North Carolina 82, Texas 63: Good, Bad & Ugly

by jc25 on Dec 22, 2011 10:56 AM CST in Texas Longhorns and Other Basketball

There wasn't much to cheer about in Texas' loss to North Carolina. The Longhorns quickly found themselves down 12-6 at the U-16 TV timeout, and never really recovered from there. It became evident pretty quickly that point guard Myck Kabongo was hampered by injury, ineffectiveness, or both. Without an A+ game from their floor general, Texas had no chance. Texas entered halftime in a 16-point hole, and a slow 2nd half start resulted in young Myck sitting the final 18 minutes in a "teaching lesson." After a J'Covan Brown 3 cut the lead to 14 with 14 minutes to go, Texas went into a 4 minute scoring drought, effectively ending their chances at a victory. The final 19-point differential, 82-63, became perfectly representational of the talent/experience chasm between the two teams.

GOOD

The maturation of Jonathan Holmes - The hybrid forward scored Texas' first points, draining a 3, and ended up posting 16/6 with 3 blocks and 2 assists. One of his swats came on pretty sweet defense against John Henson, whom Barnes matched him against most of the night. Holmes acquitted himself pretty well against the All-American, pestering Henson just enough with his athleticism to mitigate the height mismatch. Because of Holmes' propensity to play from the perimeter, I had likened him to Damion James in an earlier post. He's nowhere near the rebounder James was, but Holmes is already a better ballhandler and likes to take his man off the dribble. Maybe a coordinated Gary Johnson is a more apt recent comparison.

The "Never Say Die" attitude of J'Covan Brown - I didn't quite know where to classify Brown. After hitting his first 3 to tie the game at 6, Brown missed 2 shots and had 2 turnovers. Unable to compensate for Kabongo's out of control point guard play, Brown effectively sunk Texas' chance to stay close early. His game devolved as he pressed in the 2nd half, and his final line of 6-18 FG, 4 TOs wasn't pretty. On the other hand, Brown and Holmes accounted for 18 of Texas' 23 first-half points, and with Kabongo sitting the entire 2nd half, Brown had no choice but to continually drive into the teeth of the defense in an effort to create shots. Obviously, he's had better games, but Brown was the buoy keeping the life raft afloat while most of the freshmen came in with wide eyes and slow feet.

Sheldon McClellan's 2nd half scoring - McCllelan came out firing in the 2nd half, scoring 8 of Texas' first 12 in a valiant but ultimately failed rally. After that, he settled for a couple of heat checks that were puzzling, but ended up with 14 points and 3 steals in the latter period. He'll need to do much better than a donut in the rebounding column.

Jaylen Bond's 9 rebounds - Bond posted 9 boards in 16 minutes. By comparison, Chapman and Wangmene combined for 6 in 38. Fingers crossed, Bond and future Horn Prince Ibeh will make a really nice rebounding/defense power forward combination next to the hulking mass of Cameron Ridley. If Bond is going to be Texas' only willing and able rebounder, he needs to play more. Simple as that.

BAD

Sterling Gibbs playing 18 minutes - Gibbs hit a couple of 3 pointers and accrued 2 assists, but the fact that he played 18 minutes total showed how early this game was lost. Right now, he's a catch-and-shoot guy, not a penetrator nor shot creator.

Interior presence - Listen, Alexis Wangmene and Clint Chapman are who we thought they were. They're warm bodies that are limited by height and hands, strength and skill. They try really hard, and did half decent jobs of pushing the pushable John Henson and Tyler Zeller out of their comfort zones. But there were way too many mistakes, a litany of which killed the team. Missed bunnies. Stone hands. Lack of boxing out. Lack of defensive help rotation. Not getting back in transition defense. It's not going to get better against similarly talented frontcourts.

