Grades for win against Okie State
Gallagher Iba arena is one of the toughest places to play in America and the Horns came away with the win. Oh yeah, and our defense was absolutely stellar. That’s the good news. The bad news is we continue to see dog shit offense lacking any inside presence or any continuity to compete at a high level with elite or even good teams. And the Cowboys are neither. They are a squad that can definitely be exploited with any kind of decent offensive post play.
Wins in Stillwater are usually slim Pickens.
Again, the Horns are who they are. If they can shoot it at a high level they can usually outscore teams, especially teams that don’t play great perimeter defense. See Tennessee. Or when the Horns strap it on and guard people, they can smother an opposing offense especially when that offense is perimeter oriented and the matchups are there. You saw the effectiveness of Texas’ 3 guard lineup matching up with OSU’s perimeter heavy personnel. A great defensive performance to be sure, but OSU lacks the type of balance that can give Texas fits. But, a win on the road in the Big 12 is nothing to sneeze at and certainly welcome in any form or fashion. On to the grades.
DJ Augustin. B+. Again, what can you say about the kid that hasn’t already been said. He controls tempo and scores the basketball better than just about any guard in America. The vast majority of any offensive production this ball club gets can be attributed to DJ and his creativity. It was nice seeing someone else create for him for a wide open 3 but let’s be realistic, without DJ this is a .500 ballclub. Only reason he doesn’t get the A is a subpar 3 dimes and 3 turnovers, but keep in mind that OSU defends the perimeter well. Still another humongous 26 point effort. He also iced the game at the line which is what a PG needs to do.
Damion James. A-. Just an absolute man on the glass getting 12 huge boards in a game where half of the rebounding opportunities were long rebounds. In a nutshell anything close to the rim was his. I continue to be impressed with his shot selection and overall basketball IQ. He’s a superstar and he was disciplined enough to limit himself to 10 shots hitting at a 50% clip. That’s impressive considering one of the premier defenders in the nation, Marcus Dove, was on him all night. James wasn’t selfish and didn’t get sucked into a macho me against him deal. Kudos to him for being a team guy. Wish we could have rewarded him with more sets.
Connor Atchley. B. Connor battled all night on the glass and came away with 3 offensive boards and 6 boards overall. That’s a great effort considering James played nearly the entire game, and most of the rebounds on the defensive end were of the long variety. Connor’s bread is still buttered on the perimeter where he was an impressive 2-5 from 3’s. Keep shooting it buddy. He gets a B because he forced a couple looks with his back to the basket, which is not his game, and committed a couple turnovers. That said he still needs 10 shots a game for this team to go where it wants to. And they need to be perimeter J’s with the occasional put back or hook.
Texas’ is at its best when Atchley’s shooting 3’s.
AJ Abrams. D. The good news is AJ had a couple assists, kept a couple possessions alive with passes that led to layups, and contributed on defense with two steals. The bad news is he is absolutely frigid from the perimeter yet his attempts don’t reflect it. 0-7 from 3’s and 3-12 overall when James and Atchley get 10 and 8 looks respectively is criminal. Until he starts shooting the ball better, AJ should get no more than 8 attempts per game. The kid needs a long hard talking to about shot selection and selfishness.
Justin Mason. A-. Mason, on the other hand, is the antithesis of AJ Abrams right now. He realizes he’s in a shooting slump so he contributes in other ways. His defense on Saturday was a catalyst in the come from behind win, and his defense and rebounding were a huge factor in the win last night. What a stat line. 3-3 from the floor, 2-2 from the line, 4 offensive boards, and 6 rebounds overall. That’s efficiency folks, and that’s winning basketball. Keep it up Mase.
Gary Johnson. D. Thank goodness Mason has gotten his groove back because GJ is just not a confident basketball player right now for whatever reason. He had a big offensive board but then looked like a high school kid trying to convert the bunny. He’s going through what Mason was going through a couple three weeks ago. Hopefully he can find something because this team needs the balance he can provide on both ends of the floor.
Wangmene. C+. Two boards in five minutes is good. He just needs to play more. Texas will need him against bigger frontcourts.
Clint Chapman. incomplete. One minute of action and one decent looking post move that was in and out. He needs more opportunities and his lack of minutes is a head scratcher.
Mooney. Incomplete. Will he continue to see minutes? Or is the experiment over?
Pittman. F. Zero minutes? He must really be in the dog house. The team zoned for about 7-8 possessions and still didn’t get Pitt in the game to test a tiny OSU front court. Bad sign for Dex.
Lewis. Incomplete.
Coaching. B. Again, the kids were really up and down offensively and you have to wonder about the continuity and consistency of the offense. Texas really has the horses to pound smallish teams inside, but the staff refuses to get these young post players in ball games to show their wares. You’re just not going to build depth letting AJ Abrams shoot you in out of ball games while kids like Chapman, Johnson, and Wangmene ride the pine. And the fact that Abrams is consistently getting more attempts than James and Atchley and even DJ sometimes is borderline criminal. It needs to be addressed and soon.
But any win on the road in conference and especially a win in Stillwater is great. I just hope these issues get addressed before the next road game in College Station.
Thoughts?
January 22, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I love Coach Barnes’ side-to-side offense … if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, consider me flattered.
Now, if I can just figure out how to transfer the concept of repeatedly running an entire offensive possession in which the ball never goes inside the three-point arc to the gridiron, my offense will be unstoppable.
BWAAAA HAAAA HAAA HAAA!
January 22, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Our starters play 35+ minutes every game. We’re going to be dead in March.
