Texas vs. Colorado Post Mortem

by Barking Carnival Staff on Feb 27, 2011 11:26 AM CST in Texas Longhorns and Other Basketball

In sports, the term perfect storm is often misused because these "storms" can often be avoided. There’s nothing perfect about something you can prevent. So when I hear talking heads carp about a barrage of tough shots, missed free throws, poor defense, tired legs and a perfect storm of various other factors coming together that caused a Longhorn second half collapse against the Buffs, I can only shake my head. And a review of the game-tape a few times this morning only confirms my suspicions.

My answer to the meteorology metaphor is guard better, run your offense, but more importantly, play at a tempo that allows you to take advantage of your matchups—call the last item, the Nebraska element. If we do any of those three, especially the tempo piece, we win this ball game going away, just as we would have against Nebraska. The damnable misery of it all is that the responsibility of dictating tempo falls squarely on the shoulders of the coaching staff, especially if that staff has better guard play and better players overall. I’ll wait for you to peruse the respective rosters of Colorado and Nebraska to see what I’m talking about.

Welcome back.

Going into the Nebraska game, our staff knew a game played at a fifties or early sixties type pace would be the only way we’d get beat. I’m not talking about final score here where frantic fouling and 3-point shooting push the game towards the 70’s, I’m talking about a halfcourt grinder with Nebraska running 30 second possessions and pounding the interior. Had we pushed tempo by extending our defense forcing Almeida and Diaz to play away from the pivot area, we win. Instead, Texas accepted Nebraska’s invitation to play in their comfort zone and we paid the price.

Fast forward to Saturday and apply the same tempo criteria but this time spot the Horns a 19 point lead early in the second half. Considering CU’s personnel, which tempo best allows the Horns to take advantage of mismatches? If you guessed an up and down, one pass and jack type of game, then congratulations, you too have a competency for blowing huge leads against teams that have zero size, and a propensity to not guard anyone.

At halftime of the CU game, the message needed to be at least one paint catch before anyone looked to shoot and preferably two paint catches for every possession. A little Norman Dale, four passes before every shot would have worked nicely. Individually, there was an excellent growth opportunity for J’Covan Brown had we simply handed him the ball to start the second half and asked him to implement this fancy "run-your-stuff" strategy. Ownership and responsibility are just what a kid like Brown needs coming off the most complete half of basketball the young man has played in a Texas uniform. Sure J’Covan shot it well, but he guarded with passion and played an unselfish brand of basketball worthy of more minutes as a lead guard at a top 5 school. As it turns out, it was an opportunity missed because Brown was inserted just after the "perfect storm" commenced leaving the Port Arthur star in "get buckets" mode—the exact opposite of what is warranted tempo-wise against a team like Colorado.

To the grades…

Jordan Hamilton C. Want to shut down Alec Burks? Run him off flex cut screens fifty times while chasing Jordan Hamilton and see how well he shoots from the bench riddled with foul trouble. Think that would create some pin down post looks for Thompson—in turn creating some foul trouble for CU’s bigs, which in turn gives weakside glass looks for GJ, necessitating more size from CU’s bench, leading to a less affective 5-out offense for the Buffaloes. So why the hell is Hamilton shooting 13 shots from beyond the arc and about 27 "not in the flow of the offense" type of field goal attempts in the game overall? If just 10 of those looks were off of flex cuts and curls, Texas wins this game. Again, it’s maddening, but I’m not going to totally fault Hamilton because I don’t think anyone was deployed correctly.

J’Covan Brown A-. He played the best half of basketball I’ve seen him play and I’m not really talking about his shooting when I say that. He was in complete control and command of the game, looking like a lead guard should look on both ends of the floor. He penetrated and flattened out the defense for an exquisite dime to Johnson, had a great look ahead to Joseph after ripping Higgins, and then looked for offense appropriately. His shooting credibility alone accounted for open looks for a number of Longhorns during that explosive first half. Again, when he’s playing at that type of level, there’s not a team in America we can’t beat.

Unfortunately he was misused in the second half and inserted at a point in the game where we needed manufactured offense by running our stuff instead of instant offense on the bench. There was a growth opportunity there for the taking had we allowed Brown to start the second half, but the coaching dogma of starting the 2nd half with your starters cost us in a big way. Balbay is mature enough to handle the situation, so why not build on Brown’s early success and give your team the best chance to win? It may seem like a small thing, but I thought the away from the ball offensive foul called on Brown took the young man out of the game mentally because after the call Brown chatted with the official from one end of the floor to the other. After that, it was same old J’Covan. Oh well.