Defensive awareness - At times, there seemed to be a fundamental lack of understanding on how to defend Carolina. Texas' guards would inexplicably close out on Kendall Marshall, easily giving him an opening to drive and dish. They left Harrison Barnes alone way too often, despite knowing he gets hot via catch-and-shoot. The transition defense was absolutely atrocious. Getting 15 offensive boards is nice, but too often it led to easy transition jumpers and flushes on the other end. Basically, the Horns played right into Carolina's hands.

UGLY

Getting Posterized - Twice. It sucks. Let's move on.

Defending Harrison Barnes - In the primer, I posited that an interesting way to check Barnes would be to sic Jonathan Holmes on him. Instead, Rick Barnes inexplicably started the game with the 6'3" Julien Lewis guarding Harrison. In response, Barnes started the game by swatting away a Lewis shot attempt and then hitting a jumper over Lewis on the other end. I actually thought Barnes had a pedestrian first half. He scored 7 points but was just typical catch-and-shoot. Barnes went shot creation beastmode in the 2nd half, though. The 26 points were legit, but Texas' attempts to use a smaller man to chase around Barnes (including J'Covan Brown for a bit) were of the "resistance is futile if less than 1 ohm" variety. The insane height advantage also allowed Barnes to snag 10 rebounds.

0 points from Julien Lewis - There are games when getting strong defense from your 6'3" guard is an asset; this wasn't one of them. Lewis had 3 steals and 4 rebounds, but 0-6 from the field severely crippled the Horns. Going up against taller, stronger players like Harrison Barnes and Reggie Bullock, Lewis' 21 minutes were not properly allocated.

Myck Kabongo's Mysterious "Injury" - Prior to the game, Kabongo posted a since deleted Tweet: "Not feeling good at all. 50/50 for tonight." The rumored story was that Kabongo suffered an injury in practice, seemingly confirmed by Kabongo sitting out most of the 2nd half. But if my starting point guard had 1 point, 1 assist and 4 turnovers in 15 minutes, I'd be inclined to sit him too. Like Marquis Teague earlier this year, Kabongo suffered from a case of freshman-itis, trying to do too much while not playing within himself. His inability to create killed any offensive rhythm Texas hoped to accomplish. Instead, fans were treated to a lot of one-on-one play with little movement, similar to the Arizona season-ending loss last year.

Rick Barnes' puzzling postgame presser - Earlier this season, Barnes poured forth full wrath on J'Covan Brown, telling him he needed to "grow up." Last night, Barnes turned his attention onto Kabongo. Via the Statesman:

"The very first play of the game, we talked about for two days what we wanted to run, and we don't run it. The very first play of the game. It happened last game. That's discipline. Four guys know it - one guy doesn't. [...] I told him, 'We're going to get guys out there who will play.' There's too many guys on our team who want to play."

Kabongo took the blame in stride, stating: "My team needed me to perform, and I didn't perform." Still, it was a curious decision by Barnes to call out his floor leader and not give him a chance to gain valuable experience via 2nd half minutes. It wasn't the only questionable decision by Barnes, and if you've read this far, you surely have seen those call outs. Starting Lewis over McClellan. Not preaching transition D. Puzzling match-ups on Harrison Barnes. Stagnant offensive sets.

I think Barnes saw some fool's gold in crashing the offensive boards and clamping down on Zeller and Henson. While Texas was mildly effective in the paint, the Longhorns disregarded too many of North Carolina's strengths and ultimately paid the price.

MOVING FORWARD

After watching the first 10 minutes, I basically threw out all hope for a win and started focusing on development points. Overall, Texas should be disappointed with its performance but hopeful for its future.

In Big 12 play, Baylor looks like two surefire losses. Their frontline of Anthony Jones, Perry Jones, and Quincy Miller mirrors Carolina's, only Baylor's unwieldy athleticism won't be pushed around like Henson, Zeller, and Barnes can be. Likewise, Kansas puts forth two towers in Jeff Withey and Thomas Robinson, but doesn't have nearly as scary a team at the other positions. To counter those strengths, Rick Barnes absolutely has to give Jaylen Bond more run. Right now, he's their best rebounder and offensive finisher. Getting him some time at power forward would also allow Holmes and/or McCllelan to play the 3 at regular size, which would be a boon for this size-deficient ballclub.

