Basketball Articles
Thoughts on the Oklahoma State Loss
Posted by Trips Right on March 1st, 2009 under Basketball
“I’ve seen you guys can shoot, but there’s more to the game than shooting. There’s fundamentals and defense.” –Norman Dale
Yes, that’s correct, coach. But the ability to shoot the basketball makes everything else on the basketball court much, much easier. Teams that can shoot can cover up a bunch of warts. Teams that can’t shoot, need to be more efficient at everything else to win. They must rebound, take care of the basketball, and play defense like nihilist marmints to beat good teams. Shooting is like throwing strikes in baseball or blocking and tackling in football. Do it and it makes everything easier. Don’t and it’s like eating soup with a fork. “Now Scipio, put Bragg on your shoulders and measure from the rim to the floor. Ten feet? Good.”
Bottoms…
On to the players…
AJ Abrams
Watching AJ Abrams last night was like a watching a recovering alcoholic at a wine tasting seminar. I suppose having four other guys on the floor who couldn’t beat HenryJames in a game of HORSE if he was spotted the H and O, gives “the Sleeve” license to run around and jack shots that Vinnie Johnson would be embarrassed taking. It’s tough to blame AJ though when Mason is shooting jumpers with forward spin and Balbay is threatening women and children in courtside seats with menacing rockets. This raises an interesting philosophical question about shot selection. Is a contested 25 ft. fadeaway jumper from AJ Abrams really a bad shot compared to an uncontested 15 footer from Justin Mason or Dogus Balbay? After some deliberation, the answer is still yes because the latter would rather dribble out the shot clock than shoot that shot. AJ Abrams is just looking for an excuse. I won’t lie, I was humming Third Eye Blind’s, “Can I Graduate”, everytime the Sleeve touched the ball. And I hate Third Eye Blind like Sailer Ripley hates athleticism.
Damion James
I’d love to see Damion on a team where any and all decision making in any form is taken away from him. Let him roam the baseline and give him a two way go. One power dribble to finish or a simple little pull up. It’s tough to rail on a guy that went 18 and 18, but DJ’s bone headed play makes it so frustrating to watch. He needs to come back and allow his misgivings to be insulated by skilled basketball players that will make the game easier for him. Then James will get drafted in the first round and Mike Mamula some poor NBA franchise that saw his 50% from the field as a resounding improvement and a credit to mature dedication going into his senior year. To their horror, that franchise will realize that Hamilton, Bradley, and Lucas weren’t included in the draft pick.
Connor Atchley
Connor showed flashes on the defensive end with a couple big blocks and some nice positional help defense on would-be penetrators. But Bob in Houston had more points than Connor last night. Bob’s were found in the comments section of last night’s game thread. I see a big goose egg next to Connor’s name in the boxscore.
Justin Mason
Another glue guy that needs something to glue together. His defense on James Anderson was great, and he’ll be a good role player on next year’s squad. But right now our glue guy’s play is tantamount to being unceremoniously eaten by a 1st grader.
Gary Johnson
We really missed him last night. From the four spot, his ability to operate as a face up player from 15 ft makes him the only truly dynamic offensive weapon on the squad.
Dogus Balbay
It’s true that Dogus could be Khalid El Amin or Mateen Cleaves on a team that surrounds him with skilled players and shooters. The problem is the aforementioned “non-shooting” point guards could hit a 10 foot pull up and Dogus can’t or at least hasn’t. He’ll need to if he wants to remain on the floor next year. Dogus’ inability to score is costing guys like Dexter Pittman touches inside, and that can’t happen on a team that wants to be elite. Defensively, however, Dogus is elite in every sense of the word. His on ball checking of a Eaton was as stifling a performance as I’ve seen on Byron. Balbay’s improvement shooting the basketball will determine whether he’s a starting point guard next year, or backup point/defensive specialist.
Varez Ward
Ward is in the process of having his confidence coached out of him. He gets ripped for taking an open 3 late in a shot clock. Defensively, he’s turning into a shell of the player that defended so well early in the year. It wouldn’t shock me to see him transfer.
Harrison Smith
You do realize that Harrison Smith is the antithesis of what’s going on with Mason, Atchley, and Ward? Cortez burned Harrison’s ship early on in his career. Harrison has nothing to lose by coming in and jacking 3 after 3. And he’s hitting some of them. Hell, what’s Barnes going to do, double bench him? It’s this nothing to lose confidence that needs to be instilled in players that are vital to any offensive success your team might have. Mason, Atchley, and Ward need to be granted the sacred cow that is the green light. Certainly Mason and Atchley have earned it at this point in their careers.
