Texas Basketball vs. UConn: Sort Of Post Mortem

Nice work, Trips.

I think that we will have to beat Kansas and win the conference tourney to get a trip through Houston. We just squandered our only opportunities for a big time road win, and that is a huge part of what the committee looks at. Even if we win out, our best wins will be in Austin or Dallas.

ESPN / Andy Katz: Longhorns looking for right combination

Well, at least Barnes is considering shortening the rotation. In view of my “it’s almost February” post, I have to applaud this.

Unfortunately, Katz postulates that:

For Texas to be a title team the Longhorns may have to lock in on a rotation of James, Pittman, Bradley, Balbay, Justin Mason, Johnson, Hamilton, a bit of Lucas and maybe some Brown. But the latter may have to play in spots.

If we are shortening the guard rotation with less minutes by Brown, that is bad.

Flip Brown and Hamilton in that rotation. I’d love to see some lineups with Balbay, Brown and Bradley all on floor at same time. We can’t do that a ton, but I think it could work well in spots. But, still, J’Covan has seemed to disappear in 2010.

I’m starting to wonder Jordan Hamilton=Mike Chappelle. Nice player, but nowhere near the hype. Anyway, we have a month to figure it out, but shortening the rotation is a good start so these guys can get familiar with each other. They clearly aren’t yet.

I think this clearly falls into the idea of Katz’s thoughts. As much as Barnes may say to Katz, I can’t imagine that Barnes would dump his shortened rotation into the media before at least taking a plane ride to think about it, much less not telling the players first.

I’d broadly recommend shortening Mason’s minutes to what Balbay doesn’t handle (even though they wouldn’t be doing the same things), and keep as many shooters on the floor as possible when Mason was out there. I also wouldn’t give up on Brown. I’d love to have Lucas’s head on Brown’s shoulders. (I know, I know… it’s a terrible image to think about.)

But I could foresee a minutes for Lucas in the four out., one in.

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2010/1/24/1266875/no-1-no-more-texas-fades-at-uconn#storyjump

Sounds like PB over at BON has the same thoughts you do, Trips. The immediate reaction was “the sky is falling,” but sometimes, you just gotta tip your cap to the opponent for being NBA Jam-on fire. The team was jazzed up from the home crowd support, and I still believe the Calhoun situation played a big factor in motivating the troops. Texas ran into a buzzsaw at the beginning of the second half and did no favors with the same stuff they pulled in the K-State game (turnovers, missed bunnies, free throws).

This game is exhibit 1 why John Wall is the POY and not Damion James. Wall, simply by virtue of being the 1, has the ability to take over a game. James doesn’t. He’s still a legitimate first team AA, but the lack of a playmaking 1 (or even 2) may sink this team in the tourney. Either Balbay needs to play within himself (i.e., don’t pick up 3 fouls in one possession) and stay on the court, or J’Covan needs to step up and take over the role. I like Andy Katz, but I just can’t fathom how Lucas over Brown is a good idea on either end of the court.

UConn put forth stellar guard play, and that’s what teams like Kentucky and Kansas will be able to bring that we can’t. That’s more disconcerting than the K-State loss, where Pittman and James just didn’t bring it despite their superior talent in the frontcourt. We have a lot of solid parts in the backcourt, but not the potential AA play that Kansas/Kentucky can bring. That’s a scary thought.

Giving Matt Hill and Clint Chapman a combined 15 minutes was just inexcusable. UConn’s bigs were doing nothing in the first half. Why Rick didn’t go small ball with James and Gary was beyond me. The Pittman conundrum is obvious to everyone but Rick at this point. You’re beyond correct that Rick needs to settle on a rotation.

There’s plenty of time to straighten things out. Two road losses to top 25 teams is not a big deal. But Rick needs to accept his teams limitations and play to its strengths. Luckily for us, we know right away whether he’s thought that through; just look at the starting lineup.

Thanks, Trips — good stuff, as always.

I’d like to see more Hamilton, too. But isn’t one of the problems that Johnson is playing so well? He has at times seemed like the only reliable contributor on the team. I realize they’re very different players, but don’t their minutes often come at the expense of each other since they’re both more or less 3s?

tearaway, not necessarily, GJ can play the four when Jordan is on the floor because Hamilton is pretty big for a 3. It’s a pretty good option when you want to rest DJ.

The last six games is squarely on Barnes if one has paid attention.. Coaching is a step by step process building on a solid foundation.