I'd rather see Sheldon McClellan draw the starting nod over Lewis, but both are incomplete players right now--McClellan better at O, Lewis at D. I expect both to improve by leaps and bounds by year-end. Jonathan Holmes is already Texas' 2nd best player. He's been the most developed freshman on the team thus far. Those three combined adds up to wing that matches up well with other perimeter-oriented schools like Missouri and Kansas St. Both are talented teams, but don't pose the same matchup size problems that Baylor and Kansas do. I'm from Missouri on Texas A&M with the recent return of Khris Middleton.

Clearly though, this team will go as far as J'Covan Brown and Myck Kabongo will take them. Brown's offensive game is dynamic, but he can't do it alone. Help us, Myck Kabongo. You're not our only hope, but you're a ridiculously important one.

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Comments

Why do other elite coaches do more with talented freshmen than our guy? Yes, we’re young, but watching that offense last night is the same disorganized mess we’ve seen for years.

by Andy on Dec 22, 2011 11:07 AM CST reply actions

I guess Barnes’s candor can be somewhat applauded, given the constant criticism of coach-speak on the football side. Still, whether I’m alone in thinking it or not, I really really don’t like calling out specific players in a postgame interview. Seems very Stoops-like to me.

by tx2step on Dec 22, 2011 12:00 PM CST reply actions

Basketball coaching culture and football coaching culture are very different. Basketball coaches routinely call out specific individuals. Never really understood why, but it’s been like that for a long time.

by Scipio Tex on Dec 22, 2011 12:17 PM CST reply actions

Ok, maybe my football bias slip is showing a bit. I’ll lighten up.

by tx2step on Dec 22, 2011 12:27 PM CST reply actions

“It’s not going to get better against similarly talented frontcourts.”

Luckily we won’t face many this year.

“Basketball coaching culture and football coaching culture are very different. Basketball coaches routinely call out specific individuals. Never really understood why, but it’s been like that for a long time.”

True. Maybe there is more upside to it as basketball game can be affected more by one individual than a football game. Phil Jackson did it all the time. If it ends up working and the player steps up, then the coach is hailed as a genius

by dick on Dec 22, 2011 12:30 PM CST reply actions

Texas didn’t play well, but I think last night’s game is a loss regardless. All you had to do was look at the lineup. UNC was way taller than Texas at every position while being just as athletic and skilled. Poor defense and mental lapses made it lopsided.

by Monahorns on Dec 22, 2011 12:45 PM CST reply actions

Thanks for the good read.

I was not surprised by Bond’s limited minutes. Strength is not his problem. Length is. and Carolina has lots of it.

I had no problem with Kabongo sitting. I don’t know if the stage was too big or his back was bothering him, but he didn’t give us much when he was out there and the Horns’ level of performance didn’t seem drop when he was out. Also, if I was coach and had talked about running a play on the first possession for two days and it didn’t get run . . . and then, that same player absentmindedly dribbled the ball off a teammate’s heel while bringing the ball up-court, I’d definitely want to get his attention, and hopefully not in a Bobby Knight-esque display that would embarrass the program.

I was sorry to see the 4-game win streak against Carolina end but when Tristan and Corey opted for the NBA and Barnes/Zeller didn’t, this game was already lost.

And speaking of the 4-game win streak against UNC, is there any other streak in Texas basketball history that’s more impressive than that? . . . Is making the tournament every year under Barnes more impressive? Something else? . . . I’m drawing a blank.

by cirque du salado on Dec 22, 2011 12:54 PM CST reply actions

Kabango’s with us at least another season, unless he finds the ONE team that likes him ala Gibson and Joseph.

