• Facebook StumbleUpon
• Email

1. CrazyJoeDavola66 said:

   January 10th, 2010 at 4:51 pm

   After Cornell and now Tennessee, I imagine there are some borderline concerned folks in Lawrence and over at OBK.

   I imagine it’s just your typical mid-season hiccup, but still. Those are two teams KU should really have handled better.

   Pearl really is a hell of a coach.

2. EggNog said:

   January 10th, 2010 at 4:55 pm

   A very shorthanded Tennessee team won despite poor FT shooting and being out rebounded. They hit on half of their threes and convincingly won the turnover battle to beat Kansas.

   It will now be interesting to watch how our young guys handle the pressure of being the top ranked team and the shots every team will take at them. I think this makes the Kansas game in Feb a little bit tougher, as all the pressure is on us now.

3. CrazyJoeDavola66 said:

   January 10th, 2010 at 4:59 pm

   Maybe, Egg. But I suspect that we’ll have our own hiccup or two. If we can get through UConn in two weeks without a loss, I’m going to get REALLY excited about the team. I’m only mostly excited right now.

   Hell, before we even go to Storrs, @ ISU, vs. A&M, @ KSU will be a very tough stretch.

   But for now: OH HELL YES.

4. Native Horn said:

   January 10th, 2010 at 5:02 pm

   It’s good to be Texas.

5. nordberg said:

   January 10th, 2010 at 5:03 pm

   #1 in basketball. #1 in baseball. #2 in football.

   I’m reminded of the ag that was here a few months ago claiming that they are our athletic equals.

6. texoz said:

   January 10th, 2010 at 5:04 pm

   I’ll be shocked, and very impressed, if we make it past UCONN and K State w/o a loss.

   I’m guessing it’s two 1-loss teams that play in the UT vs KU game. Probably #2 vs #3.

7. EyesOfTX said:

   January 10th, 2010 at 5:05 pm

   Well, we can certainly never hope to compete with that Aggie equestrian team.

   Hook ‘em!!!

8. CrazyJoeDavola66 said:

   January 10th, 2010 at 5:06 pm

   #2 in volleyball, # 2 in baseball as well. I’m sure we have at least a couple of the other sports (swimming and tennis I believe) that are top 5 as well.

   I want one of these things to fall our way, though….

9. texoz said:

   January 10th, 2010 at 5:06 pm

   When was the last time UT was ranked #1 in basketball?

10. EyesOfTX said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 5:07 pm

    Has Texas EVER been ranked #1 in basketball? If so, it didn’t last long.

11. domedriver said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 5:16 pm

    Holly Fuck Batman… throw me the BALL!

    HORNS UP!

12. srr50 said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 5:16 pm

    This would be a first.

13. EyesOfTX said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 5:17 pm

    Just got the answer – this is the first time Texas has EVER been ranked #1 in basketball.

    Congratulations, Rick Barnes.

14. Bob in Houston said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 5:22 pm

    I told my wife I feel the same way I did when I watched the guys cut down the nets in San Antonio to go the FF. I wasn’t sure it was going to happen in my lifetime.

    Texas won’t go unbeaten either. I really doubt they’ll survive the next two weeks. But it’s a great accomplishment.

15. dick said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 5:36 pm

    We are probably more likely to lose at KState than we are at home to KU.

16. EggNog said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 5:52 pm

    KState has always given us problems, even at home. No matter how good or bad they are we always struggle, I don’t know why.

    Kansas’ games are just as daunting between now and then.

17. sizzlechest said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 6:04 pm

    The successive posts by srr and Eyes is quite funny.

18. EyesOfTX said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 6:18 pm

    Hah! That is pretty funny. I should’ve just asked SRR in the first place.

19. derryl said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 6:28 pm

    I just watched the Kansas Tennessee game and is it just me or is Div 1 totally devoid of any teams that can shoot 50 % FROM THE FREE THROW LINE!

    Every game I have watched this year has players not just missing shots but missing shots badly…like hitting the board and the back of the back iron kind of off….not just rolling around the rim itself…and guys look like they just don’t give a shit and it is expected??

20. derryl said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 6:30 pm

    BTW I am hoping our piss poor free throw shooting doesn’t do us in in the tournament…….

21. Killer said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 8:00 pm

    Just give me the #1 seed in the South and the regional final in Houston

22. action said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 8:57 pm

    Compared to Texas, I have not been overly impressed with Kansas.

