Pollyanna Perspective pt 1

Hamilton’s shooting percentage while flying through the paint getting hacked should be high. It’s only recorded as a shot if it goes in…

I guess I wasn’t clear enough. I think he converted more effectively while being fouled or while in a very physical situation than he did when at the line. For the season only Dexter, Clint, Shawn, and Andrew have higher percentages from the floor than the line, so I think it’s reasonable to think that normally one would have a higher percent from the line (where Jordan was 1-6) than the floor (where Jordan was 7-9, I think).

“Coaches deserve some criticism, but it should probably be tempered with praise. 11 consecutive 20-win seasons.”

Let’s not start sucking each other’s dicks just yet.

This didn’t make me feel any better.

“Imagine, in a happy world, that we add seniors DJ Augustin and Kevin Durant to this team. Think anything changes? I do not begrudge, at all, their moving on to the NBA–but I also won’t bury the coaching staff who brought them to Texas and have managed to create a remarkably consistent program even with program-changing talent rotating in and out faster than any fan would want.”

Yeah, I guess being the only program in the country with one-and-dones and early departures needs to be considered. Poor Barnes.

We know now that Barnes had a hard time getting through to Hamilton and Brown. I get that. I don’t understand why he also had to neuter the offense of Balbay and Mason, or not direct even the simplest of ways to get Pittman matched up against one guy instead of two.

If this team were 24-2, it would be just as fragile as 17-0. Maybe more so, because we still wouldn’t have seen much of Hamilton, and Brown still would be getting minimal time.

I’m hesitant to dump this slide totally on Barnes, given Hamilton’s determination to shoot dumb shots going back even less than two weeks, and the acknowledgment going back to last summer that the three freshmen were going to have to play to their talent rather than their experience.

Rick Barnes is totally killing my glad game right now.

Making a higher percentage of FTs would be nice. So would having a coherent offensive scheme. And playing balls to wall defense. Etc., etc. Lots of areas that are screaming for improvements.

love that sunshine up my ass.

You guys are hilarious. You truly believe you’ve got perspective on this?

For our friend Colorado Ag, here’s a look at the one and done or two and done lottery picks over the past four years. Which teams do you think we’d want to trade situations with? There have been 26, and three came from UT. LSU had two (coach fired); USC had two (coach quit under fire); UCLA had two (they’re 12-13); Memphis had two (lost their coach); Ohio State had two (7 losses this year); and all but three of these teams that lost one are doing worse than us this year. We lost three. Most in the country. I’m not complaining, but acting like it’s happening to everyone is silly.

2006:
2) Lamarcus Aldridge, Texas (two)
4) Tyrus Thomas, LSU (one)—coach fired
8) Rudy Gay, UConn (two)
9) Patrick O’Bryant, Bradley (two)

2007:
1) Greg Oden, Ohio State (one)
2) Kevin Durant, Texas (one)
4) Mike Conley, Ohio State (one)
8) Brandon Wright, UNC (one)
10) Spencer Hawes, Wash (one)
12) Thaddeus Young, GT (one)
13) Julian Wright, Kansas (two)

2008:
1) Derrick Rose, Memphis (one)—coach gone
2) MIchael Beasley, KSU (one)—coach who brought him gone
3) OJ Mayo, USC (one)—coach fired
4) Russell Westbrook, UCLA (two)
5) Kevin Love, UCLA (one)
7) Eric Gordon, Indiana (one)—coach fired
9) DJ Augustin, Texas (two)
10) Brook Lopez, Stanford (two)—coach gone
11) Jerryd Bayless, Arizona (one)—coach gone
14) Anthony Randolph, LSU (one)—coach fired

2009:
1) Blake Griffin, OU (two)
3) James Harden, Arizona State (two)
4) Tyreke Evans, Memphis (one)—coach gone
6) Johnny Flynn, Syracuse (two)
9) DeMar DeRozan, USC (one)—coach gone

Winston and Fried Rice, I’ll leave the dick-sucking and ass insertions to you two. Yeesh.

’wulf and BIH, I agree there are plenty of areas to improve. I look forward to seeing how far they do over the next ten games. Regardless of how they go, I think Barnes has earned more than enough credits to deserve fan support.

