Texas vs. Texas A&M Post Mortem

I remember not too long ago when you were writing in the season previews that Texas needed to have a good season to restore a bit of the national image that last season’s disaster destroyed. Can we check that one off the list?

Diego, I’d say so. Only game I’m worried about down the stretch is the two Baylor games. They present unique challenges to us.

"I told Rick if they keep improving and stay healthy they can win a national championship. I haven’t said that about many teams. I said that about Kansas the year they won it. I’ve been doing this 24 years and I haven’t seen many teams as good as Texas.
-Mark Turgeon

Even some of the staunchest gig ‘ems I know sent me texts tonight saying, "god damn. y’all are really good." Have to say some of the gig ’ems were hitting their praises more spot on than their shots tonight. Hook ’em.

at Brasky worries me more than our other road tests.

Damn that was fun to watch!

I haven’t seen Baylor play yet… Based on earlier rankings I assumed they’d be one of the tougher games, but what is the unique challenge? What’s the main weakness for the Horns at this point?

We’ll be favored by about 6 in Lincoln and 8 in Waco in our two toughest games of the remaining regular season.

Re Hamilton: damn that alley oop from j’covan was beautiful!

Oh and there’s always KState

We’ll still probably drop a game but I’m pretty sure we’ll beat 13-3 (our best mark in conference).

Great writeup Trips,

The coaching job Rick has done this year is phenomenal. I was hoping we would go 3-2 through this 5 game gauntlet and thought 2-3 was a possibility. 5-0 never crossed my mind.

Nebraska doesn’t worry me to much. I know it’s on the road, but I just don’t think they have enough offense to beat us. Baylor on the other hand worries me. They actually have some players but have just really underachieved.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see us start 15-0 in conference play and drop the final game in Waco.

“What’s the main weakness for the Horns at this point?”

Ankles.

Only games I’m worried about right now are @Baylor and @Nebraska. Nebraska is having a much improved year over last year, especially at home.

spot on.

zone + hubris = longhorn kryptonite.
any wary variables to that equation you can see or add Trips?

If I were to predict what Trips’ answer might be to the question of “unique challenges” that Baylor poses, I’d guess that it’s their size/athleticism inside leading to some matchup problems for us. Specifically, the potential for some mismatch at PF. But that’s just a guess. Baylor would need an

Personally, I’m not worried about Baylor because I’m not impressed with their guard play. AJ Walton has been inconsistent and LaceDarius Dunn is just a gunner (I don’t mean that positively, either). Dunn might get hot and carry you to victory in one game, but will shoot you out of 3 others. He makes last year’s Jordan Hamilton look like…well, this year’s Jordan Hamilton when it comes to shot selection. They really miss Tweety Carter. And we saw an example tonight of what our defense can do to teams with poor guard play.

Plus, Baylor’s frontcourt is one of those that looks good getting off the bus, but falls short of that in production. Quincy Acy is good a dunking and…well, he can dunk. Anthony Jones is pedestrian and, frankly, justifiably a recruiting “pass” from UT. I like Perry Jones, but the next time he plays like a #1 overall pick will be the first time. Not impressed with J’Mison Morgan, either. All of that adds up to a mediocre, middle of the pack Big 12 team…which is confirmed by their record. Their preseason ranking

I think we lose one game the rest of the way, at most. Maybe it’ll be @Nebraska, but I think we win that. Losing @Baylor might be possible, but not more than one. What a difference a year can make…wow. Thanks for making us proud so far, guys!

hmmm, seems like some portions of my post have gone missing…

Baylor was overrated in the preseason because people thought they’d have essentially the same team as last year, plus Perry Jones. Not true. I think Baylor misses Tweety Carter as much as KSU misses Clemente.

people are overlooking KState, and rightfully so. Baylor’s length can get in your face if they want, but someone said up here, their shooting nights are manic. and yes Tweety was the glue.

