Barking Carnival — Blog — Texas Hoops vs. Kansas: Post-Mortem

I have a man crush on Al McGuire, the basketball coach that led Marquette to its only national championship.

The man had an uncanny way of relating to players when he was coaching and to the audience when he was a color commentator for CBS. He’d throw out stuff like:

“I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated.”

“The only mystery in life is why the kamikaze pilots wore helmets.”

“If the waitress has dirty ankles, the chili should be good.”

“Winning is overrated. The only time it is really important is in surgery and war.”

The guy had a knack for putting people at ease by not taking himself too seriously. I mean, how are you going to sweat a jump shot when the guy on the bench is talking about chili. Free throws? Pfffff. “Coach just told the Milwaukee Sentinel that them chinamens shouldn’t have been wearin’ dem helmets and shit.”

The point is that coaching basketball is part X’s and O’s, part Jimmies and Joes, and part making sure these cats are in the absolute right place mentally to take a shot, take someone off the dribble, or make a pass. If you’ve hammered them to a point where they’ve got one eye on the bench before making a basketball play, you’ve cost them at least one third of their game.

So this is where we’re at as a basketball program. We played one of the best two or three teams in the country tonight and you’d be hard-pressed to decipher what we were trying to do with things like our substitution patterns and our offensive or defensive attacks. In February for crying out loud!!

Hell, we struggled to advance the basketball on the dribble without turning it over in some cases.

Contrast that with Kansas’ ball movement and precision passing game and you can see the true depth of our problems. Case in point, when we trapped KU’s ball screen game, not only did the guard know what to do with the basketball, but the forward to whom he passed it knew exactly where to deliver the pill to exploit the mismatch in our helpside defense.

When we were trapped on the ball screen, we called a fucking time out. That’s the difference between being average and being elite.

As for our players’ performance, I thought Damion James was the best player on the floor. Kid’s an absolute warrior that deserves much better. We’d be in UNC’s shoes without DJ. I also thought J’Covan Brown showed he needs to get a crack at the full-time point position going forward. The kid looked much quicker and played with confidence on both ends.

I felt Dexter Pittman played great in spite of the fact he was doubled every time he touched the ball. If the kid played at a mid-major somewhere he’d be an all-American provided the coach could X and O his way to get Dex the rock or at least X and O his way out of a wet paper bag. On defense, Dex absolutely pantsed Cole Aldrich tonight, embarrassing the all-Big 12 center out of a ton of cash in the eyes of NBA scouts.

Everyone else for Texas sucked out loud, especially the coaching staff. Thanks for wasting the energy we started out with early on in this game. Thanks for wasting Avery Bradley and his out of this world ability to the tune of just 3 points. Thanks for wasting the opportunity to beat a dead-legged Kansas team ripe for an upset with your inept handling of this basketball team. Thanks for sucking the life out of all the momentum this team enjoyed going into 2010 with your abject stubbornness and lack of creativity.

In reality, thanks for nothing. You deserve that mausoleum of a facility you constantly carp about. Reap it.

By the way, how much money is Villanova paying Jay Wright? It’s now germane to the discussion.

Updated: Oread Boom Kings Birds Eye View Post Mortem

Article Tags:

Avery Bradley, Big 12, Bill Self, Cole Aldrich, College Basketball, Damion James is a Warrior Prince, Dexter Pittman, J'Covan Brown, Kansas Jayhawks, Rick Barnes, Sherron Collins, Texas Longhorns

118 Responses

Orange90 said:

February 9th, 2010 at 1:32 am

Amen, brutha! If Barnes always wished his program mattered to the fans at Texas, he’s fixin to get a little taste of what Mack goes through practically every year. All the attention he ever wanted, and more. If he doesn’t start showing that he’s worth his multi mil contract real quick, he’s gonna find himself coaching some mid-major also-ran in some god forsaken outpost with a fraction of the resources he currently enjoys.
Bryan Cox said:

February 9th, 2010 at 1:35 am

Katz’s never closes:

http://espn.go.com/blog/CollegeBasketballNation/post/_/id/3560/texas-lacked-cohesion-in-another-loss

“All I can tell you is that we’re 19-5 with seven regular-season games left,” Barnes said. “How we got to 5-4 is pretty simple. If we had put our young guys out there early, then we wouldn’t have won whatever we did in a row [17 straight to get to No. 1 in the polls]. We weren’t going to do that. We knew at some point in time we needed to get them out there.”

But the problem lies in whom to play, when to play them and for how long.

“If we would all play together,” said Barnes, as he zig-zagged from point to point. “We’re going to fix this. We’ll be where we need to be. I knew there were issues that we were going to have to deal with and one of them was we weren’t totally together as a team.”
The General said:

February 9th, 2010 at 4:03 am

I keep thinking each game that this will be the worst we look all season. Then we play another game. Get ready for an atrocious offensive performance against Nebraska.
beowulf said:

February 9th, 2010 at 5:52 am

Barnes and this abortion of a basketball team that he has wrought aren’t worth the effort you put in for them. Admirable that you continue to attempt an analysis with some type of hope for them.

Is Barnes even in the top 5 of our coaches on campus at Texas now? Top10? Maybe the latter.
Chad said:

February 9th, 2010 at 6:22 am

Why do you play basket ball if you cannot shoot (Balbay, Mason)?
Why do you penetrate and draw foul if you cannot shoot FT?
Bartoncreek said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:11 am

If Balbay starts on Saturday, I’m either walking out of the Erwin Center or turning off my television. That will show me all I need to know. That Barnes is a complete idiot and there is no hope for us this season.

The time has come for DJ to tell Barnes to go to hell. You could tell last night that he is teetering on the brink. He can’t play any harder. He gets no help from the staff or players. I feel sorry for him.
Bob in Houston said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:18 am

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 players knew what they were and how to use them. They didn’t function that well from time to time, but in Wooden fashion, they did not hurry.

Texas, meanwhile, played like it’s November. The offense ran like they were putting together a jigsaw puzzle… at a practice pace. “Dex, you come up and set a screen. Dogus, you either drive or rotate the ball over. Damion, when you get the ball on the wing, wait for the screen… no, no, let’s start again.” KU had easy rotations (when required, which was not that often) because they knew what Texas was going to do and were countering it almost quicker than Texas was doing it.

When Jai Lucas headed around the screen, KU devoured him. They knew he’d try to dribble out of the trap, and he couldn’t (wouldn’t) get rid of the ball before it was too late.

And any play that has Clint Chapman at the top of the key running the offense is a disaster in the making.

Dogus lost minutes because KU’s double of Pittman seemed like it beat the ball sometimes. Early in the second half, Sherron Collins stripped the ball from James because he was already down there backing off Balbay and figured, “Why not go after the ball?” So he did.

The only sort-of-non-gloomy positive I take from this game is that KU’s defense is about as good as it gets. They won’t see that kind of drought again. Problem is that it doesn’t take that much to throw off the offense they are trying to run, whatever it is.

