Basketball Articles
Thoughts on MSU Loss
Posted by Trips Right on December 20th, 2008 under Basketball
You hear coaches and pundits talk about it all the time. Finish. Play all 60 minutes, all 9 innings, and all 40 minutes. Finish the game. You probably heard about “finish’s” kissing cousins clutch time and winning time. All cliche phrases, I know, but the reason they’re cliche is because there’s a sizeable portion of truth to them. And you won’t find a college basketball game all year that’s a better illustration of the importance of finishing than the game played this afternoon in the Toyota Center.
Well finishing in basketball is about three things. Getting good shots. Taking care of the basketball. And hitting free throws. To do all three at a high level, at an efficient level, you have to have solid point guard play. You can’t have an offguard masquerading as a point guard or a small forward who happens to be your best ball handler and still have the capability to finish close games against quality opponents. Especially quality opponents that can defend as well as an Izzo coached Michigan State team.
For a large majority of the ballgame, Texas rebounded, defended, and shot selected like a top 5 basketball team. But when it came down to the last 5 minutes of the game, after Izzo had a chance to dissect our sets designed to free up AJ, counter to Connor from deep, or hit a lowpost player as the third option, we were locked down. Locked down by a team with equivalent athletes that were on to what we were doing. What then? Well then you need a player that can create off the bounce to free up a shooter or get to the rim to manufacture points at the foul line. Instead, at the end of the game, we were left with a one dimensional shooter running through baseline screens, three frontcourt players standing and watching, and a psuedo point guard pounding the deck waiting for sets that worked the first 35 minutes of the game to magically work a few minutes more.
Travis Walton aka Alcatraz.
On to the grades.
AJ Abrams. B. Granted the dimunitive senior didn’t have his typical shooting game, but AJ really did a decent job letting the game come to him until he started to panic along with the rest of the team under the 3 minute mark when he forced a couple shots. You could see this one coming, though. Hell, we called Travis Walton’s likelihood of locking up Abrams in the MSU preview. Walton is one of the best perimeter defenders in the college game and he has the luxury of being able to focus on the defensive end with Lucas having all the ball handling responsibilities. But AJ didn’t really play all that bad. He just doesn’t have a lead guard driving and kicking to him anymore when facing good defenses. Three assists and no turnovers even considering the 3-10 shooting nets him a B in my opinion. But as Scipio mentioned, this was the perfect case study of why AJ won’t make it in the league.
Damion James. B+. At the risk of breaking my arm patting myself on the back, make that two for two on ingame predictions. I said Damion would come out inspired playing against a talent like Morgan. And the junior from Nacadoches did just that, outplaying the Spartan’s talented wing with a nice 15 point 11 board night that included a couple deep bombs and two blocks. He doesn’t get the A because he absolutely disappeared down the stretch. That’s a little on him and a lot on Barnes for failing to get him looks that countered off of the Spartan overplay on AJ Abrams staggered screens. DJ needed to be one of those screeners that benefitted getting the ball on the wing after the Spartan’s overhelped to AJ’s double screens, because DJ is the only wing player we have that can shoot it and, if need be, blow by a defender closing out. Instead, this position was reserved for Atchley who was locked down after hitting two initial 3’s.
Connor Atchley. B. It was a tale of two halves for Connor. Give him a D in the first and an A in the second. Average it out an he gets the solid B. The good news is that Connor finally found his shooting stroke and hit two big 3’s. He looked much more confident in the second half. The bad news is that he looked like he didn’t belong on the floor in the first half. Connor still needs to compete a little bit better on the boards, but he showed some good signs of returning to last year’s form.
Justin Mason. D. I’m gonna be a hard ass for a change. Yes, I know he had ten stitches, but he did nothing down the stretch to create when AJ was locked down and our post play was non-existent. Justin’s size should have allowed him to find some offense in the lane against Lucas but maybe the injury made Mason tentative. Justin’s defense on Lucas was among the worst performances I’ve seen from the usually reliable defensive stopper. JM did not give up the cushion necessary to keep the talented Spartan guard in front. Lucas got to the lane repeatedly in the second half, creating shots and put backs for teammates when he wasn’t converting point blank looks.