I want Balbay to start taking 5-6 shots a game. The last 6 he has taken 3 or less. Just tell Pitman and Mason to be ready for a putback, that way it is like a pass. He’s got to get SOME confidence back about taking shots. As it is now, he runs past the 3 point line and he is completely uncovered. There is no one around him for 5-8 feet. I get excited and think he is going to just keep going. Instead, I see a deer-in-headlights look, he shits in his pants, and turns around and runs right back out. Fucking rediculous. At least drive in and try to get them to foul you every once in a while. Maybe you’ll get one t foul out or at least get us into a shooting bonus sooner.

His stats:
Games with 5+ shots: 55.5% shooting, 8.2 pts, 5.8 ast, 1.8 TO, 4.8 rbs
Games less than 5: 38.2%, 2.6 pts, 3.5 ast, 1.6 TO, 2.9 rbs

Great writeup, CallKevin. I’ve been very critical of UT sports in the past particularly our football program until Muschamp showed up.

There was a post on another thread comparing Barnes to Mackovic and Penders. This group needs a serious reality check.

Barnes has been to a final four, two elite 8’s, and two sweet sixteens. Do any of you people know when Boeheim accepted the head coaching position at Syracuse? 1976. Do any of you realize when he won his first national title? 2003. That’s 27 years. Maybe Syracuse should have fired Boeheim in 1987 after they lost Indiana. That would have been the eleven year mark of his tenure at the school which is exactly where Barnes is today. And by the way that was his first final four. He has been to two since then and won one title.

Barnes is bringing in talent and at some point the program will break through. I hate to keep saying this, but relying on freshmen guard play will get you nowhere in college hoops.

What about Daniel Gibson? Wasn’t he two and done with Aldridge as well?

Ah.. lottery picks. I see now. My bad.

Forget the lottery picks (it’s not like Durant was ever going to be around for his Senior year). There is a Varez Ward shaped hole in our offense. Seriously, among the guards, outside of Bradley, what other loss could have hurt us more?

/my Texas basketball related whining for the day

Barnes also was telling Ward not to shoot jumpers.

Callkevin,

We admittedly lack perspective because it’s fucking impossible to fathom what the hell is going on during practice or in the locker room and especially on the court that has turned these guys from running & gunning ballers to a collection of second-guessing misfits.

I’m not surprised anymore by what I see but I’m still disgusted by it and until I see some consistency with some very fundamental things our kids and coaches are failing to do, all sunshine will be deflected.

You write like I did in my beknighted days when I used to try to defend Greg Davis.

It all about perception like in :
"Coaches deserve some criticism, but it should probably be tempered with praise. 11 consecutive 20-win seasons"
Now take out the 10-12 cupcakes in the Texas Tour and we have a different perception.

“Things don’t always go according to plan, but if we look at the season as a whole”

The issue of mind fucking is not just this season it is just greater,especially when you let all your stubborness suck the team dry of confidence. Scopio had a blog article about the same thing in 2008 if I am not mistaken. Its been in the works for several years.

“Yeah, I guess being the only program in the country with one-and-dones and early departures needs to be considered. Poor Barnes”

Barnes is a great recruiter that gets great talents for his style of play. OOPS!
What is his style of play?
 OH! yeah Defense and rebounding and P/R,random screening is his history and with less talented recruits with good results.
Why recruit top level players that do not fit your style that you have to “break” to play your system if it can be called that. Why not recruit players that fit your style?
Bo Ryan is a good example , we know what his Whisky teams and players bring to the table without breaking players and sucking your team dry.Whisky is an example not a comparison.

I don’t understand why he also had to neuter the offense of Balbay and Mason, or not direct even the simplest of ways to get Pittman matched up against one guy instead of two.
“I’m hesitant to dump this slide totally on Barnes, given Hamilton’s determination to shoot dumb shots going back even less than two weeks”,
“and the acknowledgment going back to last summer that the three freshmen were going to have to play to their talent rather than their experience.”
Several good points by Bob.
The deal with Dog and Mase was done with a complete thought process, good coaching ? Maybe.
The important idea that I think was not thought out was how Barnes’ process of coaching was to impact JH and JCB and most important how it sucked the confidence out of the team. If Barnes knew that the three freshmen were going to have to play and if his methods of breaking them did not work after 3 months in the summer and Nov. and Dec. why not try something else. It appears that his coaching style has some defects as in MY Way always with no other options. I am assuming here as I have no knowledge of Barnes thinking , just observations.

“Barnes is bringing in talent and at some point the program will break through. I hate to keep saying this, but relying on freshmen guard play will get you nowhere in college hoops.”
I question if the talent will ever break through as Barnes does not coach to the talent level of his recruits as other coaches do . The system has to be in place so the coaches know inside out and how it needs to be adjusted to fit talented players to max out there skill sets. The players coming in will also know that they have to adjust as well to play the system.

