Barking Carnival — Blog — Texas Basketball vs. Oklahoma State: Post Mortem

Wow. We needed that.

And by we I mean the players, the staff, and all of the fans that started to temper expectations after a horrible start to 2010. The team we saw tonight was but a glimpse of the team we thought we’d have after reading scouting reports and watching open runs in August.

The interesting yet borderline frustrating part about how the game played out is that the outcome turned on two basic things. First, a defensive adjustment that Rick Barnes should be lauded for. The second, was a singular talent taking over a game in spite of his coach.

In the first half James Anderson channeled his inner Kevin Durant and hit all manner of shots to give the Pokes an early double digit lead. Triple threat position 3’s, power dribble blow by’s and circus style fadeaways netted the talented junior 24 points at the half.

Throw in some Michael Jordan-esque preferential treatment from the zebras and you get the picture.

Kid was going to drop a double nickel on the Horns just as Jordan did to the Knicks, that is, until the Turkish prison reared his baklava-loving head. Credit coach Barnes for putting the only player on Texas’ roster that could not only stay in front of the talented wing, but also bother Anderson’s jumpshot with great athleticism.

Ironically, Balbay was aided by the same one man zone that some teams love to run against us. By sagging off of OSU’s non shooter Fred Gulley on the floor, and Balbay’s heroism, the Horns held Anderson to just two points the rest of the way. Texas’ one man zoner?

Jordan Hamilton…

Who happens to be the MVP of the game because he allowed Texas to maintain contact in the first half and overtake the Cowboys in the second half with a ridiculous 11-16, 5-8 from deep, for 27 points in 19 minutes.

Yes, 19 minutes.

If the kid gets whistles and minutes like Anderson, he may have been the one dropping the double nickel. When it looked like the season may continue on a downward spiral, Jordan Hamilton spit in the task master’s eye and went off. Kevin Durant style.

On to the players.

Damion James.
This kid is a night in and night out warrior for the Horns, but the cavalry is on the way for this hybrid 4. If Jordan Hamilton grabs the 3 spot by its haunches and humps it into submission, James gets to do his thing against slow footed fours. As it stands, don’t discount his efficient 6-10 night. I thought his two foul shots including the front end of a one and one exorcised some demons for this team. That’s what leaders do, they exorcise demons, and shit.

Dexter Pittman.
I’m not going to pretend that the big fella played well, because he didn’t. But I did think, once again, that the officials and the personnel groupings took him out of the game early on. It’s sad when Marshall Moses gets more whistles than Dexter Pittman. It’s also sad when Pitt has to endure playing with our least effective offensive lineup. Help is on the way big fella, and he wears number 23.

Jordan fucking Hamilton.
Tip your cap, because the kid, despite how poorly he’s played all year, never quit, and never got down on himself. He continues to enter games trying to fill a void on this team, which is to come in and get buckets. The stat line is sick but more importantly, rewind the tape and watch how Hamilton’s shot selection gets better the longer he’s in the game. Watch how much more patient the kid is the more comfortable he gets with his minutes. It’s a self-fulfilling prophecy in basketball. The more comfortable you are, the better your patience and shot selection get. You can hurry along this self-fulfilling prophecy artificially with coaching, but nothing does it like ringing the bell. Those were the same shots Jordan has been taking all year, for the most part, but once he saw the ball go through the hoop, it was on. And he’s doing it as a legit three which will help us on the glass and against teams that think they want to zone. Huge, perhaps season saving game from Hamilton.

Doge Balbay.
Hamilton is your MVP, but Balbay played a whale of a game. He Bruce Bowened the best offensive player in the Big 12 to two points in the second half and didn’t get the benefit of one whistle vs. Anderson. I also like the nuance of taking Balbay off the ball in the halfcourt as a screener on offense which served the purpose of forcing his defender to hedge and show instead of just sagging and helping. But make no mistake, we don’t win this game without his effort on defense.

J’Covan Brown.
It’s a team game and the only reason we were able to move Doge along the baseline on offense was because Brown was effective as a lead guard. I get that he didn’t shoot it all that well, but his 4 to 1 assist to turnover game plus his defense holding Muenelo to 6-13 really helped the cause. He’s your combo guard alongside Balbay, and when he finds his stroke look out.

Gary Johnson.
Just a warrior on the glass with 10 big boards. I was so hoping he’d dot the steroid crazed Marshall Moses but evidently Gary doesn’t drink scotch pregame. Probably a good move. He does give the Horns versatility in our high low sets and by spelling James for stretches. Hamilton’s emergence as a 3 will also be a boon to Gary’s game as a trash man 4.

Avery Bradley.
He did a solid job on Anderson, forcing the future NBA player into taking tough shot after tough shot. Once Balbay switched, Bradley absolutely locked down Paige and forced some turnovers. The 5-9 in 21 minutes is an indication of an efficient offensive game, but we still need him to be more assertive with the rock. His midrange game is NBA quality.

Justin Mason.
Mase came in and did his glue thing defensively and on the glass but 18 minutes is too many in light of his inability to hit a simple open 15 footer. He needs to play 10 minutes per and go all out in that time span.

Jai Lucas.
Had a nice dime for an And 1 when it looked like we would get run out of the gym. Problem for Jai is that there are bigger dogs on the block literally and figuratively. Jordan Hamilton can do what he does, and Hamilton is 6-7.