Gary Johnson. A. Gary Johnson had the best game he’s had in a Horn uniform, and he needs to be a bigger part of the offense not just in terms of looks, but also as a playmaker and creater from the high post. His ability to shoot the 15 footer and put the ball on the floor and get to the rim make him the ideal candidate to operate out of the high post to compliment Pittman in the low post. But back to Gary’s statline, 8-12 for 20 and 4 man size offensive boards. Defense was great again.
Damion James needs to be more of a creater against good defenses.
Clint Chapman. C. Flash was back flashing potential. Not much playing time to get a true evaluation, but it’s obvious Clint needs to get stronger so he can finish on the low block. He still runs the floor well and has terrific athleticism. We need it to start translating to production.
Pittman. B. I was pleased to see Dexter show some fire in the game today, I just wish we could have gotten him the ball in the second half so he could continue to do work. Still, Big Dex was just 1-6 today although he did pull down 7 boards in limited action. I’m telling you, though, he’d be load on high/low sets that paired him up with GJ.
Dogus Balbay. B. I thought Dogus did a nice job of filling in for Mason in the first half. Dogus continues to be a liability and a source of helpside defense because of his inability to shoot the basketball, however. Teams will continue to be more than happy to rotate off of Dogus and invite jumpers from the sophomore until he knocks down some shots. The bright spot for Balbay was he was the only player that could handle Kalin Lucas on the ball. Dogus’ strength and quickness kept Lucas out of the lane, and resulted in the Spartan offense bogging down, having to rely on Suton for scoring in the first half.
Varez Ward. Incomplete. With 3 personal fouls and Damion James playing so well, Varez didn’t get many minutes. I would have loved to see him get a crack at Lucas.
Anxiously awaiting your arrival.
Coaching. F. I’m not sure how to say this politely, but I think the AAU coaches in attendance could have come out of the stands and dry erased a better offensive plan of attack than Barnes did the last 5 minutes. If you didn’t watch the game, this is an example of our possessions the last 5 minutes.
Staggered double screen with AJ running back and forth trying to shake Walton. Mason pounds the ball out front. AJ runs off of the weakside post screen to see if he can shake Walton. Mason pounds the ball out front. Pass to Connor. Pass back to Mason. Mason pounds the ball out front. Mason penetrates for an off balance runner. Or hands to AJ to penetrate for an off balance runner. Defensive rebound and run out. Rinse. Repeat.
No isolation for James on MSU’s worst defender. No high/low down the stretch to get Johnson matched on Suton. No ball screen and float for GJ to get him isolated on Suton. Instead, it was Greg Davis-esque beat our heads against the wall refusal to adjust to Izzo’s adjustments. Pathetic.
In the end, a good point guard could have mitigated our offensive set problems with an ability to create and manufacture points by driving and dishing or driving and drawing fouls. Avery Bradley can’t get here soon enough.
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Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches ago
I like my wine in a box…. I like my wine in a box GIIIRL
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players? ago
We commented on the lass during telecast. Thanks for, getting this up, so to speak.
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Mister Mike commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches ago
Sailor’s sponsoring it? Holy shit…that likely means goats, togas, and lots of cheap wine.
Welcome to the network!
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 17 minutes ago
Yeah your right, penders teams were at least fun to watch play. Barnes offense is pretty bad not as bad as Tom’s but its all relative to who is watching the worst offense in Texas history.
“His teams did not play D, did not box out, and were generally unsound in the fundamentals of the game.”
Close -
czarcw commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 18 minutes ago
Our hoops team is the basketball version of Major League.
Jake Taylor = Damion James
Pedro Cerrano = Dexter Pittman
Willie Mays Hays = Avery Bradley
Roger Dorn = Justin Mason
Isuro Tanaka (Major League II) = Dogus Balbay
Rube Baker (Major Leauge II) = Jordan HamiltonIf Craig Way starts drinking whiskey during the broadcasts, it’ll complete the analogy.