I do agree that Barnes is a good coach with lesser talent and gets a great deal out of his players but in the same thought I believe that his style of play needs to be adjusted to the players that Barnes recruits. No one forces Barnes to get the type of players that do not fit his style.

I’m finding taking this stance amusing, given how much I privately grump about the same things you all are grumping about. I just question whether it makes sense to feel this over the top.

Skymonkeyhorn, in response to this: "Coaches deserve some criticism, but it should probably be tempered with praise. 11 consecutive 20-win seasons"
Now take out the 10-12 cupcakes in the Texas Tour and we have a different perception.

Thing is, taking out the cupcakes doesn’t make sense. Everyone has cupcakes in their tour, and very few teams have managed to win as consistently as Texas over the past 10 years. I’m not asking if Texas is doing as well as they could possibly be doing, nor am I asking anyone to believe they are (they clearly aren’t). I am saying that I question whether the standard we’re holding them to is being met by anyone anywhere, and if it isn’t, then is it possible that our expectations are a bit out of whack?

I also think it’s worth noting that although I’m very happy with the freshmen, it was our fans and analysts who decided they were top 10 players. I’m not going to take the time to look at all the lists, but looking at Rivals Bradley was #4 and Hamilton was #6 and Williams was #67 (1 and 2 are at KY, along with 22, 23 and 40). J’Covan was #54, but that was in 2008 before he sat out a year. Gary Johnson was #61 in 2007. Clint Chapman was #73, and Alexis Wangment #87. Damion was #17 in 2006. Justin Mason was #86. Matt Hill was #127. Dexter Pittman was #150.

Is our talent better than everyone else’s? No. Not by any credible source. Top 10-20, sure. We can grump about Dexter and what we think he should be, but the fact is he came to Texas as the 150th-best player in his class—so since then another 450 players with higher rankings have presumably arrived at colleges everywhere, so I’d say he’s exceeded reasonable expectations. You get the idea.

You can’t recruit kids who are obvious one-and-dones and then use it as a crutch or excuse when they depart.

“Is our talent better than everyone else’s? No. Not by any credible source. Top 10-20, sure.”

We’ve got how many McDonald’s All-Americans on our team? 4? And others like Brown and Johnson that were in that same neighborhood as players. Top 5 talent.

Question: If we go 7-9 in conference, which is doable, do we miss the tournament?

“Winston and Fried Rice, I’ll leave the dick-sucking and ass insertions to you two. Yeesh.”

You should really check out an obscure film called Pulp Fiction. I think its available on VHS. Maybe Bill Little can give you a copy. Well, that and a reacharound.

Winston, you seem somewhat pre-occupied with homoerotic fantasies involving older men. I’ll leave you to your own devices.

Nordberg, we have two—Avery Bradley, and Jai Lucas. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonald’s_All-American_Game

If we go 7-9 in conference, then yes, we miss the tournament.

ColoradoAg, it’s not a crutch or excuse. It’s one part of the picture. If you read what I originally wrote, I use them as an example of what I appreciate about what Barnes has done for Texas basketball. Not only has he brought in (and developed) high-level talent, he has kept the program in the top tier year after year regardless of the expected and unexpected personnel changes.

Hamilton technically wasn’t one, but c’mon. We know why he wasn’t.

I was thinking James was one. But, no difference. The point is the same.

" then is it possible that our expectations are a bit out of whack?"

This is the most talented team that Texas and Barnes has ever had and our expectation are out of whack.
Are we to be average or elite at the University of Texas ?

This ad next to your article.
In the world of athletics, the difference between average and elite performance can hinge on the level of coaching an athlete receives. Premier coaches use cutting edge motivation and instructional techniques to maximize the performance of their athletes and their teams.

Ohio University is fully accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools .
I will pony up 1K to send Barnes back to school.

We’re to be elite, skymonkey—and we are elite, as a program. We should aim higher, of course, but I have no doubt Barnes is.

Nordberg, there were a variety of reasons why Hamilton wasn’t, one of which has showed significantly this season. I’m not clear on how the point is the same. Even if I give you Hamilton as a McD AA, which he wasn’t, and I have to keep Jai Lucas, which he shouldn’t have been, that gives us 3 who have been at UT for a total of 4 semesters between them. If you get Hamilton, I add Daniel Orton and John Wall as well.

