Texas Longhorns vs Baylor Bears Live Game Thread

What a strange start to a game.

J’Covan cold as ice and 2 fouls on Chapman and Wangmene. But we look oretty poised.

J’Covan still ice cold from open looks. Also getting killed on the glass.

But it’s 13-13. Holmes and Bond active early. Guards are forcing Baylor turnovers.

Playing great man D so far.

Don’t know how long we can keep up this pace.

do we have dead legs? lot of our shots are short.

Holmes hammering inside yeah

I fucking hate Verne.

I don’t think Verne has ever seen a basketball game before.

It will be important for the freshmen to develop physically during the off-season. We are not a very strong team

This went from encouraging to painful very quickly. Offense launching air balls and we are getting killed on the both boards. Wangmene is as hard to watch as slime green tee shirts.

Our entire team is hard to watch. I usually turn games on with 5 minutes to go.

Has Kabongo even played? His stat line reads like my record with supermodels.

Time to call it like I see it. This Texas team is not good and our record is very accurate. We maybe .500 by the end of the year. That’s tech like bad. I would rather know we suck and will be average next year than getting my hopes up. We are just not good I’m not impressed with our freshman play. They miss, they turn it over and they play scared.

Not a good start to the 2nd half for Myck.

Then a good pass.

Good in bounds play.

I have us at 17-11 going into conf. Tourney. Nit.

Whoever recruited Alexis Wangemanne should have to explain why they can’t do their job.

First time I have seen Lewis go to the bucket. Rather see him do that then spot up. As long as he keeps making good decisions in the lane.

We are a poor matchup with this squad, but we are staying with them. If J Brown gets hot maybe we can stay close. Gotta get some rebounds and defense from our big seniors.

Mysterious, I saw Alexis play in AAU some. He looked very athletic with some skill. The thought was he needed to work on it but there was real potential. It was never realized.

Ironic that the only thing this team does well is shoot free throws.

Some of our mistakes are so elementary. We are will be vastly improved when Chapman and Wang have exhausted their eligibility. Can Chapman dunk?

MP,

I’ve thought that for 4 years. Just never saw a basketball player there. I would say the same thing about Atchley though and he gave us one good year.

Oh my. I just can’t say enough about JCB. He is a great great college player. Him and PJ Tucker have it. You can just see it. Stud!

Brown is not pouting about his poor shooting, and hustling us back into the game.

Yeah! Amazing tie game. JCB is taking over.

Great run. Looks like CBS has some boner for Scott drew for some reason.

I mean, get a rebound Wangmanne. Your just not good enough to make a positive contribution.

Fuck. Can’t rebound for shit. Does Rick ever teach put backs? Seems like we always miss a ton.

Ironic that the only thing this team does well is shoot free throws.

Must be some good coaching by Rick Barnes. After all, it was his horrible coaching that caused the poor FT% the past 2 years; at least according to Texas fans.

Two awful possessions in a row.

Wtf?

J’Pointless Foul

Chapman should apologize to every player on his team for his pitiful performance. It’s sad our freshman do not realize JCB needs the ball. I’ve seen enough missed layups and failed rebounds. Lewis, can not make a 3. Just stop shooting

Rewound the tape and Chapman did hold on that shot by Baylor as the clock was expiring. Don’t know what he was thinking, but he was basically hugging the BU player. Very poor positioning.

JCB slump officially over… Now if Wangsta-Chap could catch a pass or rebound with those lobster claw hands.

Ka-bonga-yes !

Seriously CBS, Drew is not that interesting. Stop showing him every 10 seconds.

Not being in position when you are a senior is inexcusable for chapman and Wangmanne.

Why would he try to make that pass? Alexis can’t fucking catch!

Scott Drew is a balding whiny pussy

Wtf was that? Drive in and lose ball? Kbongo finally. Drive in and dish to JCB. Do that every time. Another terrible game for Lewis. Did this guy look like shit in highschool? He looks like shit now.

If our team blows JCB’s perfect game, I’m done.

Fucking Groundhog Day with this team. Get down big and fight back in second half then can’t finish.

For all those who say players don’t get better under Barnes, Brown is another example that this is not true. This team lacks frontline help. It’s too bad TT didn’t come back for his soph year because I really like Kabongo and Brown.

Refs haven’t been helpful in second half.

“Scott Drew Wired” … did they give him cocaine or something?

Not gonna let brown beat them.