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Farmer Ted commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches 21 minutes ago
Nice job with this – and welcome to the network, on behalf of Better Off Red. See you at the Fantake retreat in Vegas that Sailor Ripley is sponsoring this summer!
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J Rog commented on the blog post Game Day: Spurs vs. Lakers Open Thread 25 minutes ago
Fell apart in the fourth quarter again. Can’t give up 28 points to close out a game. Spurs, Longhorns….heartache once again.
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Farmer Ted commented on the blog post Thoughts on the win in Austin 28 minutes ago
Nice job Hiphop. Very nice to win what is probably the toughest game on the schedule handily, although the Hawks obviously caught UT at a good time.
The Morningstar FT was terrible and hilarious. He said the ball was wet, which clearly means Texas was cheating somehow. Would the second chance off balance leaner
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Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Another night, another would-be hero 29 minutes ago
I don’t think McCoy played anywhere near the level of Suh and the numbers make it clear that he did not. Suh had twice as many tackles (77-31), sacks (11-5) and nearly tackles for loss (22-14.5). Suh also broke up 10 passes, if he gets stonewalled on the rush he doesn’t allow it to take
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 30 minutes ago
We are bound to the past no matter how great the past is, we are bound to fail if we do not look to the future.
The End -
J Rog wrote a new blog post: Missed Opportunities: Spurs vs. Lakers Recap 35 minutes ago
Whiskey. Tango. Foxtrot. This game was served up on a silver platter for the Spurs and they managed to fumble it like a Minnesota Viking in the playoffs.
I think perhaps Will Ferrell can describe my emotions on the current state of the Spurs season better than I.
The Spurs hung around for most of the
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slugfest commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 38 minutes ago
EP, I get your point, but I don’t think the fact that Texas hasn’t won a tourney came as an underdog doesn’t support it. Teams are favored because they are better. The odds that they win are greater than those who are not favored. It’s not like Texas goes into games with a secret weapon
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Mister Mike commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players? 43 minutes ago
I think KU should demand an immediate investigation. Find someone to get to the bottom of this.
I volunteer myself.
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Top 8 Teams in College Hoops 46 minutes ago
Georgetown?
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RRR commented on the blog post Thoughts on the win in Austin 46 minutes ago
Good write up, hiphop. I love the versatitility of the Morris twins on defense. Xavier Henry is probably the key to a big run in the tournament. If he starts hitting open looks, the inside game will really open up. Post to post passing is fun to watch.
It’s pretty nice when
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 50 minutes ago
PB, just talking. I’m not ready to replace him but something has to change. The comment about playing 3 on 5 three quarters into the season is just astoundingly bad.
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Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Petrino Building Fence Around Arkansas 59 minutes ago
Here is more info on Frazier. He is such a great player, and Arkansas needs to land him in a big way.
http://www.kiehlfrazier15.com/Home.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow1mOrMQXYw
These Highlights are from his Sophomore year, and he had a bigger and better 2009. OH MY!
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Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Petrino Building Fence Around Arkansas 59 minutes ago
Here is more info on Frazier. He is such a great player, and Arkansas needs to land him in a big way.
http://www.kiehlfrazier15.com/Home.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ow1mOrMQXYw
These Highlights are from his Sophomore year, and he had a bigger and better 2009. OH MY!
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Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Petrino Building Fence Around Arkansas 59 minutes ago
Here is more info on Frazier. He is such a great player, and Arkansas needs to land him in a big way.
http://www.kiehlfrazier15.com/Home.html
These Highlights are from his Sophomore year, and he had a bigger and better 2009. OH MY!
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
It takes more time…unless you’re a Kentucky fan.
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RRR commented on the blog post Mid-Season Thoughts and OU Pre-Game 1 hour, 3 minutes ago
Thanks Trips. I’m hoping for lots of Willie Warren trying to be Sheron Collins. TMG in sync is the scariest thing to face in Norman. That or we get beat up on the boards which seems to be recurring theme of Texas Tech road games.