    They almost seemed intimidated by Tenn. to begin with. Their shooting is inconsistant. They make too many turnovers, and so does Texas, but UT off-sets that with balance, fast break points, and points off of offensive rebounds.

23. SL Xpress said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 10:26 pm

    I am shocked Kansas lost to Tennessee. I need to go take some lumps at shaggybevo, where in my usual manner I was completely dismissive of people who thought the Vols would have a chance, because they weren’t aware Tyler Smith and 3 important reserves were suspended from the team (Smith was later dismissed).

    I’m just glad no one argued with me too seriously, because I was all ready to bring out the heavy industrial equipment to dig that hole as deep as necessary.

    Just a few notes about a few of the upcoming opponents. ISU suspended Colvin for the month of January. He’s a REALLY important player for them. ISU’s problems are giving opponents’ 2nd chance points and turnovers. Not exactly a good recipe for playing Texas.

    North Dakota State missed a last second 3 point shot for the win. At Ames. Yesterday.

    The Cyclones first 2 conference home games are against Texas and Kansas. The league office didn’t do them a whole lot of favors on that front. Maybe they can grab a win in one of their two road games between facing the Longhorns and Jayhawks, otherwise they’re looking at starting league play 0-4.

    UConn has 7′7 Majok eligible finally. He didn’t make the difference against Georgetown (UConn blew a 15 point halftime lead to lose at the end against the Hoyas in D.C., to go 1-2 in conference play). Jerome Dyson looked unbelievable for the most part, and Kemba Walker is another lightning fast point guard along the lines of Khalin Lucas and Courtney Fortson.

    KSU missed an opportunity to sneak a road win out of one of the hardest places to play on the road in the league. After leading by 5 with around 2 minutes left, Missouri came back to pull out the victory. Afterwards, Frank Martin apologized for beating the living shit out of an unimportant reserve during the game, mostly because the cameras happened to catch it live.

    I watched both the Baylor massacre of a completely lost OU in Waco, and OSU turning Texas Tech into road kill in Stillwater. OSU faces OU in Norman for the first half of bedlam. I don’t see how Capel’s squad wins, but then again, look above at Tennessee versus Kansas.

    I’m really excited about conference season — unlike football, which seemed like such a grind because of how crappy the rest of the conference was (although at the end of the day, Nebraska turned out to be a better team than I ever gave them credit for, mostly because their defense just kept getting better and better and better).

    The Big 12 legitimately looks like the best conference in the country. It’s not just the Texas games that should be fun, but there are a lot of inconference matchups that are going to be intriguing for me to follow. I’m looking forward to it!

    And, oh yeah. Like Bob In Houston, I have to pinch myself. I’ve been pointing at this team as a juggernaut for two years now, but it still seems unreal that it’s unfolding as well as I could possibly hope. They’re absolutely massacreing teams while not even close to reaching their potential. Did you realize they’re the highest scoring team in a major conference, and only behind VMI in Division I, which annually hoists 150 shots per game?

    This is so much fun. #1 baby! Number fucking 1!!!1!!1

24. UT wildcatter said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 10:51 pm

    SL-

    Don’t you think our team next year will look like UNC this year after their Championship last year? A seriously powerful team that can make a run at another Final Four but with some glaring defeciencies. A better team than Damion’s junior and maybe better than DJ’s sophomore year?

    I think Jordan and Avery return almost no matter what happens this year

25. burnt orange outrage said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 11:06 pm

    Wow. We’re about to be ranked No. 1 in the nation. In Basketball. I know it’s early January and there might be 5-6 other teams in the top spot between now and March, but damn, we’re about to be No. 1!

    What sweet validation for Rick’s program. I know he’ll say it doesn’t mean that much b/c there’s over 2 months left in the season and the team has a long way to go and much improvement to do and all that coachspeak jazz, but deep down, he has to be very proud of what he’s been able to do with this program.

    I mean, remember the dark days of the Weltlich era, the freewheeling offense and token defense favored by Tan Penders that, miraculously, once got us within one game of the Final 4. That program stood in the long shadow of the football program, weak as the football program was for much of the ’80s-’90s. Many never thought it would ever be free of that shadow. Yet Rick has built this thing into one of the truly elite programs in college basketball. Thank God he’s the coach here, and hope he never decides to leave.

26. SL Xpress said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 11:07 pm

    I see Jordan and Avery returning as well.

