Texas Bracketology and Gottlieb on Texas

Trips…

Why do you keep doing this to yourself?

It may not be Texas, but my hunch says somebody is going to catch Duke early. Gottlieb is right about point guards and currently we don’t have one.

I’m still thinking KU or the ‘Cuse will take it all. I’m just hoping we don’t lose in the first round.

Hook ’em!

I wonder if that 8 seed projection assumes a win over OU at home and a loss to Baylor on the road. I was hoping our free fall might stop at a 7 seed.

Jesus, an 8 seed. I mean I guess that’s about right, but man…. in terms of fallen expectations, it would be like going to the Independence Bowl in 05.

The Cuse has a very experienced and veteran team. This might explain some of their success.

I don’t think Duke’s that great but I think Lance Thomas and Zoubek would give Pittman fits.

Good stuff, Trips. Rick may have to eat his “two first half foul” rule with Dex. Dex for his part needs to be smarter especially clearing out by extending his elbow across the defender. I think Dexter’s defensive presence is more important than his offensive one.

I really agree with softening the overplay defense. I’ve been screaming all year about this. We don’t really have the personnel anymore besides AB anyway.

I was an ex-PG. Does that count?

I just wish I hadn’t given Gottlieb my credit card and social security numbers.

you forgot to factor in that Krzyczyskizskyi has treated Texas like a red-headed stepchild since Barnes arrived at Texas.

this team overachieving anytime soon? please. you remember when we lost to Nevada in the first round? at least we were short handed this year.

I’m more pumped up about the UT-PanAm game tomorrow than playing the land thieves tonight. sad state of affairs.

Point guards are born and not made, so yes, unless you were converted, it counts.

Trips, I give up on the 2010 version of Dex. He has lost it. I remember even when he was a fat 330 lb frosh, he had good feet and his huge hands helped him finish extremely well around the basket. Now, he gets the ball down low and travels 4 times in less than a half (Mizzou) or he misses 4 foot bunnies that barely hit the rim (every game, if he even gets up a FG attempt). I have zero confidence in good things happening when he gets the ball down low. The odds of us coming out of there with 1 point or less is 90+%.

Kevy
Point guards are born ( yes from short parents) and not made, so yes, unless you were converted (from being a human flesh eater), it counts.

I think the fall from 6 seed to 8 seed was due to the pathetic performance at Reed as well as the loss of Balbay. I don’t think Lunardi had really accounted for that in his last Bracketology.

J’Covan is playing tonight

J’Covan is playing tonight-my guestimate is the last minute of the first half and the last three minutes of the game when Barnes takes out Mace.

Dammit, if Texas and Duke get matched up again, I’m going to be pissed on multiple levels.

I’m afraid Texas is like all of those talented but ultimately mediocre Arizona teams from the mid to late part of the decade. All sorts of talent, a crappy regular season, then a 7-10 seed that scares the bejesus out of the 1/2 seed in their bracket until they ultimately lose the first round game.

Alternatively, didn’t Dex have his “epiphany” about this time last year? One can dream.

I don’t think Lunardi had really accounted for that in his last Bracketology.

The rules allow for moving a team up or down one line to fit the bracketing. I don’t know if he had to do that because I haven’t looked at it, but I don’t think it’s a matter of saying they were a 6, but OMG, look at that Aggie game… they’re an 8 now. Could have been a seven all the way.

Like last year, (and other years, as far as that goes) it shows how weak the at-large pool actually is.

I read this last football season and thought it was an interesting analogy. Definitely speaks to the thoughts about sticking with Dex enough to open up the floor for Damion, AB, and Jordan.

From Maurice Jones Drew after a 41-0 loss at the Seahawks

“We have to figure out a way to be consistent. The running game is like chess. The running game is your pawns. They don’t really mean that much in the beginning, but at the end, they surround the king and it’s check mate. That’s what the running game is.