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slugfest commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 4 minutes ago
I don’t think it’s a case of RB not being able to coach, or doing a poor job of coaching. If you read the entirety of Katz’ blog post, he clearly sounds like a coaching searching for answers — answers that come in the form of players contributing, doing what they are coached to do.
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Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post John Pelphrey’s Unconventional Approach 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
I agree that an NIT bid would be acceptable this year, but that if the Razorbacks can get to 20 wins they will have a very good chance at the NCAA Tourney.
Our RPI is bad, and we have no signature wins.
However, we have 8 games left on the SEC regular season schedule. If we
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Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post John Pelphrey’s Unconventional Approach 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
I agree that an NIT bid would be acceptable this year, but that if the Razorbacks can get to 20 wins they will have a very good chance at the NCAA Tourney.
Our RPI is bad, and we have no signature wins.
However, we have 8 games left on the SEC regular season schedule. If we
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Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
TP welcome to the network.
I like how you broke this down, and identified which positions history shows a high star ranking has proven to be important. I personally feel that after what all the recruiting sites dub their top players that there is a major falloff. We all love that the recruiting sites bring
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Art Vandelay commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 16 minutes ago
Groundhog Day said:
February 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am“How can everyone on the team have worse basketball sense than my 5th graders? Honestly? We are the dumbest bunch I have ever seen. We weren’t earlier in the year. Hell, Bradley was smartest player, by far, in any of the summer h.s. games. Now he plays
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Farmer Ted commented on the blog post Petrino Building Fence Around Arkansas 1 hour, 18 minutes ago
Good stuff JA. But the Huskers call dibs on any dual threat QB named Frazier thankyouverymuch.
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players? 1 hour, 21 minutes ago
I’m convinced.
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
“No, but I became a man in Juarez.”
I bet in your fantasy you were the donkey in the show ? No ?“Eight Dollar drink-and-drowns, and cans that merely say “beer” in Juarez will turn anyone into a man”
That is why Trips was drinking river water by the bridge for too many years. In the -
Darius Pourceau commented on the blog post John Pelphrey’s Unconventional Approach 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
I don’t think we have to win the SEC tourny necessarily. If we make it to the SEC Tourny championship game and have won about 20 games, I would say a tourny bid would look likely. But that is a pretty big task. I know no one cares about the NIT, but that wouldnt be
The General said:
December 20th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I don’t think Mason could see out of his left eye. He missed a couple of opportunities to drive to the left in the las three minutes, and he looked tentative pulling the trigger (excepting the two late 3’s). Barnes needed to recognize that he was hurting, and give Varez or Balbay some time.
The set that freed Atchley up for the three’s should have been run every time down the court, except maybe rotate personel a bit and switch sides to hide it. Since Damian and Atchley are two of our three effective post entry passers (with Balbay) it makes since to run everything through them.
Not isolating James on the wing in the last few minutes was a huge mistake.
GJ was a man. I was actually pissed when they made Damian the player of the game.
I actually liked when Barnes made AJ the point guard at the 5 minute mark. I thought he was going to bring Ward in at the two and leave AJ out there to sit an obviously hurting JM.
With all that, if we execute maybe two more trips on the offensive end, then we win.
Izzo owns The Rick.
Summers saves Spartans « Searching For Billy Edelin said:
December 20th, 2008 at 4:17 pm
[...] fall guy here. He made some questionable decisions down the stretch and is Exhibit A of how a “shoot first” point guard can hinder his team from winning. Isolation isn’t always the answer kid, especially against a Tom Izzo coached [...]
The General said:
December 20th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
Also, RE this is why AJ won’t make it in the league.
AJ will never merit the other teams defensive focus and best on ball defender in The League. That might be why he gets a shot.
Though, I don’t think he makes it in the league either unless he lucks out and goes to the right team that has a roster spot and uses him the right way (see Boobie Gibson)
The General said:
December 20th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Another problem that worried me coming into the season and showed itself hear today is a crunch time ball handler. I would have like to see Barnes give it to AJ at the 5:00 mark and tell him it is your game to win or lose.
