Texas – Louisiana Tech Game Thoughts

“We were also 17 of 22 from the free throw line”

This sentence alone made like 100 people just scream out loud in euphoria.

The continued improvement of JCB is going to be a huge, huge factor in how good this team can be. Can we rely on him to get 10 and 5-6 a night with only a couple of turnovers, while knocking down 35% and 85%? Or is he 20 one night and 4-6 for the next six games? Can he control the game and break down a tough defense if Hamilton or Thompson are getting stifled?

Speaking of Hamilton and Thompson…wow. Very impressed with those two so far. I can see a 15 and 7 kind of season from Thompson, while possibly a 20 and 7 season from Hamilton. We’re going to need them to play like stars a lot. I’m already having nightmares about both of them playing this well throughout the course of the season and promptly declaring for the NBA draft. Terrible outlook on life, I know.

Gary Johnson is going to go the entire season getting 14-15 points and 8-10 rebounds every single game and I guarantee he will be the last person mentioned other than Hill, Wangmene, and Lucas. Sad, but true. He’s such a steady force, doesn’t miss the bunny layups like he used to, and has one of the most lethal elbow jumpers in the country.

Balbay was fantastic, but again, it doesn’t always translate to higher quality teams and athletes.

Joseph is in a great situation in that the team isn’t relying on him nearly as much as any UT fan thought they would. If he has a couple 20+ point games every month, that’s great news, but we aren’t going to be counting on it. His jumper is a bit inconsistent but I have faith in him. His off-ball defense is great so far and he’s a very good on ball defender as well. I also love his quickness in the open court and I’ll swear he’s faster now than when I watched him on TV at Findlay or the McDonald’s game. Todd Wright says, “Hi, I deserve $3 million a year.” Some people might have been worried Joseph would be starting at the point and Myck Kabongo would be relegated to the bench at the beginning of next year. Nope…

Wang_Hill lost the middle part of its triumvirate and still can’t catch the ball, but they do play hard and are both big and muscular. I just wish they’d play a little more physically if they’re going to foul so much, especially Wang. Thought Hill did well influencing shots near the basket tonight.

Lucas isn’t going to be as effective against real players, but I give the guy a ton of credit for improving his body, strength, and overall game during the offseason. He really needs to get his shot back though, as does JCB.

Finally, who the hell taught Rick Barnes how to coach offense in the offseason? Our offense has looked much less like a Greg Davis machination so far this season and I’m thrilled to no end. Is this how I’m going to feel when Gus Malzahn is calling plays next season? No it will probably be 10x better…

Who taught Rick Barnes how to coach offense?

Better question:

Who taught Scipio so much about basketball in the off-season?

Great write up.

J’Covan’s never had a 3-pt shot. He was a streaky, inconsistent outside shooter last year. I said last year and I still say this year that it has to be confidence. Prettiest shot on the team, yet the only ones he’s ever consistently made are his free throws. Jordan’s streaky too, so yes, whether or not J’Covan and Jai and Joseph can hit their threes and midrangers will be one of our biggest determining factors on the success of this season. Wangmeme looks slightly improved, displaying the ability to catch a pass yesterday and even hitting a midranger in the first game, yet he still commits the stupidest fouls through overagression and bad basic fundamentals like not slamming your body into the other guys body. That hasn’t improved, which is amazing because he’s set the bar so low in this regard in his first two years. Thompson is not as raw as advertised. I don’t like the arc on Joseph’s shot, but you can see his overall potential and how hard he tries on D. His statline will undoubtedly get better. I think his play and J’Covan’s play, whether they can find their shots and whether they play like young players or with maturity, will largely determine this season. Also, how did Jai become a decent-looking basketball player all of a sudden? He is somehow unquestionably quicker than last year, and looks much more capable of staying in front of his man, along with looking quicker and more confident pushing the ball and running the offense. Todd Wright really did a nice job with him and J’Covan this offseason. They are different players physically than last year. When’s the last time you said the same thing about even just two of our 85 football players?

This team is actually running an offense. Rick and I are officially back together.

My too early observations:

Too many times players are cutting through the lane and ending up in an already occupied space and look like they not sure where to go next. A good defense is going to give them fits and I’m guessing we’ll break down to a one on one offense the first few times we see one. It will only get better the more they run it against top competition.

