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Some Quick Thoughts on the Oklahoma State Win

Posted by Trips Right on February 10th, 2009 under Basketball, Uncategorized

So let me get this straight. We get tremendous point guard play. Connor Atchley plays like he did as a junior. AJ Abrams takes nine really good shots and hits six of them. And we drop 99 on Oklahoma State. Seems logical. Granted, we were playing a team that gives up points in bunches, but the OSU Cowboys are still a pretty solid team. Even more encouraging was Dogus Balbay’s break out performance against a guard-centric team. Balbay played well on the defensive end of the floor, keeping Byron Eaton out of the paint until the game was a blowout, but more importantly the sophomore guard took Barnes’ starting carrot and ran with it, running the club offensively like the young Turk had been entrenched as the Horn’s point guard for months. Balbay in transition is just nasty. And he hit a pull up 15 footer for good measure.

Balbay’s performance was the first domino to fall creating a chain reaction that lead to AJ Abrams getting good looks, Damion James playing within himself, and Gary Johnson exceling at his 15 foot in game. More importantly, the affect it had on Justin Mason and Connor Atchley’s game was astounding. JM was allowed to play off the ball and do some stat sheet stuffing. At the pseudo 3 he was able to pull 6 rebounds. As a secondary ball handler Mason dropped 6 dimes and got to the foul line by going to the rim which led to a team high 8 foul shots. Connor on the other hand was able to pick his spots on the perimeter and step in confidently to open looks from beyond the arc and metaphorically beyond the grave. It’d be nice if Connor’s game had a Lazareth like resurrection.

As for Balbay, I kept looking for DJ Augustin out there but the kid I was looking at was left handed. Shot selection was aided by 19 team assists which is a sign of an unselfish basketball team, which is another by product of having a pass first point guard on the floor. Shit’s contagious.

Overall it was a tremendous offensive breakout game that saw Coach push all the right buttons. Barnes shrugged off trying to swim up stream by forcing his big lineup against the Cowboys 5 guard look. Instead, he went small and challenged his kids to beat the Cowboys at their own game. When the Cowboys went to their bench, in came Dexter Pittman to further confound a Cowboys defense that was already on its heels. Dexter helped pound a zone and a box and 1 into submission, owning the glass, and drawing enough help inside to free up open looks for others.

The most important sign for Texas, something Reid Gettys alluded to during the broadcast, was the fact that the Horns seemed loose and carefree going into this game. And their play supported that claim. Guys were taking shots confidently and in rhythm. That’s such a huge part of shooting the basketball. I’m guessing Barnes pushed some buttons in this department because he sensed his team was being stifled by coaching constraints. No doubt about it, Texas played much looser than the Cowboys and it showed offensively.

Nice season saving win for the good guys, and certainly something this team can build on. Especially if you think it’s found its point guard. Thoughts?

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19 Responses

  1. SonnyQuarles said:

    February 10th, 2009 at 9:19 pm

    Balbay is doing his damndest to give me a glimmer of hope that this team can still make a deep tourney run.

    Not sure I buy Reid’s claim that Balbay is the team’s best dunker, given that I don’t recall ever seeing him dunk in a game yet.

  2. sl xpress said:

    February 10th, 2009 at 9:49 pm

    He averaged a dunk a game in European play over the past two summers. I agree, I’m still waiting to see it as well at Texas, but he has incredible hops.

    As far as a deep tourney run, I’d like to have a little of what you’re smoking, sir. Just get into the tournament. They’ve put themselves in a tight spot just to do that, and with the seed they’ll earn, winning a game or two will almost certainly be against stiff competition.

  3. Texoz said:

    February 10th, 2009 at 10:00 pm

    I’m still not sure I just watched the same team I’ve been watching for the last month or so.

    The TV announcers through out a great stat during the broadcast. I can’t recall the specific numbers, but I think they said that UT is 20-0 or 20-1 when Connor scores in double digits. Also, this was Connor’s first double digit scoring game since November.

    Ponder those two points for a while.