Ok we have a defense for a foundation. The offense in the first half was very good. Passing was crisp and the bigs were flashing to the rim but we were unable to finish..

The scheme was good on several plays. The mid range game was open all during the game. Why was it changed in the second half?

My plasma was in danger of being destroyed so I left at the 12 minute mark.

“I think it has been great for the younger guys to go through this and realize that right now, at this time of year, the intensity has got to go up,” said Texas coach Rick Barnes.

Thank you for that insight and for the mind fucks that slows your team down. They are looking over their shoulders again this year. They played the second half like they were afraid to do something wrong , so it did go wrong. It was not just UConn in the second half.

Our defense has been getting worse as well as the offense except for the 1st half of this game.

Am I the only one that questions the subs being made the last 6-8 games, playing 12 players when we should be putting the 5 best players out there.

 Being just dumb ass stubborn is not coaching in any shape or form. Trying to let players figure it out for themselves appears to me to be a lazy way to coach. After 6-8 points we need a TO, after 10-12 points it may be too late to stop the tide from rolling us away. Stubborn ???

Its Barnes’ team, yet we continue to make excuses for the lack of confidence that the players have with free throws and their offense.

Why is a kid like Bradley so tired that he tells his coach about it ? Mental stress seems to fit here, when a 19 yr old has been playing 2-3 hours of hoops every day for several years you think he is in shape to play 40 minutes of ball ??

The last rant I want to make is that James is not a leader even if he is a double-double every game. Leading is so much more then scoring points, its the player that knows how and what Barnes is telling his team to do. The one that touches base with the Browns and JH, and AB and the rest of the team after a time out, before a free throw and communication through out the game.

The person that leads knows what Barnes wants to do. Balbay is the only one that appears to know some of what to do while on the floor.

But I doubt the whole team knows what Rick Barnes wants from his team, they appear confused and on the wrong page most of the time.

Hamilton is getting better but he is instant offense off the bench. His playing time is limited due to his defense, help side defense. Easy to teach, too hard to learn???

Brown needs to be reassured that he is playing hard and passing well, and his drive to the lane is almost money in the bank and usually only called on 1 time per game ?

Can anyone tell me who is having fun playing hoops for us.

You can not force feed players all the time as they just throw up on you. Think about that a minute.

Like someone wrote above “but I just can’t fathom how Lucas over Brown is a good idea on either end of the court”.

I think Barnes is also confused about this team with more talent then he ever has coached. I hope the team responds well the next time out.

Sky, you make a lot of good points as always. Your comment about looking over the shoulder is dead on, balls accurate. I tried to sugar coat it with my comfort zone “comment” but you put it much more succinctly than I did. Basketball players have to be able to operate in a game without having to constantly worry about whether or not they’re going to get yanked. And they have to be having fun. It doesn’t look like we’re good on either of these fronts.

The last rant I want to make is that James is not a leader even if he is a double-double every game. Leading is so much more then scoring points, its the player that knows how and what Barnes is telling his team to do. The one that touches base with the Browns and JH, and AB and the rest of the team after a time out, before a free throw and communication through out the game.

Sky,

I love your rants as always, but I disagree with this. I think this is something that doesn’t come through on TV very well.

Damion James and J’Covan Brown are the leaders on this team, with a little leadership from Dexter Pittman, Gary Johnson, and Dogus Balbay. He is the guy in Avery and Jordan’s ear in dead ball and time out situations, and all those guys look to him.

Dexter is more of an emotional lift. When he is playing well, everybody seems to enjoy each other because they like the big guy so much.

Gary’s junkyard dog intensity can lift the team when he is hounding guards on switches and taking it to the rack on offense.

Dogus seems to be the guy Barnes communicates through.

J’Covan is probably the only natural leader on the team, but when his shot isn’t going down and Barnes is making him ride the pine while Mason runs the point, then it is real hard for him to be effective. But, when he is in there and making plays he is the most charismatic personality on the team and a very good communicator.

I agree that we look completely mind fucked out there. It is time for Barnes to start building them back up.

I am glad to see you with some optimism today. I am having trouble finding any at this point. In part, because I don’t know what the answer is, but mostly because Barnes doesn’t seem to think there is a problem.

I couldn’t agree more about the comfort zone problem. These 12 man rotations never work out unless you are pressing and running the whole game. We don’t want to do that so we will end up like so many Carolina teams of the 70’s and 80’s. A lot of NBA players, but nothing to show for it. You get it down to 9 guys or less or you lose in the tourney. Period.