The only thing that would make you like Scott Drew is if your previous coach was involved in a murder cover up.

This team hasn’t quit all year. It’s too bad we have fans that have quit on them.

Bad day at line for MK.

That’s it. They fucking blew it. Lewis, Wangmanne and Chapman, each one takes blame. JCB can’t do it all himself. If those guys just play average we win. But no, not only do they turn it over, they miss majority of their shots while refusing to rebound.

Bad shot by Brown.

Getting old being Baylor’s bitch in sports

Once again, end of game poor decisions.

Love Alexi, but we almost had BU turn the ball over on 10 sec rule.

Love J’Covan, but we had time for a better shot.

If we get Cameron Ridley and Brown comes back this team will be really good. They have nobody on the frontline and I mean nobody. Those guys that log big minutes are situational players at best.

They haven’t quit. I give them credit for that. They’re less talented and out coached and still stay in games at the end. The lack of execution at the end of games is very old.

This team hasn’t quit and no one said they did. They are just not good. 13-8 No excuses, they have lost every close game. They have lost to every team on the schedule that’s better. No surprises, close games do not count. It is what it is.

I expected better this season. 13-8 is underachieving. Who is getting better besides JCB? And he was always good.

They’re less talented and out coached and still stay in games at the end.

What are you talking about?! You really think Scott Drew outcoached us?! Did you actually watch the game?! Yeah, that was a brilliant call by Drew with the turnover in the last 30 seconds. YMCA coaches teach their kids not to dribble into the corner on an inbounds full-press play; apparently Drew missed that class.

Texas fans drive me insane!!! They know nothing about the game, so heap all the blame on the coaches. Unbelievable.

They’ve been going through the toughest part of their schedule. They’re going to finish at about 20.

Why would you expect better this year? We are basically a freshman team plus Brown.
They make freshman mistakes, but they are learning and they just gave the #6 team in the country fits.

meatball, don’t think about it. most of them know nothing of football ether, but they keep enlightening the rest of us,

pretty funny, really. sheesh.

Meatball,

I was talking about the season in general. My feelings on Drew are clear on this thread. We’re we not out coached by Self, Martin, Hathe, Michelle obama’s brother? We’ve lost every close game and have no upset victories. You think we’re winning a lot of these coaching battles? You think we’re executing when the game’s on the line? We tied it at 66 and then have up a 7-0 run. If that’s great coaching you’re smarter than me.

If we are a freshman team then why start Wangmanne and chapman? Barnes: please bench your seniors and take the growing pains now. I would watch this team if we rolled out 4 starting freshman and JCB but I won’t if he continues to start those two seniors.

Good call java. Just gets so frustrating. Thanks for walking me back from the ledge.

And yes, great quote: sheesh

Wang and Chap need to have minutes cut drastically from here on out. I will gladly take more losses if it means more playing time and growth for our freshman. I want to know who can play and who should transfer, then reload. I want to know who has potential and who can contribute. This starting Wang/Chap has to stop, we lose anyway. Let the freshman play. Let them play together in the lineup with JCB.

I don’t think Lewis is the answer either. All the others have shown flashes but Lewis. Swing and miss on that one.

MP,

Brown was not always good. He has been a much more complete team player since the latter half of last year.

I like our guards but Kabongo is a frosh and we have no frontline talent. We have hung tough in our games against top 10 teams. What did you guys expect?

Competent play design in the last 2 minutes would be nice.

Mysterious Package, you are a shitty commenter. What the hell happened to BC basketball threads? Or all BC game threads for that matter? Is there a site on the internet with a greater disconnect between the writers and the commenters? I am tired of reading well thought analysis in entertaining and accessible prose only to have most articles take a nose dive in the comments section.

We’re we not out coached by Self, Martin, Hathe, Michelle obama’s brother? We’ve lost every close game and have no upset victories. You think we’re winning a lot of these coaching battles? You think we’re executing when the game’s on the line? We tied it at 66 and then have up a 7-0 run. If that’s great coaching you’re smarter than me.

The lack of experience is a much bigger factor than any coaching mistakes you may perceive. If they make the FTs they’ve been making the last couple of weeks, they had a shot today.

You want to talk about coaching? How can Perry Jones go almost 10 minutes without a point in the second half?

First time, there was like 3 or 4 people posting stream of consciousness during the basketball game. If you want a more interactive place on basketball games burnt orange nation has it. It is a great place for information. But I think texags is more your scene. I bet that’s where you came from.

