Basketball Articles
Liveblogging: Basketball – Texas Longhorns vs. Appalachian State (2nd Half)
Posted by Trips Right on January 2nd, 2009 under Basketball
A little context for the first half, Barnes not too happy with Atchley, James, and Abrams. They rode pine for most of the first half. The trio combined for 9 points and six fouls. Good news is that Gary Johnson hasn’t missed a beat with 5 blocks and points. Pittman is wrecking shit down low, 4-6 with 11 points and 5 boards.
I don’t know why the Longhorn nation isn’t welcoming Jai Lucas in with open arms. Our guards are dog shit shooting the basketball. Mason, Balbay, Ward, and Smith are a combined 1-9 from the field.
James takes the opening possession and jacks a horrible 3. Pittman board, and put back.
Pitt with great low post D, follows it up with deep post position and a nice half hook to give him 4 points for the half.
Secondary break finds Dex down low with great position. He kicks it back out to James who drives into the teeth of the helping defense for foul shots. Beautiful.
Third possession, Pittman, low post pivot move and dunk. Great patience by Atchley to wait him out and deliver. We’re coaching, apparently. 6 points in the 2nd half for Dex, time out Appy.
Abrams with a deep 3 off a ball screen. Bad shot good result.
Pittman channels Bill Walton with a feed to a cutting Atchley from the high post. And 1. Dexter f’n Pittman.
Texas up 21. If it gets much worse, I’m watching the Sugar Bowl.
Pittman finally misses after a nimble spin move.
Balbay’s pressure forces a turnover.
Appy comes down and draws a foul. Texas up 17.
Balbay with a nice dime out of the inbounds underneath. Pittman with a nice catch and flush. Pittmans hands will make him money.
Abrams comes down and pulls 1 on 5. Pittman bails him out with a board. Goes to the line to get a new career high. Misses the foul shot but Texas gets the rebound. Pittman at the line trying to get a new career high of 20. Make that 21.
Time out. Wesley Snipes is trying to sell me a total gym with help from Chuck Norris and a spread eagle Christie Brinkley. Wesley, it’s pretty, it’s so pretty.
Reid Gettys joking about tongue injuries. Wow.
Ward gets ripped and Appy converts the easy layup.
Mason breaks down the defense and drops an And 1 dime to Matt Hill.
Jeez, James rebounds above the rim. Mason comes down and hits a nice fadaway. Texas up 25. Ballgame. Congrats to Dexter Pittman for the career high. Hope Connor Atchley’s tongue gets better.
We’ll preview the Arkansas game Monday.
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Activity
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srr50 wrote a new blog post: Nike U in Turmoil 11 minutes ago
10 weeks ago, Oregon played in the Rose Bowl as Pac 10 champions. Since their loss to Ohio State, the program has been in some kind of bizzaro parallel universe where every headline concerns a player arrest, a firing, or now a resignation.
Mike Bellotti, the Duck AD and former head coach earlier this week
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Luke commented on the blog post First Round: Clemson Tigers 2 hours, 22 minutes ago
Prescient comment, Doc.
I think we learned today that no team is really a mirror image of Missouri, even if Clemson is about as close as it gets. Unless you have significantly better/more talented athletes, if you try to run with the Tigers, you will lose. This team is so much fun to watch in games
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 2 hours, 36 minutes ago
Good to see that Tom Penders still believes in the weave offense. Maryland finally figured out that if you pass quickly, the middle is always open.
37-29 Maryland late in the first half.
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Luke wrote a new blog post: Previewing Jimmer and the Cougars 2 hours, 37 minutes ago
Kansas State is going to be under a lot of pressure tomorrow night in primetime at the Ford Center.
Not only are the Wildcats the favored #2 seed going against #7 seed BYU, but if the Wildcats lose, they may sentence hundreds of boys to nonstop harassment from all the kids who think that “Jimmer” was
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Ibas water bottle wrote a new blog post: Georgia Tech post mortem 2 hours, 49 minutes ago
We came up short.