January 22, 2008 at 1:30 pm
Only one minor quibble: I like having Connor work a few possessions on the interior, even if it’s not his strength. Though neither CU nor OSU did a good job taking Atchley’s perimeter game away, others have. With GJ looking like a 15 year old, Dexter nowhere to be seen, and Chappy and Wangmene both just inching along, we -have- to have someone work the post a little bit.
Our half court offense gets stifled in the half court in large part because there’s no penalty for ignoring the paint. Though Connor shouldn’t be down on the blocks most of the night, I like that we’ve been developing that option a bit. We need it.
January 22, 2008 at 1:45 pm
PB, he has to continue to work on the interior to keep defenses honest. That little half hook can be a weapon, but I think he forced it a couple times last night when he didn’t have it.
I’d love to see him operate in the high post after laying a high ball screen. We could do so much off that including dumping it down low to take advantage of an out of position low block defender. Or pulling the low block for a cut the goal by AJ weakside who would undoubtedly be overplayed by his defender.
But instead Connor may think he needs to force things when he gets the ball inside, because if he passes out, there is certainly no chance for a quick repost and almost zero chance he’ll see the ball again during the possession.
January 22, 2008 at 1:48 pm
PB, and I wholeheartedly agree with your comment on there being no penalty for ignoring the paint.
It’s almost comical the way a post with great position is ignored in the offense. Somebody’s ass needs to be pulled when they catch, see a post with position, and then dribble, shoot, or reverse the ball. It’s not comical though cuz that shit pisses me off.
January 22, 2008 at 2:45 pm
We used to run some high post stuff under Barnes with Boddicker. Why we don’t this year is puzzling since either James or Atchley is an ideal high post. They can shoot it, drive or pass from the high post, not a lot of teams have big men that will consistantly bury that shot, but we have two and still don’t use it?
Also, the love for DJ is a little irritating to me. Yes, he scored at the end, but he took the last 8 shots too. We can’t beat any decent team with DJ forcing the ball all the way to the rim. Any good team is too long and athletic for DJ to score at the rim. He has to be able to drive and dish. I mean there are 2-3 wide open players when DJ drives because the defense knows that it can collapse without fear of a pass since he literally never passes when he drives. This has to stop if we are to get any better, and right now, for whatever reason, we are not very good. And please don’t say, “who’s he supposed to pass it to?” I’ll take a wide open j from Connor, Damion or AJ any day over 1 on 3 and pray for a bailout call. But, maybe that’s the basketball purist in me. I could be wrong.
January 22, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I think DJ could pass a little more especially on kickouts off of dribble penetration but I’m cool with 8-16 and 7-16 each and every night especially if he’s getting 10 foul shots. DJ is the least of our worries on offense. But it would be nice for him to kick to Connor and James a little more.
January 22, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I know your right. He is obviously our best player and we will live and die with the ball in his hands at the end of the game. I’m o.k. with that. I just wish he’d take a page from TJ and look to keep everyone involved more until the end. TJ took the shots at the end, but rarely forced anything for the first 38 minutes. It’s not the 8-16 that bothers me, it is the 16. I guess that I just prefer a pass first PG and DJ has become more of a Marbury than a Nash lately. Maybe that’s our best option, but I don’t believe it is. Again, I could be wrong.
January 22, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I disagree with the notion of increased emphasis in the paint. I think we are at our best when playing uptempo, controlling the speed of the game. Damion and Atchley are both unusually quick/agile for their size and Lexi can really run the floor, too.
We have shown a consistent inability to get decent looks in conventional offensive sets. Why don’t we keep the pedal on the gas and let our athleticism take over?
January 22, 2008 at 3:34 pm
Crown, good thoughts, but I’m afraid we aren’t deep enough to force teams to play uptempo. If we went 10 deep we could pressure and get out and run. Sometimes we get lucky and teams will try to run with us like UCLA in the first half. Sometimes teams can’t help themselves and that’s their style, like Tennessee.
The formula to beat Texas is guard hard on the perimeter, rebound, and slow tempo on the offensive end and attack deep into possessions preferably with a consistent inside game. All things equal, Texas doesn’t have the depth or personnel to compete with that style. See Wisconsin and Michigan State.
January 22, 2008 at 8:02 pm
I hear ya, Trips.
One thing that really mystifies me - and not just at Texas, but it really does seem nationwide - is the lost art of the entry pass to the post.
I don’t need to tell you how many times perimeter players look into the post at a guy with great position, decide they can’t get the ball in, and then swing it out around the perimeter. It’s astounding.
As for Connor - I do agree with what you’re saying. And Connor’s just not Strong like a typical post presence needs to be. But glad to see us working it through him down there from time to time.
Good point on using him on the high post more.
January 23, 2008 at 6:37 am
PB, I watched Kentucky last night play 1 in and four out with Patrick Patterson, and entered the ball about as well as I’ve seen all year. Guards, forwards, centers, all seemed to understand position and angles. It was great.
January 23, 2008 at 7:27 am
Saw that, too. It’s taken some time, but the ‘Cats are looking viable, finally. If Patterson doesn’t turn pro after this year, they should be in good shape by this time next year.
Watching guards decline on a post entry pass drives me crazy; it’s the first thing I was ever taught by my coaches, and it’s not terribly difficult to master. Even at the higher levels, with elite defenders, this just isn’t something that’s too difficult to nail down.
Of course, Rick’s never taught half court offense very well.
January 23, 2008 at 11:32 am
Angles. Pythagoras > Barnes.
January 23, 2008 at 9:47 pm
I don’t get to see many games, but do we ever work on blocking out?
January 24, 2008 at 5:39 pm
Gee Leweez, look at all these pasty white babes. I’s done did died and gones ta Haven. Gg gg gg.