EYE havent said it because i have before, about all i ever needed out of this program was some bona fide motion offense. ive said it all along because of the afoletes “Barnesy” brings in. and what i have NOT said at all, and Trips’ Right about this too: Rick Barnes has gotta be the most serious COY candidate out there. Next to who, Steve Lavin?

Barnesy, well, I cant say enough about the job he did in the offseason, and a still greater job during this down right ridiculous season.

this is the best team in the country right now folks.

Thought I should pass this along….my youngest brother was at the game and sent me this text:

“Tristan Thompsons mom is two rows behind us…Hilarious, listen for the lady screaming defense. Also she said eh? like two or three times.”

If this is a contract year for Jordan I think that performance on Middleton just made him some serious money.

@ BEHorn: nailed it, lol.

boner

“It was tam basketball that’s worthy of comparison to Indiana circa 1986 in deference to the game’s color commentator.”….

1987

@Tex – ‘86-’87. That was a ballin’ Hoosier team Knight had for sure.

"What’s the main weakness for the Horns at this point?"

I’ll go with the 6 inches of air between J’Babies ears.

I love this Texas team. However, you have to make free throws in the tourney. This little achilles heal could be a problem when teams start fouling TT every time he receives the ball.

The maturity between this year and last is not a complete surprise because this is what happens when a good coach gets a hold of you. He demands excellence. This team is also much more athletic than last year’s team. Tristan Thompson’s arrival has been extremely important. Does anyone miss Damion James and Sexy Dexy?

Yes, Rick Barnes looked deep within himself and changed his offensive schemes but he has always demanded defensive excellence and JH didn’t provide the effort last year. His improvement is directly correlated to maturity and coaching.

This board was filled with the Fire Rick Barnes crew last year. Where are those guys?

A Balbay/CoJo/Hamilton/TT/WangHill lineup is probably the best defensive lineup in the country and top 5 in rebounding, and now still lets you score with penetration, motion cuts to Hamilton, outside with Hamilton and CoJo, 15 and in with TT’s all-around dominance, in transition runouts after blocks and steals and on putbacks with tremendous rebounding from your 3-5. Sub in JCB for CoJo and add a few more layups and oops from some sick finds, and don’t forget some late layups off simple screens after our 8-man rotation has run your team into the ground thanks to the wizardry of Todd Wright.

I think the Fire Rick Barnes crew is thrilled that he went above and beyond to fix the obvious and tremendous deficiencies that angered them last year.

One of the finer pleasures for a Texas fan in any sport is going to BCS and shutting up the usual loud, obnoxious crowd with a straight-up, don’t make a shit butt kicking.

Also a lot of fun to hear the compliments to the team and Coach Barnes from the Ayatollah himself, Bob Knight.

I don’t think I’ve heard Knight be as consistently complimentary of a team as he was of the Horns last night.

Great write up, Trips. Thanks.

But one thing. Are you certain that it’s OK to criticize J’covan in that fashion, even though it’s 100% correct? There are a couple of wise guys on OB that would blow a gasket if you made that comment there. He’s off limits cuz they say so

He’s come a long way. Has some mileage to go.

FYI – Hamilton did the “call me” move to the aggy student section because TexAgs posted his cell #. It was more out of revenge than being cocky

This team is destroying the Big 12. The scary thing is that we keep getting better. We have two fish and two sophs who are improving hand over fist. We are taking everyone on the schedule seriously.

And our conditioning? My my. Wright has these guys doing things they should not be able to do. If we stay healthy there are two or three teams left on the regular schedule with any chance to beat us. This defense won’t take a night off.

Beowulf, I might be considered one of the gasket blowers when it comes to criticizing JCB. Mainly because most of the people doing it don’t have a full perspective on JCB’s history. Also, what exactly has he done to be singled out so much? Sure, he’s petulant, but as far as I can tell nothing he’s done has harmed the team and we’ve been hearing that the team considers him one of them. Most of the criticizing is based on what happened with him about 3 years ago in HS, and what people think will happen to him, not what has happened this season.

Having said that, it’s obvious he still has a lot more maturing to do. Hopefully it occurs this season because next year he should be one of the team leaders when Balbay, Johnson, Hamilton and Hill leave.