Clint Chapman
Seven shots in eleven minutes for the Oregon big man? Wow. He’s either been green lighted, he’s auditioning for a transfer, or both. I had as many rebounds as Clint Chapman did last night, though. But in Clint’s defense he was playing against one of the elite frontcourts in the nation.
Dexter Pittman
If you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for Big Dex. Nothing’s come easy for him. He’s dropped a Dennis Kucinich to get down to a decent playing weight, and now he’s being guarded by, with deference to Sailor, his man, Dogus Balbay’s man, and Dogus Balbay. Dropping 12 points in 20 minutes while double teamed the entire time is pretty good.
Coaching
I love him for being tough, but this ain’t the team to coach tough with. Next year’s team will certainly be different and benefit from Rick’s fire. Look no further than the success this team has when it presses. Quite frankly, we aren’t a very technically sound pressing team. Athletically we’re suited for it, but you can tell we don’t spend a bunch of practice time with pressing nuances like pinching the middle, stopping dribblers, spacing, etc. The reason we play better when we’re pressing has everything to do with psychology. When Texas is pressing the players stop thinking, and instead they just play instinctive basketball, especially on the offensive end. Rick should really look into playing playground ball the rest of the way. It’ll loosen the kids up and it might result in less 18 point stanzas.
Other than that, here’s to next year.
Thoughts?
Also, check out PB @ BON.
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Activity
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RRR commented on the blog post Mid-Season Thoughts and OU Pre-Game 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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Blake Stansbery commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches 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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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players? ago
I’m convinced.
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Mister Mike commented on the blog post Thoughts on the win in Austin ago
Don’t follow basketball as much as you guys do here, but I did watch that game last night. Using my extensive experience in analyzing the sport (next to none) the game felt like it had that “Big Game” feel to it, but somehow it just didn’t turn out that way. Kind of…lackluster?
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Hiphopopotamus wrote a new blog post: Thoughts on the win in Austin ago
We weren’t overly impressive, and at the same time, it may have been this team’s most impressive win. The game didn’t have much rhythm. We never shot it well. In fact, our two best guys can’t be much worse from the field. But damned if we didn’t guard them – especially in that first half.
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Farmer Ted wrote a new blog post: Carl Pelini Remains Red 1 minute ago
We all know that Carl Pelini is a popular guy, and now we’ve learned that Tennessee recently courted him to fill their DC vacancy. Carl said no:
“We’re on the verge of something great at Nebraska,” Pelini said. “I love working with Bo. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”
Fortunately for Husker fans, Carl isSHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 5 minutes ago
Patrick, no this is hilarious (From Chip Brown):
And Barnes finally admitted after Monday night’s 80-68 loss to No. 1 Kansas that he can no longer have guards Justin Mason and Dogus Balbay on the floor together.
“We just can’t, otherwise it’s five on three,” Barnes said.
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Mister Mike commented on the blog post ”Bo Made Me Cry.” 6 minutes ago
The problem Ted is that Bo doesn’t like to give anyone the appearance that he’s not in control of the program. For some reason, he feels that the flow of information to the recruiting sites and services is far too much, and he’s seeking to try and control that. There’s a reason why
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players? 13 minutes ago
Wholesome goodness. Thanks for posting.
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HenryJames commented on the blog post Another night, another would-be hero 15 minutes ago
I think Kiper has Okung too high at number five. He’s a right tackle in the NFL, and no one will take a RT that high.
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 20 minutes ago
Basketball is a simple game of passing,dribbling,catching,shooting and denying the other team from scoring. Simple yet played by chess masters that know what they have (known quantities) in players,chemistry, and heart (will to win).
Maybe they are also an unknown phenomena to the stubborn, mad,lusting minds of entrenched coaches that are playing the games -
uthookem commented on the blog post 2011 Texas Football Recruiting 34 minutes ago
I consider this thread incomplete until a picture of Barney Frank is added.
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HenryJames commented on the blog post Scholarship Numbers & Junior Days 34 minutes ago
I summer in Brookshire.
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Texastough commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 54 minutes ago
“As long as he is putting teams into the tourney every year, I think he is untouchable. ”
Thats basically the equivalent of being one of the top six or seven Big 12 teams, which doesn’t cut it. I think he has to average top 2-3 in Big12 and sweet 16 or so to be
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Bob in Houston commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour ago
Bob, essentially what you are saying is that we are not a well coached basketball team. I agree.