You cannot go 20 minutes of game clock, or whatever it might have been, between free throws. Balbay did not try to shoot on the few drives he did attempt. I thought Texas might have gotten the bad end of the non-whistles as the game got out of hand in the first half, but it wasn’t enough to change the game. KU played confident, lock-down defense, and never worried about being out of position. Meanwhile, Texas switches up to a zone early on, and the ball goes right to the bottom of the circle and down the gut for a layup. Grrrreat.

I spent a lot of time watching Hamilton on the defensive end. There aren’t really any good things to say. He was tentative all night. He never really got up on anyone man to man, and even then, he got beat badly a couple of times and cost other guys fouls. I saw him help effectively once, I think. But Barnes had him out there. I think (hope) it’s as a teaching tool.

Briefly on the freshmen: The B12 season has shown, as we knew it would, that other coaches watch tape. It’s been relatively easy to take Dexter out of the offense. If a double doesn’t frustrate (which it usually does), then a triple surely will, and there is no pain associated with trying it.

James can’t go one on five all the time, and since Balbay can’t shoot, that means the freshmen have to score. It would be one thing if they could be complementary scorers, as we all hoped, but the rest of the league has chosen to make them decide how to run the offense, and they’re just not ready. Brown appears to be closest, but the majority of his points last night came when KU did not need to worry about how many more he scored. In the last three games, Hamilton scored more than 20, then Bradley did it, and now Brown has done it. Nobody knows where it’s coming from. That hurts Texas more than it pains opponents.

Barnes did some of the things we have been talking about. He cut Mason’s minutes, and IIRC, did not have him and Balbay on the floor together. Hamilton again did not have a clue about what makes a good shot, and this time, he won the golden sombrero. But he got the minutes, which can only help. Bradley also probably has no idea what RB wants from him on the offensive end, but he definitely wants no part of the FT line as well.

I think we’re really close to seeing this season finish like last season, with Damion James playing the role of AJ Abrams. I never really considered that a possibility until last night.
Aggie Lurking said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:22 am

Billy Clyde apparently was at the game last night. He could straighten out your mess in less than a year and provide Augie with some company on late night benders/poon tang prowls.
Leonidas said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:32 am

“On defense, Dex absolutely pantsed Cole Aldrich tonight, embarrassing the all-Big 12 center out of a ton of cash in the eyes of NBA scouts.”

Trips, if you’re going to make this kind of statement you should also point out Cole returned the favor. BTW, look at the box score; Cole had better stats all around.
kafka said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:33 am

Great job, Trips. These are discouraging times but you are sticking with it. The horns showed a lot of heart.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:46 am

Texas needs to give Billy Gillispie his dream job already
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:49 am

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 plumber.

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 got double team or help on Aldrich. Again, it’s reality.

Look, dude, you guys have a great basketball team, and I’ve said as much on this site. I’m not sure why you’d pick this battle when clearly Aldrich was dominated head up on one end and received double and triple teams to stop Pittman on the other.
ponderos said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:55 am

Leonidas. Trips said the same thing last year bout Pittman vs. Blake Griffin. Let him go, he’s on a roll.
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:56 am

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 route, I’m not sure I’m ready, give me Jay Wright as an established guy or Anthony Grant if you want to take flyer on an up and comer.
TShakCFP said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:57 am

Well put Trips. I turned the TV off at halftime I simply couldn’t watch anymore..
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 7:57 am

ponderos, shouldn’t you be supersizing something somewhere?
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:02 am

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 players that he wants to play for the rest of the season and stop with the 10-11 guy rotation.

How can Hill, Chapman, Wang contribute when instead of playing more minutes in cupcake games or when they have started to contribute in winable games they are told to grab a seat again.
Ku / TX biggest game on our schedule and Barnes expect Hil and the rest to step up and stop KU bigs. He does not give them minutes but just expect them to do the job. Insanity.

Barnes makes some big bucks and he said this????
“If we would all play together,” said Barnes, as he zig-zagged from point to point. “We’re going to fix this. We’ll be where we need to be. I knew there were issues that we were going to have to deal with and one of them was we weren’t totally together as a team.”

Why wait until the 24th game to admit that something is wrong with the team. Good coaching my ass, insanity again.
Where the fuck is Barnes Helmet at ?

Kansas played great defense and never hurried, they knew where team members were at at any given point in time. The few times they needed help side defense they were there to help out .
Damn to get half the ball movement that KU has all game would be great. Texas had better ball movemnet for what the first 3-4 minutes and they went away from it . Helmet time again?
Damn.
Swaner said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:02 am

I’m still not sold on J’CB being a good point guard, but I this point we’ve really got no other choice. He’s got a long way to go but if he can improve a few aspects of his game, especially his fundamentals, he just might get there. His A:TO ratio would probably double if he would just pass the ball with two hands instead of these one handed pushes he always does.

I’ve always been a huge supporter of Rick, but this season has me doubting. If he can’t win with this roster then he’s cleary not the type of coach UT should have. Great recruiter, good coach. We need a Great recruiter, great coach. It’s funny you mentioned Jay Wright, my wife made the same suggestion last night, although she like him mostly because he’s a “very handsome man”.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:03 am

What I want to know is how in the world are we paying a guy $2,000,000 who has yet to win one Big 12 Tournament Championship, much less an NCAA tournament game in which we were not favored to win (or were a weaker seed)
Savage Henry said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:06 am

why was eddie sutton at the game? he looked dead.
Art Vandelay said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:25 am

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 the 22-0 Kansas run. During that time we missed 12 consecutive shots and had 6 turnovers. At one point midway through the second half we had more turnovers than made baskets. More turnovers than made baskets in the second half???
NY Horn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:26 am

The thing about Barnes that will keep him from ever getting fired here is that there is a minimum level of performance that he has been able to extract from his teams. Even when we had horrible personnel, he has still been able to make the tournament. As long as he is putting teams into the tourney every year, I think he is untouchable.

What sucks for us is that this season is serving as a litmus test for his ability to coach at a championship level, and you could say that it hasn’t worked out. I think we’re in for another 5-10 years of averaging a 2nd round bounce, mixed in with the occasional elite 8.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:26 am

Ah, and Trips…..Billy G has apparently been playing a lot of golf in El Paso with Stull recently. Stull already has him lined up to replace Barbee if he should leave after this year
Triston27 said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:29 am

Agree that Pittman played great against Aldrich. He never denied the ball but it made Aldrich tentative and thus forced a couple bad shots. Doubling down on Pittman when he caught the ball was such an easy defensive play. He’s not a good passer so his only option is to kick it back out to one of the guards. And that’s exactly what we wanted.
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:40 am

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”
Patrick Bateman said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:40 am

Please stop it with the “Barnes getting fired” talk. It’s silly. As frustration peaks, we all do and say silly things, but one bad season, and this is bad, is not going to wipe out all the good will Barnes has accrued into making Texas a national program. The Jay Wright thought is even more hilarious. His NOVA roots run deep, he plays in the best conference in America, and is a breath away from establishing NOVA as a perennial powerhouse.