I would give my left nut to see Bradley play the point for a couple of games. Put Jordan in at the 3 and fucking leave him there until he figures it out. Still the most talented player on the floor in spite of what some may think. J’covan is simple. Protect the fucking ball or don’t play. He has more TOs than Bradley and Hamilton combined. That’s pathetic.

Balbay
Bradley
Hamilton
James
Pittman

Johnson spells Pittman James and Hamilton. Brown spells Balbay and Bradley. If we have to have a big in the game use fucking Chapman for spot minutes instead of Lexi and Hill. Lucas and Mason are sol unless J’covan continues to handle the ball like it has leprosy.

I know it won’t happen, but I can dream.

I feel like we are suffering from quite a few of the same midseason problems that we were last year. Considering the personnel improvement, that is frustrating and I would think can be blamed on coaching. I remember when we played Villanova last season, Jay Bilas made a comment about how great of a defensive team we were and that our opponents coaches were using us as a teaching example. By the middle to end of the year, we were a middle of the Big XII defensive team. This year we were easily a top 5 defensive team at the start of the year with no one even sniffing 40% from the field, and now we’re feeling good if we hold our opponent under 50%.

Trips, I understand GJ’s & Hamilton’s minutes don’t NECESSARILY come at the expense of each other, it just seems to me that they must GENERALLY. Look what you did to make it otherwise — put DJ on the bench!

Maybe the answer is, sure, more time for Hamilton comes at somebody’s expense. And those somebody’s are all pretty solid — Johnson, James and Bradley. But since you can get there about 3 different ways, ought to be able to get there more than we are now. Sure.

Like what you did there BartonCreek. Fully agreed across the board. The part of it that will NEVER happen is SOL for Mason. Barnes clearly wants him pretty central, and/or uses him as an example (practice habits, effort?), and/or feels like he is one of the few he can trust.

If I remember correctly, James Thomas got his minutes squeezed his senior year because his effectiveness was decreasing.

The problem isn’t necessarily the number of minutes Mason gets. The problem is that he is playing in Dexter’s peak efficiency minutes.

I’m going to make a post about exactly that tearaway. I think a frontcourt of Hamilton, Johnson, and James can cure a lot of what ails us currently. Stay tuned. I’ll have something up about why I think this lineup helps, and who is succeeding with something similar.

“Balbay
Bradley
Hamilton
James
Pittman

Johnson spells Pittman James and Hamilton. Brown spells Balbay and Bradley. If we have to have a big in the game use fucking Chapman for spot minutes instead of Lexi and Hill. Lucas and Mason are sol unless J’covan continues to handle the ball like it has leprosy.

I know it won’t happen, but I can dream."

These are, down to the most minute detail, my exact thoughts on the necessary personnel adjustments that need to be made in order for this team to succeed and stop playing like runny dog excrement.

I’m sorry, but when you have more talent than everybody else, why would you MITIGATE your advantage just for the sake of making everybody happy or having a deep bench? This is not 4th grade rec league where parents have grounds for a lawsuit when the kids don’t play the same minutes. We are trying to win a friggin’ championship here, and frankly I’m not certain that is Barnes’ priority right now. He seems more intent on pulling players after one bad play and winning some phantom defensive duel instead of just trying to win the damn game. Put your 5 best players on the court for as long as they can perform at that level. Then take them out, rest them, and put them back in. We aren’t trying to win some contest for playing the most players or combinations of players.

It’s inexcusable how bad at help defense we are. It’s not that difficult. I learned it in about 10 minutes. As much as I’m sure they practice it, there’s not excuse for Jordan Hamilton literally NEVER being in the right spot to help on a slashing offensive player. He’s never even on the right side of the court when that happens. Neither is J’Covan, FWIW.

Balbay: Stop committing stupid fouls. Especially three in the same 30 seconds to start the half…

Bradley: Take a hot bath and a nap. And get your mind right.

James: Make better decisions in transition…such as giving it up to somebody who knows how to dribble and/or pass.

Pittman: Stop playing like a puss and stop freaking smiling so much. It really pisses me off how much he smiles when is he sucking, which has been a lot of late.

Brown: Learn the game of basketball. Make a shot every century or two. Make the simple play. Have more positive energy. After everything that has gone batshit wrong in your life, you are playing hoops for the University of Texas. Try to enjoy it every now and then instead of always being so negative.

