Three Disappearing Acts in Texas Basketball
by Barking Carnival Staff on Feb 6, 2010 11:40 AM CST
in Texas Longhorns and Other Basketball
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PrintWatching the Dexter Pittman weight loss piece on College Gameday got me thinking about a different disappearing act when they mentioned that Pittman was likely a second rounder in the upcoming NBA draft.
Pittman's swift fall from NBA grace reminded me of the recent disappearances of Connor Atchley and Justin Mason's games going from up and coming heroes to Senior, bled for the program zeroes. Is Pittman trending the same way? Well, yes. But why?
Why does Connor Atchley go from NBA first round pick and pop guy to playing for the Chiappas Diablos in the Mexican League? Why does Justin Mason go from Mase in yo' face to handling and shooting the ball like he has, literally, been maced in the face by a member of the Aggie Equestrian team?
Dexter Pittman? We'll get to him in a moment.
Starting with Connor Atchley you'll see that the problem ain't complicated. We don't have to rearrange the stickers on the Rubik's cube. Atchley was a 6-10 semi-athletic forward with terrific range his junior year. He ran the pick and pop with DJ Augustin to perfection as the big forward guarding him, uncomfortable on the perimeter to begin with, would over hedge because DJ Augustin, a 5-11 ballhandling/shooting witch, had the ball.
On the weakside wing was arguably the best deep range shooter to ever wear burnt orange in AJ Abrams. The weak block forward? McD's all-American Damion James. Say what you want about the tenets of Socialism. At least it's an ethos. Ethos or not, you're not going to allocate help to Connor Atchley with those other players on the floor. I don't care if your AAU team was the Petrograd Fighting Bolsheviks, you aren't giving equal attention to Connor Atchley. So it's safe to assume that Connor's junior year 54% from the field was an aberration built on wide open shots vs. half-hearted help rotations. It was a product of the talent surrounding him, namely DJ Augustin. A Craig Hodges fantasy if you will.
If Connor Atchley was living on Fantasy Island, then AJ Abrams and DJ Augustin must have looked like Tattoo and Ricardo Montalban to Justin Mason. The presence of AJ and DJ allowed Justin Mason to play a damn competent point guard. Seriously, JM had a 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio as a sophomore.
Think about that for second.
Again, he was the beneficiary of being surrounded by shooters and playmakers including the most complete point guard to ever play for Texas. Mason was getting the opponent's third best perimeter defender and was able to operate on an open floor that looked like a football field compared with what he saw in 2009. DJ Augustin, imo.
So coming full circle we're sending out a search party for Dexter Pittman. Through the first 13 games of the season Dexter did the following:
15.4 points per game, 74.3 percent FG shooting (81 of 109), 7.6 rebounds per game, 55.9 percent from the free throw line (38 of 68), in 20.5 minutes per game.
--Since conference play has started, Pittman is averaging ...
5.9 ppg, 50 percent shooting (20 of 40), 3.8 rpg, 47.8 percent from the FT line in 19.1 minutes per game.
What's changed?
Well not much from a personnel standpoint, and yes I get that DJ Augustin hasn't played a minute for the Longhorns this year. On the other hand, opposing coaches have watched film and have figured out how to minimize Pittman's impact by sagging off of non-shooters like Mason and Balbay. It's not complicated and yes, it all goes back to DJ Augustin or not having a DJ Augustin. Or a Tommie Mason-Griffin for that matter.
As Bartoncreek so aptly pointed out: My Kingdom for a Point Guard.
For now all we can do is surround Dex with as many shooters and players as possible to open up floor. At least as many as defensive match-ups allow. And do it from the opening tip to give the big fella a chance to hit a couple of buckets and get some confidence early. I'm hoping Brown gets the starting nod for these very reasons as Scipio (speaking of search parties) points out in his minute allocation post. Hell I'd settle for Hamilton if it means Mason isn't on the floor.
But long term, let's recruit complete point guards that can shoot a little.
DJ Augustin will do.
Thoughts?
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Ah good, I was afraid you were going to lay this at Rick Barnes’ feet. We’ll see if Pittman is worth building the offense around, I’m not sure he is.
by Nickel Rover on Feb 6, 2010 12:05 PM CST reply actions
Excellent piece. No, it’s really not that complicated. NBA talented guards = maximize other players performance. Average college guards = other players flaws exposed. Poor college guards = 9-21 season.
by Stumper on Feb 6, 2010 12:07 PM CST reply actions
OK. After today’s Sooner traveshamockery, I will be furious if we ever recruit another athlete who can’t shoot a fucking basketball.
by Sailor Ripley on Feb 6, 2010 5:12 PM CST reply actions
My thought is that Houdini could not make this entire team disappear more effectively than they have. Blame Barnes, the players (ex James, who’s doing his damnedest and just had a shit day at the charity stripe), Oggie, whoever you like … but right now it’s a mess. Give ‘em tomorrow off, roll out the ball against the Jayhawks on Monday and say Fellas, just go play. Ain’t getting any worse.
by BEHorn on Feb 6, 2010 5:18 PM CST reply actions
Yes it is a very convincing article, well written and spot on. So if the talent is close/similar why are we so bad on O? How bad do we look as a team?
Not to many PG available that have the TJ or DJ Augustin NBA talent so we make do.
How many times did Fran make the comments about our missing FTs was more mental then anything else?
Who decides what roles are played by the players ? the players to a certain degree by their talent but who has the final say that Pitt will have two non-shooter on the floor?
Who makes the call for time outs ? After 5-6 points or 12-13 points from the other team.
Who tells the players to go into or out of a game ?
“opposing coaches have watched film and have figured out how to minimize Pittman’s impact by sagging off of non-shooters " They watch film does Barnes not watch film ?
Did we offer TMG,did we roll out the carpet and get on his bandwagen? Who decides which players get to play for us, UT.
Olympic skiers on a program I saw this morning were talking about their mental states that was just as important as conditioning and self honing of their ability. They mentioned that to get as sharp as their ability will allow then they mentioned coaching, a positive approach to practice,but the believe that their coach and teammates were all pulling for each other to win for the USA was a must. Think about that.
Who’s feet do we lay it on ? Barnes is a very good coach but tell me what has been so good about him this year with this amount of talent.
Connect the dots and see what direction it points to.
The End.
by SkyMonkeyHorn on Feb 6, 2010 6:46 PM CST reply actions
Changing the 3 point line before his senior year did not help Atchley. The old 3 point line was an easier shot because it was the same distance all the way around and also was closer.
If Barnes will move his non outside shooters like Mason and Balbay around the floor setting picks, it will be much tougher for their defenders to double Dex. Mason and Dex should not play at the same time.
Barnes needs to require that the ball go into Dex before an outside shot is launched. BTW, Dex is doing a good job of passing out of the double teams.
When Brown is PG, he should not be allowed to shoot the ball outside unless there are less than 10 seconds on the shot clock.
Both Brown and Jordan should be encouraged to drive and dish.
There is no point in Dex setting screens 30 feet from the bucket (or in hedging screens that far out).
Barnes should be calling most plays. Guys like Brown and Jordan need frequent direction and much less autonomy.
Don’t play Gary with Dex because it just clogs the post.
by kafka on Feb 7, 2010 12:28 PM CST reply actions
Connor is a great player, there were other things affecting his play his senior season than just the absence of DJ. Also, I know it was a joke but he’s not playing in Mexico. He is doing well in the d league so I still expect him to see some playing time in the NBA.
by Nilla on Feb 7, 2010 11:15 PM CST reply actions
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