Assessing Texas Heading Into The NCAA Tournament

Hey, it’s Scipio Tex.

Nice to see some good basketball commentary around here again. I think Barking Carnival hit a slump right around the 2nd conference loss as well.

Nice. If Johnson wakes up, I like our chances to go to Elite 8. And let’s hear it for the Garden Gnome.

bigdukesix -
 
Hey, it’s bigduke. We could do this back and forth all night. Awesome bit!
 
Diego -
 
Consider the slump busted like it was a 220 pound fat chick at a Chili’s Happy Hour.
 
ransom -
 
Is Gary’s issue waking up? Or does the caliber of opponent determine his efficacy?

I agree with Diego. Can’t tell you how many times I hit refresh on my browser hoping for a BC update. Y’all been slacking like Hamilton on D. ;)

I will refund everyone’s subscription fees.

Is it really you? I’m going to need some proof.

I like the bracket where we are a two in Notre Dames region…a lot.

Solid thoughts – looking forward to an eyepatch-driven analysis of either the Somali pirate situation or the Mike Leach lawsuit.

Brackets unseen, I feel very strong about our ability to make it to the second weekend outside of very bad luck or whichever mid-major runs the nation’s best zone. From the second weekend onward our X factors will be Jordan’s shot variance, Tristan’s work on the offensive glass, and JCB’s all-around Zam Cassell impersonation.

I started reading this without checking the identity of the author, and when I read the part about the Bond villian slap I thought “hey, scip’s back.” You definitely have a recognizable style.

We are pretty invulnerable against teams without size. It was an impossibility to lose to teams like aTm and OU who can’t matchup with even our undersized/undermanned front court. Colorado 2nd half was the only exception. I don’t see us running into a team the first weekend who can punish our weaknesses.

I will refund everyone’s subscription fees.

Thanks. Please sent the refund to my Nigerian account.
Routing # 101139853 Account # 9582502947

Also, please send my back paychecks for blog services rendered to the same account. Appreciate it.

I kind of get a similar vibe on J’Covan (wrt original post). The dude is one of those types of players that is prone to slacking in a normal game, but he gets extremely motivated by big crowds, big lights, and high pressure. Sort of a showboat/chip-on-shoulder mentality, but that has it’s upside if you know how to manage it and channel it. The downside of that is one bad call can divert that energy in a destructive direction if he’s too wound up. Still, I think he might play some of his best ball in the dance.

I can see how coaches would hate it, since it fucks with their ability to coach to a “practice like you play” or “earn your minutes” kind of ethos that builds a strong team. You have to decide whether you’re going to coach him into a mature team guy, or play to the chip on his shoulder, wind him tight, and then unleash him.

I haven’t seen anything the last few weeks that shakes my faith that we will stand around on offense and let the opponent dictate the pace. Your point about Balbay is spot on – if he’s on the floor. USE him. Harrass the hell out of their Hamilton. Trap. Push the ball. I see us losing to a 10, 72-69.

Good stuff, Scip.

I agree on GJ. Love his effort, but the dude has a tendency to go full retard (never go FULL retard IMO). When he’s making his 15 footers, he’s very helpful on offense, but the dude is allergic to finishing at the rim, and tries to make even the bunniest of bunnies into a non-bunny (I think that made sense).

For once, I appreciated the General’s commentary on Texas during this tourney. Hill is worthless in the high post with no ability/willingness to make an open J allowing his man to sag into the post and deny entry to Tristan. When you pair this with Jai or Doge, you are setting yourself up for offensive stagnation as opposed to Sheen-like winning. Limit the minutes for this combo and make sure CoJo and/or JCB (preferably both as you said) are in the game to stretch the D and open the middle for TT to do work. One other thing on Knight, would someone for god’s sakes give the guy the shot fake he craves. The guy has a point, but he pimp’s the need for a shot fake almost to a fault.

Give me Notre Dame as our #1 seed and I’ll be happy as I think we can do work against a perimeter oriented team such as the Irish/Duke but I’ll still fret over the potential matchup with a 7/10 that has a few physical bigs to give TT fits and a coach that will work that angle. Off the top of my head, I can’t think of anyone that fits that mold in this seeding range (Georgetown, maybe?), but I’m sure they’re out there…

This team still can go deep with the right matchups/execution (#captainobvious), and I look forward to our bracket unveiling tomorrow.

So Markieff is funnier than J’Covan? Got it.
If KU’s TT doesn’t play like that and UT’s TT plays like he can, it would have been a heckuva game. As cliche as it’s becoming to say, I’d love to do this again in Houston(like ’03 could have been.) Please tell Brown to take it down a notch for once in the rubber match.

As I said in another post, anyone expecting an outcome other than we saw yesterday was only fooling themselves. Kansas is one of the few (Pitt? anyone else?) who has elite talent at the low post that is biggrer, stronger, and more experienced to take TT out of the game so quickly and so forcefully.

They had been looking forward to this game since we left the Allen Field House floor for the locker room. We fought throughout the game – that should let anyone out there know who was still having night sweats about last year that this is a totally different team.