My fear is that while Brent and Knight went on and on about “discovering” JCB last night, is this a one game thing or can he be consistent? Didn’t we discover JH just 3 games ago? Didn’t we discover Dogus vs. Tech? I’m hopeful but JCB was shooting 28% in Big12 play coming into last night. I’m happiest that he seemed to get out of his shooting slump. That said, I still think we need to roll with our freshman. We know what we have with our veteran guards and it’s left us wanting….
UTBX said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:40 am

Motionless Offense

General thoughts from the Drum last night:

• Barnes has lost this team. They have given up on him and he has given up on them

• As stated on ESPN radio (versus the homers over at 1300) this morning, the Motionless Offense Barnes runs is not new, so there should be no surprise to its stagnant nature, the issue is that we are totally dependent on a NBA caliber PG to run the show. Without it we are 4 guys standing around while one guy dribbles around circles and an occasional guy steps up with a half hearted pick and roll. Our offense is designed to allow future NBA stars to show their stuff, it is not designed so create an offensive engine that is far better than the sum of it’s the parts. Watch other top teams, they move the ball and as soon as there is the slightest defensive mistake, the ball rotates around for an open shot. It is a real thing of beauty when it works, our offense is just plain ugly.

• Pittman is novelty and not a big time player. But once again, if he played on a team with an offensive purpose and movement he could be very effective. He whines and is not mentally tough. I believe the coaches all realize they can push him around early and make him a mental basket case. As a team we telegraph when we are going to Pittman, we might as well put up a big sign announcing our intentions

• When we have movement it is random and without purpose.

What should we do:

• I love Dogus Balbay and been a proponent of his playing time, but based on sticking with the Motionless Offense we have no choice but to bet heavily on J’Covan Brown.

• I am not sure what to do with Jordan Hamilton, he seems so lost. Once again, if we ran a structured offense he might understand his role and what he is supposed to do, but right now he has no clue. I have never seem a player of this talent look so awkward on court

• You got to love James, I feel bad for him. At least he has a basketball career beyond Texas. He has really stepped up but the Power Forward cannot do it alone

• Jai Lucas is a bust, do not play him

• Gary Johnson can be a black hole, but he goes to the hoop strong and is not intimidated or ratted by the defense.

• I like Bradley, but he is not having fun out there and seems a little frustrated and without purpose

• I would go with J’Covan, Bradley, James, Johnson and (not sure, I would like to say give Hamilton a shot and see if he can settle into a flow, but I really am not sure)
Bob in Houston said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:41 am

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 chicken salad made to believe that Barnes no longer can coach. He talked last year about “coaching mad,” and how bad that was for that team. I think the same thing is happening this year.

I included your statement about Hamilton, which very well could be true (and he does seem to be a terrible fit for Barnes) to suggest that Barnes probably has been working with the guy for four months, trying to get him to learn how to help and to see his man and the ball. His failure to do that kept him off the floor. I think I can see by watching Hamilton last night that he is trying to get it. It’s just not coming as fast as Barnes needs it. Is that bad coaching, that he can’t get through? I dunno.

I do not want to give up on RB, but Sky, playing the part of Occam’s Razor, also is fairly convincing.
Oread Boom Kings — Blog — Thoughts on the win in Austin said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:42 am

[...] Check out the post-mortem by Trips Right here. [...]
texastough said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:47 am

“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 untouchable.
UTBX said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:59 am

texastough said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:47 am

“As long as he is putting teams into the tourney every year, I think he is untouch

—–

$2.0 million has a high
UTBX said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:59 am

..er standard
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 8:59 am

UTBX, you hit it on the head with the “elite NBA caliber Point Guard”. You look at the great teams Texas had, and they were run by Gibson, Ford and Augustin.

DeLoss needs to realize that out of his Big Three Coaches (Augie, Mack, and Barnes), one is not meeting the standards of the other two
Patrick Bateman said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:05 am

If we you run the Phoenix Suns/D’Antoni offense or a derivative of it, it requires a playmaking PG. We don’t have one currently that can consistently finish at the rim, pull up around the foul line extended and drain jumpers or pass out of a collapsing defense. We’ve tried to run some more pick n’ roll and offside block screens, but those have had sporadic success.

We run a lot of plays that don’t seem to get anyone open b/c we’re a lousy screen team. Once that happens, we stand around until another play is called. In short, we run a pro style offense or a derivative of it and not a motion system, so without constant penetration our offense will continue to stagnate. I’m a little surprised at how poor AB is with the ball in his hands. He would seem a natural to be able to work off high ball screens and pull up for a midrange jumper but he seems more like AJ in that he works better without the ball.
ballrific said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:18 am

“Billy Clyde apparently was at the game last night. He could straighten out your mess in less than a year ”

man, has it come to this when we’re hoping for aggy scraps? But yeah, that turd wouldn’t fit in here, in college station he ruled everything but that trashy shit won’t fly here.

Barnes has spoiled us with his recruiting, I think we all needed this dose of reality regarding what he’s capable of with a team. If he can’t win with this one, don’t think he ever will. Now we’re getting it and we’ll always be a sweet 16 at best squad with an occasional elite 8 every 8 yrs or so, which isn’t really bad for a non-basketball school. Just sucks for the ones who had higher hopes…
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:21 am

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 with old school rules that may not apply to talented young ,impressonable ,creative players that were real players before reaching the 40 .

Who said kiss “keep it simple stupid” may have hit on something.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:32 am

Alright, for everyone here trashing Billy G, let me point out to you a few things that you might be failing to realize.

1. Trips might be the only one who can truly appreciate this, but the job that he did at UTEP was incredible/unbelievable/ridiculous. He took a program that truly had been left in shambles, and when he was done there he had engineered the biggest turn-around in NCAA history.
2. Rick Barnes recruits great talent to UT, which is relatively easy to do….Gillispie recruited great talent as well, and got them to go to El Paso and College Station….now that really is phenomenal
3. How long did it take for Rick Barnes to turn UT into a basketball program vs How long did it take Gillispie to do it at A&M
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:36 am

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.
Patrick Bateman said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:40 am

Trips,

It’s only funny in that it keeps us from crying…..Reminds me of the LB situation before Muschamp came on board. The “Bled for the program” line last night made me nauseous.

I think both of us are in agreement that Dogus should be a backup PG, off the bench defensive stopper, matchup type guy. Mason should simply be a 6-8 minutes player. Hopefully, Rick is feeling the heat and will have to make more ballsy choices…
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:42 am

Yeah but El Paso / West Texas are known for unknown phenomena , like the lights , strange things happen out in the desert.
Gilly may be a UFO flier for all we know.
Look at Trips he is kind of strange with his fantasy on trim and stripper poles, sometimes I think that Trips was drinking river water by the bridge for too many years.
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:43 am

EP, Gillispie is a helluva coach but he’s a horrible representative of any marquee program.
ASARCO said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:47 am

sky, you suggesting Trips grew up in Smeltertown?
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:51 am

Agreed, I really don’t think that UT would ever hire him, as much I’d like to see him here.