Credit to Georgia Tech they worked the ball inside where they had the advantage and played great D on the perimeter. Matt Pilgrim is the most athletic big man we’ve had in years around here and he was irrelevant. When we tried to drive they collapsed like Chris Farley on a
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Phenomenal Smith commented on the blog post First Round: Clemson Tigers 3 hours, 25 minutes ago
Doc, the turnovers seemed to do the trick – there were great big chunks of time when Mizzou didn’t even have to get into a half court offense.
Great to see Ramsey have such a good game and pretty stifle Booker. As Euclid said during the game, even when Mizzou doesn’t play well
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dick commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 4 hours, 4 minutes ago
“Also because those other teams gave great effort almost every game. This team’s effort was questionable. Dumb and lazy, not a good combo…..”
This is what made this season so bizarre for me. This has never been a problem for Barnes’ teams. But I actually questioned this team’s heart and desire to play together
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 4 hours, 18 minutes ago
Travis Ford spent the 2nd half channeling his inner Rick Barnes — lot’s of standing around on offense while one player tries to generate something off a ball screen — then taking a forced shot.
So the Big 12 goes 5-2 in Round One.
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 4 hours, 23 minutes ago
This is the worst coached team ever in Barnes era. Period.
Worst defense over the whole season,
Offense sucked big time and the bench coaching was horrible, ransom’s attitude was better then the coach’s overall this season.
Trips write up pre and post better then the game plan and O schemes.
Hell we could have -
srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 4 hours, 26 minutes ago
advertisers think they will probably get some deals for the additional 32 games that would be added. The feeling is that an ESPN would disount rates somewhat, since they already have a dual revenue stream — advertising dollars and subscription fees.
It’s all about content for ESPN — even mediocre content.
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dick commented on the blog post FLV March Madness First Round Bets 4 hours, 28 minutes ago
a great first round of the tournament from an excitement standpoint, very mediocre from a gambling standpoint.
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 4 hours, 44 minutes ago
Ga. Tech — last in the ACC in free throw shooting at 64% — 13 for 13 tonight.
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 4 hours, 53 minutes ago
A poll of media buyers from the major agencies overhwhelmingly showed that advertisers believe that the NCAA will expand, and the tournament will join the BCS on ESPN.
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whiskey wrote a new blog post: The week in news- Pariahs, Malcontents and Power Hour 4 hours, 56 minutes ago
In the midst of March Madness, St. Patrick’s Day, house guests, nice weather outside and a host of other distractions I still managed to come across quite a few interesting college football stories this week. Here we go.
Mike Leach and Craig James were apparently in the same room this week and nobody wrestled. Bummer. Leach
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 5 hours, 8 minutes ago
Anderson finds out what going to the paint is like when there is a big who knows how to defend the low block.
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srr50 wrote a new blog post: March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 5 hours, 17 minutes ago
So far on Day Two, no buzzer beaters, but there was the obligatory #12 over #5 with Cornell thumping Temple 78-65, but the Ivy League school was everyone’s “inside” pick for an upset. Still the day hasn’t come close to generating the action that Thursday had.
Today
#5 Texas A&M 69 #12 -
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 5 hours, 42 minutes ago
I wasn’t trying to say they quit. They just didn’t play hard a lot of the time. Lazy = lack of effort. Example, our transition defense was about 75% effort and 25% stupidity. We loafed down court a lot. The kids didn’t like to lose so they would fight back,
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Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 7 hours, 15 minutes ago
This the most disappointing team because our talent level is higher than those others.
The DGib/Buckman team was the least talented, barely, after the injury to LaMarcus and Tucker’s suspension.
Last year’s team was the hardest to watch. Just watching AJ Abrams, who I don’t hate as much as most, run around like a
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uthookem commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 7 hours, 22 minutes ago
Agreed on Damo being my favorite Longhorn basketball player, I wish him all the best.
This was definitely the worst, by far.
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest: Post Mortem 8 hours, 35 minutes ago
Don’t have time to address each and every comment now, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone for contributing to the site this season. It’s made it a lot of fun to follow a team that’s tough to watch at times.
Also, I wanted to thank you for the kind words as
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post Big Dance: Day Two 8 hours, 36 minutes ago
And that’s all she wrote…relatively boring day so far. A&M out to a nice early lead.