Not a basketball fan. Don’t know anything about the finer points of the game. But after watching UT/A&M last night (1st basketball game I’ve watched this year), I would have to think UT has a pretty darn good team. Maybe a No.1 seed in the tourney. Beating your rival on their home court by 20 points when your rival is a top 15 team should say something to the poll voters, the seed pickers and to ignorant basketball people like myself. I know it is harder to win on the road in basketball than in any sport, and I know beating someone 20 is a butt kicking in basketball when two good teams are playing.

Just a week ago I was reading a bunch of whining Jay Hawk fans making excuses, some were legitimate, as to why their great team lost to Texas. To a person they all thought the jay hawks were still the much better team and in subtle ways put down the Texas team that had just beat them 11 points on their home court after trailing by 15 points deep into the first half. For you basketball experts, is Texas the equal of Kansas? Is this Texas team capable of winning the NCAA tourney?

Trips, great writeup about a great performance. This team is getting downright ridiculous in its execution and ability to absolutely throttle people defensively. This could end up being one of the all-time defensive teams if they keep at it the way they have been. Watching the defensive effort, especially Hamilton’s emasculation of Middleton, was downright inspiring. The anticipated tired legs were never an issue as this team came out and jumped all over aggy like they’d just had a week off.

JCB’s antics are really tired; the punk needs to grow up and stop being the one guy on this team that’s holding them back. Yeah, he can bring it on any given night — when he feels like it, and as long as nobody calls him out on his frequent childsh and selfish attitude. The frustrating thing is, the kid has such incredible upside; it’s not like he’s some playground hotdog, although he sure plays like it often enough. If J’Whiner thinks he has it tough under Barnes, he better get on his knees every night and thank his maker he didn’t play for BKnight. Grow up, kid. The world doesn’t owe you shit.

I don’t think even the most wildly optimistic among us would’ve predicted 5-0 in this recent stretch, but it’s now become obvious this team has a legit chance to be truly special. I’m not gonna jinx it be saying I think we’ll be cutting down the nets at Reliant, but I will say it’s no longer just some dreamwagon fantasy.

One more point on JCB. If he’s cagey like a fox and matures he should keep the current on-court persona. It could work to his advantage against other players so long as he’s stroking the refs and showing them respect.

Also, great write up Trips. The addition of an athletic big man combined with the maturity of Brown and Hamilton has made all the difference. That and Rick Barnes reflection in the off season.

This team is starting to remind me of the 08 football team.

Nobis,

With all due respect, that crowd didn’t fully appreciate what Barnes had done in his time on the forty and also didn’t realize that they had a pretty damn good coach who won everywhere he had been. Also, that crew had a tough time coming to grips that last year’s team just wasn’t that good for a variety of reasons. Namely, that you don’t win in a big way with freshmen backcourt play and we lacked talent up front. Kudos to Barnes for getting what he could out of Pittman, but the guy just wasn’t that athletic. Do you miss Damion James? I don’t.

Okay, that’s the point I’m talking about with JCB criticisms. How exactly is he holding us back?

If you want to say “he’s got the POTENTIAL to screw things up,” fine I guess. I mean he did screw things up on his HS team 3 years ago, but how much has he screwed up since?

If there’s one player we want on the FT line at the end of the game it’s JCB. He’s the biggest counterbalance to our biggest weakness yet people want to condemn him for what he MIGHT do.

Did I imagine it, or did it look like Balbay was going to jump over the goal when he got that transition bucket? I didn’t think he could jump like that. My first thought when he started to jump was “Oh shit! He jumped to early and is going to miss.” My next thought a split second later was “Oh shit! He’s going to hit the glass.”

Any team that’s making a serious push for a national championship doesn’t need any distractions, nor even the threat of distractions. 100% buy-in is what’s needed, and anyone who isn’t all-in is hurting the team. Barnes doesn’t need to have to worry about which JCB he’s going to get on any given night and how much effort the kid is going to give in any given game. The kid’s a prima donna and he has a strong aversion to being coached. Hamilton showed the same tendencies last season and it played a part in wrecking our season, but he’s made giant leaps in his maturity level, and hmm, lookit that, he’s now one of the top players in the nation.