Jordan Hamilton is a selfish and lazy player. He is a terrible fit to play for Barnes. Not sure if either one will be around next season at this rate.
I’ve seen too much player development and too much
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 1 minute ago
Oh ! Trips your one liners are getting very very good in a nice sort of way. This was a great one.
Almost a classic. “ponderos, shouldn’t you be supersizing something somewhere?”
Keep up the good work……
“Admirable that you continue to attempt an analysis with some type of hope for them” -
Farmer Ted commented on the blog post ”Bo Made Me Cry.” 1 hour, 2 minutes ago
Good read, Mike. There’s a lot of truth in there. I do believe that one of the reasons that Florida’s recruiting class was rated so highly is that 100% of their signees were offered scholarships by Florida. If Florida loses interest in a kid, his stock drops a bit. That’s defensible
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Ag_in_TX wrote a new blog post: Did Rick Barnes use a plant last night to distract KU players? 1 hour, 11 minutes ago
If you watched the game, and if you have one drop of testosterone in your bloodstream, you couldn’t have missed her. The redhead with huge tracts of land – right behind the KU bench – who stood for every time out and stared at the KU players.
She stuck out like a sore thumb. Never
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Darius Pourceau commented on the blog post Recruiting the Trenches 1 hour, 14 minutes ago
Welcome to the site guys! Aaron Rodgers is the man.
http://bornhogwild.fantake.com/
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Art Vandelay commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 15 minutes ago
Bob, essentially what you are saying is that we are not a well coached basketball team. I agree.
Jordan Hamilton is a selfish and lazy player. He is a terrible fit to play for Barnes. Not sure if either one will be around next season at this rate.
We went scoreless for 10:54 during
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Trips Right commented on the blog post 2011 Texas Football Recruiting 1 hour, 26 minutes ago
Well done. The Barney Frank line blindsided me like a strain of juarez clap. Funny stuff.
I’d like for us to go out of state for a QB and at least 1 maybe two CB’s. Is Quandre tall enough to play corner or angry enough to play safety?
Rumor around the campfire is
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 39 minutes ago
I feel our pain…
Was Barnes wearing a helmet last night. I did not notice as I was in awe of the blood being spilled
on the floor for almost 11 minutes without a point.
Coach Knight was reading this blogs out loud for TV.
The most insightful was that Barnes needs to go to the 7-8 -
James commented on the blog post 2011 Texas Football Recruiting 1 hour, 41 minutes ago
Barney Frank and Mormon quips in the same post. My Tuesday is complete.
Texas HS football is going through a phase (era?) where the best athlete talent is being put on offense. DBs aren’t being developed in vast quantities. Why wouldn’t you go after a couple OOS DBs?
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 44 minutes ago
ponderos, shouldn’t you be supersizing something somewhere?
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 45 minutes ago
Gillispie’s a mid-major clown because of his off the court indiscretions. Seriously, The University of Texas is much too high profile to risk its brand and image with this moron. And anyone that mentions Augie Garrido should be permabanned the intertubes. The situations aren’t remotely similar.
If you want to go down the
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 1 hour, 52 minutes ago
Leonidas, none of those points came against Dex. Boxscores aren’t reality, they’re like porn movies. If porn was real everyone would be a plummer.
As for Pittman on offense, Aldrich wasn’t playing him straight up, he was getting a double virtually everytime down. That’s not Aldrich’s fault but it’s reality.
Pittman rarely
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Mister Mike commented on the blog post Nebraska Fits the Profile of the 2010 National Champion 1 hour, 57 minutes ago
Good line. What is the thinking on his ability vs. the injury?
It’s funny you should ask. I’m working on putting something together right now that will be discussing this very topic. I know you’re waiting with bated breath for it too. Admit it.
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Bob in Houston commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 2 hours, 19 minutes ago
Should be “complementary” scorers. Oh well.
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Bob in Houston commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem 2 hours, 23 minutes ago
OK, I was there. Not the best seat in the house, but not a bad one either.