Somebody has to be The Guy. Mason isn’t enough of a threat on offense to be The Guy. It has to be AJ, and it would have be nice to get him experience in the role now.
RansomStoddard said:
December 20th, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Having three of our guys standing around watching Mason dribble the ball is really frustrating. I’m not on the James bandwagon. He seems pretty good when he has a poor defensive guy on him but at the first sign of any decent defense or a doubleteam, he totally disappears. With the emphasis on shutting AJ down, he should have had 30. Can we put an end to the ‘James is a shooting forward’ nonsense now? He’s not. He doesn’t have the shot, or the hops, or the handle.
I listened to the MSU radio guys and they were pretty surprised that State was able to hang with Texas.
srr50 said:
December 20th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
If it’s any consolation Trips, Barnes pretty much gave himself an F after the game — for different reasons.
He said they shouldn’t have gone to the 2-3 zone late in the game, but they hoped to catch Michigan State by surprise and cause a turnover, as the shift had done earlier.
He also mentioned that he should have had Dogus in more during the 2nd half since he seemed to frustrate and interrupt the Michigan State motion offense better than anyone else.
Michigan state night in and night out is one of the 5 best man defensive teams in the NCAA.
Izzo coaches with a football mentality, hell they sometimes wear pads in practice to bang on each other.
They are as good or better than any other team at slipping blockout on the offensive boards. I thought late we actually did a decent job of initially blocked out, but Michigan State is relentless in motioning off the blockout, and they got a couple of key offensive rebounds that way.
Bob in Houston said:
December 20th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
“I would have like to see Barnes give it to AJ at the 5:00 mark and tell him it is your game to win or lose.”
They did give the ball to AJ from about the seven-minute mark to the five-minute mark… some good, some bad.
“He also mentioned that he should have had Dogus in more during the 2nd half since he seemed to frustrate and interrupt the Michigan State motion offense better than anyone else.”
Maybe I wasn’t watching carefully, but I didn’t see him get any time in the second half. I’m all in favor of disrupting the other guy’s offense, but Dogus is a huge liability on offense right now. He really is Gottliebesque.
I felt like I was watching a replay of last year’s Wisconsin loss. Enough to lead, but not enough to control, and they make no plays at the end to win.
Kevin Gentry said:
December 20th, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Tough to see Abrams getting a B when he doesn’t reach double digit points . He doesn’t really add much else other than scoring. Gary Johnson was abusing Suton and should of continued to get more shots at the end vs the upper classman getting all the late looks. Reminded me of Mack and his LB decisions of 2007.
The General said:
December 20th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
“They did give the ball to AJ from about the seven-minute mark to the five-minute mark… some good, some bad.”
I think he got three possessions. I don’t know that it would have made the difference this game, but he has to get the experience some time.
OUsniffsware said:
December 20th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
We had 1 bucket in the last 6 min. INEXCUSABLE. Barnes F-
uthookem said:
December 20th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Oh yeah, slightly off topic, but I wanted to comment on the Texas fans at the game.
Our seats were behind the basket (not high dollar seats by any means) and we were standing up to start the game, and the old fucks behind us (my wife and I were with her parents, who also qualify as old fucks in some circles, and were also standing) started to piss and moan about us sitting down and being at a neutral site and acting like aggies and all kinds of shit.
When did Texas fans become such pussies? We sat down after the first basket and I stood for most of the last 10 minutes.
Are all of you folks bitching, or should I just bone up on my karate kid so I can take down all of the old, whiny, bitch Texas fans out there that abhor standing?
The General said:
December 20th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
uthookem,
Haven’t been to many games at The Drum, eh? I particularly enjoy it when we get REAL rowdy heading into timeouts after snoozing through a defensive possession.
bduran said:
December 20th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
Something I’ve seen a lot from Rick Barnes teams is the dribbling at the top of the key and slowing down the offense with about 5 minutes left and around a 5 point lead. I’ve always thought this was a deliberate decision on Barnes part to limit possessions left in the game and keep the lead. which sucks because we need all 35 seconds to find our shot. Maybe it’s okay if you have an Augustin or Durant, but we don’t have a guy who can reliabably create on the perimeter late in the shot clock. It’s really frustrating to watch.
