s Martin Zeno had a Scottie Pippen stat sheet: 15 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists. His play was crucial for opening up the game for some of Tech’s more marginal contributors. Voskuil, voted Most Likely To Join A West Texas Boy Band, Gentlest Eyelashes, and Most Likely To Wear a Pooka Shell Necklace, by his high school senior class, hit the crucial free throws down the stretch. Hey, here’s an idea: deny that guy the entry pass off of the inbounds and make one of the kids who keeps bricking shoot the freebies. I’m no coach though. Just sayin’…
And I swear, on the moon and the sun and the stars: This game sucked.
Actually, I’d cut Barnes a break. There appeared to be several instances in the game where guys didn’t translate specific Barnes instructions to action. See Gary Johnson. Oh, Gary. Why?
Justin Mason turned in a nice effort, but the rest of the team was largely AWOL. I’m convinced that Atchley’s recent proclivity for early fouls and a seat on the bench is screwing our defense and taking away all of our high screen and pop game on offense. If he comes in cold thereafter, we’ve lost a key ingredient. No big deal if Abrams is making his shots. When he’s not (5 of 17), it’s the DJ Augustin show and though I appreciate 30 points on his statline, I’d rather see 12 assists. We had a lowly nine as a team.
Damion James, who deserves to be lauded for his improvement from last year and for his manly effort on the offensive boards, is also good for two low basketball IQ plays per game. He just has a tough time reading game context, particularly when we’re struggling.
JD Lewis will go back to “providing depth” when we play NU and OSU.
All in all, this game is best summed up by the knowledge that life is full of imperfection and bad things happen to good teams. In short:
We’ll refocus and get our work done against Nebraska. We’d better. Aleks Maric is gangsta!
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Activity
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Texoz commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 6 minutes ago
Why stop at 96? Let’s bump it up to 192.
Bigger is not always better, says the midget hooker.
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Art Vandelay commented on the blog post As if we didn’t already like Traylon Shead enough… 6 minutes ago
Traylon turns to Rick and says, Texas
Rick says what?
Traylon says, Texas
Rick says what?Perry says “I’ve got to get out of here”
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admin commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 11 minutes ago
When asked to comment, Rick Barnes said “Phew”.
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 11 minutes ago
When asked for to comment, Rick Barnes said “Phew”.
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dick commented on the blog post All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 11 minutes ago
i hate this idea
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srr50 wrote a new blog post: All Signs Point to March Madness Expanding to 96 Teams 39 minutes ago
Perhaps as soon as next year. The NCAA has an “opt out” clause in its $6 Billion contract with CBS this summer and they have already asked for a Request For Proposal from any and all networks interested.
The current contract with CBS is backloaded — the network owes the NCAA $2.3 Billion over the next
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Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 40 minutes ago
Big Booty Ho’s!
BigDuke,
You, as usual, are correct about the ACT score. However, that he decided to continue with his commitment to USC this late in the process and this close to an anticipated NCAA ruling is probably the bigger story. He had an out and still decided on USC. Just wondering aloud
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Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 40 minutes ago
Big Booty Ho’s!
BigDuke,
You, as usual, are correct about the ACT score. However, that he decided to continue with his commitment to USC this late in the process and this close to an anticipated NCAA ruling is probably the bigger story. He had an out and still decided on USC. Just wondering aloud
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Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 40 minutes ago
Big Booty Ho’s!
BigDuke,
You, as usual, are correct about the ACT score. However, that he decided to continue with his commitment to USC this late in the process and this close to an anticipated NCAA ruling is probably the bigger story. He had an out and still decided on USC. Just wondering aloud
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bigdukesix commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 1 hour, 9 minutes ago
Perhaps it’s all a coincidence, but Seantrel just got his ACT score this past week. Without a test score, a recruit is ineligible to sign with any school. I’m wondering how much of this was just a smokescreen on Henderson’s part.
I think you’re right on point number 2. They were
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Sammy Vegas over at Double Extra Point put together a summary of the NFL earnings of former Huskers since 2000. It’s worth a look, especially if you want to get depressed about your career choice.