Clint Chapman.
Throw him into the fire and see what happens. He’s athletic enough to give you something on defense and as a finisher.

Overall, we not only reversed our trendline tonight, but we jumped the curve. In economic parlance it’s tantamount to inventing the cotton gin, the micro chip, or the assembly line. This changes everything. Hell, it was as simple as finding someone that could ring the bell. Getting buckets is glorious isn’t it? Part of that triumph is a function of not being afraid to miss. It’s time to embrace that mindset.

I’d love to read your thoughts.

Article Tags:

Big 12, College Basketball, Jordan Hamilton, Oklahoma State Cowboys, Texas Longhorns

63 Responses

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

February 1st, 2010 at 10:26 pm

Good Post mortem Trips !!! You said everything that came to my mind .
Barnes gets a nod for moving Jordan to the edge of the paint on the weakside help. Simple thing to do and it paid off.
Jordan got better as you said when he got onto his comfort zone.
I should start to play my points spread I could afford to send Ipowers to fucking iceland or some other place. Fuck Ipee. What did he mean that he wanted to see you ass??? I would watch out for that hersey road gay frigging guy. Well done .
mike said:

February 1st, 2010 at 10:27 pm

Even though I’m an OSU fan I enjoy reading your blog. I understand that his name is as insignificant to this blog as his play was tonight, but Moses first name is Marshall.

We would be better if he took more pride in his game than his kid n play hair cut.

Knew we were sunk when Balbay switched to Anderson and Page couldnt hit the barn he was raised in. We arent good when Anderson doesnt have it all game. Great job tonight and good luck.
Trips Right said:

February 1st, 2010 at 10:32 pm

Appreciate the feedback, mike. I’ll make the change.
travis said:

February 1st, 2010 at 10:35 pm

Good write up as usual.. I think we are all smiles after that game. Just a total breath of fresh air with the biggest game of the year coming up on monday, and the fact that the good guys look like they decided they might want to show up for it.

Thanks for the kind words Mike, you’re team will give somebody fits when it gets into the tourney, Anderson is a real beast.
Nickel Rover said:

February 1st, 2010 at 10:41 pm

I’m beginning to worry that Dexter Pittman is too mentally soft to really put it together this season. Which would suck as this if, of course, his senior year.
Patrick Bateman said:

February 1st, 2010 at 10:56 pm

Good thoughts, Trips. One point where I may disagree is with Pittman. Yes, Barnes doesn’t help him very much with our starting lineup and lack of surrounding shooters and yes, he isn’t getting the benefit of the whistles at times, but the fact of the matter is that he’s not playing well. His basketball awareness or what some would call IQ is, well, limited and his penchant for picking up silly fouls is maddening. Even Knight, who sounds like Grandpa Simpson yelling at clouds sometimes, noticed it on the broadcast, summing it up nicely when he said, and I’m paraphrasing, “Pittman is the kind of player that things happen to and not a player that makes things happen”. This was actually great insight into big Dex’s current game. He is still very important to us as he gives us size, shot blocking and a inside scoring threat, but his game has regressed and it’s not all Barnes’ fault. Pittman has got to get better at gathering himself before he goes up and needs to be better on the boards. He also has to get better at recognition of what type of game is being called by the refs and change his game accordingly. Obviously Barnes could help him more with better sub patterns and working the refs more, but much of this regression is all Dex…..

I’ll say again for the third week, just because I think if I say it enough it will come true, but I wish we would start JH at 3 and move Mason to 6th man. It accomplishes so much and as you pointed out, the more JH got comfortable out there, the better his shot selection became. If Pittman can get himself together and JH and JCB can be good contributors, not carry us, then we can play with most squads on most nights….
Honna said:

February 1st, 2010 at 11:00 pm

Nice writeup trips. I don’t know what to think about Pittman anymore. I can stomach the game-to-game inconsistencies from the frosh, but not from him.

Season low 5 TOs? Did not see that coming.
Nickel Rover said:

February 1st, 2010 at 11:01 pm

There were actually several Hamilton shots where I though, “what is he doin…oh nice.” He seems like the best natural scorer on the team since Durant because he can score all over the court.
Really any shot in rythmn is good for him so long as the offense is set, I was so glad to see him put together the arsenal we had only seen glimpses of into a complete game.
Texoz said:

February 1st, 2010 at 11:02 pm

Any coincidence that a SoCal cat named Jordan Hamilton goes nuts at the same time that there’s a giant squid invasion off the California coast?

I think not.

They shoot ink. Jordan shoots 3s. The universe has spoken. Long live the Big Squid, aka Jordan Hamilton.
Trips Right said:

February 1st, 2010 at 11:03 pm

Great points Patrick. Perhaps I should have typed that I’d like to see us try to establish Pitt when he’s surrounded by shooters. If he struggles, fine. At least we’d know with some certainty that it’s Pittman and not personnel circumstances. I guess I fell in love with 2009 Big 12 tournament Dex. Hell, it’s likely I’m way, way off.
Trips Right said:

February 1st, 2010 at 11:10 pm

travis, congrats on getting the paper tonight.

Honna, thanks man. Pittman is at a cross roads.

Texoz, I think it’s a combination of the squid and ipowers. Karma and nature are a powerful force.
kafka said:

February 1st, 2010 at 11:12 pm

If Jordan has stepped up to a new level (a big if), it will make a huge difference for Dex. It will be like adding two new O monsters, because Jordan’s defender will not be able to double Dex. Dex will get his mojo back.

