Texas vs. Baylor Post Mortem

Curious if Baylor’s closing the gap in the second half exposed some kind of weakness that can be exploited by other teams, or was just an anomaly with Dunn en fuego and our shots not falling during that stretch?

Is it just me or did there seem to be a rift between Barnes and Thompson after that technical? Not that it was anything serious, just kinda caught my eye and wanted to hear opinions.

to me…dunn was just on fire in the second half. there were several instances of him making very difficult shots. not much you can do about that.

the bigger concern for me was not running the sets that have worked so well for us on the offensive end. no “weasly” easy buckets like we’ve been getting in spades over the past few games.

I think Baylor is a pretty solid team. moreover, they’ve got the formula to give us fits ~ playmaker guard (at least one of them) & athleticism/length in the frontcourt.

also…not an expert opinion here, but I guess I don’t totally understand all the Perry Jones hype. he’s supposed to be a guard in a PF body, but I just see a really skinny post player. his shooting %‘s certainly don’t indicate a SG in a PF body. small sample size, I know…just wasn’t what I was expecting from the potential #1 overall pick.

No rift, Triston, just Barnes letting him know that hanging on the rim with one hand and grabbing his huevos with the other isn’t cool, especially when it results in two freebies by the other side.

Drew made a great move that caught us off guard with man, and his team’s athleticism helped make it work, but as Trips stated, we could have still run them out of the gym if we’d been patient on offense. We let their size and qucikness force us out of our game and revert to one-on one. There’s a reason Drew went to zone late in 2008-2009 and it’s still there. You have to make Baylor play hard and with discipline because they don’t do that well in M2M and we didn’t make them do it. We will in Waco. The bigger news is we killed their zone by cutting, passing and getting into the paint, not by raining 3’s on it. That bodes well for the rest of the season and the postseason—-it has been a legit question mark.

Trips, I agree Rick can shorten his bench in the postseason, but I’m still a litttle worried that when our bench has been in of late (last 3 or 4 games), they haven’t done much of anything, and you know I don’t include Brown who is a semi-starter. If either JH or TT or both get in foul trouble, Matt and Alexi, especially the latter, are going to need to pick up their game. Also, Brown is still in a bit of a funk, IMO, and needs a really good game to snap out of it.

We seem to hit our FT’s when it matters and we got 37 to their 8. At the end of the day, we whippped their ass and I love this team.

Great thoughts.

I was several beers in during the game, so I’ll take your word for it that GJ played an overall better game than I gave him credit for – I should have graded more on the curve given Baylor’s length and hops up front.

Does Barnes typically/ever call for certain sets or plays from the bench? It seems like that would be a pretty simple fix whenever we get into a stretch like we did in the second half but not sure if that’s ever Barnes’ M.O. or not.

I’m guessing Wangmene got more minutes than Hill for quickness reasons – against a stout post player I think Hill does a better job overall. I can’t imagine either of them being trimmed out of the postseason rotation depending on the opponent – combined they give me a very warm and fuzzy feeling that we’ll seldom if ever see TT forced into foul trouble. TT has also gotten SO much better over the last month at avoiding picking up cheapies by over-hedging and the like. Between that factor, his improving face-up game and ever-increasing FT arc, I think he’s as likely to be the difference maker in a big tournament game as any player in the country.

I’m with Frank that the most impressive thing we saw was our ability to carve up Baylor’s zone defense in the first half without launching 3s (only 5 attempted in each half). All of the other issues mentioned seemed to be between the ears and not due to the opposition. Granted Baylor’s length and athelticism limited some of what we were trying to do on offense, but as Trips pointed out there were other ways to attack them that we didn’t think to use. Barnes has shown a great ability this year to get his players to learn from one game to the next, and I firmly believe these lapses will be cleared up by the next time we see Baylor.

“The one quibble I had with GJ’s game was his failure to close down LaceDarius Dunn’s dribble on a double team down the stretch that allowed the Baylor guard to get to the rim for a 3 point play.”