As for the drinking problems with him, all I can really say is that the guy is a workaholic, and when he doesn’t have a job, I guess thats the only thing he has to do. (But the one in El Paso was retarded, a completely sober person could pulled over on the stupid one-way streets located in downtown El Paso).
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:51 am

No, but I became a man in Juarez.
Bartoncreek said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:53 am

Barnes won the Big 12 his first year. So I guess it took him 1 year? That was the worst team he’s had until now. That is the problem. He won with shit. You’d think he’d do better with talent, but it doesn’t always work that way.

JH is lost. He has no idea what the hell is going on out there. Neither does Mason, Pittman or Balbay, so I don’t think you can chalk it up to experience.

I can’t even believe how bad Balbay has gotten. He drives into the lane where there are four defenders and he makes interior passes? There is one defender outside the lane and 3 teammates. Brown does the same thing. Do we not allow kickouts? I’m beginning to think that is taught. Balbay plays in Europe where the drive and kick out for open 3s and jumpers is a staple. He’s been doing it for years. Barnes has turned him into a moron.

How can everyone on the team have worse basketball sense than my 5th graders? Honestly? We are the dumbest bunch I have ever seen. We weren’t earlier in the year. Hell, Bradley was smartest player, by far, in any of the summer h.s. games. Now he plays like Mason. It is quite impressive to see.

And to those that say, “Maybe these guys aren’t that talented.” I say you have no fucking clue what you are talking about. This is all on Barnes. It is not the players that are the problem this time.
nordberg said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:54 am

How much is Mark Few making? Hell, make a run at Izzo. We can do that kind of shit now.

Trips that Barnes quote is infuriating, considering that our entire fanbase has been saying that exact same line for months. Has he been hoping this whole time that they’d turn into Augustin and Gibson?
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:57 am

Eight Dollar drink-and-drowns, and cans that merely say “beer” in Juarez will turn anyone into a man
torre said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:58 am

Barnes has not only lost the team, he has lost the coaching staff. During timeouts, there is no energy, no coaching, just “deer in headlights look” from the staff. As someone stated,
Todd Wright does more coaching than anyone.
Groundhog Day said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am

I have yet to see one person state the impact that Ward’s injury had on this team. He could create off the dribble, played good D, and could hit a medium range jumper. The poor point guard play this season is the reason the team looks so out of sorts.

When Bogus is in the game, we are 4 vs 5 offensively. There is not one person within 10 feet of him on the perimeter. This takes away his ability to penetrate and draw defenders which leads to easy buckets either by dishing the ball to the paint players or kickouts for 3’s.

Brown, while talented, turns the ball over too much, is out of control a lot of the time, and has a tendency to take bad shots. However, he does play hard on the defensive end and is talented on offense and can make free throws. Barnes is obviously trying to harness this talent to make him a more disciplined, lethal player. The problem is the fanbase has been spoiled by the likes of TJ Ford and DJ Augustin. How soon we forget the struggles of Daniel Gibson and disappointment of those teams. Players like Ford don’t grow on trees.

This team was overrated to start the year as the three freshmen were not ready for primetime and loss of Ward crippled the offensive flow of this team. Barnes is doing the right thing by sitting the freshmen if they are not willing to show effort on D, box out for rebounds, take bad shots, and turn the ball over. The program and the players in question will be better off for it. With that being said, it’s time to play Brown a lot more as his effort is there and he give us a much better chance to win over Bogus. Trial by Fire, Rick.

For people calling for Rick Barnes head, how long did Boeheim coach at Syracuse before he won a National Title? How long did it take Roy Williams to win one? How many National Titles did John Thompson win at Georgetown?
nordberg said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:04 am

I like Varez Ward, but he doesn’t seem like the magical missing piece to me. And we’ve got like 15 other guys on scholarship. Losing Varez Ward shouldn’t turn the season into a trainwreck.

Barnes’ “we’re going to fix it” quotes are starting to remind me of Greg Davis talking about fixing the running game. If you could effectively identiffy the problem and the solution it wouldn’t be fucking broken in the first place.
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:10 am

“No, but I became a man in Juarez.”
I bet in your fantasy you were the donkey in the show ? No ?

“Eight Dollar drink-and-drowns, and cans that merely say “beer” in Juarez will turn anyone into a man”
That is why Trips was drinking river water by the bridge for too many years. In the olden days when you walked accross the river and fell in you would drink the water until someone pulled you out.
Bartoncreek said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:12 am

Depressing and dead on, Nordberg. It is a fix the running game problem. The only consolation is that Barnes finally realizes something needs to be fixed. It has been obvious to everyone for quite a while now.

Would Varez Ward have helped? Maybe. Who’s to say he wouldn’t have regressed to Mason level by now? It’s not like he was TJ or KD to begin with.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:13 am

Groundhog Day,

How many Final Fours/Sweet Sixteens/ Conference Tournament championships did those coaches win/get to?
Bartoncreek said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:14 am

Case in point r.e. Ward. Justin Mason was a much better player and shooter than Varez Ward was as a freshman. Think about that.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:18 am

I have never heard someone say Justin Mason was a better shooter than someone…..Ever.
UTBX said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:19 am

Would Varez Ward have helped? Maybe. Who’s to say he wouldn’t have regressed to Mason level by now? It’s not like he was TJ or KD to begin with.

——-

Ward would provide more depth, but except for the Duke game (where Coach K probably dared for Ward to be the one to beat him) Ward exhibited many of the Dogus and Mason type frustrating play last year and was not a great shooter . He provides depth but he would not fix the issues,

2009 Stats
- 37% shooter
- 18% behind the arc (he was at a 10% rate this year)
- Would be our second best foul shooter at 68%
Art Vandelay said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:20 am

Groundhog Day said:
February 9th, 2010 at 10:00 am

“How can everyone on the team have worse basketball sense than my 5th graders? Honestly? We are the dumbest bunch I have ever seen. We weren’t earlier in the year. Hell, Bradley was smartest player, by far, in any of the summer h.s. games. Now he plays like Mason. It is quite impressive to see.

And to those that say, “Maybe these guys aren’t that talented.” I say you have no fucking clue what you are talking about. This is all on Barnes. It is not the players that are the problem this time.”

Amen.
Patrick Bateman said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:24 am

I think Ward would have helped quite a bit, personally. He’s the only guard with any experience that had an almost complete skill set. He could penetrate and get to the rim, shoot from 15 feet and could pass. Dogus can do 2 of those, Mason can do 1.5 of those, JCB can do 2 of those, AB can do 1.5 of those, Lucas can do 1 of those. Now add in that he’s very good defensively, gone thru the Barnes tough love thing last year, then I think he could have helped a lot. Is he the magic elixir? Nope.