Glad to see Balbay used as a screener.

Barnes needs to encourage his players more on the sideline, especially in tight spots at the end of the game. Yanking them after a bad play is humiliating for the yankee.
kafka said:

February 1st, 2010 at 11:21 pm

If Jordan plays well, you can run a lot of O through him, which means that you can still play Balbay and Bradley concurrently and just use Balbay mostly as a screener. There is no requirement for Brown to be in the game when using Balbay as a screener.
hornin hong kong said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 12:35 am

did we really only shoot 7 FT and make 5?

My dumbass company blocked JustinTv this week
ipowers said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 12:42 am

The motherfucker finally had a good game. Trips, for a one and done as u tried to say he was, it’s gone take more than one game to prove something to me, I need it every night.
CrazyJoeDavola66 said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 12:42 am

I wonder if it would help to have Pitt come off the bench, at least for a few games. Something to just reset him and the team, because it seems like they spend a lot of time and effort trying to get him involved right off the bat.

Maybe it would give him time to see how the game starts out (like – how are the refs calling things, where and how much he can lean on defenders, what’s the other team’s strategy, that sort of thing). And it would keep him from getting a cheap-ass foul early on, which a) seems to happen every game and b) really seems to take him out of the game. I wonder if there’s a negative feedback loop now where he and the staff start pleading to the refs early and the stripes get their hackles up which causes them to “punish” Dex.

In any event, it sure doesn’t look like the team functions particularly well using him as a linchpin of the offense. As observed by Knight and here, he’s just not a take-charge kind of guy, and it seems like we’re trying to make him into that guy. He’s certainly nothing like Damion James in that regard, and expecting him to be is probably unfair.
ipowers said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 12:45 am

Say flymonkey. I meant that I wanted to see what he look like. I imagine that he’s about 5 ft. shit overweight with hair on his chest,back,knuckles and everywhere else.
Cimarrones said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 5:04 am

Not sure I wouldn’t put Doge in there as MVP or a split decision at least. And, that’s what I’ve been expecting from Hamilton since hearing all of the summer practice reports.

I’d like to see Bradley elevate his game a bit, also. We’re going to need it to make a deep run.

Good read, Trips.
HenryJames said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 6:16 am

I should start to play my points spread I could afford to send Ipowers to fucking iceland or some other place.

ipowers probably thinks Iceland is George Gervin’s home planet.
magnusbleuveigner said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 6:30 am

I’m not buying what seems to be the sentiment here: Jordan Hamilton’s game has elevated and now we’re on the right track.

No way in hell can we expect this game or a semblance of this game night in and night out from him. We’ll see. Definitely some good came of this, but we’re going to need to see a few more games to know if we have something.

Just think what Shawn Williams would have done last night. Probably a Kobe 81 spot.
Dude said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 6:43 am

Time out. Hate to be a Dude Downer here but put me in the camp of needing to see a lot more of this before I believe. One game does not a season of forcing bad shots and playing no D erase. It’s not the fools gold that Mason’s 18 pts vs TT was, that’s obvious. But saying this will solve all our problems is crazy. But I loved it too.
Bob in Houston said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 6:55 am

Random screen analysis:

Hamilton’s style hasn’t changed…. 16 shots in 19 minutes. Barnes was giving him credit on the defensive end, but I didn’t think I saw that much difference. When he was weakside, the arrival of the ball seemed to surprise him. Ya gotta love the shots in rhythm, though, and a couple of ‘em that you thought couldn’t go in, but he knew they would.

Concerned about Pittman. He got rocked on a couple of first-half possessions with no call, with little consideration at the other end. Would have loved to have seen the whistle blowers in the first TV game at this one, at least on those. Nickel may be right — Dexter’s time basically may have come and gone, the way things are playing out.

Seven free throws as a team? Blessing in disguise, I guess. But only five turnovers — when I see numbers that low I tend to blame the other defense.

It’s easy to tell the difference in a team that makes nine of its first 27 shots and makes 21 of its last 32. Neither one of those should be the expectation.

Hopefully, this was the bottom and they’re on their way back up.
Hiphopotamus said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 7:00 am

Dude – I was in your camp at first, but the more I think about it, the more that game felt like a turning point. Ability was never the question for Texas; confidence was…and watching last night, it felt like they got some of their swagger back.

Plus, I think the schedule lines up well for them. Assuming they handle OU this weekend, you know they’ll be amped up for Monday night – which could end up determining how their season goes. Lose, and maybe they fall back into a funk, but win and they’re working on a 4 game winning streak (OSU, OU, KU, Neb) and they’ll definitely have their swagger back. Do that, and they could get back on a roll. Their flaws haven’t disappeared, but everyone else at the top has it’s problems too.
SkyMonkeyHorn said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 7:07 am

Hell guys, If Hamilton gives us 20-25 minutes of help defense and chips in with 10-12 points and 5 rebounds thats a big Plus for the team. Will he be this hot the rest of the season I doubt it but a steady supple of D/O will bring him to the table. Decent game need to continue to improve.