    My problem is the rarity of having a senior aircraft carrier like Pittman. Texas isn’t going to have any kind of aircraft carrier. Thompson is a good talent, but he’s not as polished as Aldridge was coming in. Maybe I’ll be surprised. Don’t get me wrong. I like Thompson. I just think we’re talking about a HUGE dropoff going from senior Pittman to freshman Thompson.

    I love Gary Johnson. His post moves in some ways are better than Pittman’s, and Pittman is the best front court scoring threat in the country for my money. But he’s still 6′6. And while he has decent athleticism, he’s no Damion James. He’s not the rebounder in college I thought he’d be watching him in high school/AAU. Another huge dropoff.

    I don’t think Wangmene/Hill/Chapman are going to develop that much. Maybe I’m mistaken somewhere in there. It’s happened before. I remember the light switch going on for Klotz as a junior. Atchley, too. It could happen.

    The backcourt and wing play is going to be out of this world. I don’t think Texas is going to lose anyone, and they’re going to add Shawn Williams, who really is going to be a terrific wing for Texas, and Varez Ward, who I have hopes can successfully rehabilitate his knee, regardless of what the actual difficulties are going to be.

    It will be another challenger for the Final Four, but it won’t be the most talented team in the country the way this one is.

    I honestly don’t know how Texas will look next year compared to UNC this year. UNC has problems with their backcourt, and while they have a lot of skilled front court players, they don’t exactly have a lot of beef, and their wing play is inadequate. Harrison Barnes will solve that next year nicely, of course.

    Texas will have great guard and wing play, with inadequate front court help unless some kind of combination of players surprises me a little with their development, which is possible. That’s still going to be a real potent combination, but not one that I think of as a national championship favorite the way I feel about this team.

27. EggNog said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 11:15 pm

    Texas has shot 70% from the FT line over the last four games. Could just be a blip that averages out or it could be a trend upward.

28. SL Xpress said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 11:29 pm

    EggNog,

    I keep saying this to people, but teams don’t shoot free throws. Players do. The improved free throw percentage is in part because Gary Johnson has been getting to the line more often, and he’s been very good (which is ridiculous, because I remember watching him as a junior in high school when he was a 40% FT shooter, and was laughable trying to make anything beyond 5′). Pittman/Balbay/Bradley’s attempts have been down some. James has had good and bad games, but you can tell he’s improving. And whatever can happen to get Brown to the line is good for the team percentage.

    Looking at the rest of the season, the free throw percentage to some degree is going to depend on Pittman. He simply has to return to last year’s form. He’ll lead the team in trips to the foul line per minute played just by the nature of how he scores. If he starts dropping below 50%, it’s going to kill the overall team percentage.

    It would also be nice if Avery Bradley could get closer to 60% over the rest of the year. He had an absurd series against Colorado where he bends the rim while missing a free throw, gets the ball back on an offensive rebound by Texas a few second later, and buries a 3 pointer on his way to a 12-14 shooting night. His game lends itself to getting to the free throw line with frequency, but at this point, why would we want him there?

    I think James is a natural 70% FT shooter at this point, as long as he stays relaxed at the line and focuses before he shoots. I don’t know if Gary and J’Covan are going to maintain their torrid paces, but neither one is going to go too much lower. I see Gary as someone who can end up around 75%, and Brown will at least be above 85%, even with a couple of sudden misses.

    Balbay and Mason are hopeless causes. Jai Lucas should be better, but his game doesn’t exactly lend itself to getting to the line. He’s mostly going to be there as a closer. Jordan Hamilton should be about a 70% shooter. He goes up and down, so I don’t know where he ends up. Wangmene looked good against Colorado. I don’t know what to think there.

    I sure am glad Chapman isn’t getting to the line. That helps, too. Don’t know what his deal is, either.

    More than anyone, Pittman is the key, but as long as the better free throw shooters are going to the line more often, and the poorer free throw shooters are going to the line less often, the percentage is going to be more acceptable, as much as that seems like common sense.

29. SL Xpress said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 11:32 pm

    Some comments from Rick Barnes on Andy Katz’s blog:

    http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/tag/_/name/kentucky-wildcats

    “I don’t think anybody in college basketball is going to go undefeated,’’ Rick Barnes said by phone from Austin Sunday night. “People called me to tell me that Kansas got beat. I can’t honestly tell you who was the No. 1 team in the country the second week of January last year. But I can tell you who won the national championship. And that team (North Carolina) started the conference (ACC) at 0-2 after everyone though they would go undefeated.”