Also, when a team has the ball with about 50 seconds left and a one point lead, you go for a fairly quick shot. At least you attempt to get any good shot you can. You do not dribble the shot clock out, take a bad shot, and then give the ball back to the other team with an almost full shot clock. Terrible decision. And you call timeouts when you’re down with less than 20 seconds left and you have the ball if you don’t have a true point guard or floor leader. Terrible
Spartans Weblog » Texas Game Recap (12/20/08) said:
December 20th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
[...] court, it’s curious that Texas didn’t go to James more–as one Longhorn observer would have preferred–given Morgan’s propensity to pick up cheap [...]
bighornfan32 said:
December 20th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I think this is where we’ll struggle all year long. When we are matched up against a poor defensive team that can score a lot, our superior defense will hold them in check and we’ll do enough to win on the offensive end. But when we play a team that is just as athletic and defends just as well, we’ll lose. We just dont have an offense that can win games.
CrazyJoeDavola said:
December 20th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
From my where I sat (lower deck, about 10 rows up opposite the Horns’ bench), my highly reductionist one-sentence review: MSU runs an offense, we run plays.
I think by this point, we can be pretty sure of what we are and what we’ll be for the rest of the year. I think we’re a 4-seed, possible Sweet 16 team if we get the right draw. Otherwise, I think we’re a pretty pedestrian squad.
EggNog said:
December 21st, 2008 at 12:23 am
We simply don’t have a go to guy. We have a roster full of role players this year, don’t let a crisp offense against Texas Southern fool you into thinking these guys are better than they are.
Pittman doesn’t look like the next coming of Shaq when the opponents aren’t throwing 6′7″ guys at him. Damion James cleans up on garbage points but doesn’t have any real offensive repertoire and cannot dribble. Mason is our most solid player, but has limited talent, he is all effort. AJ has an incredible shot, and isn’t afraid to use it. He is still trapped in a 5′8″ and that will never change.
This was never a top 5 team, the last two games should have made that clear. Barnes shouldn’t get an F just because of unrealistic expectations. This team did exactly what it could do, play a methodical game and keep it close. We will always be “in” each game, and we will win a few close ones. Don’t confuse that with greatness. Until we can go out and destroy teams, we will be dangerous but not frightening. We will be able to beat anyone but also able to lose to anyone.
With the players we have, we don’t have mismatches that work out in our favor most the time. There is very little for Barnes to work with.
Bob in Houston said:
December 21st, 2008 at 5:54 am
bduran: I also wanted them to think two-for-one in the last minute, but I also doubted it would happen. They just don’t (can’t) approach offense that way right now.
EN: One of Pittman’s big problems right now is that he’s looking to dribble. He has to understand that when people see that he is capable of scoring almost a point a minute, he’ll get collapsed upon and get no room. I found it interesting that after he got his fourth foul, he never got back in.
I agree, this is not a top-5 team, at least not after MSU gave all the big kids the blueprint for beating them. Not everyone will be able to do it. If you pester AJ every step, and take the ball to Pittman and get him into foul trouble, you force Johnson and James to score. They were able to do it yesterday, but not enough. Mason takes himself out of the game with his lack of confidence as a shooter.
Still a good team, and capable of playing with anyone (but probably not UNC), but with a creaky offense that might not produce when it counts.
RansomStoddard said:
December 21st, 2008 at 6:40 am
Agree we are pretty overrated. I’d say anywhere from 15-20 is about right. The comment that James cleans up on garbage, has no offensive repertoire and cannot dribble is exactly right. Hard to see NBA potential there.
EggNog said:
December 21st, 2008 at 7:38 am
James has the physical tools to make it in the NBA. Like most guys that have the right body, he relied on his talent to carry him all these years and never developed any skill. As a junior in college, if he hasn’t learned to dribble yet, it just won’t happen. He did better in the post because (at the college level) he could use his body to dominate.