Ipee , “I need it every night.” Excuse me did you mean jailhouse rough booty sex after lights out ? This is almost a family site Ipee , please refrain.
The End.
Bob in Houston said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 7:52 am

Oh, and FWIW, the guy who constantly was leaving Hamilton open was James Anderson.
dick said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 8:38 am

A few things:

Jordan took some real dumb out of control shots in the first half that luckily went in. If he misses those, he gets yanked by Barnes and/or doesn’t have the confidence to really blow up in the 2nd half. All I really want from him is to play smarter and then these games won’t be a surprise anymore.

J’Covan finding his shot will be huge and I feel will happen very soon.

One thing that happened pre season was Dexy trying to establish himself as a team leader. Saying all the right things, leading by example, etc. It worked really well in 2009 when he was playing well but when things went south for him, it really affected the rest of the team’s confidence, chemistry and overall play. It’s tough to see one of your leaders suck that badly. Now the team is adjusting to play good ball without him and I agree that Dex needs to go back to 15 mpg, maybe off the bench, and become a valuable role player. We can’t win 4-6 games in a row in march trying to establish him as our primary focus on offense.
travis said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 8:49 am

I agree we need to see more than just one game, since we played against a team that got there lunch handed to them by mizzou saturday.. But going with what Hiphop said … our problem has been confidence, and to go on the road in a hostile environment against a team that plays extremely well at home and come back and dominate the way we did. Is very refreshing.

The first half looked like the same old Texas , standing around not helping on defense just looking at each other and settling for terrible shots on offense. Hamilton gave the team a spark last night and they ran with him.

If he could just make teams respect his ability and the threat of what he can do, then it will make this team so much more diverse, the boy isn’t going to drop 30 everynight but if he could drop 12 to 15 and make timely shots and not be a complete retard on the defensive side of the ball, then this team will be able to keep rolling.

The gooner game will tell alot about where we are, if we keep this up and get a good win on the road against a rival team then maybe we have jump started our mojo.. Time will tell if this game was fools gold or a much needed gut check.
slugfest said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 8:52 am

I’m with Magnus and Bob, giving Hamilton the green light last night was an act of offensive desperation. No way that carries through the season. If anything, this will result in him always thinking he has the green light (i.e. more bad shots for him).

Doge did an awesome job on Anderson in the second half, with help. And the energy did appear to be at a high level last night, which is encouraging.

Maybe the win shakes things up and gives them some momentum, but I need to see more to call this a reversal of fortune.
kafka said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 8:58 am

ipowers is awesome. The guy knows a lot about basketball but the main thing is that he is entertaining and provokes others to be entertaining. Some of the comments aimed at ipowers remind me of the catcalls pro wrestling fans aim at the villains.

My suspicion is that Trips actually created ipowers to spice things up. I started suspecting this when Trips suggested that ipowers kill himself. That was way over the top (jumping the shark?).

I hope ipowers hangs around.
Bartoncreek said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 9:02 am

You have to start somewhere. It was obvious James couldn’t pull us out of this, he was doing everything he could as it was. Someone else needed to. It was JH that did.

As it stands, he is our only hope. Dex has entered the Texas time warp that devours potential NBA players their senior year. JCB just isn’t quite talented enough. AB is just too deferential. It would have been SW according to some but he’s hurt. It had to be JH and it was.

For all the hand wringing over his shot selection, at least he’s not afraid like everyone else on the team appears to be. Like Trips said, his shot selection got much better the more comfortable he got. Shocking. Who would have thought that? Apparently not Barnes.

The other thing Barnes did was move JH up top with JCB. This was a great move. He is not a baseline player. He needs room and freedom. The thing most of our fans don’t see about JH is that he is not just a shooter. He can handle, he can pass. He can go left or right. He needs to be up top where he has options. That is why he went off , imo. We moved him out of the corner. I have been wanting to see this all year. When you watch his high school film, the kid has vision and the raw ability to actually play the point at some time in the future if his head ever catches up to his ability. Big if, I know. But the ability is there.

If I see him camping in the corner waving his arms next game, I will be the guy that walks onto the court and bitch slaps Rick Barnes. I hope this is a permanent change. Now, we just have to let him play through mistakes and bad shots. He took two bad shots when he just came into the game in the 2nd half. I was thinking, please don’t take him out. Rick didn’t and he responded with a dunk and 2 threes in the next minute. Let him keep trying to figure it out, I really believe that he is our only hope to be great. But hell, I could be wrong.
Patrick Bateman said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 9:03 am

SkyMonkey got it right. No one should be expecting JH to all of sudden become a 18-20 point guy and he’s going to take some bad shots and make some head scratching decisions, but this gives everyone a taste of what he’s capable of when he plays with confidence and gets minutes. We’ve been searching for offense since Dexter slipped into his funk and it may have to be a committee of Hamilton, JCB, or Gary to become that third scorer. Damion’s most likely going to get his and if Avery can give us 10-15 points a gm then with our depth, Hamilton doesn’t have to score 25 a night or even be rock solid consistent. Also, if we are going to go small (GJ and DJ upfront) then JH at the 3 to provide some length and rebounding is much more palatable from a rebounding stand point then going 3 guards IMO. I mean heck, he out rebounded Dex last night and had an offensive board.