You’ve never seen promising teams destroyed from within thanks to one bad seed creating factions or making teammates choose sides? I don’t think it’s going to happen in this case b/c all the other players are all-in with Barnes, but it shouldn’t be a situation where every single guy on the team is rowing together except for one who rows when he feels like it.

@ Deandre Daniels, Hi!

Baylor is turning the ball over on 26% of their possessions. No telling how good they’ll be if they can get that down to ~10 TOs/game.

Great PM as always, Trips. 16-0 is a realistic possibility, but not without its landmines. On the road at Nebraska (different tempo/style) and Colorado (altitude + hot hand by Alec Burks) are traps, but I think Baylor will be the most interesting. There’s always the chance that K-State screws its head on as well, but I’m less inclined to hold my breath on that one.

On Baylor, they have the length inside to give us fits, and unlike KU, I don’t think we’ll draw the benefit of early foul trouble on two bigs, particularly at Waco. Perry Jones vs. Tristan Thompson will be instructive, one way or the other. LaceDarius Dunn, while a pure hot hand, is better than any guard KU has, and probably better than any guard we have. That’s been a rarity for us—Kemba, Wanamaker, McCamey—the list is pretty thin where their lead guard is better than ours. Quincy Acy is also one of the few wings that can provide the requisite length on the outside to check Hamilton.

It’s not a Big East gauntlet or anything, but there are potential losses. I wonder if Rick would almost prefer heading into the Big 12 tourney at 15-1 rather than 16-0.

Funny note on Nebraska. On kenpom, the defensive fingerprint is “inconclusive.”

That was incredibly impressive. This team knows no bounds. How we could come out with that kind of energy and effectively sap the will from the Ags on their home court in the first half was amazing. I am at a loss to explain how much I think of that performance.

WangHill? Awesome performance, I was thinking it was Walton and Akeem. O.k. maybe not, but still impressive. Our starting five? What can you say? Freaks. All of them.

Had to laugh with about 8 mins. left and Hamilton had clearly finally hit the wall. He was exhausted and kept looking to the bench to finally come out. Barnes just looked at him as if to say, “play through it, we’ll need you for 40 mins. in the tourney” He then threw down the alley oop in the midst of his exhaustion. Kind of summed up the will of this team. JH has cemented a spot as a 1st team All-American by putting in the work he needed. Credit Barnes and Hamilton for that.

I guess I can see now why Izzo said that Texas was the best team in the country. At the time I thought he was just being nice to Rick, but Izzo knows a thing or two. Right now, this is the best team in the country.

After this stretch of games, I was most impressed with how fresh Texas played last night. I commented in the game preview thread about this team not showing any noticeable signs of mental fatigue during this brutal stretch. They don’t get too high or appear to have to pressure themselves to sustain a run when they’re rolling, and they haven’t come unglued with fear or anger when playing from behind.

If you subscribe to the combined effect of mind/body interaction, this steady display in their mental game probably contributed a lot to them physically moving so well last night en route to mowing through the final test of this 5 game gauntlet. These guys are running on diesel – cruising up a mountain at a solid RPM with torque to burn.

Matt Hill is doing for Texas what Zoubek did for Duke last year. It’s a coming out party for him, and great to see. Hopefully Clint can have a similar effect next year.

That’s a great comparison A-Tex.

oh shit i was one of the Fire Rick Barnes crew, for damned certain!

he refused to adapt, refused to accept the fact that his compiling of 4 and 5 star afoletes doesnt generate an offensive scheme or identity. talk about hubris burning you.

well, this Icarus, when his wings melted, went to Utah, and got a new wax-free pair that is allowing him to soar as high as those afoletes AND the scheme allows.

Now a solid member of the Never HIRE Rick Barnes again crew. for we shall keep he and his wings until retirement.