I don’t see the drive needed to make it at the next level. Someone else mentioned in another thread that he seemed out of it because he was too concerned about impressing scouts. If that is true it is sad, he is putting his focus on the wrong things to become a better player. Durant’s best asset was his drive to be great, and the amount of time/effort he put into becoming a player. Same with Jordan, Kobe, LeBron, any of the greats. Physically there are always plenty of guys that match up, but it is the commitment to greatness that separates players.
At the bottom level, where guys are trying to make it into the league, an NBA body isn’t enough to stick around. You also have to have one thing that you can do very well. Daniel Gibson made it because he was a legit shooter (AJ is too, Gibson barely makes the cut at his height and is at least 4-6″ taller than AJ). What can we say James brings to the table?
Texoz said:
December 21st, 2008 at 7:48 am
I’m not as negative as some of you. I think this team should be Top 10, and maybe Top 5 if they keep developing and learn from this game (that includes Barnes).
Having Mason taking a 3-pointer on our last two possessions is crazy. I blame Barnes on that one. Also, twice MSU scored on inbound passes under their basket. Once? Okay, but a second time should not happen within a few minutes of each other. Either the players or the coach have to recognize mistakes and make adjustments during the game.
Not sure why Pittman didn’t play more in the 2nd half? Was he really dominated by MSU in the first half? The guy scored 35 points in his last two games, albeit against lesser oppents, but still, he had some serious offensive mojo going and we didnt’ try to build on that???
Others have pointed out that this team still has tons of potential to improve.
Atchley – not playing anywhere close to last year. Through 12 games I bet he already has more air balls than all of last season. WTF?
Pittman – starting to become dominant inside, and can make free throws
Damion – still adjusting and will hopefully find his place
Mason – playing great defense, but still needs to provide more offense, and can. He’s done it before.
AJ – might improve as PG, but probably has already reached peak as his role for UT
Gary – we just saw what he’s capable of in the MSU game and I think we can expect more of that as the season goes on. He was the one really bright spot in an otherwise disappointing game.
Chapman – again, he’s showing flashes of being a good inside player, but will probably need to get a little stronger to post up against bigger players.
Dogus – is showing good defense, but will hopefully show a lot more offensive development as the season goes on
Varez – pretty much the same as Dogus comment
Hill – with Wangmene out for the season we need him to play a little more
Harrison – ??
Work said:
December 21st, 2008 at 9:43 am
It’s a long season, guys.
Last year, after MSU beat us, Izzo told Rick, “You guys are going to get better, we won’t.” He was right.
I can imagine the same thing could be said after this loss.
Kafka said:
December 21st, 2008 at 10:41 am
I’m less down on the horns and Barnes than most. I expected this team to have offensive problems this season because:
* at PG we have a converted small forward who had very little experience at PG (Mason)
* at SF we had a guy who had been playing power forward the last two years who is not yet good at handling the ball (Damion)
* we have no go to guy (Abrams and Connor are catch and shoot guys)
* because of the lack of 1 on 1 players and creative point guard, the horns needed a coach who is excellent at constructing a structured offense. Barnes is not that guy.
The horns had a real out of kilter offense coming into this game and Izzo simply took away our number 1 weapon, Abrams. I thought the horns did a lot better than I would have expected with Abrams only getting 8 points. Gary, Damion, and Connor did well. Mason is protecting the ball. Dex only scored 6 points but he was a monster on the boards (8 in 18 minutes). Dex got 4 fouls but a couple of them were going for rebounds. He played the 1 on 1 D fine.
The horns are going to improve a lot as the season progresses. Damion will get better at handling the ball. Dex will get more fit and confident. Mason will improve his shooting to mediocre.
Most importantly (and most in doubt), Barnes has to construct a more balanced and passing oriented offense that gets shots for these guys where they can hit them and is cognizant of the abilities and limitations of the players.
The dribble drive approach does not work with this group of players. Gary can do the dribbling and driving but is unlikely to pass the ball when double teamed. Barnes needs to be using more give and go because this significantly reduces the ball handling skills required to run the offense.