But natural progression (a dangerous assumption I know) would lead me to believe that he would have been our best overall guard this year. AB has a higher ceiling but I would argue VW would have been our best this year. That was big loss. He’s could have been JCB except with better decision making and able to play defense. Or Dogus with a competent jump shot. He probably wouldn’t have been able to hit FTs, though.
Groundhog Day said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:25 am

Nordberg,

He’s not DJ, but he played very well in the tourney last year and was a serviceable player capable of getting others easy buckets. Let’s not also forget that our lack of scoring prohibits us from pressuring teams into mistakes which in turn leads to easy buckets.

EP, how soon this group forgets Weltich and Penders. Hell, we can’t even sell out our home arena. People thought Guy Lewis was a horrendous coach, but I can guarentee you that Cougar high would love to have him around right now and UofH actually has tradition that dwarfs our beloved University.

If Bob Knight thinks you are a pretty good coach, then that is enough for me.
EggNog said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:28 am

Daniel Gibson was never an elite NBA point guard, he was never an elite college point guard. He was always a shooting guard that had an okay handle and a small body. In the league he tears it up as a 6′2″ SG who only spots up, and he is able to whenever the Cavs run a 6′8″ 270lb monster at the point. Gibson can shoot, he is at 48% on 3’s this season in the NBA. But a point guard he is not.

Barnes had recent success with Royal Ivey running the point (who had more assists than Gibson ever did running the point for us). The gap between TJ and DJ did not leave us with an elite PG, just a serviceable one. Barnes’ teams kept rolling.

Lets get down to the nitty gritty with this team. After each poor game (a loss or a near loss) this board is filled with all kinds of posters calling for a new lineup. The easiest thing to do in retrospect is say “put in so and so and we would have won.” Unfortunately we have run every possible combination of lineups, and none of it works.

We can sit here and say its 100% on Barnes and he is wasting the best assortment of talent this school has ever had. I don’t think that is accurate. I think claims of these guys’ abilities are not realistic, bordering on absurd from time to time. This team would get rolled by the 2003 Horns, the senior laden 2004 team with a young PJ, the 2006 team and the 2008 team. Those teams would have rolled Kansas tonight, who play solid but failed to impress me as a number one team.

Pittman is bigger than everyone he plays against and is unable to get calls, same thing always happened/happens to Shaq. He lacks quickness and decisive moves when he gets the ball. He is an easy double team because he takes too long to catch and make his move. He has a power step to the basket when he plays one on one, but has no moves at all for a double team. He takes too much time to pass out of double teams, which is something they have obviously worked on but his reaction time is too slow for it to be effective. Amazingly enough, it isn’t too harmful to have Balbay feeding Dex in the post because it is the double team from behind that frustrates Pittman the most. If the double team were only coming from the entry passer, he could make a move to the basket quick enough or he could make the easy pass (for him) right back to the guy he is still facing.

Pittman had a couple monster games last season where he showed some great potential. For the most part he stayed consistent with a few double doubles here and there but mostly limited minutes and limited production. This year was to be his banner year and he has shown himself to be a better player than last season, but he is the focal point of the defense for our opponents now. Early season he played big, and had the huge game against UNC’s long frontline. UNC may not be a great team this year, but that kind of performance is impressive against most any team. As he began to show dominance, teams adjusted. His game had to adjust too. It didn’t.

Early in the season we looked good offensively as Pittman and James cleaned up down low and the rest of our guys moved the ball around finding the open man. Against A&M CC we struggled because they dared us to shoot jumpers and we took the bait to our detriment. Against CU they dared us to shoot again and we were successful scoring points because we declined to shoot jumpers and instead penetrated to the basket and found open teammates. Watch some of the earlier games (even against MSU) and see the difference between then and now. We don’t swing the ball around, we don’t attack offensively. As the young guys have gotten more playing time, the offense has existed on one on one play. We can’t find rhythm on offense because we don’t try to create rhythm.

On the opposite side of Pittman we have Balbay. Balbay has the best handle of anyone on our team, makes the best decisions with the ball, and pushes the pace. Teams sag off of him because his shooting is horrific. Horrific. Coupled with Pittman’s problems dealing with double teams, Balbay’s shooting compounds the problem and grinds the offense to a halt. Balbay can drive to the lane if his man is playing off, but the paint is already packed with Pittman’s double team. So Balbay drives and kicks right? Earlier in the season a drive and kick also rotated the ball around until we had the open shooter. Now the first guy to get the ball on the kickout shoots it.

This team started out sharing the ball, working as an offensive machine where the sum of the parts far exceeded the individual. As we have faced adversity, we pulled back into the shell of a one on one game. Teams force us to rely on the freshman to carry our offense. During our poor stretches we have the young guys playing one on one ball, shooting early in the shot clock and refusing to pass. They make a quick move to get a jumper off and miss. You can see them thinking “this will be the big shot that stops the run”. Instead a long rebound turns into an outlet pass and we just went -4 on that stretch. J’Covan played tough for us last night, but Kansas was willing to see if he could outscore their entire team. James has been an absolute stud for us, but teams are willing to bet they can collectively outscore him. He can get his 25-30 because they will certainly score more than that.

Do we start someone ahead of Pittman at the five? Someone ahead of Balbay at the one? I don’t see better options on the bench. Between those two, it doesn’t matter too much who the other three guys are. If the other three aren’t shooting lights out and moving the ball around, it doesn’t matter who it is. Balbay and Pittman’s abilities and shortcomings force the offense to be mercilessly efficient through the 2, 3 and 4 in order to be successful. With the youth we have, that doesn’t seem to be likely.
Bartoncreek said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:28 am

Justin Mason was 40% from 3s as a freshman on 88 attempts, no less. He used to be able to shoot, it is just impossible to believe watching him now. That is player development. Ward would be shooting about 7% if he goes on the Mason plan.
slugfest said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:32 am

I don’t think it’s a case of RB not being able to coach, or doing a poor job of coaching. If you read the entirety of Katz’ blog post, he clearly sounds like a coaching searching for answers — answers that come in the form of players contributing, doing what they are coached to do. Sure, it’s easy to say he (RB) isn’t doing enough coaching to get them there, but I think that is the easy way out.

We can all see how these guys are playing — Hamilton doing his usual shit, Avery deferring, JC’s body language, etc — and say RB is mind fucking them, but I think it is more of a case of the kids not “getting” it yet.

A team like Kansas has the luxury of having an established, veteran, multi-threat PG and C. Having Collins and Aldrige allows the other guys to find their way without having the weight of the world on them. We entered the season with DJ, Doge, and Pittman, and expected the freshman to come in and take on 3/4 of the weight.

It takes time, maybe more time than you all want to afford.
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:34 am

It takes more time…unless you’re a Kentucky fan.
PB @ BON said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:37 am

By the way, how much money is Villanova paying Jay Wright? It’s now germane to the discussion.