TT’s post game is much more advanced than I expected. When he gets the ball he hasn’t predetermined what he’s going to do with it. He’s not committing to a pivot, he’s looking for cutters and he’s scoring over both shoulders. Solid.

Corey Joseph sees the floor before it happens. He had a steal from the weakside on a post entry and got it because he was moving to help before the pass was even made. At this point I see his offensive game as Derron Williams lite.

It seems to me Rick Barnes is deferring any heat of the battle Jordan Hamilton communications to his assistants. After every break it seemed like they were in his ear about something. Coaching JH is still a full time job Rick has delegated..

I’m definitely against the grain here, but I’ll take 20 Balbay minutes per game. Despite his shooting liabilities he sets the table for effort. It’s always amazed me in a Ginobli goes left kind of way, but every defender he’s faced the last 3 years knows he can’t shoot and wants to go to the rim and he still gets there consistently. Barnes said last night on the post game he’s constantly telling Balbay not to pass when he gets in the lane , take it to the rim and let your guys clean it up if theres a miss.

Yes, were going to get crushed by big teams.

Have the players always gone down the line of coaches and hugged or fist bumped right before the tip off or is this a new solidarity thing?

For the record Barnes is a fist bumper.

It’s a fun team to watch, and that’s saying a lot after last year’s third-term abortion on the hardwood.

Of course that team also started out playing well, but that was mainly due to depth and getting a shit ton of cheap baskets in the last 10 minutes of games. This team appears to be actually making the basketball good.

Let’s see what happens in January when Barnes makes them all hate themselves again.

“Let’s see what happens in January when Barnes makes them all hate themselves again.”

This. Hard to get too pumped up after watching Barnes disembowel a much better team last year after the break. That team also had us all jazzed up because Barnes and them were having fun too. Well, the team was I think.

On the ESPNU broadcast last night Reid Gettys mentioned that after the Navy game Corey J and TT changed into their practice gear and practiced for 2 hours. When asked what the heck they were doing they said it was because they felt they played poorly. That speaks volumes.

I don’t enjoy many broadcasters, but Reid Gettys is informative.

Really excited to see how advanced TT’s all-around game is 2 games into his career.

I realize our concerns about bigger teams taking it to us, but could we credibly roll out a big lineup of Wang/TT/Johnson/JH/CoJo for stretches? Four legit scoring options and some length – the biggest concern would be blow-bys against Hamilton and Johnson but could we run some effective man or zone out of that against the big boys?

At one point last night we had the following line-up on the court: Joseph, Hamilton, Johnson, Thompson, Wangmene. I was intrigued.

Everything looks very good right now and I hope it stays that way. It looks like a fun season with an enthusiastic and fundamentally sound team.

This is an important year for Barnes and UT basketball after what happened in 2009-2010. I hope Rick learned some lessons about how to nuture a team and not to crush its spirit.

“His defense is much improved – he’s not really that quick but he keeps beating dribblers to spots.”

Funny how turning bad weight into less weight / good weight can help with things like that.

at one point, we also had lucas, balbay, hamilton, hill, wangmene on the court. I was terrified.

fortunately, barnes changed that pretty quick

TT is more polished than I was expecting. Like Cojo’s game and effort, his mistakes now are easily correctable. No major flaws in his game. JH starting to scratch at the surface of his unlimited potential. Like the fact he is starting to grasp geometry with regard to off ball and on ball d. He had some lapses last night, but they were of the going for the steal variety rather than completely losing where his man was on the court. I prefer GJ taking a 17 footer to him posting up, but maybe that’s just me. His face up J is money right now. JCB just has to do better with ball security. Everything else will fall in place for him if he can addresss that. Everyone else-play your roles and we can be a pretty damn good basketball team.

Nordberg, I missed seeing that big lineup. Was it in the 2nd half? I am intrigued as well.

If CoJo or J’Covan get their outside stroke more consistent, I think Hamilton and TT’s ability to create for their positions could let you run some Doge at nominal PG with one of those guys at the nominal 2 without the offense clogging too badly – there are going to be some games where our only option to slow down a bigger talented guard is the Turkish Prison.

Oh, and nice writeup Scip and some great comments too. Never thought I’d find so many knowledgable fans following Texas hoops in one place. Great to see.