By the way, thanks to all who contributed to this thread. It’s good to see intelligent hoops talk on a Longhorn message board.

Some of you guys nailed who I think is the most dangerous team—Baylor. They’re long enough to negate our advantage in the front court and their backcourt is good enough to manufacture bucket against our defense. The X factor is how we attack their zone. Historically we’ve run a poor zone offense, but this team is tailor made to defeat a zone. Face up 4 and 5 coupled with 3 shooters in Brown, Joseph, and Hamilton.

Just an FYI, I’m going to do an elite 8 round robin article today that talks about strengths and weaknesses of each team as well as how these teams match up with the other squads, etc. and so forth. So be on the lookout.

Don’t see a grade for Gary Johnson, Trips?

And our conditioning? My my. Wright has these guys doing things they should not be able to do.

I have to say that I’ve had the exact same thought in almost the exact same formulation over the past few games. If I didn’t have complete faith in us running a clean program, I would have my suspicions that there was some funny business going on.

Todd Wright is a fucking miracle-worker.

Can you say MUDHOLE? What a joy this season has been. I think the UCONN game really pissed these guys off. They know they should have won that game, by extension they know they can beat anybody in the country, and they have been taking it out on their conference mates. The smallest margin of victory since UCONN has been the 11 point victory at KU, and has been 20 or more 4 times.

Gary Johnson added.

Coupled with the main jump-shooting threats, I would hope that Johnson’s 15-foot face up jumper can help a bit in the zone seams (the top of the zone is going to have to respect him if he steps in from free throw line extended, which should at least open up some clear looks off ball rotation).

Not to mention the weakside effort rebounding of Johnson, Thompson and Wangmene if the zone fails to get a body to box out.

My, oh my. This is beginning to get really, really fun.

I understand the J’Hate, but as I’ve said before, he’s the key to a Final Four run. Free throw shooting, dynamic plays that sap the opponents’ will, an easy press-breaker, and an ability to hairlip the world when the deck is stacked against the Horns…and free throw shooting.

That said, who do you want taking a last second shot to win a game? I’m going with either Hamilton or Brown…but not sure which…hell, CJ is a great option, too.

This team just thumped 4 top 20 teams in the last couple weeks by squeezing the life out of them defensively.

Defense and great guard play can take a long way in the tournament. And if your bell cow player is showing the basketball IQ we see from Hamilton, you are in business.

We knew he was a sweet shooter and had a good handle, but now he is really putting it all together and you know he can get 30 just about anytime.

I wish the tourney was starting this weekend because this team is fucking ready.

I just realized how odd it is that during Mack and Rick’s offensive soul searching periods they landed on Idaho and Utah, respectively. Not exactly the sports capitals of the world. Hell our two coaching staffs probably accounted for a good third of their tourism industries last year.

Come to the Mountain West! Come to the home of innovative schemery designed by and for blonde-headed farm folk! Unleash the trickery of the quiet down to earth people whose ancestors gave up before reaching California! We guarantee to make your team’s offense spicier than ketchup or your money back!

This offer only valid to coaching staffs from exotic ethnic locales, such as Kentucky. Free wife available with purchase. Void where prohibited.

“I wish the tourney was starting this weekend because this team is fucking ready.”

Yeah, this is the only thing that is mildly unsettling, I really wish we could fast forward to early March and be playing like this. I really can’t see how they can keep this up for another 45 days, here’s to hoping we keep improving.

Balbay just gets up in your ass on D and Hill goes up about as perfect as you can for rebounds and blocks, without overextending and taking dumb fouls….solid coaching.

Wow. I absolutely love this team. Kudos to coach Barnes too. Coach of the year…

d-bo, that scratched an itch.

Nice PM, Trips. I think GJ took himself out of the fun by getting into foul trouble early in each half, but I can’t recall exactly when Rick pulled him.

What’s equally intoxicating about this team is its slope of improvement; they keep getting better.