  4. longhornmatt said:

    February 10th, 2009 at 10:29 pm

    Oklahoma State played the worst 2-3 zone I have ever seen at the college level during the first half. We obviously were much better with James moving to the 4 and Balbay running the show, but most of this offensive explosion was due to OSU’s horrible defense. Every other team we play is going to faceguard Abrams, and once that happens our offense could easily grind to a halt again no matter what changes we make to the lineup.

  5. SonnyQuarles said:

    February 10th, 2009 at 10:41 pm

    @SL – note that I didn’t *predict* a deep tourney run – I just said that Balbay gave me a *glimmer of hope* that it is still possible. Huge difference.

  6. Crumdinger said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 2:10 am

    Has pithy, pop culture-laced blogging jumped the shark when it goes biblical? Lazarus.

  7. Black Scholes said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 2:48 am

    I’ll hold off on believing the ‘break-out performance’ angle since I’ve already seen the Dexter Pittman, Matt Hill and Clint Chapman versions this season.

  8. Black Scholes said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 2:51 am

    Given the makeup of this team – which still seems like a work-in-progress – I wonder if they wouldn’t stand a better chance in the tourney as the underdog. Anything over a 3 seed – unless it’s just a dog of a matchup – might be the kiss of death.

  9. jinx said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 6:14 am

    I don’t think you need to sweat being higher than a 3 seed.

  10. Trips Right said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 6:30 am

    Meanwhile Villanova, a team Texas handled on a neutral court, is making a run at a number 1 seed. Ditto for UCLA. Anything can happen, boys. Maybe it’s the closet UTEP Miner fan in me.

  11. hiphopopotamus said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 6:45 am

    Not saying to temper any excitement here, but I think the real development would be if Barnes realizes that this is how Texas is at their best and decides to try and impose this style from here on out.

    If that happens, you’ve got your season back. If you go to Colorado, get stuck in their slow-it-down game of back cuts and again score in the 50’s or 60’s, then all you’ve got is a win. Which, while good, isn’t all that you’re looking for…

  12. Art Vandelay said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 7:00 am

    As mentioned earlier in the year….

    “I think you will change your tune about Balby by the end of season. We need someone to push the pace, dribble, drive and dish the Kebabs.

    He is also a very good finisher at the basket.”

    I think Balbay will continue to improve and this team ends up being a 4 seed. If Conner continues to hit some 3’s we will be a very tough out.

    Ransom – try running drills in which you don’t allow dribbling. Works for my 1st grade Y boys team. 2 on 1 or 3 on 2 drills. No dribbling.

  13. Bob in Houston said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 8:17 am

    They could win every game on the schedule. They also could lose every game, with the possible exception of the home game with Tech.

    As far as the underdog thing goes, this is not a team you would want to draw. They play D. They give effort.

    In the tournament, any matchup between 5 and 12 (and some 4-13s) depends on who comes to play that day. If they were a double-digit seed (which I don’t expect, but it’s certainly possible), they have are capable of making a run.

    I wouldn’t count on it, of course. I watch them too much.

  14. Vasherized said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 9:10 am

    SL,

    If it’s any consolation, Trips smokes the good stuff.

    One game won’t get Connor out of the doghouse but it sure was encouraging to watch.

    Dog’s spin move in the lane was a thing of beauty. I love the fact he scraped together 10 points without taking a jump shot.

  15. huge said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 12:56 pm

    i thought he hit a 15 footer?

  16. Scipio Tex said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 1:11 pm

    And Trips Right “hit” a 300 pounder once in high school. But no one remembers that either.

  17. Texoz said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 1:19 pm

    “Dog’s spin move in the lane was a thing of beauty…”

    I think that’s The General sitting in the back bleachers.

  18. RansomStoddard said:

    February 11th, 2009 at 2:37 pm

    Art

    We tried that and it worked well until one of my boys gave the shooter an atomic wedgie and all hell broke loose. In our next game, we got run out of the gym by a team of girls who were bigger, faster and stronger than us. One of my sons explained afterward that none of our guys thought it was okay to guard the girls closely since “girls stink and stuff”.

  19. coach Callahan said:

    February 12th, 2009 at 1:47 pm

    Didn’t you explain to him that the fish smell washes off?

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