Well stated First Time Long Time. I was thinking the same thing.

It’s getting old to just chalk up these losses due to lack of experience. The first 4 or 5 yeah I could see that. But overall I’m just not seeing the improvement I think we should be.

Meatball, do you see the irony in coming on here and calling out all longhorn fans? How about actually sticking with the subject on hand. Do you offer any insight or have an opinion on this basketball game or do you just try to take a dump on this thread?

Why the texags blast? Texags is noted for extreme pessimism, calling out specific players for perceived bad play, and generally shitty negativity. I’ll concede that one of us fits the characteristics of a texags poster though.

Btw, Clint Chapman didn’t play well but he has been solid and has shown improvement throughout the year. He was outmanned by both Miller and PJ3 and subsequently got into foul trouble. Alexis never developed the hands necessary to be an offensive option, but he and Chapman, at least overall, play better defense and make less mistakes than the freshman forwards.

MP-
Congrats on making this thread a 4th term abortion like most of the football open threads

Next time hoops is discussed could you leave it to the adults?

This is why we can’t have nice things

This basketball team has lost one game by double digits — at North Carolina. They are playing in the second-best league in the NCAA according to conference RPI rankings. They have lost four of five to the #2,#3 #6 and #22 teams in the country — with three of them on the road.

As for Wangmene and Chapman playing, five of the six freshmen are logging more minutes, and they are the only forwards/centers who have been through the program long enough to actually have some strength to stand in against the much more experienced front lines we are seeing in conference. Both have been out to lunch at time, but they also have contributed to this team on several occasions.

The toughest adjustment for any freshmen is learning to play on muscle memory and not think about what they need to do. This deficiency will show up especially at the end of games, and especially against talented and more experienced teams.

If after having an off-season with our strength & conditioning coach — as well as being joined by top rated recruits — they are making the same mistakes then feel free to bitch about lack of progress.

However if you truly believe that they aren’t making any progress this year then I suggest you simply stop watching. It will be better for your peace of mind.

Well said SSR. Consider also this- texas is 1 of 5 teams in a merica to have lost the production that they did. The other 4 are all well below 500

This team, and their improvemenrt should be celebrated, not mocked.

Also, clint chapman this year is an above average big 12 center, and he would absolutely be I’m every teams rotation at the 4 and 5.

Sometimes the stupid is so thick it burns on these game threads.

We had the ball with a chance to tie on the last possession, on the road, against a top 10 team that also doubles as a nightmare matchup for us, on a day when we got no help from the whistles; our 2 nd and 3rd best players missed over a half due to foul troubles, and we have some on here that want to talk about bad coaching or lack of improvement?!?! It makes me angry to see much of our fanbase hang their stupidty out for all to gawk at on the intertrons.

Dang auto correct on cell phone- appologies

Yall have a classy blog- if I went too far please let me know and I will dial it back

I was actually pulling my punches some from what I wanted to type.

No WL, well said. All of it.

It has been an interesting year in basketball on the blogs. Not much talk about the team itself. All we seem to talk about is how no one is paying attention to this year’s team, how much the fanbase is tired of Barnes, and then internal bickering at each other. It has been an interesting conversation but it hasn’t been a lot of fun.

I have criticized this team, and will continue to do so when it is appropriate. They play well and then they don’t really play well. I think both sides have a point. I like to think that I somehow straddle both sides of the argument, but probably not. The one thing freshmen are going to have trouble with are the nuances of the game. This year’s Texas freshmen demonstrate this characteristic. I didn’t watch much of the game today because I had too many other things to go, but when I did I saw this issue come into play. There weren’t glaring mistakes but tons of little details that added up to just barely losing. An example is Kabongo’s defense. When I was watching he was guarding Heslip (?). The only thing Kabongo should be concerned about is Heslip catching with enough space to shoot. He isn’t going to go by him and do anything, So just one thing to concentrate on. Right after JB hits a 3 to get it to 1 or 2. Baylor comes down and sets a high screen for Heslip who comes around and hits a 3. The problem is Kabongo only gives up that three because he isn’t watching Heslip at all. He is “guarding” him but his head is turned looking towards the lane. His reaction time was just slow enough to allow the shot but if he pays attention, he slips around the screen easily doesn’t even allow the attempt. This isn’t harping. Kabongo wasn’t doing something horrible. It was just a little thing but it gave up a basket at an important time. For the positive, as has been already said, this team hung with a top 10 team on the road and had several chances to take a lead and win.