I agree with BiH in that his game didn’t change as much as his success and confidence did. He probably won’t score this many points in one game the rest of the season, but more double digit games from him would be a huge lift….
Dude said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 10:09 am

@ Hiphop-

I don’t disagree that this will serve as a big boost in confidence for a few individiuals and for the team to win in a tough place. Great to see the freshmen playing with confidence and within the flow of the “offense.” But my bigger worry is the continued loss of confidence by Dexter. That’s this teams biggest wart right now. I’ve seen some posts that have lamented the dissapearance of Big 12 and NCAA Tournament Dexter. That dude was a beast that forced teams to change gameplans in order to try and stop him. Now, the coaches have NO reason to keep him in if there’s a mismatch. We have to adjust to what the other team is doing as opposed to other way around.

Trips – you seem to think Jordan’s emergence will have a large positive impact on Dex. I hope you’re right.. I just don’t know if I buy it. Right now he’s a shell of the guy that went for 23 and 15 vs UNC. It feels like the 2 and 2 he went for against an OSU team with no center is the new norm. He doesn’t go get the damn ball like a real rebounder. He doesn’t seek contact like an effective big man. Last year he shot 69% from the line. This year he’s at 54%.

I understand that our personnel combos have not helped Dex much. And I understand there are those that are foul apologists for Dex because Rick doesn’t work referees. There is truth to these things. But Dex has the ability to be the best big man in the country behind Aldrich. He’s got all the tools to overcome some bad calls and double teams. It’s time for his skills to come through, and it starts with confidence.
ballrific said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 10:28 am

I agree with what some said, Jordan had some shots at first where you said “what the fu….oh, yeah, great shot!”. Any other game, if those don’t go in, Barnes yanks him. So I’m not sold yet since most of our offense in this game came from Hamilton being en fuego and gunnin’. Those don’t go in, we’re back to discussing the lack of “offensive fundamentals” by Barnes. I didn’t see alot of creativity on offense from Barnes but I’m trying to be optimistic after last night’s game…..kudos to the turkish prison shutting down their wannabe durant.
travis said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 10:46 am

So to turn that around, what if Jordan’s performance last night was the indication of what happens when you actually let him get comfortable… Who’s to say if barnes hadn’t yanked him in all those games after he missed shots that he couldn’t get it going after a few more shots.

I tend to see hamilton’s performance as a positive, because it’s not like the kid was a 3 star player that just got hot last night, the guy is a bonified STUD, that came here because he couldn’t go straight to the NBA.

Last night is supposed to be the normal with this kid.

We have all said from the beginning that barnes needs to let the boy have some freedom, he FINALLY did that last night and it payed off great for me and the team.

If JH can take this and build from it, instead of get cocky then he will be able to be a huge part of our offense come march.
jc25 said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 10:46 am

@HenryJames: that was really funny to me for some reason. Well played.

The first half open thread on this game was stupefying. Yeah, we were down 9 or 10 or whatever it was at some point, but we weren’t playing terribly. The deficit was a function of James Anderson going apeshit and some unlucky bounces. Yes, there was a five minute stretch (around the 10 min mark) where we didn’t feel like doing simple basketball things like boxing out, penetrating, or putting two hands on the basketball. But we turned that around fairly quickly and just ran into an Anderson buzzsaw. There was no shame in how we played most of the first half. We contested just about every shot that the Pokes threw up, while on our end we missed a few makeable open midranges and threes.

Besides Jordan Hamilton’s one-man show, the rest of our team showed up. There was hustle, help D, and communication. Not sure how or why the light clicked. Maybe it was Rick finally being ballsy enough to start J’Covan our fearless leadah. Maybe it was just finally seeing someone go NBA Jam on someone. Who knows. Keep it up, boys. Confidence is a funny thing in basketball.

The only real negative was Dexter Pittman. At this point, he’s gotta realize he’s not getting some calls and will pick up ticky tack fouls due to his size. It’s a problem, even in the NBA. Seeing him get pushed around by the likes of Marshall Moses and Matt “good enough for BCG but not good enough for Cal” Pilgrim was laughable. At one point, I was wondering why the heck Cal would let a star like Pilgrim go until I realized Pittman was playing like how Shaq’s ass tastes. Pittman had a couple nice high-lo catches but needs to dunk with Cartman-like authoritah like, every play. If you’re stuck in a triple team, make a basketball move towards the hoop and pick up the foul or pass to the open man. Don’t dilly dally around with stuff like footwork and get stripped. His effort on the glass is equally mystifying. He had a couple of nice recovery blocks but seems unconcerned with actually getting the ball. Now we can afford to play smallball with a team like OSU, but Pittman’s effort and minutes will be greatly needed against some of the bigger boys. Tiny Gallon and Cole Aldrich are coming up. Now’s your time to shine, sexy. No excuses, play like a champion.
Blake Borron said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 11:40 am

Tiny Gallon makes Pittman look like Corliss Williamson…
Barking Carnival — Blog — Doug Gottlieb Watched the Same Game I Watched said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 1:34 pm

[...] point about Balbay and our pseudo one man zone vs. James Anderson was discussed in the post mortem as [...]
ipowers said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 2:51 pm

You’ll find pieces of me in Jordan Hamilton’s stool.
Another Dipshit Poster said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 4:03 pm

I suspect not everyone saw it in the second half, but Barnes started to get up to give Hamilton the quick hook and Todd Wright physically stopped him and asked Barnes to give the kid a chance. That’s when the really unholy string of offense ensued. It almost was not given a chance to happen.
Another Dipshit Poster said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 4:29 pm

Sorry Trips. Just read your post on the Gottlieb thread where you saw the same thing.
Trips Right said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 4:54 pm