Et tu, Trips?

Frustration is warranted, but I don’t get the “replace Barnes” nonsense so many are racing to adopt.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:45 am

Once again, can anyone name an NCAA tournament game that we won in which we won but were not favored to win, or where we were a lower seed???? Anyone?????
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:46 am

PB, just talking. I’m not ready to replace him but something has to change. The comment about playing 3 on 5 three quarters into the season is just astoundingly bad.
UTBX said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:48 am

EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:45 am

Once again, can anyone name an NCAA tournament game that we won in which we won but were not favored to win, or where we were a lower seed???? Anyone?????

—–

Barnes’ teams have never exceeded seed expectation.
Bartoncreek said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:55 am

I remember Weltlich and Penders well. I went to damn near every game during their tenures. Penders was an upgrade over Weltlich, but he was an average coach that couldn’t turn us into a top 25 program so we figured out how to get rid of him. Barnes is an upgrade over Penders and has made us a top 25 program. Question now, is that enough? Maybe it is. I’m not saying it’s not.

One pathetic year of coaching doesn’t erase all of the good Barnes has done. But, we have flaws in the program that will prevent us from ever winning a championship. Those are coming to a head this year. Things can get ugly fast and we have played like shit for 14 games in a row. What if it hits 25 in a row?
slugfest said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:57 am

EP, I get your point, but I don’t think the fact that Texas hasn’t won a tourney came as an underdog doesn’t support it. Teams are favored because they are better. The odds that they win are greater than those who are not favored. It’s not like Texas goes into games with a secret weapon that will propel them to an upset victory.

RB is no Greg Davis.
Groundhog Day said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:01 am

EP, this is silliness, but just to debunk this ridiculousness, number 6 Texas upset Number 3 Miss State in the second round of the NCAA tourney in 2002.

He has won or shared 3 Big 12 regular Season titles in the eleven years he has been here, He won a Big East Tourney Championship in a league full of heavyweights. His team has made the tourney every year he has been here. Texas has been to two sweet Sixteens, two elite eights, and one final four since he has been here. In addition, we have been able to witness two of the greatest players in the program’s histroy in his brief time here. Not bad for a program lacking in tradition, a fanbase that is not completely knowledgeable about the game of basketball. Yet the fanbase that attacks him can’t even sell out the arena.
NY Horn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:04 am

Nobody questions the fact that Barnes is a good coach. The question was open heading into the season was whether he was good enough to win a championship here. The answer is beginning to form and it’s not what we want. Now people are asking the question on whether we could do better.
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:06 am

We are bound to the past no matter how great the past is, we are bound to fail if we do not look to the future.
The End
UTBX said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:06 am

slugfest said:

February 9th, 2010 at 10:57 am

——

Scouting and game plans, see Knight and Izzo for guys for guys who know how to do it..
Groundhog Day said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:09 am

Barton,

Penders was an awful coach. The three men weave at the top of the key with Brandy Perryman shooting 3 pointers from half court was the worst offense these eyes have ever witnessed. His teams did not play D, did not box out, and were generally unsound in the fundamentals of the game. The fact that we gave him a 5 year extension, then fired him the next year was an example of Dodds at his finest.
Dave Bliss said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:13 am

Hey if you are looking for a coach, I’d like to get back into the college game. I just can’t deal with gangstas and guns – violates some other legal things that happened in the past
Patrick Bateman said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:15 am

Best thing ever to happen to Barnes here is the similar struggles that Mack Brown endured to break through to a championship level. That along with not being a traditional basketball powerhouse will give Rick plenty of rope. Rick may not exactly be Phil Jackson but I wonder if blaming the coach for 100% of our current problems is just lazy reasoning….
czarcw said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:17 am

Our hoops team is the basketball version of Major League.

Jake Taylor = Damion James
Pedro Cerrano = Dexter Pittman
Willie Mays Hays = Avery Bradley
Roger Dorn = Justin Mason
Isuro Tanaka (Major League II) = Dogus Balbay
Rube Baker (Major Leauge II) = Jordan Hamilton

If Craig Way starts drinking whiskey during the broadcasts, it’ll complete the analogy.
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:18 am

Yeah your right, penders teams were at least fun to watch play. Barnes offense is pretty bad not as bad as Tom’s but its all relative to who is watching the worst offense in Texas history.

“His teams did not play D, did not box out, and were generally unsound in the fundamentals of the game.”
Close your eyes sounds like our team today. We do play better D some of the time.
I also agree that Barnes was better then Penders at a football school .
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:19 am

“RB is no Greg Davis”…..Classic

It just seems to me that in a big game that actually means something (i.e. a Conference title game) or any tourney game that could go either way (where talent levels are essentially the same, or where we aren’t overwhelming favorites) we come up on the short end.

And with all of the talent we have had year in and year out, you would think that at least once we would either win a conference tourney title, or a big-time NCAA tourney game in which we were playing someone that matched our level of talent.
PB @ BON said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:23 am

Trips, that’s fair. If we’re no better in March than we are now, I’ll be sorely disappointed and tough questions should be asked. My suspicion after the past month is that the big question is going to be, “What does it mean that Barnes absolutely has to have a guard or two who can make offense, because we can’t actually run offense?”

Some people might conclude that means we need someone else. Alternatively, it might mean we have to look at how Barnes recruits and either reach the same conclusion or decide he’s capable of putting together the roster he personally needs to succeed. It’s no surprise we’ve looked terrible in conjunction with J’Covan Brown’s awful six-week stretch.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:36 am

Groundhog Day….I do agree with you about him doing some things at a school that is a “Football First” university.

Thank you for pointing out the Mississippi State game. But could you remind me who the point guard was on that team???? I believe it was TJ Ford….he was an okay player I suppose.

But consider this. He’s lost all 5 Conference Title Tourney games he’s played for, he’s never beaten Kanas in Allen Fieldhouse, he’s lost every game at A&M since Billy Gillispie and Mark Turgeon have been there, and (outside of the Mississippi State game you mentioned) he’s never over-achieved in the NCAA tournament.

Yes, Rick Barnes is a great recruiter, and has gotten us to the level we are at right now. But is he the coach to take us to the championship level??? Highly doubtful.
BatesHorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:40 am

Trips, this will come as zero consolation, but the struggles of the team are elevating your writing. I’ve really come to look forward to these post-mortems. FWIW
Groundhog Day said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:41 am

PB,

Since the close range 3 point rule was adopted, the game has changed tremendously. You absolutely have to have great guard play to win a NC. In fact, guard play is the most important part of the college game in particular point guard play. It’s no accident that John Thompson’s Gtown teams became obsolete with the introduction of this rule. This guy had Mourning and Mutombo on the same team and couldn’t make it to the final four. Shaq and Stanley Roberts had the same results. Look at past winners and all these teams had very good guard play. We currently don’t have that and because of that everyone thinks Barnes is a bad coach. Brown and Bradley will be very good players for us and when they are, this team will be very good. Not every freshmen steps in like Durant, Rose, Ford, etc. Those are more the exceptions.