So the team is very close to winning some big games. And there are subtle things they are going to have to learn to turn close losses to wins. But it is still frustrating to keep losing these games. I think we all feel better once they beat one of these teams. There will be a sign of improvement we can point to. Until then, we should all be yelling hard for them to win and pissed off when they lose. At least that’s what I will be doing.

Good point, Monahorns. It’s also hard to know what his responsibility is for hedging, if his back is hurting, who knows what else.

But I agree, not allowing Heslip any space seems like a no-brainer at that point in the game.

Well while I duck at least I take a position on here. I like JCB and I want the freshman to start. Some call that thinking an abortion, I disagree. I don’t attack other posters for their positions unless it’s clear they have an agenda or lack the basic skill set to make a valid argument. I mean is this a joke to you? If you disagree fine, but just saying this is an abortion or whatever and not bringing anything to the table while making silly off topic remarks is hardly being classy. Yeah I called a player or two for playing like shit, does that mean we can’t have anything nice? This is primarily off topic but some need to remove the sand and provide some insight and stop acting like the band geek who gets wedgies and dumped in the toilet when someone says something you don’t like.

LOSING WILL NOT BE TOLERATED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIRE EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

BiH, you’re right. Who knows what Myck’s responsibility is there. But from my perspective first priority for a shooter is don’t give him space to shoot. You give space to the rest of the team doing that but you take away an option. If ball is away then setting up to help out low is smart, but you have to anticipate the screen. Once the screen is made you have to close space on the shooter early before he gets the ball. If you don’t do that you’ve already conceded the shot which is exactly what the opponent wants.

With that said, Myck didn’t give much space but it was more than enough for Heslip to feel comfortable.

With the offense, it is hard to tell but Lewis needs to be more tentative with the ball and Kabongo needs to be more aggressive. Confidence is the key on offense. Shooters have to be confident with the ball. And handlers need to be decisive. When Kabongo was doing that he looked good. Hell Lewis looked good when he saw a lane and took it in confidently. Some of the problems were just personnel and matchups today though. Baylor was long and there wasn’t much to do inside. Texas had to hit outside shots (confidence) and then work openings inside as Baylor drifted out. That happened some. Next year these same players will be able to capitalize on that more and a 5 point loss will turn into a 5 point win. Not sure where the inside scoring will come from though. More than this year, Bond and Holmes will need to do more down low.

Guys guys, Half the posts on here aren’t even about basketball, it’s about some of you complaining about someones opinion. There were like 40 total during the game. Hell I’m looking and I don’t even see a single score update and some of you actually came here for live updates? Excuse me but that’s just not true. This specific thread was about UT vs Baylor in basketball and while it was, it was pretty clear most of us had opinions during the game and wrote those opinions on here. That is staying on topic. To bad others decided to temporarily come on here call people out for opinions while de railing this thing. The proof is on here and you know who you are. All you had to do was scroll down see the type of comments and either engage in discussion or go somewhere else for game time info. Yet some did neither way to go for reasons I don’t know.

I really like Holmes and Bond. Will we get 4 years out of them? Can never have enough 6-7 with range. I see real potential in those two along with McClelland although with him I’m more wishing than backing that with validation. I think Gibbs serves a purpose as well. I wonder who we have coming next year that will compliment these players. What are our weak links and are those being addressed next year who knows.

I made multiple substantive points. The 4 other teamsa who lost as much production as we did have records around a 300 winning percentage. Chapman is playing at an above average level for a college big. We are super young, have played the toughest stretch of any team in the country and been competitive in every game. You claim you can’t see any progress in that. You don’t seem to understand hoops. Roy williams, jim calhoun and every other coach in the country save few, k and izzo have failed to make the tourney more recently than barnes and still there are calls for his head. It is absurd to expect better than we’ve received from this team. When the 3 from last year declared wee went fromchalk to make the final 4 to a transition year. We’ve been extremely competitive all year. Substantive enough?

Mysterious Package —

I’d be quite surprised if we didn’t get 4 years out of Holmes and Bond. Honestly, I’d be surprised if Bond ever even became a legitimate NBA prospect.

Big picture, if you had told me Texas would be able to play Baylor this close in Waco after I watched both teams play on the opening day of the season, I would not have believed you. I’m quite pleased with the progress this team has shown this year; this is about as well as they could have reasonably been expected to perform this season.