Hamilton: A step back three 5 seconds into the possession is NOT a good shot. Do not do that. Learn how to play some form of defense. Keep driving, those layups will fall.

Johnson: It is LEGAL to pass when you receive the ball inside the arc. Try doing so every now and then…especially when you are being triple teamed.

Chapman: I like what you’ve brought the past two games. Stop swiping so much on layups, it’s an automatic “And 1” whenever Texas does it.

Everybody else, I’m sorry, you’re going to have to sit. Trust me, you’ll still get your ring though, so please don’t be too upset…

For someone with the basic knoweldge of if Texas shoots and it goes through the basket that is good, I’ll offer my opinion on a team that seems to be on the decline.

Early in the season it seemed that Brown and James were our best two players with Dex coming in third. Avery started to show some signs of life and then went red hot in a couple of games and probably moved to the two spot behind James. Brown made a few too many Globetrotter plays and is now in the doghouse.

I have always looked at Hamilton as a supreme talent with a lot to learn about the game. For all of the hand wringing about his play, I have seen him make some great plays. I would argue that his thought process has been completely fucked by a demanding coach, and point to his propensity to pass up wide open shots to dribble twice and take a worse shot. If I were coach (admittedly knowing next to nothing) this kid would start and get at least 20 minutes per game. I would let him learn the game by playing it with the hope that by March he had it figured out.

Based on what I’ve seen and judging by the attittude the players have on the court, I would start the line-up mentioned above with Balbay, Bradley, Hamilton, James and Pittman. First subs would be Brown and Johnson and I would only play the others as needed.

I thought that we lost the game when Balbay went mental and we played Lucas for extended minutes. I had high hopes for Lucas, but he doesn’t have the physical skills to contribute significantly to this team. I wish we had gone to Brown there instead.

I look at Brown much like Brett Favre. He is a gunslinger that will make some stupid plays, however he can make great plays that turn a game around. His shot seems to have gone into the doghouse with him.

I really hope that Barnes figures it out, because my optimism went out the window with this pitiful display. I was OK with the KSU loss, but concerned about the A&M near miss. The second half of the UConn game looked like the wheels came off.

Forgot to mention that when Balbay is on the arc dribbling and his guy is standing in the paint to guard his penetration, it would be nice if he would just jack that shit up every now and then. I mean he is playing basketball for a D1 team, you would think some of them would fall. We also used to be pretty good at rebounding, so maybe it leads to a rebound and put back.

“we screen for shit.”

That explains everything. We are supposed to screen to get people open. I don’t know what feces has to do with anything, but if you’re right I can understand why our players look so confused and unhappy. What are they looking for, corn?

Blake Borron said:

January 24th, 2010 at 6:13 pm

Harsh but very accurate.

BB, love the individual player comments. Especially about Brown making the simple play and the legality of passing out of triple teams for GJ. I would add:

Bradley- After your bath and nap, look in the mirror and say, “I am good enough, I’m smart enough and gosh darnit I can play basketball at a high level. I can even make a free throw all by myself.”

Before Balbay picked up the quick 2nd half fouls we were in control of the game. He sits and 13-0 run for UConn. Balbay has become the one player we can’t have in foul trouble. He sets the tempo for the team defensively, and because we are such a poor passing team we have to have his dribble penetration to be at our best. Also, Lucas (at this point) is a liability.

I would love to be able to say Barnes is just trying different things and preparing the kids for the tournament, but that is wishful thinking. It took him 34 1/2 games last year to figure out what he had offensively in Varez Ward in terms of taking his man off the dribble.

As much hand wringing as I am doing over last 2 games, I keep reminding myself that UNC lost their first 2 conference games last year, and looked bad and flawed in doing so. Once Huckleberry Hound figured out that Beaker wasn’t his best player, Lawson was, they turned it around.

There is still time.

I think Jai Lucas has infected this team with a Florida Gator virus. Since he has started playing our defense has gotten worse and it seems that all we care about is getting our numbers at the expense of good team play.

The addition of Lucas has caused a redistribution of minutes at guard and essentially knocked our growing chemistry off course. It is easy to like his shooting. He has a nice shot and can score. If he gets any time it is at 2 and only when Balbay and Brown are in foul trouble.