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Art Vandelay commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest: Post Mortem 8 hours, 39 minutes ago
Trips,
Great work all year long. Love the passion. The fact that you kept writing these (even around the birth of a child), is fantastic, shows your commitment, and is a little freaky. :-)
I think you showed great restraint in this post. It would have been easier to “go off” on Barnes.
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ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 8 hours, 39 minutes ago
Second awesomest thing — Magnus gets his woman to go to Hooters with him.
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post Big Dance: Day Two 8 hours, 46 minutes ago
Missouri going to hang on…
Sconsin clinging to a 2 point cushion
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BrickHorn commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 9 hours ago
Are there any women who are not skanks at any place on 1960?
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post Big Dance: Day Two 9 hours ago
Make that a 1 point Wofford lead with 4+ to play…
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post Big Dance: Day Two 9 hours, 7 minutes ago
Pitt rolling Oakland.
Purdue holds on against Siena…I missed it in my bracket, but I’m actually happy for them.
Missouri pulling away from Clemson (68-60) with 7 to play…knew I should have never bet on Oliver Purnell, even if it was against this Missouri team.
Amazingly, game of the day so far might be Wisco/Wofford – 2
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ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 9 hours, 10 minutes ago
I ain’t talking about the girls Brick.
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BrickHorn commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 9 hours, 13 minutes ago
The girls don’t wear jorts at Hooters. They dress like Richard Simmons.
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ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 9 hours, 15 minutes ago
That, by the way, was the best thing that’s come out of this basketball season. Knowledge of Magnus’ intimate familiarity with the service and cut-off threshold at Hooter’s as compared to BWW3. Hooter’s — worse food at a higher price than a titty bar, served with jean shorts, cheaper beer, and more stretch
Bob in Houston said:
January 2nd, 2009 at 7:15 pm
11 straight points for Pittman. And they’re up by 15.
dasmithjones said:
January 2nd, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Hello Gary Johnson, badass!
hiphopopotamus said:
January 2nd, 2009 at 10:03 pm
Anyone here see the Baylor game tonight? Just curious if it was an aberration or what we can expect out of them.
I had come to understand that they’d become respectable on defense, but allowing 85 points on 54% shooting to a mediocre (at best) South Carolina team would suggest otherwise.
ATXHornsFan said:
January 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 am
Gary Johnson’s blocks were the highlight of the game, especially the back-to-back. Free throw shooting is abysmal. Have to fix that. Preferably before the trip to Fayetteville (hogs looked impressive in win over sooners; a match-up in which I am totally conflicted by my seething hatred for both schools).
Dexter is most improved player from one season to the next that I can remember at Texas.
Trips, I think Balbay and Ward are showing great improvement (not that I disagree with your point about Lucas). Thoughts?
Bob in Houston said:
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:13 am
hip: Baylor has a team Tom Penders would love. Guards who shoot from anywhere, and defense used to manufacture more chances to shoot from anywhere.
I didn’t see the game, but offense is not their problem.
The General said:
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:54 am
Some rambling thoughts from sitting 4 rows up because there were no students.
Chris Ogden was laughing uncontrollably at Atchley after Connor got hit in the face. It was weird. I was about 12 feet away, and it looked like Connor got hammered. He walks over to the bench with what looks like a mouth full of blood, and Ogden breaks down laughing.
Balbay had Ogden (and even Barnes one time) cracking up throughout the game.
Barnes ripped Varez Ward a new asshole in the first half then rode him the whole game. He got in Varez’s head pretty good. By the end of the game Varez would make a pass and then look over to the bench to see if Barnes was pissed. Varez had quite a few mental errors.
VW is also, by far, the best post entry passer we have. He may be the best all around passer. He had some beautiful feeds into the post. And he is pretty much money for 4 offensive boards a game. I think he will develope a good mid range jumper by next year and turn into quite a scorer by his senior year.
I can’t decide whether Mason or AJ is the worst post entry passer we have. It will be a season long battle. AJ is probably winning because of lack of attempts, but Mason’s attempts are so frustrating that he can’t be counted out.
Mas Gary Johnson, por favor. He is a bit of a black hole, but he is productive and strong.
I got to the game about 45 minutes to an hour early because I had nothing better to do, and we have had several games start inexplicably early this season.