“We’re not going to break 30-yard runs every play. You’re going to get 2, 3 yards a pop. You might get a negative run, but [defenses are] going to respect the run game and that’s going to open up the pass game and open up the run game later on, where you’re going to be breaking 10-, 15-yard chunks.”

I played the 2 in high school, and I can tell you that I am, unquestionably, a fucking retard in comparison to our point guard. Like David J. Gross to my Stephen Hawking, if you will.

If Texas loses tonight at home get ready to fire up the FireRickBarnes.com website.

Mo,

If Texas loses tonight (AT HOME…TO OU…THE TEAM OF THE 9 GAME LOSING STREAK), get your ass to Wal Mart and stock up on non-perishables because the Apocalypse is nigh.

Barnes is a loser when it comes to OU, always has been. I won’t be surprised by a loss tonight. He doesn’t give a shit about this rivalry.

I hated Gottlieb as a player, and it really pains me to watch be excellent as an analyst.

insert a ‘him’ above where necessary.

Mo, that’s just stupid. We didn’t lose but even if we had, that’s just plain dumb. I think with what Barnes has done in this town, he’s earned the right to be able to try and get things turned around without having to worry about idiots with torches and pitchforks coming after him.

Gottlieb is excellent as an analyst. Does he get paid to be one?? He dresses like he is an Okie… Opps he is .
You would think that he could afford Henry James to put him in some decent suits that match his tie before he goes on the air. Plus a stylist to give him some pointers and comb his hair.
I know it nit picking but shit its Tuesday morning and I have no coffee in my house.

Burnt orange, seriously you might be the only person that thinks Rick Barnes is actually a good coach. Rick Barnes is without question the worse coach in the Big 12; take that back second worse I forgot about the loser at Texas Tech that will get fired at the end of the season; he just has more talent than the Nebraskas and Colorados of the worlds. I don’t wanna hear what a recruiter Rick Barnes is anyone can recruit players to Austin its one of the best cities in the country and Texas has facuilities to bring in top recruits. When Rick Barnes gets out coached in the second round of the NCAA tourney you will finally become an believer.

All the Duke discussion made me go back and look at these posts:

http://barkingcarnival.fantake.com/2009/03/22/texas-basketball-vs-duke-post-mortem/

http://barkingcarnival.fantake.com/2009/03/20/duke-preview/

I enjoyed reading them. Prescient, predictable and disappointing.

Barnes is a loser when it comes to OU, always has been. I won’t be surprised by a loss tonight. He doesn’t give a shit about this rivalry.

I don’t know how much of a rivalry it is in hoops or anything else other than football.

But FWIW, Barnes has a .500 record against the Sooners and is 12-5 since 2003.

That prick Lunardi is putting UTEP, the outright champion of CUSA, on a 13 game win streak, ranked higher than Texas, TAMU and Baylor in 2 of the major polls, and looking at a potential 26-5 season at a 10 seed. Ridiculous.

Fuck that guy.

Mike, I hate to break it to you, but that’s about where everybody in America has them.

Culpepper and Caracter would start for Texas, TAMU, and Baylor.

If Texas had Culpepper, we’d be playing for a 1 seed.

Trips, I would agree. I’m not saying they’re not good.

But as far as Mike’s post goes, being on a winning streak in a weaker league, being a league champ, being ranked, and what their record would be if they won out, has nothing to do with an evaluation of where they stand right now.

Now, if you want to say Texas is overrated right now, I’m right there with you. Looking at KenPom the last week or so, they’d be ranked somewhere in the 50s if they’d started the season in January. It’d be bubble or NIT. But then, the perception would be different. People would be looking at the raw talent and thinking they could make a run, rather than think they’re running on empty.

If Texas draws UTEP in a 7/10 game I’m going to break things.

Interesting side bar but one already talked about. Admirable? Enjoy.
http://espn.go.com/blog/collegebasketballnation/post/_/id/5189/rick-barnes-just-blew-your-mind

Rick’s going to have a hard time living that down.