You are absolutely right about scouting reports. For me the first week of the tournament is all about matchups. It seems the committee loves to play mix and match and try to create some of the upsets everyone raves about. A cursory look at the potential lower seeds however, doesn’t bring anyone to mind who has the parts that you aptly described that are needed to give us fits.

Selection Sunday — Christmas Eve for basketball junkies. I can’t wait.

Pulse check: not so worried about the loss yesterday, as KU’s only reason for getting on the bus to KC was to beat texas. But I’m really concerned about the defensive effort heading into the tournament. Hamilton and Brown played last season’s D. They looked they were playing in wet cement yesterday as they were continually blown by. I saw j’covan tweak an ankle and then dog it more than I thought possible, and maybe jordan is hurt. Not having TT in to act as eraser when those two stet burned was really eye opening. I get that Kansas is uniquely built to expose us, but the effort just was not there yesterday.

Positive note – good to see Jai contributing meaningful minutes

I’m going to disagree with ssr50. I think that game last night was winnable with better spacing on offense and a recognition that KU was leaving the FT open for Hill and anyone else incapable of generating an offensive play from there. The poor shot selection in the 1st half allowed KU to get easy transition baskets and build a substantial lead. Better choices in the first half could have set up another 2nd half comeback.

It was nauseating seeing Hill at the FT line with nobody guarding him and he looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Also annoying to watch, tentative moves toward the basket. Would have been useful seeing our guards go to the basket a little more often.

J’Covan needs to add another weapon to his arsenal. Fake the 3pt attempt, then drive to the bucket. He’s done it before, but he should do it more often. Odds are very high we score if he’s able to get a defender going for the 3pt fake, and then drives. Well, so long as the other UT players recognize that move and realize we have a numbers advantage.

I can’t remember the game but it sounds like we lost to a better team

Watched a lot of hoops yesterday. After thinking “I don’t want XYZ in Texas’ bracket” for the 6th time, I came to a realization. This Texas team isn’t capable of winning six straight games against tourney-level competition.

I thought there were many positives in last night’s game. It appears that those have been covered on the thread, already. My lineup agrees with yours, with the 5th man to be determined by who is hot and need for defense or offense.

Wangmene has really come on this year. He is becoming a basketball player.

Good to see you back, O Great Leader.

Hook ’em!

I disagree with any notion that justifies this loss. We were out played by a better team

I stopped being a student of basketball when Bill Russell became obsolete; i.e., about the time that the Detroit Pistons’ won their first championship and David Stern put Patrick Ewing in the freezer.

Naismith’s game is not a contact sport. There – I feel better now.

Although I won’t pretend to understand the nuances of NCAA basketball circa 2011, I do offer the following observation: if and when the Horns make it to the Sweet 16, it’s a lock that Rick Barnes will be out-coached for the remainder of the tournament.

srr50 -

Maybe my top sports day of the year. That and this coming Thursday/Friday. Also, couldn’t agree more about the expected outcome of this game. I was happy with our tournament showing. Showed some fight when down against A&M and KU, and although we aren’t playing at a level that we were midseason, it smells like Elite 8 to me.

Dmitri -

Agree 100% regarding how the sport was intended. The extreme contact that happens under the basket as well as going after loose balls is not basketball, but if that is the way the game is going to be officiated we better excel at it.

Scipio -

The basketball god is named Buck Naked?

Two Elite Eights and a Final Four beg to differ, Dmitri.

I’m happy to see Brown playing better on offense and getting double figures. But he isn’t even attempting to guard anybody, which all but negates his effect. On the play where Cory was blocked at the rim by Morris, he completely failed to rotate back and gave up a runaway layup. He makes no effort to help and plays falt-footed on ball defense. Jordan has improved his defensive play enormously from last year, although Scip is right that it’s hot wired to his jumper. But Brown makes vey little effort at all on that end.

We’ve all known all year that Gary can be taken out of games by teams with KU’s size. His two worst games this year have been against them. In the first KU game, Hill more than compensated, yesterday he did not. The A&M game performance was, I hope, an anomaly. We need him to get his swagger and energy back for the Dance, which I predict will happen.

We were not going to beat a 31-2 Kansas team for the second time in a season in their own gym. Anyone who sees any fail in our not doing that needs help.

Tristan Thompson played only 11 minutes yesterday. We gave a helluva effort in the second half and only lost by 12 when you know they wanted to beat us by 30. Big fucking deal!

Come on down SE Regional and the Big Easy. Whether we are a #2 or #3 is inconsequencial no matter what Regional we’re in.

“We are a team deeply susceptible to a good scouting report. Fortunately, most coaches in the Big Dance have the attitude that they’re going to "do what they do" and not burden their players with instruction and opponent specific tactics. Wrong answer against us. Scouting reports usually don’t become relevant in the NCAA until Game 3.”

Great point here.

TT had 21 minutes yesterday.

As to yesterday, nothing happened between January 22 and gametime that changed the makeup of the teams, and KU is better. Not unbeatable, obviously, but a deeper, more experienced, inside-oriented team that is the worst matchup for Texas. They couldn’t afford to get down 15 again, and they were in fact, worse. They gave up five run-out buckets in the first half, and I might have missed one. They needed KU to play at less than their motivated best, and that just didn’t happen. Throw in serious foul trouble for Tristan Thompson, and that was that.