If number of McDonald’s AA’s is how you determine top 5 talent, and you count us at 3, then you’d have to put Duke (7), UNC (7), Villanova (5), OU (4), Florida (3), Georgetown (3), Georgia Tech (3), Kansas (3), Kentucky (3), and UCLA (3), and none of those save Kentucky are counting two true freshmen. Once again, I say we’re top 10-20 in talent, but not top 5.

We overestimate that with which we are most familiar.

“Nordberg, there were a variety of reasons why Hamilton wasn’t, one of which has showed significantly this season”

No he was just ineligible. That was the only reason.

What was the record of the Fab 5 as freshmen entering the tourney? What seed were they in the NCAA before going on a run to make it to the finals before getting blown out by Duke? You guys get the picture plus I don’t see any Webber’s, Howards, or Rose’s in this group of freshmen.

We should aim higher, of course, but I have no doubt Barnes is.
Barnes is a talented bus driver and his team play like a bus and handle like a bus, and looks like a bus wreck . walks, sounds, and looks like a duck and it is a duck.
Pollyanna was a fit name for your article.

More to the point would be Pollyanna Creep is a phrase that originated with John Williams, a California-based economic analyst and statistician.1 It describes the way the U.S. government has modified the way important economic measures are calculated with the purpose of giving a better impression of economic development. This is a clear reference, in a sarcastic way, to Pollyanna’s proverbial optimism. John Williams and other economic analysts, such as Kevin P. Phillips 2 argue the such manipulations distort the perception of electors and economic factors and have ill effects on political and investment decisions.

“Once again, I say we’re top 10-20 in talent, but not top 5.”

Top 5 talent, top 30 coach.

Before the season, Izzo and Self both said that Rick had his best team and that Texas was a legitimate top 5. I’ll take their word for it. This has been a craptacular job by Barnes and the coaching staff.

Talent doesn’t equal best team. Ask the 83 Cougars or the 85 Hoyas. Are Self and Izzo at practice every day with this team? Did Texas beat an Izzo led squad this year?

“Are Self and Izzo at practice every day with this team?”

Unfortunately not.

Why didn’t Izzo and the Spartans beat Texas this year?

SMH, I’m a big fan of Bo Ryan, too. Love his offensive scheme and his demeanor on the sideline.

On topic, Barnes would look much, much better if he just hired a good OC. Way less risk and probably less cost than replacing Barnes.

Re: recruiting, I would prefer getting guys like Damion who are great but need 4 years to get ready for the NBA than one and done kids. One thing I love about this year’s team is that it is a team rather than one superstar plus underlings.

This team still has the potential to keep improving. Jordan was excellent vs Mizzou and starting him will help a lot. Dex could still turn his game around. Using Jordan as the post (i.e. Dex) entry passer would help Dex. Brown has shown signs of getting it together. Barnes seems a bit less caustic lately.

If the horns make it to the sweet 16, I’ll be happy.

“Why didn’t Izzo and the Spartans beat Texas this year?”

Because Barnes hadn’t fucked up our team yet.

It also benefits Izzo and Self to say that Rick’s team is the best he’s had when they both have him on the schedule.

Coloradoag, I’d say that part of being a coach is bringing in the talent. For most programs, that’s a huge part. Top 30 seems low. I’d give him top 20.

Ahead of Barnes, in terms of coaches I think have done or will do a better job at their program (not necessarily better fits at Texas, but could probably handle the atmosphere), and not in order:

Roy Williams
Jim Boeheim
Jim Calhoun
Tom Izzo
Mike Kryzsdlkfjewf**EFR!!
Jay Wright
Rick Pitino
Thad Motta?

A few guys I considered but have a tough time listing because I’m not sure they’re relevant any longer:
Gary Williams
Ben Howland (I’m kidding—he probably belongs in the group above, but 12-13? Wow)

Guys who have records worth noticing but none of my respect (not that they care):
John Calipari
Frank Martin
Scott Drew
Bob Huggins
Billy Donovan

And guys who will need 5+ more very solid years at the school they’re at to convince me, or go on a big tournament run:
Mark Turgeon
Tom Crean
John Thompson, Jr?
Jamie Dixon
Herb Sendek
Mike Montgomery
Matt Painter
Bruce Pearl
Kevin Stallings
Tubby Smith
Brad Stevens
Mark Few

Nordberg,

Do you think it’s possible that our inconsistent play is due to the fact that we play 3 freshmen who outside of James are our most talented players?