Trips hit part of what struck me over and over. KU had offensive options/outlets when Texas forced them into trouble (which happened quite a bit, as the stats showed that Texas did bring defense last night), and the
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Mister Mike wrote a new blog post: ”Bo Made Me Cry.” 3 hours, 2 minutes ago
At least, that’s the line I would expect to hear from Rivals or Scouts if they were in a relationship with Bo Pelini and ended up going to Dr. Phil to try and work out their differences. Of course, that would never happen because Bo would’ve just laughed, packed her shit up, and thrown it
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PB @ BON said:
March 1st, 2009 at 10:37 am
Agree on all counts, damnit. This one was particularly maddening, insofar as heading in it sort of felt like the last chance for Texas to pass a test which indicated some sort of turning of the corner. Instead, an especially egregious showcasing of the team’s fundamental weaknesses.
I really wanted to have a reason to think positively about playing into the NCAA’s second weekend. But the calendar turns over to March today, we’re still good-not-at-all-great, and we’re done for against the first team that executes a simple defensive gameplan — smother Abrams and help in the paint using one or more defenders matched up against Texas players who can’t/won’t shoot.
Fuck.
EggNog said:
March 1st, 2009 at 11:02 am
The reason we play better when we press is because it is a complete 180 from what we do, and is not what teams prepare for against us. Limited trapping and pressing will usually work in hoops, but to make it a staple you have to really have something unique on your team.
Unless there is a large talent gap, playground ball will lose to good coaching ten times out of ten. If Barnes is giving up on the season like that, then he just lowers himself to the same level as some of the players that decided they were giving up.
This team, with its overall lack of talent and its non-matching pieces, is not going to run past teams. We do not have a Phoenix Suns lineup. We have too many weaknesses to be exploited and have far to little that we can use to attack opponents’ weaknesses. You increase possessions by playing uptempo and you make that disparity more glaring and you end up with us on the losing end of blowouts. Limiting possessions and playing slowdown is the only way we have a shot of winning against good teams.
Looking at this team and where the players are now, its a miracle they are even in contention for the tournament. If anyone besides Dex played up to their preseason hopes, then we would have pulled out 4 or 5 of those close losses easily, making us something close to a top 10 team.
Scipio Tex said:
March 1st, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Outstanding write-up. You nailed this team cold. I’ve accepted who and what we are. My ambition is no greater than to make the tournament.
I honestly think Dogus could have been a All-American cornerback if the janissaries had pee-wee league.
anonymous said:
March 1st, 2009 at 1:20 pm
Question for greater basketball minds than mine:
What are the odds of a guy like Balbay actually developing a half-way decent jump shot over the offseason? I mean the guy is obviously a well coordinated athlete, I can’t understand how he could be this bad of a shooter. Seriously, he makes other non-shooting points look like sharpshooters.
Is it a case of “he is what he is” at this point in his career, or might he actually improve in a significant way in that department?
RansomStoddard said:
March 1st, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I like Barnes and he has done all he can do with this collection of spare parts.
Work said:
March 1st, 2009 at 1:48 pm
Lets put it this way: when Dogus was rehabbing his knee last spring, he shot between 200-500 “form” shots (probably more) every day. As you can tell, his shot still sucks.
sl xpress said:
March 1st, 2009 at 2:17 pm
What an excellent write up. Per usual, but I really liked this one.
“But in Clint’s defense he was playing against one of the elite frontcourts in the nation.”
Clint “The Clank” Chapman has been one of my biggest disappointments this season. Remember he began the year as a starter? Yeah, me neither.
Barnes is so good at challenging the people around him and getting the most out of them. However, for the people who don’t respond as well, he’s great at ripping whatever self confidence they may have right out of them.
IMO, Barnes’ best teams have someone on them who can act as a buffer. Team leaders like TJ Ford, PJ Tucker, and DJ Augustin could demand the most out of their teammates while standing up to Barnes’ worst tirades. AJ Abrams isn’t that guy. Neither is Justin Mason. My hope is that Avery Bradley is.
One thing people underestimate — which Trips isn’t — is the value of confidence, especially in a sport like basketball. When a player has it, they can perform above their head. When they don’t have it, they can look like dogshit, specifically in making shots.
This team doesn’t look like they have any confidence. It’s not a rare look for Barnes’ teams, but usually he’s able to “tear them apart” and then build them back together — like a Marine boot camp or something. That isn’t going to happen with this crew.
I’ve honestly watched out of loyalty, because this season has been a train wreck. I’m so ready for it to be over.
One of the things I wonder about next year, is how in the heck are they going to replace Damion James’ rebounding? Also, before the season I assumed the big men would develop, so the idea of a front court of Pittman, Hill, Chapman, Wangmene, and Johnson didn’t bother me. Now it looks like a real problem.
