To watch a Texas Longhorn basketball game with me this season was to endure a hail of F-bombs, slurred bitching about how much squandered talent we had, and misguided brags about how I could start for our team (I go Charmin Ultra Soft on the court).
To an extent I'd felt justified in complaining. As a kid, I was used to making the at least the Sweet 16 if not the Elite 8 and being a 3 or 4 seed annually. Of course we'd lose to Kansas throughout the regular season and in the Big XII tournament, but I didn't really mind (alright that was BS I hate them). Even in the seasons that weren't as successful, I'd get to see Kevin Durant drain jump-shots en route to a Naismith POTY award.
Now, there's no doubt about it, Rick Barnes' team this year underperformed. Going from preseason No. 6 to an unranked 11-seed bounced in the first round is a disappointment I hadn't felt since Lil' Wayne dropped The Carter IV (come on, the best on that thing was "Six Foot Seven Foot" and that came out a year before the album). But what Texas fans of this generation don't realize is the abject failure and despair of Texas Basketball before Barnes' arrival.
Try the "Kaiser Bob" Weltlich era for example. Weltlich published an astonishing record of 77-98 during his tenure as the head coach at Texas, reaching the NCAA tournament a grand total of zero times. The highlight of his time in Austin was a single N.I.T. appearance, netting one win there before a second-round loss to Ohio State.
During his infamous 6-22 season, the lack of players on the roster forced Weltlich to convince a male cheerleader to play on the team--similar to the movie Like Mike--except for in this version everyone loses and gets fired. Average attendance per game was around 4,000, or around the amount of active Hoobastank fans.
The next coach, Tom Penders, had a successful run for about 10 years before his players "lost faith in the program." He leaked F Luke Axtell's grades, prompting Axtell to transfer to Kansas as leaking grades is a violation of the Student Privacy Laws put forward by the NCAA.
Still, the 'Horns had never reached a Final Four and had been to the Elite Eight only once. Upon Barnes' arrival, things began to change quickly--in his first season, Barnes lead Texas to its first Big XII championship ever and its first conference championship since the mid-'90s.
In the 2002-2003 season, Texas made its first Final Four. They amassed a 26-7 record on the back of Naismith-Award-winning PG T.J. Ford, beating Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans 85-76 in the Elite Eight. Since then, he has been to the Sweet 16 once and the Elite Eight another two times. Under his reign, two players have had their numbers retired as Naismith winners, and the nature of basketball at the university has undergone permanent change.
Barnes helped to turn Texas basketball from a joke to a legitimate contender. Was it his time to move on? Yes. It's fairly unacceptable that the 2007-2008 season was the last time that Texas has gotten past the first round of the NCAAs. But to run him out of town with pitchforks and torches is spoiled and misinformed.
As for Myles Turner, nobody should have expected him to stay past this season. This is the type of player that would have gone pro straight out of high school if the NBA didn't require a season in between high school and professional basketball.
While he didn't put up flashy numbers (10.1 pts, 6.1 reb, 2.6 blk on .455 pct shooting), which people may attribute to a lack of ability or court awareness, Turner was forced to play out of position on many offensive trips down the floor which no doubt affected his ability to fill out a box score.
His jump shot is not the question; in fact, it is the most lethal part of his offensive game. The lack of off-the-ball movement this season (which could be partially put on Barnes) forced Turner into a lot of turn-around jump shots and awkward looks that he still managed to capitalize on.
But his real skill is on defense--he helped lead the 'Horns to a top-20 defense in the nation (with the help of a cast of other defensive specialists). His 2.6 blk/game was good for 18th in the nation despite only playing 22.2 minutes on average. Though raw and lacking elite explosive athleticism, Turner is a near-guaranteed lottery pick. And don't act like you'd turn down millions of guaranteed dollars to stay another season and risk injury.
I won't sit here and say I didn't moan about the season. But when it comes down to it, the only reason we had high expectations in the first place is because of the job Barnes did with last year's overachieving team and his ability to recruit top-flight talent. It was time to part ways, but don't forget about the resurrection job he engineered over the last two decades.
Twitter @KParkerWomack