No need to be sorry, ADP. It’s hilarious. Watch the step back 3 heat check where Barnes is shaking his head half pissed off and half in disbelief.
SkyMonkeyHorn said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 4:58 pm

Ipee,
Thats weak ass shit son.
My reply to your post begging to be pumped everynight should have been worth a couple of motherfuckers, maybe some ass kicking threats, and severe foaming at the mouth like you do after lights out every night.
I really like your imagination that” LMAO” is a diamond in the rough retort.
If your going to respond bring your “A” game. I am sorry I know that you never got a “A” even in pre-school. My bad. Just give me a “F” or something original .
The End.
ipowers said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 5:33 pm

I forgot to tell u that ur mama give good head too. She might be better than ur woman. I guess ur Trips boyfriend now since u feel the need to take up for him. I hope ya’ll use protection and a lot of vaseline cause I heard Trips has the tightest ass this side of El Paso.
Trips Right said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 6:00 pm

We’d probably all get a long better if we were talking about strippers. My peace offering to you ipowers and something skymonkey will appreciate.
ghostofagroundgame said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 6:36 pm

I’m too lazy to read the whole thread, but ipowers comments about sodomizing Trips are so tender and heartfelt that I started feeling a little uncomfortable. Also, wherever ipowers hangs out, and I’m guessing it involves AOLchat and Chris Hansen based on the emoticons and lmaos, apparently the topic of Trips’ rectum is discussed. Which is also weird.
ipowers said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 7:01 pm

Trips is a rectum that’s why it’s discussed so much
Trips Right said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 7:23 pm

imagine my disappointment
SkyMonkeyHorn said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 7:38 pm

Thanks Trips that pic is priceless. Can I wish that I was that pole?

But watch out I see Ipee already starting to have a fantasy about that old man. That is Ipee’s ideal daddy. I can just see Ipee getting into his diaper and that funny little hat that he wears when he crawls onto the old guys lap.

Not taking up for Trips, he can outwit you without trying.
I am working on your pea size brain trying to bring you out of your shy, quite self to really be a Chica that Cali can be proud of. Come on get out into the sunlight , the closet is no place for such a blooming Chica. Stand proud and be the best Chica that you can be !!!
ipowers said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 9:58 pm

Say FlyMonkeyHoe, As the great Ice Cube once put it ” Willie D told me to let a hoe be a hoe”
kafka said:

February 2nd, 2010 at 10:42 pm

Does Jordan start next game?

Does Barnes make an effort to get Dex back on track by playing Jordan at sf when Dex is playing? Isn’t it likely that going in and out of the game so much will screw up Jordan’s shooting rhythm?

Why is Dex not in good cardiovascular shape? Has an illness or injury hindered his workouts? He also seems less explosive.
Sailor Ripley said:

February 3rd, 2010 at 1:08 am

Here’s the motherfucking deal.

iPowers – Clean your shit up and bring something cogent to the table or be banished to the bowels of the WordPress spam filter. Worse than purgatory.

Seriously, hang with us. Make points. Or get out.

That’s it.
Trips Right said:

February 3rd, 2010 at 7:43 am

kafka, you know, that’s funny you mentioned that. Dex does look a little off physically, I mean, just the way he runs looks different. Maybe an injury or tweak. He’s also not as explosive off the floor as he was in December.

As for starters, I think you start Brown, Balbay, and Bradley to se a tone defensively and then you bring in Hamilton when there’s a favorable matchup for him on defense. Gulley from OSU was a perfect cover for JH. It’ll be interesting to see how Barnes handles JH the rest of the way because based on Rick’s body language Monday night, he seemed to hate every shot Jordan took.
kafka said:

February 3rd, 2010 at 10:43 am

The problem with playing Bradley at sf is that he is so small that he can’t block out and gets overwhelmed on the D boards. Against a good team (i.e. when it counts) the horns will need the size/shooting of Jordan at sf.

Barnes should focus on getting Jordan integrated into the attack and getting Dex squared away, that is much more important than winning any particular game. The key to fixing Dex is playing Jordan because Dex is no longer double teamed.

Dex should focus on getting fit in Feb and getting back in sync on O. Fighting all the double teams has screwed with his game.

Love Gary but he will have hard time scoring and bounding vs an elite team with size.
ghostofagroundgame said:

February 3rd, 2010 at 3:07 pm

Put me with the group that believs something is physically wrong with Dex. Remember when he tweaked his ankle — I think is was against CC A&M? Maybe it still hurts? Ankles on a big man can really hurt explosiveness.
ipowers said:

February 3rd, 2010 at 3:29 pm

Say Mr. Sailor man, I always bring something cogent to the table. Read Kafka’s post a little further up. The problem is that when I disagree with the almighty Trips Right, I get ridiculed. I don’t tolerate that kind of shit.
Trips Right said:

February 3rd, 2010 at 8:24 pm

ipowers, I’m not one to fire unless fired upon, but I apologize if I’ve ever ridiculed you or insulted you out of turn. Look, we’re probably going to disagree on some things and that’s fine. We just have to keep it civil.

For example, I disagreed with Vasherize’s decision to buy and drive an Eclipse, but we’re still pals.
SkyMonkeyHorn said:

February 3rd, 2010 at 9:11 pm

“I disagreed with Vasherize’s decision to buy and drive an Eclipse, but we’re still pals.”
What the hell does that have to do with anything. LMAO
OK OK I also will play nice if we have to get along.
Civil as in Tea and biscuits @ 4pm ?? Do you also have nice pink napkins Trips.
Just messing with your short ass 5ft 0 inch puddle jumper.
Trips Right said:

February 3rd, 2010 at 9:31 pm

Because Vasherize isn’t a 17 year old girl.