Brown was a mixed bag last night and hard to grade when you don’t have another consistent option…..but no denying the bucket he made at the 17 minute mark goes on his career highlight list. Splits the two defenders at the elbow goes right at the Carolina big ( Henson ?) and lofts a lefthanded finger rolled floater to the top of the glass and in, all under complete control.

Carolina’s second team beats us by 20 but I think we take the third team pasties.

by lowdenswain on Dec 22, 2011 1:18 PM CST reply actions

BTW, Roy Williams (UT’s Roy’s illegit. cousin) continues to thrive at NoCa -- he looked good wiping the floors (with us, ha!) and joshing with his asst coach after he threw the dirty towel in his face :-)

Merry XMas to all (and Happy Hanukkah, KoolKrazy Kwanzaa and Festering Festivus as well)!

by Shlomo Mohammad Juan De'Ron Patel-Chung on Dec 22, 2011 1:32 PM CST reply actions

What’s Rick Barnes going to do — call out Sterling Gibbs? Kabongo’s a big boy. He can handle it.

by tjarks on Dec 22, 2011 1:48 PM CST reply actions

Scip-

If I had to guess it has something to do with basketball being a more personal game (from individual play mattering more, to the fact that you aren’t wearing a helmet and can’t rely on 11 other teammates) that can be more easily affected by an individual and thus the actions of an individaul are more laid bare. Everyone knows who missed the shot, threw away the pass, hit a game winner etc. Football you have to be a pretty serious fan to be able to immediately diagnose who caused a problem on any particular play, and most fans wouldn’t recognize 51 out of the 53 guys on their favorite teams NFL roster if they saw them in the street. Herd mentality vs individual mentality imo.

You can’t hide if you are a hooper, you can if you are a football player.

The converse to this is that the position that is most visable and the average fan can most tell if it’s done well or poorly is QB- they get more attention/blame than they deserve, and if anyone on a team is getting singled out for praise or called out for punishment it’s the QB.

Just my working theory on it, anyway.

by Wulaw Horn on Dec 22, 2011 1:50 PM CST reply actions

Texas Longhorn basket ball team (men/women) have not been what they have in the past. Its rather disappointing to say the least. What’s happened to cause the decline??

by staylucky on Dec 22, 2011 2:26 PM CST reply actions

Staylucky- I’d argue that there is no decline for the men- programatically.

Even Roy Williams, with as much success as he’s had at UNC missed the tournament 2 years ago and looked craptacular until Drew left last year.

We are playing with 9 scholarship players (4 less than allotted) with 6 of those players being Freshmen.

That’s fighting with one hand tied behind our back. We’ve had 3 or 4 guys in the past 2 years go earlier than we projected/most think that they should have. Bring back TT and this team looks a lot different. Bring Back JH and Corey Joseph (who went late first round both) and we look like the odds on favorite to win the big 12- imo, and a final 4 calibre team.

I really liked what I saw from a bunch of guys on this Texas team. I saw the pieces for a final 4 type team in place, if we can sign the big stud out of houston that curiously didn’t send in his LOI during early period, and get pair precocious star power with upper level role players that are good (think TJ Ford’s final 4 team).

I didn’t see any quit from our guys, or anyone dogging it. I saw a bunch of freshmen that aren’t as good as UNC’s older players, combined with a team that is quite possibly the worst match up for us in all of college hoops in UNC with their front court size and length (as OP noted Baylor presents a similar nightmare for us).

My sole disappointment this year, from watching only UCLA, Temple and UNC (thanks Longhorn Network!) is that Kabongo is not near as good as I’d hoped. I was hoping for TJ Ford and instead I got Avery Bradley (not saying they are similar in games- just that TJ was otherworldly in college and AB was good but not great). Maybe that will get there in a year, but I don’t see how this guy is a 1 and done. Of course I said the same thing about AB and CJ and was wrong so…

by Wulaw Horn on Dec 22, 2011 2:43 PM CST reply actions

That is very true, I’m always shocked every time I hear George Karl talk as opposed to the cliche spewing football coaches. Karl talking about JR Smith was an unending source of amusement.