Of course, compared to this season, I expect a much better output. I’ve just ratcheted down my expectations of what next year holds based on the team’s performance this season.
Bob in Houston said:
March 1st, 2009 at 2:30 pm
This season looks like it has taken a lot out of Barnes. Thing is, as SLX notes, while he has changed his attitude about workout intensity in order to get the best from his players, his concept of coaching doesn’t seem to have changed.
Especially with players like Atchley and Mason, he should have realized that a tough-love style needed more love. Now they’re at the end of the season and two guys that we thought were going to be solid are afraid to walk and chew gum. That’s squarely on Barnes.
Meanwhile, Trips has it exactly right… Smith isn’t afraid to do anything. He really does need to play if nobody else is going to shoot a three like they think it will go in.
Bob in Houston said:
March 1st, 2009 at 2:31 pm
Oh, one other thing… if it didn’t cause an injury, if I sat on Connor’s shoulders I might be able to reach the rim.
Teasip said:
March 1st, 2009 at 3:35 pm
Trips, your previews and reviews are better reading than Carl Hiaasen and you are far more prolific. I don’t pretend to know the ins and outs of college hoops so I glean what knowledge I can from posters like you, SLX, and BIH. I do know something about managing people and I am stunned at what Coach Barnes has done this year. Most of this team has been so tight, you couldn’t get a hot buttered awl up their butts. I have always assumed that one of our assistant coaches played the role of the good guy to Rick’s hardass. It appears as though I am mistaken. In years past, Rick would pull a player out of a game, chew him out or “instruct” him, let him sit a second and then put them back in. This year, once they are out, they stay out(Dogus against Missouri comes to mind). Ideally, one manages, or coaches like one likes to be managed or coached. I doubt very seriously if Barnes the player would have put up with the coaching style that he has chosen to use this year. I still think that he is the right guy for the job but he might be like the mule that needed to be hit between the eyes with a 2X4 just to get his attention. I’m just wondering which coach has the cajones big enough to grab the lumber and take a swing.
awiggo from BON said:
March 1st, 2009 at 6:53 pm
Great stuff. Really enjoyed that one.
I have no problem with Barnes tearing them down only to build them back up. I’m just waiting for the building. It’s March and it is way too late.
This team is certainly limited, especially offensively, but I still feel like we could have achieved so much more. It is also frustrating watching Bill Self coach two stars and a bunch of role players to 15-1! Needless to say, this hasn’t been Rick’s finest year.
I just finished my Baylor preview. I’m really worried that w/o Gary, it could be a long night. Shit.
sl xpress said:
March 2nd, 2009 at 8:32 am
Without Gary Johnson and possibly without AJ Abrams.
And it’s a must win, unless someone is holding out hope for a victory in Lawrence.
Nordberg said:
March 2nd, 2009 at 8:36 am
Good thing we beat OU. Otherwise we’d have our NIT berth sewn up.
Bob in Houston said:
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:30 am
Statesman blog now reports AJ has been cleared. According to Barnes, Johnson almost certainly is out.
skymonkeyhorn said:
March 2nd, 2009 at 10:33 am
What are the odds of a guy like Balbay actually developing a half-way decent jump shot over the offseason? I mean the guy is obviously a well coordinated athlete, I can’t understand how he could be this bad of a shooter. Seriously, he makes other non-shooting points look like sharpshooters.
Is it a case of “he is what he is” at this point in his career.
Dog is actually a better shooter with his right hand but he is a natural left hander. He should ask Barnes if he can use his right hand more.
By the way he also has another level of play that we have not seen as yet.IMO He has not played at the level that he was on when he played for his country’s national team !
SLX, Clint “The Clank” Chapman has been one of my biggest disappointments this season. Remember he began the year as a starter? Yeah, me neither.
Ditto that he is a disappointment but he is a diamond in the rough. I went over all the videos that I could find on him and he has the skill set to be very good with some weight and muscle, someone please ask Barnes to give Clint his golden nuggets back for next season.
” My hope is that Avery Bradley is”
The one that I see stepping up next season is Jordan, who by nature is able to speak freely in most situations. He is a high IQ player that understands X’s and O’s on the floor. I really am wondering how Avery and Jordan will respond to Barnes coaching style.
Overall a team offense would have helped this year as well as a pressure defense like after a made shot, time outs, when we made a foul shot, after a steal and just to change the look of our team from time to time. We have been predictable from game one.
I really expected the team to be more flexible and play a different style of play with the players we have at least a top#14-20 type of team. Hope we get lucky tonight.