You tellin me you have an eclipse, Sky?
SkyMonkeyHorn said:

February 3rd, 2010 at 9:50 pm

Sorry Trips, I thought that Vasherize was an 18 yr old girl. Nay Eclipse are for girly men like Arnold said.
I drive a Ford 250 Black King Ranch Edition pick up and a 1999 primo Lincoln Towncar that is clean to impress the trim I run into.
I bet you drive a Mini right?
Trips Right said:

February 4th, 2010 at 7:19 am

I ride a bmx with banana seat.
SkyMonkeyHorn said:

February 4th, 2010 at 8:09 am

There you go teasing people again with that statement. You know we can not name people to tease. But you are opening yourself up to such questions as :
Do you have stretch riding shorts?
Is it a smooth or padded seat?
Is it invasive while riding?
Does your ride have those multicolor plastic tassels hanging from the handlebars?
Is it all original equipment or did you get bigger rubber tires?
Are your socks knee high?
Do you get tired of old ladies trying to get your attention?
Did you extend your front fork ?
Trips Right said:

February 4th, 2010 at 8:36 am
SkyMonkeyHorn said:

February 4th, 2010 at 9:16 am

Peace Out !
Always and forever, Kip and Lafawnduh (code names) for u know who, r u sure?

I would send you a song but I do not know shit about how to do it.
Nepolian Dynimite, Kips Wedding Song for u and u know who. Happy trails .

58

Texas Hoops vs. Oklahoma: Post-Mortem
By Trips Right on March 1st, 2010
28

Texas Hoops vs. Oklahoma State: Post-Mortem
By Trips Right on February 25th, 2010
32

Texas Basketball vs. Nebraska: Post-Mortem
By Trips Right on February 13th, 2010
61

Basketball: Texas vs. Rice Post Mortem
By Trips Right on November 29th, 2009
24

College Basketball: Preview of Texas @ Oklahoma State
By Trips Right on February 28th, 2009

Hot Forum Topics

Oklahoma State AD Mike Holder
Last Post By: Ibas water bottle
Inside: Barking Carnival Forum
Only two have what it takes: Beakers and Bears
Last Post By: admin
Inside: Oread Boom Kings Forum
Only two teams have what it takes: Beakers and Bears
Last Post By: Vasherized
Inside: Bear Crawl Forum
Rumor on Cory Joseph
Last Post By: raoulduke
Inside: Barking Carnival Forum
Bergeron Ran an 11.1 Yesterday
Last Post By: CloseToJumping
Inside: Barking Carnival Forum
Baylor Bears to Final Four?
Last Post By: Sailor Ripley
Inside: Bear Crawl Forum
Perrish Cox banned from pro day
Last Post By: The General
Inside: Pokelahoma Forum
The Ides of March
Last Post By: bateshorn
Inside: Barking Carnival Forum
Good News - Tech will still suck next year as Pat Knight is coming back!
Last Post By: Sailor Ripley
Inside: Spence Park Soapbox Forum
Miami Giving Duke some problems
Last Post By: Trips Right
Inside: March To March Forum

Activity

RSS Feed

GoHornsGo90 commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 2 hours, 18 minutes ago

Barnes’ three “strengths”:

Defense, rebounding, recruiting.

This team just proved the first two are non-existent (out-rebounded by 25; fucking KIDDING me?) and the last one is over-hyped as well. Every ESPN basketball recruiting analyst who actually had Bradley ahead of Wall should be taken out back and executed Inglourious Basterds style.

I hate Turgeon and I
skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 3 hours, 2 minutes ago

a Good System will usually beat a talented team that does not play together and are thinking instead of playing basketball ,over a season the system wins more then they will give away.
A team that is scared to make a mistake and thinks before they react is going to lose to a confident but
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 36 minutes ago

Nordberg,

Ironic indeed……teachable moment, I guess….

NY Horn,

I hope your drunk, because Izzo ain’t coming to Texas……Why don’t we just get Coach K. I mean Coach G came from Duke, they have to be dying to get out of Durham….
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 40 minutes ago

Egg, that’s fine, but at what point do you blame Barnes? Seriously, man. You’ve thrown players under the bus left and right, but at a certain point, doesn’t the buck stop somewhere. I know you’re more of an NBA guy so it begins and ends with players there, but we need fucking
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 40 minutes ago

Egg, that’s fine, but at what point do you blame Barnes? Seriously, man. You’ve thrown players under the bus left and right, but at a certain point, doesn’t the buck stop somewhere. I know you’re more of an NBA guy so it begins and ends with players there, but we need fucking
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 42 minutes ago

Trips,

I hear ya. I’m frustrated as well. I guess I just don’t prescribe to such a black and white characterization of the situation. I do know that no matter what happened in the huddle, JCB made a dumb play. If Rick didn’t explain or remind him of the situation, then I
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 49 minutes ago

Pat, know I don’t, but I’ve had coaches draw up plays to free up the best foul shooter and then tell that guy they’d put their foot up his ass if they passed the ball. It’s funny, but as a fans of football we nitpick blitz pickup and shit like that. Shit that’s
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 49 minutes ago