    “There are certain schools over a long period of time that have the target on their back,’’ Barnes said by phone from Austin, Texas, Sunday night. “When they play us, because of where we are, the games are harder. The fans have more energy. There is more emotion. But what you have to do is embrace it and it helps you. You have to be ready to play every night or you’re going to get beat and sometimes a little bit of pain never hurts anybody.’’

    Texas got pushed to the final few possessions in a road win at Arkansas. While the Longhorns have looked Final Four good in wins over Michigan State in Austin and North Carolina. At Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, they only beat Texas A&M-Corpus Christi by six on Jan. 2.

    “I guarantee you if you look at the tape they played differently against us than others,’’ Barnes said. “Last year, Nebraska beat us and stormed the court up there. This is part of being consistently good. That’s why I truly admired teams that always do well, that always have the target on their back.’’

    ………

    Barnes previously coached at Providence (Big East) and Clemson (ACC) and said he could sense when the respective elites in those conferences were the target.

    “Now I’m on the other side of it,’’ Barnes said of Texas being the target. “It helps you. You’ve got to be ready to play every night or you’re going to get beat.’’

    Texas is at Iowa State Wednesday and regardless of how well the Cyclones are playing, Hilton Coliseum can be one of the toughest places to play in the country. The Longhorns then come home to rival Texas A&M next Saturday and then go to Kansas State and Connecticut the following week, providing the Longhorns with plenty of possible losses.

    “From when I first broke into it 30 something years ago, there are more teams that can play,’’ Barnes said. “There’s always pressure on the big boys.’’

30. EggNog said:

    January 10th, 2010 at 11:59 pm

    SL Xpress, good point. Hopefully Barnes is working on getting key guys to the line for us. James looks very focused at the line these days. Brown seems like he expects every FT to go in. Bradley is a mystery, he has a good release but it is just painful to watch him shoot FTs.

31. blackscholes said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 12:35 am

    I’m not used to a giddy SLX. Feels like the planets are out of alignment.

32. johnnymac said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 6:33 am

    But, Nordberg,

    Their athletic revenues are in the top 20 in the country and they spend even more than they bring in. OF COURSE they’re our equal in athletics. Money talks, polls are for sissies. And t-sips.

    re: basketball, KSU used to give us trouble but Ron Prince isn’t there anymor- oh wait…

    Goddam offseason.

    Having a great basketball team can sure take the sting off of the end of football season. Hookem!

33. Bob in Houston said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 7:03 am

    What sweet validation for Rick’s program. I know he’ll say it doesn’t mean that much b/c there’s over 2 months left in the season and the team has a long way to go and much improvement to do and all that coachspeak jazz, but deep down, he has to be very proud of what he’s been able to do with this program.

    Speaking of eating crow, not that I actually said this to anyone, but I remember when RB came to Austin, in the PC he talked about being in the top 10-15 regularly, being talked about nationally every year. I said to myself, “Yeah, right.”

    I had gone through 10 years of Penders with three-man weave (which, by the way, KU has been running late in the last two games), and recruiting consisting of picked-over east coast guards, JCs to cover the front-court mistakes, and bounce-back transfers. And he’d had basically the best 10 years any UT coach had ever mustered.

    I thought Barnes was a good pick, based on who was out there — I’d hoped for Rick Majerus or Mike Montgomery. (Aside: I’ve always thanked God that Dodds didn’t fall for Bob Bender or Dean Smith’s choice, Phil Ford.) But Dodds knew of Barnes and went after him, and Barnes has delivered on everything he promised, and then some.

    He’s also stayed in Austin when he could have left. He still sees the potential.

    It’s a great day.

34. Hawkman said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 8:35 am

    I am interested in the group’s assessment of Baylor. I watched the game against OU and they were on fire. Granted OU has some serious issues but Baylor is defintiely a different team with the addition of Udoh.

35. Live Bait said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 8:39 am

    I remember Penders’ last season here and what a completely uninspired, gutless, undisciplined and completely out of control trainwreck that otherwise promising team turned into.

    The Coach Barnes comes in and with the remnants of that group plus what little he could scrape to together over the summer, he wins the Big12 regular season title. I knew he could be a special coach here when that happened, while there’s been setbacks and challenges along the way, he’s done a great job building this program and like this team, there’s still a lot of room to grow.