Perhaps it’s because so much of a teams success in basketball relies on such a small number of players. If one of them is fucking things up, it’s pretty obvious.

Football has a minimum of 22 guys contributing not even counting special teams, that number could easily be 35 key players or more. A good basketball team may have 7 guys contribute meaningful minutes and 5 get probably 75-80% of the total minutes available.

It’s also probably why basketball players are the biggest douche bags and hockey players seem to be the most down to earth. Of course it may just be that hockey players get the crap knocked out of them if they start playing diva.

by roach on Dec 22, 2011 2:49 PM CST reply actions

Those of you who have LHN or go to the drum: is Kabongo always that bad or did he just have a bad night? He looked like he had very little basketball smarts or savvy. Just kind of dribbling around chucking the ball all over the place. Getting beat on back cuts. Not to mention bricking free throws.

Right now you are looking at Holmes, Brown, and McClellan as the only legit scoring threats on this team.

We are looking at 8-10 and NIT. Or 9-9 and white knuckles on selection Sunday.

by Google Non-user on Dec 22, 2011 3:55 PM CST reply actions

google nonuser,
kabongo had a bad night. last couple of games were good for him, but I have seen him have very good/very bad moments. He’s got lightening quick moves, but he’s also made some silly turnovers.

he’s gonna be a good one, but the edges are rough now. let’s hope he’s just rough enough to stick around for 2 years.

by Texoz on Dec 22, 2011 4:37 PM CST reply actions

1 and done. The reason it’ll always be hard to really enjoy college basketball like college football. Our teams don’t feel like our teams. They are like hired hands brought in to entertain us. Still cannot believe Avery Bradley and Corey Joseph ditched us like they did. They weren’t even that amazing.

by Pistol on Dec 22, 2011 6:44 PM CST reply actions

Every team has one and dones. Its not unique to Texas.

by Mysterious Package on Dec 22, 2011 7:29 PM CST reply actions

Rudy Tomjanovich never, ever called out one of his players. But he’s an exception.

by Bob in Houston on Dec 22, 2011 7:44 PM CST reply actions

My theory on the Kabongo roasting is that Barnes is demanding a lot from him. He wants him to be a PG/Leader like TJ was and Augustin was. But he has to value the ball (I generally dislike that cliche) and tailor his pace to his teammates. TJ had a remarkable sense of that from the first game, and Augustin showed it within a month.

I’m sure Barnes was almost spluttering when he found out that Kabongo had tweeted his iffyness. He also was trying to get across that if you play, you have to put your bumps and bruises aside as best you can. As it was pointed out elsewhere, a healthy Kabongo isn’t going to sit. Barnes essentially told him, if you’re hurt, fine, you won’t play.

by Bob in Houston on Dec 22, 2011 7:55 PM CST reply actions

After this year we will be pining for a 1 and done season. This looks like an NIT team to me.

by realmccoy on Dec 22, 2011 10:02 PM CST reply actions

Re: Brown. Do you think he showed the leadership by encouraging teammates and setting the needed example in an adverse environment ?

He stated he did but I am uncertain.

by torre on Dec 23, 2011 9:01 AM CST reply actions

Kabongo has enormous physical talent, and he’s smart – but he only knows one way to play basketball and PG right now, and it’s the way of most kids with that much talent and the ability to dominate the ball so completely in high school/AAU.

No way he’s one and done. He’s not an athletic freak in the mold of Irving, and he just does not know how to play at this level right now. He’ll figure it out quickly if he’ll listen. He won’t figure it out at all if he won’t.

So – all sorts of talent, can Rick get him to tune in? Gee, have we discussed this sort of thing before?

by G.O.F. on Dec 23, 2011 8:59 PM CST reply actions