People bashing Barnes on this board still can’t seem to grasp the historical significance of experienced and steady guard play and how it relates to a particular team’s success.

On topic, Barnes would look much, much better if he just hired a good OC. Way less risk and probably less cost than replacing Barnes.

Greg Davis?

I’m bashing Barnes because we play scared and we play with no confidence. That is 100% on Barnes, because he intentionally made them that way.

CallK – it’s not our record, it’s HOW we got that record.

We look like ass. A lot.

Let me be clear. Very good post and I look forward to Py 2

Roy Williams – 16 years at KU, no titles. Inherited talented team to win in 2005 and followed up in 2009. Granted.
Jim Boeheim- won first NC after 27 years at SU. 3 final fours in 33 years. Questionable.
Jim Calhoun-two NC, 3 final fours. Took over horrible Uconn program. Granted.
Tom Izzo-5 FF with one NC. No argument but Barnes seems to get the best of him.
Coach K- enough said.
Jay Wright-please
Rick Pitino-1 FF in 8 seasons at the Ville. Very successful before that. Questionable right now.
Thad Matta-What has he done that Barnes hasn’t. I see a recent NIT appearance.
 
Gary Williams-outside of 2002, he never made it past the S 16. Many NIT showings. No Thanks.
Ben Howland-3 con FF. no titles. Great coach at pitt as well.

Calipari-mercenary, no title in over 20 years as head coach at collegiate level
Martin-Need to see more
Drew-Please
Huggins-Please
Donovan.-Granted. 2 NC followed up by 2 consecutive NIT appearances.

Turgeon-Like him but is he better than Barnes?
Crean-Really, have you seen Indiana play? What has he done outside of Dwayne Wade?
JT jr. Love this guy. Everything that his daddy wasn’t. Pete Carril disciple. Granted.
Dixon-Howland disciple. Like him but what has he done that Barnes hasn’t?
Sendek-Good coach, but a lot like Dxon.
Montgomery-What has he done that Barnes hasn’t
Matt Painter-Good coach. Like what he is doing but need to see more.
Bruce Pearl-Are you kidding me?
Kevin Stallings-Are you kidding me?
Smith-Decent man, good coach, but again no thanks.
Stevens-Too early but off to a good start. Is he Pete Gillenesque?
Few-Better than Barnes? Not seeing it.

Williams, Calhoun, Izzo, Coach K, Donovan, and Calipari are definites at this stage in their careers. Only Top 30 coach? Really?

Pat Summitt, imo.

Way to go Magnus! Hire Geno Auriehomo!

Crean-… What has he done outside of Dwayne Wade?

Nothing personal, but I hate this. Of course Wade was the star of that team. Why does it tarnish Crean’s record that he did make the FF with a great player, as opposed to being one of the many coaches who didn’t? (And I’m ignoring that Wade, while a great HS player, was not a consensus top 100 guy and a Prop 48. It is not possible that Crean helped Wade become a better player?)

Bob,

Of course Crean helped Wade become a better player just like Barnes has helped countless others become better players. That’s what good coaches do. Does anyone not see that DJ has become a much better player since he first stepped foot on campus? Barnes is arguably a top 15 coach and anyone who says otherwise is not looking at the facts.

I was merely pointing out Crean’s record since taking over IU which is a traditional power. Granted it’s early in his tenure.

I can’t believe Callkev and me didn’t mention Bill Self. Just a slight oversight.

Crean-Really, have you seen Indiana play? What has he done outside of Dwayne Wade?

I also hate this. He turned ’Quette into a real program again. What has he done at Indiana? Really? Could you be more clueless to the state of that program when he took over?

Groundhog, I did miss Self. Duh. At this point, he belongs in the top group. As for Crean, I live in Indiana. He’s much better than you apparently realize. But in case it wasn’t clear to you, there were only 8 guys (9, including Howland) in the group of coaches I would personally rank ahead of Barnes, or would understand others ranking ahead of Barnes, today. I hope and believe that Barnes will eventually be up in the category of an Izzo, Coach K, etc., but that will take a tournament win. The guys in the “no respect” group I would understand others moving up, but I think they’re scum pretty universally.

Jay Wright and Thad Motta are in that top group today because if Barnes left and I had to pick a coach I’d want them to get strong consideration.

Motta is 13 years younger than Rick, and in in his first 10 seasons as a head coach has 10 20-win seasons, took over an Ohio State program with issues and quickly built them. He’s had to overcome early talent losses as well, but is doing so. I think he’ll probably stay midwest, but he’s good.