Who would have guessed that Chris Kelsay ($29 million) was in the same ballpark as Ahman Green ($35 million)?
Or that Kris
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post As if we didn’t already like Traylon Shead enough… 2 hours, 6 minutes ago
Do you have a little brother who is several meters high? Is he built just like a quarterback and says he’ll testify?
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gingerballs commented on the blog post We talkin’ ’bout brackets 2 hours, 17 minutes ago
You make a solid point, Get your buy-in asap.
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Vasherized commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 2 hours, 21 minutes ago
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Vasherized commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 2 hours, 21 minutes ago
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Vasherized commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 2 hours, 21 minutes ago
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Vasherized commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 2 hours, 21 minutes ago
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Art Vandelay commented on the blog post As if we didn’t already like Traylon Shead enough… 2 hours, 25 minutes ago
Warm winds blowing
Heating blue sky
And a road that goes forever
I’m going to Texas -
dick commented on the blog post Texas Basketball is Dangerous 2 hours, 25 minutes ago
“We never had any shot of winning the tournament ”
I meant regular season.
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dick commented on the blog post Texas Basketball is Dangerous 2 hours, 28 minutes ago
I don’t buy that we HAVE to win this conference or the conference tourney unless KU is in an awful down year. That would be like someone other than OU or Texas saying that their football season was a failure because they didn’t win the Big 12 title. The owners of the Big
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 2 hours, 28 minutes ago
Oh please.
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admin commented on the blog post Bush Paves the Way for Henderson? 2 hours, 28 minutes ago
Oh please.
Also, hadn’t realized that Sean was short for Seantrel. Cool.
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P.Drez commented on the blog post Can Anyone Stop Wayne Rooney? 2 hours, 40 minutes ago
When Bendtner scores 32, I’ll do that write-up.
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gingerballs wrote a new blog post: We talkin’ ’bout brackets 2 hours, 46 minutes ago
Alright, in case you all did not have a chance to swing by Barking Carnival today the fantake network is having a bracket contest. Be sure and sign up using your fantake handle and what not.
Go Here
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Password: Damien
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Farmer Ted commented on the blog post Castille Day 2 hours, 59 minutes ago
No, unless by “steal” you mean “smoke” and by “laptops” you mean — well, you get the idea.
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Beat the Barkers NCAA Tourney Bracket 3 hours, 11 minutes ago
I jumped on the aggies -2 at the open like it was a two for one table dance.
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Vasherized commented on the blog post Texas finishes sweep of Iowa 3 hours, 13 minutes ago
That would certainly explain his often hasty exits.
Until you’ve seen a stripper run a 4.4 40 in 6 inch heels to dive through the sliding door of a fleeing minivan taxicab because a certain gentlemen had forgotten to “close out his tab”, well, you haven’t really lived have you?
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Vasherized commented on the blog post Beat the Barkers NCAA Tourney Bracket 3 hours, 55 minutes ago
36 entries so far. Sailor Ripley demands 200 by Thursday or he pulls the plug.
And nothing goes better with the mockleneck than adult braces.
TripsWrong said:
March 2nd, 2008 at 7:11 pm
“Oh, Gary. Why?”
Have you been watching SpongeBob? [Ms. Puff]Oh, Spongebob. Why?[/Ms. Puff]
Unbiased Horn said:
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I feel really really dirty for not feeling bad about this loss. I think God will punish me and this team within the next few weeks for this.
Kafka said:
March 2nd, 2008 at 8:43 pm
The horns showed a lot of heart against Tech and refused to give up. Very impressive.
Reasons for the huge difference in the number of free throws:
* The normal Big 12 refereeing screw job for the road team
* Tech’s offense was more efficient at getting shots inside
* UT had to intentionally foul like crazy at the end of the game
The horns have been settling for 3’s all year. When they are not hitting them, it can get ugly. I am finally starting to give up on Barnes running a normal offense. He is a great defensive coach but his offense looks overly reliant on guys making one on one plays (i.e. it does not produce a lot of easy looks). I am guessing it has something to do with practise time management and that stressing a one on one approach is more fun for the players and lets them focus on developing their individual skills (so they are more motivated to practise). Maybe it also helps in recruiting.