Sky, I like to see how teams play from the defensive end to see if they are well coached. This team is well coached. Watching Penders teams play was like going down to Harlem to watch pick up basketball.

EP, have we really had that much talent? In fact, Ford’s team was not all that talented. The team that lost to LSU in the Elite 8 was talented, but again our guard play was very suspect as Daniel Gibson was a spot up jump shoot trapped in a point guards body but was asked to distribute the ball and make plays off the dribble something he was unable to do.
Jigglebilly said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:43 am

Goddamn I miss Varez.
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:44 am

Bates, thanks man. That means a lot.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:45 am

And Groundhog, I will agree with you on one thing….the fanbase is atrocious. If its not a big game, we can’t sell out the lower deck, much less the arena.

In general, the Erwin Center is a terrible venue for a college basketball atmosphere, and it doesn’t help when DeLoss Dodds runs the AD as strictly a business, and puts his loudest fans behind the basket.

Want a better atmosphere??? Ya can’t change the stadium, so how about you at least reward the fanbase who regularly shows up (i.e. students) by putting them behind the opposing bench/giving them better seats.
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:48 am

EP, careful those word will get you a rebuke from Peter Pan. Those words should not be heard until March if we are disappointed by this talented team. Lets wait until the season is a complete train wreck then lets file a legal brief that is in lawyeris to explain what a fuck up season this was.
Of course the players did not play well and were overrated by all the experts in the basketball world. Or that JCB has had a terrible Feb. or March. Please twiddle your thumbs ,Thank you.
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 11:59 am

Ground hog,
“This team is well coached. Watching Penders teams play was like going down to Harlem to watch pick up basketball. ”
Just one example of a well coached defensive team. A 22 point run KU and as Self said that does not happen everyday. This is not a well coached team.

I said that Penders team was fun to watch but Harlem has many great playgrounds and the name escape me where they have some of the very best basketball players play. The event is a yearly happening broadcast on TV to feature the very best players . Something Park??
How many times have you been to Harlem ?
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:01 pm

Rucker, holla.

It’s almost as good as playing in Fort Bliss open runs.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:05 pm

Cliff Tucker of the Maryland basketball team…..straight outta Fort Bliss. Not to mention someone told me MJ McFarland’s parents have ties to Ft. Bliss as well???
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:06 pm

Groundhog , Ruckers Park is the name I forgot. Many great players earn their strips there. That reminds me of a player that wanted to come to UT to play ball for several years but Barnes said that he was not tough enough. Made no offer.
Just so happens that Landesberg cut his teeth playing at Ruckers Park but was not tough enough.Landesberg was freshmen of the year in the ACC and is in all likelyhood leaving for the NBA this season. Not tough enough .HA
Bob in Houston said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:07 pm

Once again, can anyone name an NCAA tournament game that we won in which we won but were not favored to win, or where we were a lower seed???? Anyone?????

Penders did it consistently as a double-digit seed. It helps to be in the bottom half of the draw, and Barnes has never been there at Texas. Penders was in the top half three times out of eight, and when he was, he didn’t beat a higher seed, either.

But consider this. He’s lost all 5 Conference Title Tourney games he’s played for, he’s never beaten Kanas in Allen Fieldhouse, he’s lost every game at A&M since Billy Gillispie and Mark Turgeon have been there, and (outside of the Mississippi State game you mentioned) he’s never over-achieved in the NCAA tournament.

Yeah, you were all lined up there until the homework was done.

I will treat this semi-seriously.

The 0-fer in the B12 tournaments is a pain, but of no consequence. You have to be on the bubble for it to matter.

KU, until last night, had lost four of five to Rick Barnes in Austin (and the win was in overtime). So home courts can be tough.

A&M (see immediately above) now has a competitive basketball program, and, like in every sport, lives to beat Texas. If it also were the other way around, that might be a problem.

Even with all the arrows pointing his way (at least for not dealing with the problems he’s facing now before now), you gotta be careful before you throw out the best coach the school has ever had.

So, my question: Who do you think is better?
skymonkeyhorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:20 pm

Trips , Thanks for the Holla . My mind goes numb every once in a while, like when I drink Scotch.

“It’s almost as good as playing in Fort Bliss open runs”
But all the basketball players are a foot shorter with slicked back hair.
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:22 pm

Here’s a quote from Dexter Pittman that is very troubling and telling (Chip Brown):

On why some of the young guards don’t feed him the ball, even when he appears to have good position: “It’s a young guy, and he’s probably afraid to make that pass because if he turns it over, he knows Coach (Barnes) will pull him out.”
Trips Right said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:23 pm

Sky, yep. You can’t play post defense or their chained wallets come flying out and hit you in the junk.
Groundhog Day said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:24 pm

Earl ‘the Goat” Manigault!

I actually have been to the fringes of Harlem once to watch a pick up basketball game. I showed up and in walks this character with a 12 pack of Heineken draped under his arm. He absolutely dominated the competition while finishing off his beer. I asked who it was and was told it was so and so who plays in the CBA. It turned out to be none other than Mario Elie of Houston Rockets fame.

Well said, Bob.
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:25 pm

Jay Wright does alot with the talent he gets at Villanova. Mark Few does the same at Gonzaga.

As stated before I’m partial to Gillispie, being a native El Pasoan and all. On top of that, I’d even mention Doc Sadler being a better X’s and O’s coach. It would really be great to see what he could do if he was at a school like Texas (where it just might be slightly easier to recruit then El Paso). Gillispie will never be hired at UT after his recent shenanigans though.

Two lesser names that are on the way up….Randy Bennett at Saint Mary’s and Tony Barbee at UTEP. Not saying these two coaches are better than Barnes, but they are accomplishing alot at the schools they are at. Barbee has brought some pretty damn good players to El Paso of late.
Blake Borron said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:26 pm

“Nobody questions the fact that Barnes is a good coach.”

I think somebody scrolled down a little too quickly…
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:31 pm

Not to mention Trips that if you win, you have a 50/50 chance of a shank being pulled on you.
Groundhog Day said:

February 9th, 2010 at 12:33 pm

Don’t fool yourself, EP, Villanova is very talented. They have great guard play, sit in a fertile recruiting area, and play in the best conference. Next please.
South06 said:

February 9th, 2010 at 1:26 pm

“A&M (see immediately above) now has a competitive basketball program, and, like in every sport, lives to beat Texas”

I have to disagree. Our football teams always seem to show up more for the Texas game, but our basketball teams have generally played well at home regardless. And fans show up in droves for Texas, Kansas (every other year), Tech, OU, and Baylor.

Our attendance record was set at a Tech game.