We need Brown to get better and you have to let him play point when Balbay is out because he is the X factor. Before Lucas, he was playing with confidence and scoring somewhat in the offense. He needs the ball to be effective and he is not getting it. On the flipside Lucas is a effing pounder. This guy pounds the ball into the effing court like Stu in your pickup game. Get the ball out of your hands so we can get our offense moving. Serously, count how many times this guy pounds the ball when he has it- talk about killing offensive rhythym.

I totally agree with Blake Barron as far as lineups here and his comments also. I will add that it is a mortal sin to be 6’10" and 285 pounds and have so few offensive rebounds in a game. Carve out some space without committing assault on your defender. Pretty simple, put your fat ass on someone, get your hands up and get and effing rebound for Godsake. You are not in the UFC, you get no points for getting a guy in a rear naked choke.

Finally, Barnes is sucking ass. How do you not run some high low with James and Pittman. When was the last time we saw a play designed to get the ball to this behemoth. Are you kidding me? I have not seen any weakside screens for Pittman coming to the ball, no duck in plays, no high low where he can pin his defender. This is an atrocity sp?

Kafka was right earlier in the year when he said you need to have some set plays, especially for your star players.

If I see Jordan Hamilton trailing the opposing team’s fast break (while jogging) one more time I mgiht have a heart attack. This guy might be gifted but his sense of entitlement is irritating. The only time he seems to hustle is when the ball gets in his hands. It is tough to win a championship with guys who have that mentality. Once again, this is on Barnes and film study. He should be called out, embarrassed and the team should be running everytime this guy jogs back on defense. Your lack of effort hurts the team.

Finally, this team has become selfish since Lucas came into the lineup. Guys are pressing for playing time and think they have to do something. Pittman can’t score if he doesn’t get the ball and Lucas can’t make an entry pass to save his life. How many times has Dex posted only to see a guy pound the ball and dribble away from him. Damion would not give up the rock against K State on several fast breaks. It wasn’t because he can’t run the break it was because he was trying to get his numbers. When this happens the team’s future success is coming off the tracks. Barnes has to make a point of this in film study. We got to number one because of great defense and unselfish play. We cannot let this Gator virus infect the whole team. We must fight through it and get stronger.

“Barnes is sucking ass”

“Barnes is sucking ass”

what are these set plays you speak of regarding Barnes? frustrating man…we need an offensive coordinator on the bench…

Dudek nails the j. Or the Jai. It is fairly obvious that Lucas has screwed up our chemistry and rotations. It isn’t his fault, though. That falls squarely on Barnes.

The lack of any high/low game over the last 6 years is infuriating. Especially when you have bigs like Atchley, Boddicker, Buckman and now James and Johnson that can knock down a 17 footer. I mean, seriously, wtf? It isn’t rocket science.

Also, the next time we set an off ball screen for one of our bigs will be the first. Not screening weakside for Dex on occassion is the height of stupidity. He could score 8 points a game easy if we just screened weakside for him 5 times. It would be that easy and efficient.

Brown needs more time at PG. Why? Mainly because he’s shooting 95% Free Throws.

Get him running the offense. Make him understand that he doesn’t have to make spectacular passes every time down the floor. Just smart passes and when open, drive to the bucket and either a) make a basket, b) get fouled, c) dish it for an assist.

Having Brown touch the ball more often will lead to more points for everyone.

Barnes is his own Greg Davis.

How many top tier coaches would salivate over having Pittman and James in their starting five? How many could NOT figure out a way to run a halfcourt offense with those two guys as the anchors (and Avery Bradley to boot)?

He does a lot of good things, so we have to take the bad with the good, but it would be lovely to have a staff member with a solid understanding of half court offense.

“Clearly, Barnes will go with Jai Lucas as a backup to Balbay and Johnson and Hamilton have to play because of their talent and productivity. But J’Covan Brown was 0-for-5 shooting including 0-for-3 on 3s and offered little in 12 minutes off the bench. "

Really, Andy Katz? You are an idiot. This guy wasn’t a point at Florida and he is not a point at Texas. He is a two guard trapped in a 5’9" frame with no hops and below average quicks for a 6’2" point guard. This is not a knock on Lucas as a person. Just the reality. He could play point at a lot of schools just not at an elite program in search of a National Championship.

Brown can’t get his numbers because he needs the ball in his hands to get his confidence. Since Lucas came into the lineup he is playing more 2 and that is why we suck now. If this does not change expect more of what we have been watching, bad chemistry and bad offense which will affect our defensive effort as well.

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