I suppose I’d give them credit for cutting into the lead in the second half if not for the nagging thought that KU was cruising like Texas did in all those wins it had post-KU. The confirmation of that was when Texas did cut the lead to eight twice in the last eight minutes, KU scored the next two baskets. But while this team has not been behind a lot, it does not quit. They rallied on the road to beat UNC, and came back twice against U Conn at home, in the second half and overtime, even though they lost. They kept plugging against Nebraska and Colorado. They rarely lose their cool (Gary Johnson’s shot selection yesterday being an exception). This is going to be something to hang on to next weekend when they inevitably will have a barnacle attached to them.

As to Matt’s point that this team won’t win the championship, he’s probably right. But compared to where they started, they’ve come a long, long way. They’re going to the tournament with 27 wins, which is about five more than I expected. And, as Scip notes, Barnes is not the coaching lunkhead that everyone seems to be fixated on right now. Texas hasn’t lost to a double-digit seed in 10 years. They’re probably going to beat the teams they’re supposed to, and they have a shot against the teams they shouldn’t, even Kansas. Can’t really ask for more than that.

If Tristan is Tigger, does that make J’Covan Eeyore?

Tourney is about guard play and matchups. We have the guard play to make a run. Just need a favorable bracket.

You are correct, Art. My typo.

Well, hell. If you guys are going to be all rational in assessing our tournament run . . . A lot of great read here from posters much more knowledgeable than I.

I’d love to believe we could actually win a NC but know it’s not realistic. As previously covered, our depth/deficiencies inside; poor spacing and average (charitably) entry passing; the Who’s in the House Tonight? play of JH and J’CB; and Rick “He Is Who We Thought He Was” Barnes pulling the strings all make for a possible run into the EE. I’ll be disappointed if it’s not, especially given the team’s play up through KU Round 1.

It’s that old “poe-ten-shal” we glimpsed up to that point — through North Carolina, Pittsburgh, UConn — that leaves me with that 2-in-the-morning Hot Pot heartburn. But damn it tasted good at the time.

Excellent post, Scip. Glad to see you back doing what you’re doing.

So with UNC getting thrashed by Duke after barely squeeking by their first two opponents, and Florida losing to Kentucky, are we looking at a #2 or did our 4-4 down the stretch drop us to a #3?

#1’s – Ohio State, Kansas, Pitt, Duke/Notre Dame
#2’s – Duke/Notre Dame, UConn, SDSU, Texas
#3’s – UNC, Purdue, Florida, Kentucky/BYU
#4’s – BYU/Kentucky, Wisconsin, Louisville, Syracuse

Thoughts?

UNC is basketball royalty. We’re not. They’ll keep the #2 seed, although we are more deserving. If wrong, I will be Happy Guy!

Dick could feed Johnson for a forceful stuff around the rim.

Winning?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but seems to me Barnes has made a bit of a devil’s pact opening his arms to players of such talent they’ll be done as underclassmen. Contrast Self and his upperclassmen-heavy squads.

Seems like life as a coach becomes much less bumpy with a majority of players expected to stay three and four years. With a high percentage of one- and two-year players, both the coaches and players would have a difficult time resisting short-term thinking.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved the talent and charisma on display. I’m just guessing that avoiding the state of affairs outlined by Scip above (Final Four potential or lose to a 10 seed) is damn difficult with such overwhelming dependence on young studs.

“Theoretically, Dick could feed Johnson for a forceful stuff around the rim.

If you don’t think the basketball gods will reward that with at least a Sweet 16 bid, your understanding of the universe is different from mine."

Truer words were never written on this site.

Scipio, your point about putting in a full court press with Dogus is right on. He’s not an offensive liability if were pressing and getting layups. I don’t understand Barnes’ aversion to pressing, you’d think a defensive coach like barnes would throw in some full court once in awhile. It’s when when get into a half court game that other teams don’t bother looking at him, much less guarding him. Can anyone in Division I basketball really be that bad of a shot?

I guess so.

Part of being Kansas is that your brand allows you to get the cream. No pacts are necessary. We have had only 2 one and dones in our history and one of them should have stayed in school, but Rick’s situation is different than Self’s. That written, John Calipari is the best example of the mentality you are refencing OleTime. It’s no coincidence that he’s never won an MNC, but is the highest paid coach in the NCAA and one step ahead of the Infractions Committee.

When you go to Kansas you are going to a school that is stacked year in and year out. In that system, fewer guys are going to become "that guy’ that the entire team is built around and don’t have same platform to be a one and done nor the false feelings of accomolishment that can sometimes be linked with leaving too early. Also, the envionment is one that embraces its basket ball players like Gods and they feel pretty secure in the knowledge that they will be in the real hunt for an MNC in almost every year via a #1 or #2 seed so they can be more motivated to stay that extra year for the prize. It’s the same with Duke. Think of it in the same vein as the amount of success that Texas has had in football over the past ten years and the relatively few players that have left for the NFL in the first year they are eligible to do so. Vince Young chose to stay when he could have left after the 2004 Rose Bowl.