Our “basketball rival” is the Big 12 in the eyes of our players and fans.
Horn Fan said:

February 9th, 2010 at 1:35 pm

Hamilton is that guy at the Y everyone hopes they don’t get teamed up with. No effort or intensity on D, thinks he’s the best player on O and shoots it EVERY single time, and pouts when they don’t go in. This kid is coming off like a jerk, and his sense of entitlement has to rankle Justin Mason, Dexter, and Damion, who have bled for the program and play with heart.

This situation is a huge obstacle to team chemistry, and JH doesn’t seem interested in improving at all in this department. He’s got a lot of growing up to do.
Groundhog Day said:

February 9th, 2010 at 2:16 pm

Exactly, horn, and Barnes is sitting him exactly where he deserves to sit.
kevwun said:

February 9th, 2010 at 2:24 pm

Careful with that bled for the program shit. It gets you Scott Derry and Robert Killebrew starting at linebacker.
Bob in Houston said:

February 9th, 2010 at 2:38 pm

South: Are you telling me that the atmosphere is the same for everyone? I’d have a hard time believing that….
Bob in Houston said:

February 9th, 2010 at 2:41 pm

EPL: Two more…
Do you think Wright or Few would come to Austin?
What evidence would you put forth that Bennett or Barbee would do better than Barnes?
Monahorns said:

February 9th, 2010 at 3:07 pm

I don’t see how any of this isn’t on Barnes. Calipari as shady as he is has got great performance from 3 straight one and done PGs: Rose, Evans, and Wall.
Horn Fan said:

February 9th, 2010 at 3:18 pm

Fair enough kevwun, but please take a closer look at the point I am making; i.e. negative impact on team chemistry.

No one wants to play with the current version of Jordan Hamilton.
nordberg said:

February 9th, 2010 at 3:22 pm

Gary Johnson had a quote after the OU game that was something like “We’ve got guys with egos on this team that try to do everything themselves”. He did everything but point to JH and hold up a two and a three.
Groundhog Day said:

February 9th, 2010 at 3:32 pm

Kevwun,

The analogy of Derry and Killebrew vs Muck, Kindle, and Norton doesn’t even apply and thank goodness those days are gone thanks to you know who.

JH doesn’t play hard. Rule number 1 growing up, You better play defense or you are not going to play. Rule number 2, you better be schooled in the fundamentals; boxing out, playing the man and seeing the ball on D, making quick crisp passes instead of dribbling all over the place, taking good shots, getting teammates involved, taking charges, etc. JH doesn’t do any of these things. It’s obvious his coach and his teammates are not happy with his effort or his play. He will transfer or he will embrace Barnes’ tough love and be a better all around player because of it. Did you happen to see Barnes’ reaction to JH’s Perryman like three with a minute and half left to play? Not good.
joeschmoe said:

February 9th, 2010 at 3:33 pm

Jay Wright reality check. Let’s see what he has done at Villanova without an NBA caliber pg. The one year he did not have an NBA caliber pg he lost in the second round of the NIT. The other seven years he has had Randy Foye for four years, Kyle Korver for two years, and this is Scottie Reynold’s forth year. Of those seven years he has made the tournament five times. He made one final four and one elite eight. The year he made the elite eight Foye was a senior and Kyle Korver was a sophomore. Last year when they made the final four Reynolds was a Junior.

I wish we could compare Barnes’ success with our NBA caliber pg upper classmen to J. Wright’s, but as we all know TJ, Augustin, and Gibson all left after their Sophomore years. We did make it to at least the elite eight in each of their Sophomore years. And by the way, Gibson’s Sophomore year, Paulino was our pg.

That said, I’m as disappointed as anyone in the team this season, including Barnes’ coaching job. We are not doing as much as we should with our talent. But our expectations of the talent were a little over the top too. We are not the team we thought we were coming into the season. And the 17-0 start was largely a mirage.

J’Covan does not handle the ball well enough to be a solid pg at this point in his career. And Lucas is not a good enough athlete to be a real option. With Dogus and Pittman, we have the same problems we had last year, We thought these problems would be minimized with the influx of shooters. But Hamilton has been a train wreck offensively and defensively. And J’Covan, as a shooter, has been unreliable to say the least.
Patrick Bateman said:

February 9th, 2010 at 4:07 pm

Uh, Kyle Korver and Randy Foye played together? When? Do you mean Kyle Lowry? BTW, Allan Ray was the arguably the best player on that team…
EPLonghorn said:

February 9th, 2010 at 4:07 pm

Wright would be pretty tough to get from Villanova, but I could see Few leaving for a big time school.

As for Barbee and Bennett, I said they were tow coaches to watch out for because of the big things each is doing at his school. I stated that I don’t think each is better than Barnes, but that they would be two coaches to watch in the future.

On that note, I don’t see Barbee leaving UTEP this year because of how good his team is going to be next year, especially if Derrick Character comes back for antother year.
South06 said:

February 9th, 2010 at 4:13 pm

“South: Are you telling me that the atmosphere is the same for everyone? I’d have a hard time believing that…”

Not necessarily, but the general basketball fan is more knowledgeable than the general football fan. The fans and teams get up for all big opponents, not just the obvious “rival” program.

Case-in-point: the most electric game last year by a LONGSHOT was the Missouri game. Last home game, top 10 team, coming off a long win streak, etc.

If you ask me what team I would most like us to demolish, my answer would actually be UCLA. They have beaten us twice in really close, controversial games since I have been a student. They are my thorn.
kafka said:

February 9th, 2010 at 4:23 pm

Re: getting rid of Barnes there is no way that should happen or will happen. UT isn’t going to fire a b ball coach who consistently fields a top 20 program, a program that is clean and well represented by the coach and players. That is one of the nice things about being a b ball coach at a football school. Barnes and UT are a good match.

Barnes is a good coach wrt recruiting, defense, rebounding, effort and physical development. He just needs to hire a decent OC (hopefully a guy who can double as the free throw coach).
nordberg said:

February 9th, 2010 at 5:04 pm

“Barnes is a good coach wrt recruiting, defense, rebounding, effort and physical development. He just needs to hire a decent OC”

It’s an epidemic on the 40 acres.
rantanamo said:

February 9th, 2010 at 5:40 pm

“All I can tell you is that we’re 19-5 with seven regular-season games left,” Barnes said. “How we got to 5-4 is pretty simple. If we had put our young guys out there early, then we wouldn’t have won whatever we did in a row [17 straight to get to No. 1 in the polls]. We weren’t going to do that. We knew at some point in time we needed to get them out there.”

That quote says it all for me. He was playing for a 1 seed from the get go while other teams were working things out. As young as the team is, they should have been working on the game. If the young guys had been out there I think the start would have been 15-2 and the record now my might by 21-3 or 20-4 with a ton of momentum and an improving team with its young guys playing better much better.
EggNog said:

February 9th, 2010 at 9:54 pm

rantanamo, I heard that quote and thought it meant he was going to roll out the veterans and ease in the freshmen slowly. Have them see how the game is played at this level and have them come in and do like the older guys, only with their higher ceilings we could do more.

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