Pat, you know I don’t, but I’ve had coaches draw up plays to free up the best foul shooter and then tell that guy they’d put their foot up his ass if they passed the ball. It’s funny, but as a fans of football we nitpick blitz pickup and shit like that. Shit
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 49 minutes ago

Pat, you know I don’t, but I’ve had coaches draw up plays to free up the best foul shooter and then tell that guy they’d put their foot up his ass if they passed the ball. It’s funny, but as fans of football we nitpick blitz pickup and shit like that. Shit that’s
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 52 minutes ago

Shitty season…..Rick needs to hire some offensive help and someone needs to say it to him. Deloss?
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 54 minutes ago

Trips,

Do you know that he didn’t? JCB has made bad decision all season, why would this be any different. Barnes coached a shitastic game, but on the teams I was the best FT shooter, I never game up the ball unless it was an uncontested layup…..It’s not hard and it doesn’t take a
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 55 minutes ago

mcpayne, yes, you don’t leave that shit to chance. You don’t let your guys break the huddle or dead ball not knowing precisely what’s expected from them. Barnes doesn’t get 2 mil for coaching PE where he’s hoping the right guy gets fouled.
uthookem commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 56 minutes ago

mpayne, I’d agree with you if J’Covan had been playing all season and had been in situations to make that decision. Like, you know, against Baylor, when he played all of 3 fucking minutes thanks to rick.

So yes, it is rick’s fault.
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 4 hours, 57 minutes ago

With 15 seconds left, out of a dead ball, most coaches would make it perfectly clear who they wanted to be fouled.
uthookem commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours ago

Stupid decisions by Brown are one of the reasons he sat on the bench for most of the season…lack of coaching maybe, or just a lack of basketball IQ?

Oh well, if Brown doesn’t go off in the 2nd half, we aren’t even playing in OT. Too bad he didn’t get much of a chance
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours ago

Pat, if you were making 2 million a year, would you leave that up to chance?
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours ago

Actually, if your a PG and the best FT shooter on the team and played basketball your entire life, you’d pretty much know not to give up the ball if you had any brains…..Such a dumb play…..
D W commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 2 minutes ago

Oh, and a stupid decision by Brown in giving up the ball to Johnson.
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 2 minutes ago

Be nice if we’d coached our 90 percent foul shooter not to give the ball up.
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 2 minutes ago

Ransom,

1 for 2, that was not shitty defense……
Mister Mike commented on the blog post State of the Union – NU Basketball, Part 1 (or Why We Are Where We Are) 5 hours, 2 minutes ago

Well if you had read it all the way, you would’ve noticed this little tidbit:

In the second part I’ll do my best to give an outline of what exactly is wrong with the program, what we can do to fix it, and then what will probably happen TO fix it.

So to answer your question:

SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });
uthookem commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 2 minutes ago

The line kills us, as it should have.

Fuck Rick Barnes, as this was the worst coaching I have seen in all my years of watching UT sports.

This saved us from Kentucky, but I feel bad for Damo, he was a hell of a Longhorn.

Hook ‘em!

And FUCK RICK BARNES!
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 3 minutes ago

Feel bad for Damion…..Dexter and Mason, not so much….
D W commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 3 minutes ago

So the season ends with missed free throws and shitty defense by Bradley. Pretty fitting.
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 3 minutes ago

Yup……We knew that FTs would get us….
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 4 minutes ago

F’n Gary’s been awful tonight….
uthookem commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 5 minutes ago

GJ at the line…big heart needed!
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 5 minutes ago

Why does Brown give it up there?
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 5 minutes ago

Bilas explaining why we’re not a smart team…Oh good, I want Gary at the line…
Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest Open thread 5 hours, 6 minutes ago

The good news is that now I know to fill out the census, so i’m not going to jail…not for that anyway.

Basketball Articles

Texas Basketball vs. Oklahoma State: Post Mortem

Article Tags:

More from this Barker

Share This

63 Responses

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

mike said:

Trips Right said:

travis said:

Nickel Rover said:

Patrick Bateman said:

Honna said:

Nickel Rover said:

Texoz said:

Trips Right said:

Trips Right said:

kafka said:

kafka said:

hornin hong kong said:

ipowers said:

CrazyJoeDavola66 said:

ipowers said:

Cimarrones said:

HenryJames said:

magnusbleuveigner said:

Dude said:

Bob in Houston said:

Hiphopotamus said:

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

Bob in Houston said:

dick said:

travis said:

slugfest said:

kafka said:

Bartoncreek said:

Patrick Bateman said:

Dude said:

ballrific said:

travis said:

jc25 said:

Blake Borron said:

Barking Carnival — Blog — Doug Gottlieb Watched the Same Game I Watched said:

ipowers said:

Another Dipshit Poster said:

Another Dipshit Poster said:

Trips Right said:

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

ipowers said:

Trips Right said:

ghostofagroundgame said:

ipowers said:

Trips Right said:

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

ipowers said:

kafka said:

Sailor Ripley said:

Trips Right said:

kafka said:

ghostofagroundgame said:

ipowers said:

Trips Right said:

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

Trips Right said:

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

Trips Right said:

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

Trips Right said:

SkyMonkeyHorn said:

Leave a Reply

Follow Us

Related Articles

Hot Forum Topics

Activity