It is extremely frustrating to see so few assists by Augustin. He has demonstrated (about 4 or 5 games ago) that he can be a brilliant passer when he wants to do so.
The horns have difficulty executing a full court press effectively with Augustin and Abrams on the floor because they are too small to trap effectively and because they do it so infrequently.
The horns did not change their offense much when they got way behind and time became a factor. Instead of going to a fast breaking, up tempo offense, they just stayed in their same half court offense. The horns’ offense is Augustin and Augustin is not a fast breaking guy. He prefers to attack from the half court offense. So, even though the horns have a ton of speed at every other position (besides Augustin), they seldom fast break. The horns have full court pressed rarely this season so it is not surprising that they were completely ineffective at getting the ball out of Voskul’s hands.
It would be a great idea to give Augustin some rest. He played 40 minutes against Tech. He did great scoring but there was little in the gas tank on the defensive side by the end of the game.
Justin Mason was impressive. He looked great at the point at the end of the game. Besides giving Augustin a little rest (relatively speaking), playing Mason at point puts another 3 point shooter (Augustin) on the perimeter away from the ball and also forces the D to pay a lot of attention to Mason. Mason is usually guarded by a small forward and he can penetrate pretty well on those guys.
The offense needs to generate a lot more close shots for Damion.
I thought the game demonstrated that the horns are not very proficient at playing up tempo, fast breaking, full court pressing basketball. This makes sense when you consider that Augustin and Abrams are playing nearly 40 minutes every game (barring foul trouble).
RansomStoddard said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:19 am
When our offense degenerates into DJ doing his Meadowlark Lemon impersonation, and everyone else standing around; or when AJ shoots more than ten times, we will lose. Mark it down.
ChrisApplewhite said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:27 am
Pssh. Everyone knows All-4-One sang “I swear.” Come on, dude.
ChicagoTTU said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:37 am
The UT win keeps our NIT prayers alive.
South '06 said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:56 am
The wild inconsistency of the Big XII this season gives me tired head.
Oh well, you’ll still be dancing away while we are trying not to look too lethargic losing in the first round of the NIT.
McLovin said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 12:22 pm
Tech fan using an alias. Great.
Scipio Tex said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
He go bye-bye now. No one is allowed to pick on South ‘06 except me.
Scipio Tex said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:05 pm
I want it on the record that Chris Applewhite was able to identify The Back Street Boys on sight and was also aware of the identity of All-4-One as the actual singers of “I Swear.”
I am troubled.
ChrisApplewhite said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:15 pm
I was in middle school once. All-4-One was the first CD I ever owned.
Now I mostly listen to Leif Garrett. You know, classic rock.
Doperbo said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:33 pm
You weren’t as upset when you got nailed on Love Hurts/Cheap Trick for some reason.
I’m just saying.
Scipio Tex said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 5:58 pm
True. Don’t ever question me on Bell Biv Devoe knowledge though.
AustinYankee said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 6:07 pm
Ronnie, Bobby, Ricky and Mike,
If I like the girl,
Who cares who you like?
Before there was BBD, there was New Edition, and all was good.
Scipio Tex said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 8:15 pm
Tech put up quite an effort. Gadzooks.
srr50 said:
March 3rd, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I will give up my Survivor album when they pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
echeese said:
March 4th, 2008 at 5:14 am
Bell Biv Devoe
Girl now you know
BBD videos rocked – always in the hot tub and stuff – not bad for the three nerds from New Edition
South '06 said:
March 4th, 2008 at 6:21 am
“No one is allowed to pick on South ‘06 except me.”
At least you are clever about it. Getting made fun of by and idiot is just… insulting.
“Now I mostly listen to Leif Garrett. You know, classic rock.”
Those tears in his “Behind the Music” episode… those were REAL, man.