36. texoz said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 8:57 am

    SL Express, I have a good feeling about Wangmene coming on next year. I think the trio Wangmene, Hill and Chapman will provide a servicable rotation of center. Probably won’t be as productive on offense, but they won’t need to be. If Avery & Jordan return, there’s going to be a lot of points from the guards, and garbage baskets from the rebounders.

    The games against NC, MSU, and AK should prepare us for the added pressure of being #1. Doesn’t mean we won’t lose, but we’ve already been into the fire. If we make it to KU undefeated, there should be no doubt they have what it takes to win it all.

    With this #1 ranking, I sense that UT fans and the general public may finally bring a new level of energy to the games. Saturday’s game against A&M should be a loud one.

37. SL Xpress said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 10:00 am

    Well, it’s A&M, so that will help more than anything.

    I think the #1 ranking is neat, but I don’t really care about things like going undefeated, the pressure of being #1…and I certainly don’t think the team needs to prove at this point that they have what it takes to win it all.

    Get the #1 seed in the South. That’s my only focus as a fan. I’d love to win the conference, but the two go hand in hand, and if they come in 2nd to KU for the conference title but still have their path to the Final Four going through Houston, I’m simply not going to sweat it too much.

    The #1 ranking helps a smidgen in that regard, because there’s a little more leeway allowed as far as how much a single loss affects potential seeding. Mostly, though, it’s about the publicity. Still, the publicity didn’t help Tennessee when it became #1 for the first time in its history after giving Memphis its first loss two years ago, and it didn’t help Pitt last year when they earned their first #1 ranking, kept it for weeks, and ended up with a #1 seed for the tournament. Sure, they made the Elite Eight, but if this Texas team falters in the Elite Eight, as a fan, I’m going to be devastated.

38. joeschmoe said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 12:32 pm

    Isn’t it going to be hard to get the number #1 seed in the south considering the strength of the SEC? I don’t see UK having more than a couple of losses.

39. Hawkman said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 1:23 pm

    They could send UK to St. Louis…

40. SL Xpress said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 1:37 pm

    My current scenario is that they send Kentucky to the east, Kansas to St. Louis, Texas to Houston, and the 4th #1 seed out west. A lot can change, and no one is consulting with me any way, but that’s the way I’m envisioning it right now.

41. Hiphopotamus said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 1:50 pm

    I’d agree, SLX. You don’t want to put too much faith in the committee, but if this year plays out like it probably should, it would be pretty tough for them to place those teams anywhere else I’d think.

42. joeschmoe said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 1:51 pm

    I was just assuming that Kansas would get St. Louis.

    However, I just did some in depth research, and now I’m a little more optimistic. It turns out that Lexington is about 6 hours closer to Syracuse than to Houston. Who would have guessed? So, maybe KU and UK can battle it out for St. Louis and as long as we are deserving of a #1 seed we will still get the Houston regional.

    I do have another question. Will Syracuse be allowed to play in the Syracuse regional?

43. SL Xpress said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 2:14 pm

    No. Syracuse won’t be allowed to play in the Syracuse Regional. Just like Texas wouldn’t have been able to play in the regional held at the Frank Erwin Center.

    Hiphopotamus,

    Any thoughts on KU’s overall defense after the Tennessee game? Because I happen to think it’s still pretty good, but I figured you might feel differently after that performance.

44. SL Xpress said:

    January 11th, 2010 at 2:19 pm

    BTW, it helps that there is not only no team that looks worthy of a #1 seed west of the Rockies, there’s no team that looks like it even has a shot at reaching something approximating that designation. Maybe an outside shot with BYU, but that seems pretty remote.

    That pretty much guarantees that the 4th #1 seed will be sent out west, whoever it happens to be. Which means the 4th #1 seed is not only going to be shipped out west, it’s almost certainly going to be in the same region with programs whose fans will have less distance to travel to attend the games.

    It also means that I really don’t want to see Texas as the 4th #1 team.

45. Hiphopotamus said:

    January 12th, 2010 at 7:15 am

    SLX, I still think their overall defense is pretty good. I think there were two primary issues on Sunday:

    1. The effort wasn’t there. I’m not sure I can remember someone trying to jump a passing lane even once and we barely utilized our best advantage in having Aldrich as backline support. Since it was clear they were hitting from the outside and especially given their mostly suspect ballhandling (Maze excluded), we should have been pressuring the ball and funneling them to Aldrich. Sadly, our best defense Sunday was in a 2-3 zone. And needless to say, that shouldn’t be the case with this squad.