Gary Johnson B+. Oh what could have been for the senior post. Colorado’s personnel is a sweet spot for Johnson especially when you consider all of the attention Hamilton and Thompson should have been getting had we simply been patient while running offense. I like my chances when Levi Knudson is dropping down to battle Gary Johnson for a weakside board when Thompson or Hamilton are shooting five footers, so much so that I suspect the CU coaching staff would have hated it enough to get out of their four guard offense at some point in favor of more size. Hell, probably a point before CU came all the way back from 19 down. As it stands, Gary played great with 17 points on 5 for 11 shooting with 15 foul shots. Gary also defended well, especially considering he was guarding a perimeter player for much of the game. The grade is an A if he hits 3 more free throws.

Tristan Thompson A. For Tristan Thompson not to have 25 and 10 against the likes of CU is galactically stupid. Going into this game you have to draw up a game plan designed to get TT 20 shots minimum, if not more. At halftime in a game you’re up 15 vs. a squad that needs to play 4 guards and a wing to get back into the contest, the game plan has to be centered around post touches.

The fact that CU only played their one true post for just half of this game and Thompson still only got 11 looks is crazy. Again, I don’t fault the kid because the deployment was just stupid. A 5 for 11, 16 point game with 8 boards should have been much more based on who we were playing, and that’s on the staff.

Cory Joseph A. At first blush I thought Cory disappeared but after reviewing the tape I thought he played a really efficient game offensively, and could have had a great game had we run offense. Cory wasn’t selfish one bit in this game, so that explains why he only got 8 attempts in a 90 point contest. Had we played honest to goodness offense in the second half, I suspect Joseph would have had 16-18 points on just 4 more attempts. He finished 5 for 8 for 12 points with 5 assists and 1 turnover.

Doge Balbay B. Again, I get that we need bodies and defenders against CU’s perimeter depth, but I thought Brown should have been given the reins a bit more in this game. Still Doge played well against Burks on the defensive end getting the short end of the stick on a couple of questionable calls. Offensively, he played a typical Doge game with one bucket and 4 assists and zero turnovers.

Coaching F. For as good as Barnes has been at pushing all the right buttons this season, he was equally as bad in the second half of this contest. Texas could have flex cut and pinned the smallish Buffalos into submission five minutes into the second half of this game had the message been delivered vehemently enough in the lockerroom. Our coach was duped into relying on a fool’s gold type of first half and he should know better. From the opening tip, the Horns could have used their size advantage on offense to help counter Colorado’s open post, five out offense by simply bludgeoning the smaller CU squad until they were forced to sub for defensive purposes. Instead, we played at a pace that inhibited our size advantage which allowed the Buff’s to keep five perimeter guys on the floor to kill us on the other end.

Basic strategy means there’s simply no excuse to allow one pass possessions to become the norm in a game where you have better guards, better players, and a double digit lead against a team like CU. We could have flex cut with Hamilton and then pinned with Thompson to our heart’s content yesterday and we would have had all the layups we could eat. Any misses and CU would have zero chance against Gary Johnson on the offensive glass. Instead we took difficult shot after difficult shot bailing out the smaller Buffs from having to defend or from worrying about foul trouble in a tightly called ball game. It’s so mind numbingly stupid that I have a hard time faulting the kids. Add the context of how and why we lost to Nebraska, and I wonder if it’s our coaching staff that has tired legs heads.

This one stings because now we need to win out against two formidable opponents just to tie for the conference crown. Kansas State is going to come to Austin and guard our ass, especially if we continue to be stagnant on offense. They’ll also get a stalemate on the glass if not better, so we won’t be able to steal possessions to make up for a poor shooting night. Then, it’s off to Baylor to play a talented team with their backs against the wall. It wasn’t a perfect storm that got us here, it was two disastrously coached games with respect to tempo. For now, let’s hold off on calling FEMA, but perhaps dial Bob Knight or Jerry Sloan’s phone number instead.

Tweet Comment 33 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Great write up. I thought Joseph played a terrible game. He shows no emotion and his passes are very weak. I don’t really care that he only shot it 8 times,Aune he needs some sort of personality trait because I can’t figure out what the hell he says or tries to set up if anything. Brown not starting the 2nd half is a criminal offense as was using Lucus in any game but especially this one.

by Mysterious Package on Feb 27, 2011 11:55 AM CST reply actions

I agree with everything in this piece with the lone exception being the grade for Joseph. Well done sir

by Mysterious Package on Feb 27, 2011 11:57 AM CST reply actions

Agree that Joseph’s grade is much too high. I thought he was lousy defensively. But I agree, the game plan in the second half was terrible.