Balbay quickly is becoming one of my all-time Barnes era favorites. The guy drives for a hoop, then gets back and blocks a layup at the other end — while wearing a big honkin’ brace because of the previously torn ACL. Nobody else with intact ACLs is doing that.

Brown got stuck with some close foul calls — including one bizarre episode in which he had gained possession prior to the collision and the foul was called on him. (Barnes called time out to defend him.) But he pouted after each one. I’m sure he’s been told not to a thousand times, but he can’t keep that up and expect any benefit of the doubt.

It was, BC. Maybe 10 minutes to go in the game.

“at one point, we also had lucas, balbay, hamilton, hill, wangmene on the court. I was terrified.”

That lineup will be the basis for a new motion picture, “The Accidental Rotation”, starring William Hurt as Rick Barnes and Chris Rock as Jai Lucas.

does SLExpress still post, or use a different name? I enjoyed his basketball thoughts.

I like this team. I can’t invest until I see them in manhattan in January.

Agree with Nordberg—this is sounding like a fun team to watch,

Hard to get too pumped up after watching Barnes disembowel a much better team last year after the break. That team also had us all jazzed up because Barnes and them were having fun too. Well, the team was I think.

No I don’t think so. Barnes knew that the 17-0 start was Fool’s Gold (based mainly on simply overwhelming other teams in the final minutes into making fatal mistakes), and he harped on it every single day to the team.

It got to the point that they tuned him out (Hey, so what if we aren’t doing it his way, we’re undefeated) and then fell apart.

This team appears to have a much stronger psyche to start out with.

Good commentary everyone – its refreshing to have a Texas Athletics’ product that I’m excited to watch again.

And JH looks so much smarter (?) than last year, especially on D. He’s just not that lost anymore.

Does anyone know if Barnes hooked up with another college coach in the off season in an attempt to improve his offensive coaching?

Kudos to Barnes for doing whatever it was he did in order to improve himself at his job.

doge- love his game, looked really good last night, but both Navy and LaTech chose to actually guard him, save and except a few possesions against Navy. that will not be the case very soon, I’m guessing the next game. and this issue is the death knell for our O. I hate it b/c he is so dang good pushing tempo and with D.

I find some of the characterizations of Barnes a little off and I know recency bias plays a role in that. And that’s even given the fact that I thought Trips Right and BC pretty much had the definitive basketball coverage on the Texas interwebs in explaining what ailed us last year – with Barnes getting heavy criticism for neanderthal offense, stubbornness, and a heavy hand.
 
Barnes has a 12 year coaching history here and the large majority of his players end up loving the guy when they leave. His belief in how basketball should be played is directly opposed to what a lot of these guys have been told basketball is – by the NBA, by AAU coaches, by handlers, by their enabling sycophants.
 
Get yours! Be the man! Playmakers make plays! Get your points! Make a highlight reel!
 
Fuck that.
 
This battle is playing out all over the country, if you care to look. Some coaches have surrendered, some compromise, some won’t bend.
 
Head basketball coach challenging his players while assistants nurture isn’t exactly breaking new coaching ground. And I’m not sure I have a problem with a guy who demands that his players defend, rebound, and play unselfishly in order to log minutes. What’s more, Barnes adds additional complexity by demanding that his players be good guys off of the court, attentive in the classroom, pull down good grades, and be respectful of whoever they encounter.
 
That’s actually a source of more conflict and benching than most people know.
 
It’s no coincidence that UT basketball has a silent police blotter and half the team is on the Dean’s list every year. Those guys are freakish in their citizenship. I’m hokey enough to like that, but I understand most people could give a crap. I don’t mean that in a holier-than-thou way – you see college basketball for the business that it is. I just like pulling for non-assholes.
 
The problem is that he paired these demands with offense that didn’t allow players to exercise their strengths. Then we lost Dogus, our ability to pressure defensively, and our ability to push the ball. Without a full court, our offense was revealed for the travesty it was. And Barnes has no problem with cutting off his nose to prove a point. The guy is a goddamn stubborn mule.
 
Last year, JCB and Hamilton were divisive, player leadership was non-existent, the team fell into cliques, and we lost our way. That doesn’t exonerate Barnes for neglecting offense and running some sets that make Jesus weep, but he’s he’s not going to let players dictate to him how basketball will be played at Texas.
 
Barnes’ way isn’t ideal, but I prefer it to a glorified And1 exhibition.
 