Texoz, if you can’t understand how JCB’s behavior is harming the team, you’ve never played sports beyond YMCA youth league. Selfish behavior — pouting, arrogance, erratic decision-making — are distractions to the team. The silver lining is that his behavior creates opportunities for others to develop leadership skills; GJ showed real senior leadership during the timeout after Rick pulled JCB for the behind-the-back slip pass turnover. For that alone, Trips — given last year’s implosion — GJ gets an A minus for last night.

Texas up to #2 in KenPom’s ratings, jumping Kansas.

Texastough, I was lamenting to myself yesterday afternoon that I wished someone on BC would give us a MUDHOLE post before the game…I am always looking for the dark lining of silver clouds and I sometimes need someone to reiterate why we are going to mudhole someone.

To the Barkers…can y’all give us MUDHOLE posts prior to our games at Neb, Colo, and Baylor? I am not for mudholing posts on teams we should mudhole, but feel free to do one for the game at OU as well…I am already worried that we might drop that one somehow.

Abe, behavior like JCB’s CAN be a distraction, but if the inside source (shaunsters) over at OB is to be believed, the team’s perception of JCB is positive, not negative.

That’s the point I’m pushing. As far as I know nobody within the system is down on Brown, just message board posters. Why don’t we wait until he actually does something before getting too serious about his pouting? I’ve seen just as many mature moments as immature ones this season. Brown could have easily escalated that incident at KU where he and the KU chump got called for a double technical. Watching the replay it was obvious the KU player was slapping at J’Covan after the whistle blew and teams were going to timeout. J’Covan exchanged a few choice words with the KU player, but didn’t escalate the situation, ie. go after the KU player. The way he’s been criticized an escalation would have been the expected behavior. That’s just one incident and I’ve seen others where there were opportunities for J’Covan to harm the team, but hasn’t.

Bottom line, the level of criticism isn’t matching the actions. A lot of it is based on JCB’s high school incidents. Can he act more mature? Certainly, and we should expect him to, but until he blows a gasket, which he might, let’s give the kid some credit for getting to where he is now.

Texoz, if you can’t understand how JCB’s behavior is harming the team, you’ve never played sports beyond YMCA youth league. Selfish behavior — pouting, arrogance, erratic decision-making — are distractions to the team. The silver lining is that his behavior creates opportunities for others to develop leadership skills; GJ showed real senior leadership during the timeout after Rick pulled JCB for the behind-the-back slip pass turnover.

I was lot more concerned about a necrotizing team effect early in the season. Right now, it looks like the team has absorbed what troubles JCB and got it well contained. And it doesn’t have the feel of a pot waiting to boil over. JCB’s response to getting pulled last night for the cute mishap was muted compared to what he is known for. Part of that might be because the team continues to take him in and isn’t walking on eggshells. At this point, the real loss stands to be an individual one for JCB himself if he can’t work through it. But the overall trend is in the right direction for JCB with his role being a net positive for the team .

This blog was way better when Doperbo wrote on it.

I don’t think I ever said Fire Rick Barnes last year, but I know I used another F word. All the credit in the world to Coach for fixing what was broken. Nice to hear Bob Knight saying that our coach was a future Hall of Famer. IMO, it is waranted based on the rebound from last year’s collapse alone. Simply Amazing.

I don’t think I’ve seen a Texas team as good as this one. The Final Four team was still prone to the 8 minute scoring drought that all Barnes teams, prior to this one, have been prone to. I was simply amazed at the kids ability to blow this one out early.

Regarding JCB, he has the ability to turn a game based on his emotion and athleticism. I think he knew he was coming out after that pass, and was probably mad at himself. He seems emotionally imature, and overreacts to adversity. But somehow, at the same time he is able to tune out all of the criticism and play lights out for stretches. This team is too tightly glued to let JCB pull them down. They will need his fearless play coming off the bench for the remainder of the season.

Scatter Shooting here after another great team win…

My highlight of the night:
the Garden Gnome tries to slide his feet and pick up a charge on an Aggie guard ~40 feet from their hoop. He gets called for the blocking foul and within 2 seconds, all four other Horns on the floor are picking him up. Love the chemistry of this team.