Just not a lot of glory to be passed around after a game like that.

by Bob in Houston on Feb 27, 2011 12:43 PM CST reply actions

“We’re not as good as we thought,” Hamilton said. “Let me rephrase that: We didn’t execute. That’s what I meant to say.”

This quote by Hamilton tells a lot. It seems to me that the team has lost confidence and this is where the coaching staff should take over. I’m pissed at Barnes for letting this happen. Apparently he has no ability to coach offense whatsoever. He installed the new offense at the beginning of the season, and it’s hard to say that they have practiced it since.

Barnes requirement of playing defense at all costs has ruined last years team and seems to be ruining this years. They do not have the faith in the offense to run it in their sleep. They are tired from all of the work on defense. When you play a player like Balbay regardless of the game that Brown is having, it is obvious that you believe in defense to a fault.

This is the second year in a row that I have gotten my hopes up for Barnes to break through only to watch the thing crash and burn. Sure it is possible that the team will turn it around and challenge for the whole thing, but there is little to no evidence to back that theory.

Barnes deserves lower than an F if that is possible. How about a Q drop for quitting on this team too close to the end of the season.

by jinx on Feb 27, 2011 12:46 PM CST reply actions

No mention of the embarrassing rebounding in the second half? Every time CU missed a 3 they rebounded and took another shot at it

by LeaveItToStever on Feb 27, 2011 12:47 PM CST reply actions

This is the second year in a row that I have gotten my hopes up for Barnes to break through only to watch the thing crash and burn.

Last year, yes. This year, no.

If, at the beginning of the season, I had that going into the last week of the RS, that Texas would have won 24 games, been tied for the league lead, won at Lawrence, and had a shot at the No. 1 seed in the B12, I would have considered attempting cartwheels. (I can’t actually do cartwheels.)

I counted wins in September and had to stop at 21. I had no expectation of the B12 semis, much less playing for the championship. Winning a couple in the B12T and a S16 would have been a marvelous year, considering where they looked like they were starting.

That doesn’t mean it’s all rosy and I will ignore how these losses went down. I do know they came a long way fast, and it’s not out of the question that they can regain it.

I was watching ESPN last night and frankly was stunned that Hubert Davis was sticking with Texas as his NC pick, and that Doug Gottlieb also is not backing down. What makes them confident when the rest of us are reeling?

by Bob in Houston on Feb 27, 2011 1:05 PM CST reply actions

I think we are just disapointed because we know what this team can do. We have seen them when they play at their best as a team and they have a very high ceiling. If they play their game they should beat anybody. Apply that to these last two road games and there is no way we should have lost to both CU and Nebraska. It seems we lose our way later in the season, all we want is for these teams to perform the best they can regardless of outcome. If the other team was just hitting shots or got lucky then tip your hat, but thats not whats happening here and its frusterating

by Stinky Pink on Feb 27, 2011 1:15 PM CST reply actions

It wasn’t just not playing JB in the 2nd half, which was a huge mistake. It was that during most of the 15-point-erase time there were only 2 scorers on the court. Barnes had a lineup of Jai, Hill, Doge, Thompson, and Hamilton. How on earth can you score out of that lineup and defend a 5-out offense? Answer, you can’t.

Also, it was a 22 point lead that we blew and it started shortly after that level was reached. All the things you mentioned were correct Trips, but it was also something mental with the players themselves. This is what they have been doing, race to a 15+ lead, ease way up, start the 2nd half evenly matching the opponent only to slow even further to end the game. It is on Barnes for the lineup and tactical things he refused to require , but it was also on the players for letting up so dramatically. I say this because the team just quits defending. Dribble penetration and slow rotation was there from 5:00 left in the 1st half until the end.

by Monahorns on Feb 27, 2011 1:17 PM CST reply actions

Bob- I’d say it’s a lack of worthy adversaries. Watching last year’s Kansas team, I rarely felt they were NC capable. And the same is true this year. But just like a year ago, I’m entering march feeling good about our chances, because there anyone else filling that role either.

by Hiphopopotamus on Feb 27, 2011 1:39 PM CST reply actions

When Jordan Hamilton says “we’re not as good as we thought we were”, I hope he means “We’re not good enough to play AAU ball and win”.

We’re a damn good team when we play good basketball. Unfortunately, at the times when we need to refocus on running offensive sets and playing team defense, we fall into the 1-on-5 trap that doomed us last year.

Frustrating loss to say the least.

by HoyaHorn on Feb 27, 2011 1:49 PM CST reply actions

Inside—Out

How hard is that to comprehend?

We could have flex cut with Hamilton and then pinned with Thompson to our heart’s content yesterday and we would have had all the layups we could eat. Any misses and CU would have zero chance against Gary Johnson on the offensive glass.