I watched the managers put the big men through their drills. It was very interesting to say the least. Watching these drills against air, Dexter Pittman was by far the most athletic looking player out of our post players (DJ was with the perimeter guys). He was getting as much lift (or more) than Gary Johnson, and he was getting it more effortlessly. GJ had a bit of a hitch (or gathered himself) before he exploded for a dunk.
Dexter lifted without a hitch, and even floated a bit. He does not come off the ground with the power that GJ or DJ possess, but he is more effortless than Gary at least. This points to the enormous potential Dexter has. He is literally improving with every minute he plays out there, and he has tremendous untapped athletic ability . . .
. . . And I watched him in the shootaround shoot repeated baseline and free throw area 15 foot set shots. It appeared he was working on his shooting form (which seems to be different in live play). I counted 12 makes in a row at one point and he had been shooting and making from the same spot for a couple of minutes before I started counting. That had to be twenty in a row without moving his feet. That kind of repeatability in your shooting form is an incredible skill. I think we will see him show it in games (though it will probably be this time next year). So he also has tremendous untapped basketball skills (and that isn’t even considering that he has shown flashes of being a very good passer).
By the way, the second most natural leaper was Cliff Chapman, who is so deep in Barnes doghouse that Harrison Smith is stealing minutes.
In the dictionary next to rust, there is a picture of Matt Hill. In the pregame drills, he had a huge hitch in all of his moves that wasn’t there when he was a freshman. I also think the lack of hair is effecting his equilibrium and basic coordination, though he and Varez Ward had a beautiful give and go sequence in the second half.
The look of incredulity from Varez Ward after bouncing a pass off of Hill’s chest so hard that it came all the way back to him without Hill making so much as a move in reaction was amazing. Hill was trying to set a pick on Varez’s defender after Varez had already picked up his dribble.
AJ and whichever basketball defificient Appy State midget was defending him were talking throughout the game alot. Whenever the Appy St. player got a good one in, AJ would flash a pissed off look and shoot a three over the top of him. This explains alot.
We went with a 4 guard lineup for extensive periods in the first half with GJ at the 5. For a long stretch, AJ was not one of the 4 guards.
Harrison Smith looks more uncomfortable on a basketball court than anyone with the exception of the functioning retards we find to shoot the Chik Fil A layups.
He got a lot of run in the first half.
I don’t know if it was Dexter’s most minutes, but it seemed like his most minutes that he play consecutively. That was nice.
Balbay is not more than 1″ taller than AJ. If he keeps making hustle plays, and playing the brand of defense that he does, he will be our crunch time point guard in March.
Balbay is going all Chuck Knoblauch on finishing at the rim. It is getting comical (if it wasn’t so sad). Barnes was very encouraging every time Balbay went to the rim.
Someone should tell Balbay and Ward that if you are falling to the side when you shoot free throws, that is bad.
Balbay’s jump shot may be the worst in collegiate sport.
The General said:
January 3rd, 2009 at 9:58 am
In regards to Lucas, a guard who can make free throws, jump shots, and execute basic point guard play is a huge upgrade over everyone we have on the roster.
If Lucas is 70% of the point guard his brother is, then he is a HUGE upgrade over anyone we have and he is fighting Royal for number three in the Barnes Era.
Bob in Houston said:
January 3rd, 2009 at 10:58 am
“Whenever the Appy St. player got a good one in, AJ would flash a pissed off look and shoot a three over the top of him. This explains alot.”
Used to bother me when someone would make a three and AJ would run to the other end and try to match it as fast as he could. Now I just expect it.
Kafka said:
January 3rd, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Trips:
Many thanks for the blog. I did not get to see the game so the detail in your post was really really appreciated.
General:
Awesome post! Sometimes, a guy looks effortless in his jumping if he can jump with his calf muscles (rather than squatting some to get his quads more involved in the jump). You can’t jump as high using mostly calf muscles but you can jump much quicker.
Your info about Dex is really encouraging. It has been obvious to me for quite a while that Dex has a ton of untapped potential. It is no surprise that he can hit from outside because he has a sweet release. Given that he is huge and has great hands, he seems like a natural as the picker in the pick and roll.