I thought the same thing when I saw it in person. I couldn’t believe how that midget was basically able to drive down and get a layup in the middle of the paint. Yeah, Lacesmackaho abused Joseph but I think that was just more experience taking over to go along with being en fuego.

Question, who was that twerp assistant coach from baylor who got T’d up? He wouldn’t shut his mouth, shocker. Takes right after his prick coach. Also, the post game handshake seemed very friendly compared to the past….have they made up just in time for valentines day?

As I posted in the game thread. I like the adversity. This was a game that Rick can come away with plenty of “teachable moments”. We played great vs. the zone, but in the tourney, teams may switch up zone to man and back again as they scout more rigorously. Baylor’s a freaky long and athletic team too. We made a lot of mistakes as Trips points out, but we need to keep getting better and this is a game that can drive home this point to a young team that risks reading their press clippings too much. I think it’s a win-win as long as we respond.

Here’s an interesting article by Seth Davis. I know we’re a bit leery of TT and CJ’s prospects of going pro (I’m assuming everyone knows that JH will go). Scouting on our guys:

Jordan Hamilton, 6-7 sophomore forward, Texas
He has a quick, compact release. He’s not the greatest athlete in the world, but he has done a good job getting to the boards this year. I was not a fan last year, but he has evolved as a player and as a teammate. Now instead of shooting it every time, he shoots every three out of four. He couldn’t guard you last year, but at least he’s in the same area code now. He’s like Jeff Malone the way he takes off to shoot and he’s not even facing the basket.

Cory Joseph, 6-3 freshman guard, Texas
He can get his mid-range shot whenever he wants. He’s so comfortable being part of a team. He carries a quiet confidence. He needs to come back to school because with Dogus Balbay back there he’s not really playing point guard and he’s too small to be a two in our league.

Tristan Thompson, 6-8 freshman forward, Texas
Jeez, he plays his ass off. Just competes, runs the floor hard every play, gets early post position. Offensively his skill is still developing. He’s physical, too. He and the Morris twins really battled. He took it right to them physically. You’re not going to throw him the ball in the post and have him go to work like Zach Randolph, but he’ll do a lot of blue-collar stuff. I don’t know if he’s going to leave, but someone would take him in the first round because of his upside.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/seth_davis/02/14/nba.scouting.finch/1.html

A Jeff Malone comparison!!! That guy could shoot. Jordan has way more range though. I’m assuming this scout doesn’t realize that Kabongo is coming in to run the point next year, but like AB, it’s clear that CJ’s future is at PG. He should look at Mike Bibby as someone who has succeeded without superior quickness…..

Good write-up. I too am concerned by our now consistent lack of intensity in the second half of games. It’s been about 4 in a row now.

But it was still a good wine against a motivated team sick with NBA talent. Also, if Dunn doesn’t get insanely hot, we win with double digits, despite the woes from the stripe.

TT’s big rebound at the end was incredible, about the most breathtaking “statement rebound” I’ve ever seen.

I didn’t see the game so this is total speculation, but if Baylor was switching in and out of zone to M2M. Is it possible that our inability to run the offense was actually a lack of recognition from our young guards what defense we were facing?

roach,no, they shelved the zone and went man. When Doge played they did the one man zone thing, but they never went back to their 2-3 stuff.

Trips,
I think your grade for Gary Johnson is too high. Maybe something like a B? I liked how Gary stayed with his bread’n’butter mid-range jumper on offense and didn’t try to back down a bigger Baylor frontcourt. In that sense, he created a mismatch by drawing his man away form the hoop. That’s good senior understanding of game dynamics and matchups (which, admittedly, Gary doesn’t always exhibit).

I don’t think he did a good job on the defensive boards in the second half, though. When you’re playing against guys who’re 2-3 inches taller, you can’t turn and go to the rim for a defensive rebound. You’ve got to find your man and put a body on him. That’s hoops fundamentals and something that Gary has to do in order to succeed. He’s doesn’t have the luxury of making plays due to superior athleticism. His poor show and steal swipe attempt on Dunn’s drive was also bad fundamentally.