I am the opposite of a technocrat when it comes to analyzing games, but your line right here Trips was what I was thinking the entire second half. We have a dominant advantage inside, the refs wanted to call fouls. And we are running some YMCA lunchtime perimeter offense.

Very, very frustrating.

by srr50 on Feb 27, 2011 2:04 PM CST reply actions

I wonder if our FT shooting problems have contributed to the lack of offensive discipline. It sounds weird but I wonder if there is some kind of fear about getting to the line. Specifically when we go down low, the other teams are fouling quickly, that is smart I might add. But that could deter Barnes or the team from focusing on the post.

It is still obviously a mistake. I would rather Thompson miss 15 FTs himself and put the whole backcourt in foul trouble than be timid.

by Monahorns on Feb 27, 2011 2:10 PM CST reply actions

Hip, probably so. Duke lost, Pitt is down at the half today, BYU isn’t any better than is what out there. I get what you are saying.

FWIW, before Duke lost last night, Mike DeCourcy correctly ragged on Duke, saying they weren’t worthy of a No. 1 because they’ve lost on the road to the three best teams they’ve played. Vitale, of all people, said the last No. 1 probably would come down to Texas and Duke. I think Texas will have to win the B12T for that, and I don’t expect it. I’ve never bought the line that Texas is deep. They have placeholders — pretty good ones — but that’s all they are. If they can’t stop you, they’re not going to beat you.

by Bob in Houston on Feb 27, 2011 2:14 PM CST reply actions

It sounds weird but I wonder if there is some kind of fear about getting to the line.

If you make as many free throw as the other teams take, then your lousy free throw percentage doesn’t hadicap you as much. Get the other team in foul trouble, both in terms of on individuals and you getting to the double bonus as quickly as possible.

by srr50 on Feb 27, 2011 2:28 PM CST reply actions

Monahorns, I think that’s a factor. They’re not afraid of it, but they’re not going to it over and over like, say, Purdue or Ohio State or KU would.

I, of course, agree with srr because that’s what I posted in the game thread. But I was reminded of the line about how hard work pays off later but procrastination always pays off now. Running an offense and going inside can be hard work, but first-pass jumpers can go up right away.

Running the offense and burning clock might have kept them from getting burned out in the altitude, as well.

I thought the series that typified the whole second half was when Texas already was down eight with about four left. J’Covan came off a screen, challenged, and hoisted an off-balance jumper that fell off the side of the rim. Colorado rebounded and got it to Higgins for basically the same shot, which he made, and Joseph crashed into him when he challenged and gave up the three-point play.

by Bob in Houston on Feb 27, 2011 2:30 PM CST reply actions

When I say crash and burn, I am using my psychic powers which tell me this team doesn’t get past the first weekend in the tourney and probably loses one or both of the last 2.

I know this season wasn’t expected, but we got to the top of the heap again only to choke it away. I’m sensing a trend.

by Jinx on Feb 27, 2011 2:43 PM CST reply actions

Damn, I ran out of the house mid-first half and figured we would cruise. Silly me.

The J’Covan thing bothered me in the Nebraska game, too. We would have been much better off coming out in the 2nd half with J’Covan in the lineup to keep pressing the attack, rather than stay content with D first against a shoddy Nebraska offense (to that point). Instead, Barnes goes with Doge, and by the time J’Covan comes in, he’s lost his mojo.

These last two games will be really important for our well-being come March.

by jc25 on Feb 27, 2011 2:43 PM CST reply actions

One thing I noticed during and after the lead evaporation was that JHam and JBrown when coming off of screens were either not jumping straight up and down on their shots or were not squaring their shoulders.

Trips is right. The perfect storm consisted of things Texas had control over.

by Monahorns on Feb 27, 2011 2:45 PM CST reply actions

Thanks Trip ! Superb analysis as usual.

by torre on Feb 27, 2011 2:57 PM CST reply actions

Monahorns: That’s what I was talking about on the exchange in which Brown missed and Higgins didn’t. Brown rushed his shot and wasn’t square. Higgins was right in rhythm.

jinx: Did those psychic powers tell you they were going to win the first 11 in the league? (Just wondering — and kidding.)