    2. We didn’t utilize our depth. Feeding off of point 1, we had twice as many quality players as Tennessee, and yet their starters got more rest than ours did. There’s no logical reason why at the very least we wouldn’t rotate guys in who would go balls to the wall (and hell, if they foul, who cares? We’ve got them to give and Tenn wasn’t hitting from the stripe), try to cause some havoc and give our top guys rest for the stretch run.

    Those two things combined and Tennessee got about any shot they wanted. Our on-ball pressure was mediocre, our rotations were slow and we didn’t even attempt to get in the passing lanes. Just a lazy effort.

46. SL Xpress said:

    January 12th, 2010 at 10:31 am

    And that’s how you analyze a defense. Not your insipid comments about UT’s defense several days ago.

    It helps to understand personnel and have some context. Of which you have a lot when it comes to Kansas, but virtually none when it comes to Texas. It doesn’t mean you can’t analyze UT’s defense properly. It means you would have to invest yourself a bit in a way you’re probably not interested in to educate yourself.

    In any case, UT’s defense as an overall product is just fine, just as KU’s is, regardless of the subpar effort against Tennessee.

    I’m with you. The most startling statistic coming out of that game was 16 turnovers for Kansas, and only 7 against Tennessee. I’ve seen some comments from some Kansas fans I respect that think Bill Self could have done more to win that game, but was more interested in teaching some lessons. Not that he wanted to lose, but he had some problems with some of the players in terms of getting them to the place they needed to be come tournament time. It looked like in Coach Self’s mind, it was worth keeping ineffective players out there to flounder, even if it meant a loss, so he would have video to show them afterwards regarding what they were doing wrong.

    I also think it’s interesting he basically called out Aldrich’s manhood. The Morris twins disappeared — again. They’ve improved considerably from last year, but they lack consistency. Thomas Robinson is going to be a badass, but he’s not ready to shoulder any real scoring load. It’s tough to have a high-low if you have no “low” and the only consistent low there’s going to be on this team is Aldrich. I know he was sick with the bronchial infection, which adds complications to his asthma, and he had his grandmother’s health issues (which I haven’t heard anything more about). But I think Self is basically saying, “Okay, we need you to step up now. No more excuses.” Whether that’s fair or not I have no idea, but I’ll bet you it’s effective.

    I’ll be surprised if Nebraska is able to keep it within 15, even with the game at Lincoln.

47. EggNog said:

    January 12th, 2010 at 11:37 am

    [i]oops[/i]

48. Hiphopopotamus said:

    January 13th, 2010 at 9:01 am

    SLX, glad I could meet your standards of analyis.

    As for Self, I think there could be some truth to that and I know that he didn’t mind losing, as he said as much in the week leading up to the game.

    As for the high-low, I love that he called out Aldrich (who had all of 3 second half touches…2 scores and a foul), because this season he simply hasn’t been aggressive offensively. He rarely works for good position and often even when he does, he gives it up by falling away instead of going at the basket.

    But just as big of a problem was our ‘high.’ Guards were looking to give him entry passes, but Tennesee was denying. An easy fix in that scenario is to get the ball to a Morris at the high post and throw it over the top. That did not happen once and it was hideous to watch.

    Hope you (and your Kansas friends) are right though, because if Self had been trying to win and that was him putting his best foot forward, I’m as disappointed in him as I am the players.

49. SL Xpress said:

    January 13th, 2010 at 9:42 am

    Just stay away from dumb comments about Texas, and you’ll be good.

    I do like your comments on Kansas, though. They’ll be fine. Texas is going to have their fair share of “Tennessee’s” this season as well.

    What do you think happens to Tyshawn Taylor over the course of the season? I thought he’d be looking a little better after his summer performance. He’s been a big disappointment to me.

50. Hiphopotamus said:

    January 13th, 2010 at 1:09 pm

    I wish I knew. Been a very disappointing year for him that crap yesterday was just ridiculous.

    You don’t know your role? You’re a starter. You should be guarding the other team’s best perimeter player. You should be running the floor, attacking the rim, creating offense for others and hitting the open shot when it’s there. Basically, you should be Russell Robinson with more athleticism. Not too damn difficult to figure out.

    If Self had any confidence in Elijah Johnson’s defense, I think we’d be seeing him out there, but he’s been pretty bad on ball – which is not something Self looks past easily.

Leave a Reply