Wright is Pennsylvania born and bred, and has managed to stock the current roster with 5 McDonald’s All-Americans. He rebuilt Hofstra and now Villanova. The past five seasons have been impressive. Four Sweet 16’s in 5 years (3 losses to eventual tourney-winners), and some great players, Final Four last year, shot at a 1-seed this year.

Orange,

I understand the state of the program as I referenced in my last post, but this isn’t football. Basketball programs can be turned around quickly particularly in this age of parity and with a program with such rich tradition.

Orange and Callkev,

I was just making the point that there is nothing that Crean has done that has been better than what Barnes has done at Texas. Yes, he coached at Marquette but one Al Maguire won a National Title at that school.

Motta is good, but Barnes has never missed the NCAA tourney. The same can’t be said about Thad and he is at a school with very similar resources that Texas has.

I agree Wright is a very good coach, but he’s not going anywhere. He coaches in the best conference and resides in an area where the basketball talent is fertile. Again, win a title and we will put him a notch above Barnes.

BTW, what do you guys hate so much? Just curious because I’m trying to defend a guy who people seem to want to burn at the stake with little regard for historical facts about freshmen play, experience, cohesion within a team, etc.

Barnes is not going anywhere soon if ever so why all the mental masturbation about who is going to replace him . Really do you think that the powers to be are even going to listen or read this blog. Just stroking your selfs like Winston said about forty post ago.

Barnes developes players with a lot less skill sets then the freshmen that we have. Bradley, Hamilton and Brown have excellent skills sets that Barnes has not even touched so far. Shawn Williams is Ipowers son so lets include him in the mix,Williams has a similar skill set as Hamilton and Ipowers will tell you so Motha Forkers. Thats another story.

A mind is a terrible thing to waste.

We have a long way to go if we ever will be considered a truly basketball school; at a football school, and break into the elite level. The seating and the drum is a long way from being a student friendly place to let the crazies out to cheer our team.

Why is it that all the other coaches are scum bags but Barnes mind melting a talented team is just perfect and can do no wrong. Is he a motivator or punisher, does he send clear messages to his team, yelling is good but not all the time, teaching/coaching mad is also not good to build confidence and swagger. This year is a low point for Barnes IMO, give him 10-11 years and he will get it right.

I wonder what ever happened to Ipowers ?

“BTW, what do you guys hate so much?”

It’s difficult for me to put into words how frustrating this is right now. Getting Bradley and Hamilton, getting James to come back, getting Pittman to come back… this was supposed to be the first year that we had all our weapons at our disposal. No early departures, no one going straight to the NBA, no one flunking out. And since Christmas or so, it’s been a complete disaster. There was no Mike Wacker moment; no losing Tucker and Aldridge at mid-season type deal. Just an entire team, which was at one point ranked #1, just completely collapsing. And, for me, all the blame goes on Barnes. He’s fucked us, and in some ways he did it on purpose. That’s where the hate is coming from.

Nordberg,

You act like Barnes is out to get us fans. Perhaps he had some undisciplined younger players that he was trying to mold and will continue to do so to play within the team concept and to play on both ends of the court.

We can agree to disagree. History tells us that winning with freshmen guard play is damn near impossible. The loss of Ward was huge. However, this team is talented and you can bet that nobody that is a top 4 seed wants to see this team in the tourney.

Barnes may need pitbulls, not greyhounds.

See billy clyde at a/m vs. Kentucky.

Barnes may need pitbulls, not greyhounds.

Pitbulls don’t win championships. Greyhounds do.

The loss of Ward was huge.

No, it wasn’t. They need a top-notch distributor who is a threat to score at the point. His game this year had not changed much, except that he made 1 of 6 threes. In the postseason last year he took no threes. He had a great game against Duke… showed a lot of potential as a scorer. He would have been one more guy going over the boards this year.

CallKevin – no Bill Self?

If Barnes averages 20 wins a season from 2002-2009 we would have had a 58% winning percentage. Pretty useless metric.

Almost as useless as taking the 30 wins over the 20 per season mark Rick had during that time period (he averaged 24+) and calling them losses to come up with the 58% winning percentage. We wouldn’t have played in many of those 40 wins had we only hit the 20 win mark each year.

The 20 win metric is meaningful because many coaches and teams don’t hit it, and very few hit it consistently.

If you cannot take the heat…love, Satan