I understand your angst, but what is the alternative? To lose at KU and A&M and spend the entire season in 18-25 purgatory? FWIW, Barnes really did rework his entire offense to fix what went wrong last year. It’s mostly worked, but been painful for the last week or so. If you’ve had it with Barnes, you have an awfully high target to hit.

by Bob in Houston on Feb 27, 2011 3:16 PM CST reply actions

And we are again left with questioning the ability of Rick Barnes to move into college basketball’s coaching elite by being able to push the right buttons as each game dictates . . . and fearing we know the answer. God I hope I’m wrong.

by AKHorn on Feb 27, 2011 3:42 PM CST reply actions

At least Rick Barnes is a great recruiter and has made Texas an attractive destination for top national talent. Maybe we can build on that by hiring someone with decent in-game coaching ability after he leaves in another decade or so.

Hard to believe that we might have pissed away even a share of the conference title with a 2 game lead with 5 games remaining.

by JMR on Feb 27, 2011 4:28 PM CST reply actions

I was standing outside of the Texas locker room yesterday and heard most of Barnes communication to the team. He spent most of the time joking around with the players who were picking on Hamilton for shooting two air balls.

Strategery.

And what fun it was to be there and have students run me over on the way to running on the court.

At least the fucking parking was free.

by Newy25 on Feb 27, 2011 5:49 PM CST reply actions

To clarify that was halftime I was standing outside of the Texas locker room.

by Newy25 on Feb 27, 2011 5:51 PM CST reply actions

We pissed a football conference title away in 2006.
Win 1of the last 2 against double digit underdogs.

This team gets bored, then sloppy, loses momentum and can’t always get it back. That’s coaching. Even if you had to pull people and say Joseph inside out or someones going in who will.

I thought against Nebraska Texas should have gone with some type of full and 3/4 court pressure just to make NU run time oo on our terms not theirs. Instead of the weave out front.

by thirtyand0 on Feb 27, 2011 6:26 PM CST reply actions

JMR said:

February 27th, 2011 at 3:28 pm

Maybe Barnes needs to hire Shooter as an assistant coach.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU0BebHh5LY

by Tex on Feb 27, 2011 7:14 PM CST reply actions

Trips, Barnes should be put in a chair, have his eyelids held open as in Clockwork Orange, and be forced to read that blog three times. Very well done.

Unlike you, I couldn’t make myself watch that mess again.

by Another Dipshit Poster on Feb 27, 2011 7:30 PM CST reply actions

Man, it was painful enough to watch once. I voiced my opinion on this game in Bob’s thread and while I lack the technical expertise of Trips, I’m glad we saw the same general stuff.

JH seems like he’s in his own head. When he had nothing to lose, the shots started to fall. Then as soon as we had a chance again, brick. Gary Johnson is a total head case at the free throw line too. Surprisingly, I was pleased with TT at the line. He hit some high pressure FT’s when everyone expected him to miss.

At this point, I’m not convinced we make it out of the 1st weekend.

by texasengr on Feb 27, 2011 9:12 PM CST reply actions

It was funny to watch Nebraska try and go to the half court weave against KSU earlier in the week and KSU just simply switched to a half court pressure/trapping defense and that was the end of that shit for Nebraska. I sighed deeply.

by dick on Feb 27, 2011 9:37 PM CST reply actions

I fear Rick is pretty much a dumb ass. To keep starting Doge is dumb. The warnings were there as a few team closed in the first 5 of the second half when we have to play 5 on 4 on O. I just don’t get the whole Doge thing after J Cov has proven he is instant O . Isn’t the object to score? Doge would be more effective coming of the bench no?

by Roostrman on Feb 27, 2011 11:22 PM CST reply actions

Rick is definitely not someone you want doing your kids’ homework. He’s not too bright.

by JMR on Feb 28, 2011 1:31 PM CST reply actions

Awesome analysis!

In the defeats vs NU and CU, UT was confronted with unusual offenses. NU (at least in the 2nd half) was playing 2 big postmen who had good low post offensive games. CU was playing 4 guards, which caused matchup problems for the horns on defense. Texas did not defend these unusual offenses well which put the horns out of kilter (since they are a defense first team). If UT had followed the offensive strategies that you suggested, CU and NU might very well have been forced to change their personnel to match up with UT’s offense. This would have undoubtedly improved UT’s defensive efficiency.

If Barnes had focused on feeding the ball into the post vs CU (not just Tristan, but also Gary, Jordan, and even Balbay), the horns might have forced CU out of playing 4 guards. This would have greatly increased the odds that the horns would have defended CU well. It has been a sore point for me all season that Barnes has not made foes pay for defending Jordan with a guard by posting up Jordan.

Barnes does not have a nimble offensive mind. He hasn’t been the coach who, in realtime, figures out offensive strategies that efficiently exploit the current match ups and trends as they change dynamically during a game. That deficiency is a big problem vs coaches who can figure out how to create match up problems dynamically.

by Kafka on Feb 28, 2011 5:06 PM CST reply actions