Abrams could be a very effective screener because the opposition D will not leave him alone. This means whoever Abrams screens for is going to get a clean look at the shot off the screen. Might want to equip Abrams with a helmet before he assumes the screening duties.
Damion needs to stop dribbling in the open floor. Stop, pick it up and pass. In half court, he needs to back his man down more when dribbling.
anonymous said:
December 21st, 2008 at 12:14 pm
Trips,
Is Bradley a true point type? I hope so, because no matter how much talent they have next year, there seems to be a hole at point unless AB can do it.
And Barnes teams without a true point tend to be ugly to watch on the offensive end.
Bob in Houston said:
December 21st, 2008 at 1:06 pm
“I thought the horns did a lot better than I would have expected with Abrams only getting 8 points.”
I agree there, Kafka. They lose to both Texas State and Texas Southern if Abrams and Pittman combine for 14 (instead of 47 and 46).
But now I really wonder what’s going to happen against Wisconsin: who’s going to score, who they will look to in a tough spot.
I’m glad they’re getting back on the floor right away.
The General said:
December 21st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
“Is Bradley a true point type? ”
No he is not, but he should be able to create his own offense at the end of games and end of possessions, something we don’t have now.
Those of y’all that are down on Damian must have a supply of 6′7″ guys that can jump out of the gym with a reliable jump shot and ability to rebound with the big guys stored up some where that I don’t know about. They don’t seem all that common to me.
Trips Right said:
December 21st, 2008 at 4:43 pm
A little bird told me we were recruiting Jai Lucas, the transfer from Florida. He’s a true point guard.
But yes, Avery Bradley is a high basketball IQ guy that can create offense for himself and teammates. People with an eye for this sort of thing think he’s a better player than Hamilton.
Art Vandelay said:
December 21st, 2008 at 5:10 pm
Kafka,
I appreciate the optimism…. but everyone is good coach with top 10 depth and a killer floor general. Barnes got out coached by Izzo. MSU was working their offense to generate points in the point, dunking on in-bounds plays and executing down the stretch. Our guys…. not so much.
dick said:
December 21st, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Jai was sitting front row with his parents. Unless that was JL3, I was across the court so not positive. How would we have room for Lucas?
This game was booorring as hell, even the aggy/lsu game was more exciting. Neither team could set something up and execute it regularly. The return of Suton makes a big difference for MSU.
Aggie Lurking said:
December 21st, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I have a daughter playing 3rd grade hoops and I broke down the end of the game for her showing all of the simple mistakes that y’all made. I showed her how to guard the best player on the other team you don’t follow them thru all the screens and picks if you know where they are going- you just beat them to the spot and deny the pass.
Abrams was blanketed at the end and your team fell apart offensively. Then to compound the error while on defense they left a shooter open on the wing while his man stood flat footed in the lane with the game on the line.
I can’t believe these errors were Rick’s fault.I kinda think the message got lost in delivery to the team.
Jai was there.Which team he was looking at is anyone’s guess but you guys need him worse than us. Without better clutch time PG play the Big XII road games are gonna be tough.
Bob in Houston said:
December 21st, 2008 at 6:44 pm
“I showed her how to guard the best player on the other team you don’t follow them thru all the screens and picks if you know where they are going- you just beat them to the spot and deny the pass.”
Except that Michigan State did follow Abrams all over the floor.
“Then to compound the error while on defense they left a shooter open on the wing while his man stood flat footed in the lane with the game on the line.”
Summers was on the other side of the midcourt line when the play started because he broke back to be an emergency outlet. When the ball was inbounded to Morgan, James cheated into the lane when Morgan started to drive on Johnson, which happened before Summers had arrived at his 3-point spot. Maybe James shouldn’t have cheated, but Morgan almost certainly would have tried to get to the hoop if James had stayed outside the lane.
Trips Right said:
December 22nd, 2008 at 6:59 am
Texas didn’t lose this game because Summers hit a 3. Texas lost the game because we had one field goal in the last 5 minutes and have no counter off of Abram’s over plays other than an Atchley float and pop. At least not counters we feel confident using the last 5 minutes of a game, apparently.