No rift, Triston, just Barnes letting him know that hanging on the rim with one hand and grabbing his huevos with the other isn’t cool, especially when it results in two freebies by the other side.

That makes sense, it just looked to me like Thompson kind of walked off while Barnes was mid-sentence. Like Thompson wasn’t trying to hear it.

I’m guessing Wangmene got more minutes than Hill for quickness reasons – against a stout post player I think Hill does a better job overall.

Maybe, but they don’t come much quicker than the Morris twins. (Watch them tonight on a free-throw lineup.)

When Dunn was killing Joseph, why didn’t Barnes put Balbay on him?

Dunn was killing Joseph on the low blocks. That’s how he got going in the 2nd half. I don’t think Balbay has the size to bother Dunn on those looks. Once Dunn got in rhythm, he started to take things outside with drives and 3s. At that point, Balbay may have been a better option, but by that time, with a streaky guy like Dunn, I’m not sure if it would have made a difference.

Balbay may not have the height, but you’d think he’d have the strength to keep Dunn from getting set up so close to the rim. I may be way off base, it just seemed odd that when one of their guards is killing you, you wouldn’t put your best defender on him.

Good call, payne. Also, Doge hadn’t had to expend as much energy on Walton as CoJo had on Dunn and sometimes a fresh guy, especially when it’s Balbay, isn’t a bad change-up. CoJo also no doubt got a little rest which came in handy last when we needed him to make a couple of clutch freebies.

I’ve got a buddy that gets tossed some good seats from time to time. The Baylor game was one of them. Wish I could watch every game like that. My obs:

A) some of those Baylor players are really skinny. I felt like yelling out, “You all should wear No. 2 jerseys cuz you look like a bunch pencils.” (didn’t have the J’balls to do it, though)
B) can’t believe how high Tristan can jump, and arch his body. Kid is like Gumby with kangaroo feet. Here’s the video to prove it. Freeze frame at his highest point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fcxr773Wi6Q

I had great seats too. Good game to watch.

Couple questions…

When Baylor (and Dunn) got all those easy buckets right at the rim in the 2nd half, why didn’t we go to a zone to make sure we had a big man there?

Dogus appeared to suffer some kind of neck injury and J’Covan definitely banged up a knee. Any word on the severity of these? They each played sparingly following the injuries, but we kept subbing J’Covan out when we went on D. Was that purely strategic or was it to spare him some pain?

texasengr, we really don’t zone so that would be tough on the fly. Baylors bigs are pretty much face up guys so when Baylor lifted them from the bucket to iso Dunn inside we had to respect it. Would we did at the end of the game is have Dogus leave Walton and quick double to Dunn to get the ball out of his hands. This was very effective in the last two minutes. I would have liked to see us double off of Acy when Dunn posted and I suspect you’ll something like that in Waco. We’ll certainly be ready for the Dunn post up game when in the next match, I can promise you that.

Personally, really pleased with what transpired in the Baylor game. I cannot blame the Horns for going a little on cruise control given their Big 12-2 history. This was a great lesson for the Big Dance – and I am sure that Rick will use the game to full advantage. This win will make us stronger than a 30 point blowout with 2 nice halves.

Cory Joseph reminds me of a young Doc Rivers. Not the quickest but smart, with a scorer mindset if need be.

I too had great seats. First time back at The Drum since KD was here. Dunn hit about 3 shots that were incredible with CJ playing perfect defense on him. Just a tip of the cap to Dunn. If he doesn’t make those shots, then they never get within 10 pts.

It could be just me, but I sensed a real aggressive change in Baylor after Tristan did his one-handed hang from the rim. After that, the game became a lot more competitive. I still think Barnes should have yanked him for 5 minutes – disrespecting another team that way, and way too early in the second half, will get you in trouble every time. Not looking forward to the Baylor game in their house.

Nah, it’s just you.