I think CJ and has a lot to do with it. He seems like he’s often the first guy bringing them together in the lane on a whistle and is often the first to speak. Last year’s team lacked a strong voice amonst experienced Seniors, so it’s awesome to see a young guy step up.

That said, those that say they don’t miss Damien James can STFU. He was a great Horn and he worked his ass off for Rick Barnes. Hopefully he was appreciated, even if the end of last year was a shmishmortion burning dumpster tire fire covered in Sex Panther. It wasn’t for lack of effort on DJ’s part. Sorry….Horn on Horn violence over.

Can’t put into words how much I love Doge’s effort.

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/longhorns/entries/2007/01/31/the_softer_side_coach_knight_pays_tribute_to_rick_barnes.html
The genuine friendship and mutual respect between Rick Barnes and Bobby Knight is pretty damn cool. I just hope no Texas player hears a replay of last night’s game as the swallowing of UT’s collective donsil on air can quickly go to their heads. Like a few before have mentioned, I really hope we don’t buy into the hype or that we’ve peaked too early.

Holly Rowe at the half: “Rick, how do you keep them from letting down in the second half?”
Rick: “Well…we tell them not to let down.”
Love it

If Rick Barnes isn’t the ‘10/’11 COY Rollie Massimino and I have agreed to throw flaming bags of poo on all the voter’s porches.

Really nice to see the burnt orange attendees put a loud ‘Texas Fight’ in the Aggies mush.

Hook em!

@Groundhog Day…This forum was filled with the “Fire Rick Barnes” crew last year because he needed to change his offensive philosophy…The problem last season wasn’t the players especially the players that left for the NBA…none of them were selfish players it was Rick Barnes….ball screening offensive which was horrendous …its forums like this that drive college sports it gives the fans a voice. ..I’m a Texas fan first not really a Rick Barnes fan…although you have to give the guy credit for swallowing his pride and changing the offensive scheme. We had a legitmate reason to complain we were a major college team; with absolutely no offense the players were playing street/ pick up ball.

Without forums and people complain….rick barnes may have never changed…..you should credit the people for complaining and wanting there team to improve….thats the point of these forums….The outcome of that is an 19-3 start and 7-0 Big 12 record

FireBarnes: You overestimate the importance of these forums, then.

I want ipowers to come on here (if he’s out of jail) and remind us how Hamilton already hit his ceiling but the kid from Duncanville has a higher one. Can I get that?

If you think this forum or any other had something to do with Rick Barnes changing, you are dumber than a fucking stump.

He changed because he is a big enough man to do so. He then looked to his mentor (Knight) for help in doing it and was smart enough to go and learn Slopan’s offense and successfully install it seamlessly.

FB,

Yes, he did some major soul searching and changed his offensive identity ,but it’s not like the guy couldn’t coach. He won at Providence and Clemson and took Texas to a final four and has brought players to Texas that we would never dream of landing. Yes, it takes time to build a program and he was/is doing that. Hell, Roy Williams never won a title at Kansas. Did that make him a bad coach? Do you know how long it took Boeheim to win a title at Syracuse? Do you know how long it took Dean Smith to win a title at UNC?

The fact of the matter is that teams always experience growing pains with freshmen in the backcourt. It’s easier to win with experience in the backcourt and young pups in the frontcourt rather than the other way around. We upgraded our talent in the frontcourt with Thompson while Brown and Hamilton have matured. Add to the mix the experience of Balbay and the unselfishness of Joseph and you have a great mixture of athleticism and experience.

Do you really think Rick Barnes cares what I think or you think or what Scipio thinks. No offense to both Scipio and Trips. They are great writers and know their stuff but hell will freeze over before a head coach at Texas changes his way because of internet posters.

Dude,

You’re right on DJ. I didn’t use the correct language. But I would much rather have a freshman TT than a senior DJ. That’s all. TT does so much on the floor that he doesn’t need to score points to make an impact.

My sister is an Ag, and I didn’t get a text last night. :-(

Hook ’em!

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