At the end of the day, a basketball coach has to choose an identity and be true to it. When Barnes gets – or develops – his kind of guys, we play pretty good basketball.

I think there’s a lot of positives to take away from the first two game. Offense is showing much improved flow and movement. We’re getting a lot of looks in the paint due to two major things. First is cuts off the ball and secondly is actually having a competent big (TT) who can catch, make good decisions and make a decent move.
Defensive effort looks more cohesive and better intensity.
We’re just beginning to get a taste of CoJo. When Dogus went out early with 2 fouls CJ had no problem taking the reins. Cool-headed and outstanding in pushing the ball. Bottom line is that we either could have sucked the first two games and looked out of sorts or shown plenty of promise. Definitely saw the latter.

When we are able to push the ball, Doge is as good an option at the point as anyone on the team, especially if he is willing to take it all the way in and finish, like last night. For that to happen, we have to play very good defense and get defensive boards. I really enjoyed watching this team run last night. It’s what they do best and they clearly love to do it and Barnes has turned them loose. When we can do it we have a shot to beat anyone in the BIg 12 on any given night.

Obviously, grabbing made shots from the net inhibits that style, so if our D isn’t active and effective or if we start giving up a lot of offensive boards, we are back to 4 on 5 on offense with Doge in there. Defense and rebounding will be the keys to our success. Those things are aways key, but with this team moreso than most. I expect TT and Johnson to get their share. Hill I’m not so sure about. Hamilton needs to get 6-7 per game when the going gets rougher. While TT is somewhat undersized, he is so sound fundamentally that he is going to get his. Johnson, IMO, has always been underrated as a rebounder. Hill and Hamilton are the X factors to what I believe is this teams potential Achilles Heel—-second chance points.

I don’t remember us ever having a Freshman post player arriving on campus with TT’s overall skills, both physical and BB IQ wise. It’s a beautiful new thing to watch. I was also relieved to see (I hope) that his horrible free throw shooting against Navy was not repeated last night. If we can continue to get him the ball on the blocks against the better defenses, and he can convert either on the floor and/or at the line when he’s fouled, we will see something we haven’t seen in a very long time in UT basketball at his position. I hope he sticks around long enough to give us one year with Joseph and Kubongo (sp?).

Nice write-up. I went to the game last night. A few quick thoughts, but it’s difficult to really make any sound judgments 2 games in vs. Navy and La Tech. Still, the feel of the team is different this year. Perhaps it’s the weight of the expectations.

1. This may be GJ’s team from a senior leadership standpoint but JH will dictate how good we become. He’s simply the best offensive basketball player we have at this time and he looks much more engaged, patient, and just comfortable. Cautiously optimistic.

2. If Jordan’s jumper isn’t falling vs. good teams, our offense may bog down if we can’t get going in transition. JCB’s jumper is inconsistent (consistently bad last year), Corey Joseph’s does haven’t range beyond 15, Jai is too small, and we all know about Dog. Losing S. Williams is going to hurt.

3. TT is extremely active, awkward, and talented. He’s going to have to play big minutes and if he gets in freshman foul trouble, we’ll be in major trouble vs good teams.

4. Someone mentioned about Corey’s jumper having too much arc. That’s a spot on assessment. It’s a freakin’ moonball. His release point is too low as well. He’ll need to really work on his form over the next year. He’ll have his moments, but it’s doubtful that he’s a perimeter threat for us. He does a lot of other things well and seems to exhibit great effort. While AB always seemed brooding or blank, Corey is much different.

Good stuff, I’ll enjoy watching this team and the offense does look much better with the high post cut through motion offense. You could tell they were really trying to make it work last night. The crowd was loud and intense last night. Not really. If we could make the tourney and win a game, then it’s a nice season…

I know Barnes took a lot of criticism but it was pretty dang obvious that Hamilton was becoming a better player when he finally started coming around to Barnes last season and 2 games into this season it’s sure as hell hard to argue with what Hamilton continues to become under Barnes. As for Brown, he can find himself on the same path if he would just keep his head on straight.

Thanks Scip. Your 11/11 12:20 post provides good insight on Barnes and it makes me glad we have him at UT.

I had put some of the blame of the 2009-2010 implosion on Rick, based on what I had read here and elsewhere. Maybe some still does accrue to him, but now I have a more complete picture.