Texas Basketball Report: The Pittman Problem

by Peter Bean on Jan 25, 2007 1:22 PM CST in Texas Longhorns Basketball

After last night's game, we have now decidedly entered a new era which I'm affectionally defining by what I call the Pittman Problem.

First, the thesis:

Without Dexter Pittman on the floor, Texas has a severe frontcourt problem. Damion James, talented and athletic though he may be, is not, and does not play, big enough to truly handle a strong interior team. Kevin Durant is clearly capable of being a tremendous frontcourt player, but cannot be asked to shoulder the team's entire interior load. Connor Atchley is simply not strong enough. Matt Hill may or may not wear panties beneath his shorts. (Though we do know that's where he keeps his mouthpiece.)

The solution to Texas' frontcourt problems is not a year away, however. He's here already, and his name is Dexter Pittman. He is tall. He is gigantic. He has tremendous hands, and isn't afraid - even a little bit - of anyone. He is one of the most physically imposing big men in college basketball.

However, Pittman is a faux solution, because though he fixes one problem perfectly, he creates another. Namely: Texas cannot be the running, gunning transition team that the rest of the team is built to be. Further, by becoming a half court team, we are exposed to Rick Barnes' half court offense; which is to say, no half court offense at all.

This, fellow Texas fans, is the Pittman Problem. He solves one problem, but creates another. The best thing about this Texas team is its ability to run like the Phoenix Suns. The worst thing about this team is that there exists no interior presence - like an Amare Stoudemire - to keep physically imposing teams honest. Pittman provides that presence, but kills our ability to be like the Suns, and makes us play more like the Spurs. Except that Rick Barnes can't coach half court offense.

And round and round we go.

What to do?

It's going to take some experimentation, but the biggest challenge for the remainder of Rick Barnes' regular season will be figuring out the best way to use Big Dexter. My personal recommendation would be to see how much we can continue to run and gun with Pittman in there. He'll get gassed quickly, no doubt, but that just means Rick will have to be creative with his substitution patterns.

Really, the entire solution lies with Rick experimenting with his substitution patterns. Rick needs to try a little Dex here, a little there, playing him with one rotation, trying him with another, until we see what, exactly, works best.

It might be that Texas should have two primary rotations. The first rotation is the DJ-Durant-James group that pushes the tempo and plays Phoenix Suns basketball. The second rotation is a Mason-Abrams-Pittman rotation that features a slower, half-court set. Mason - who's not a bad halfcourt player at all - could work the ball inside to Pittman, who can work his man for an interior basket. If the double team comes, the ball kicks out to Mason-Abrams for perimeter shooting. Simple, elementary, half-court basketball. Stuff a high school team can master.

All the solutions, at this point, are speculative in that regard. We won't know what works best until Rick tries out different things. The one thing we do know - beyond a doubt, I'd argue - is that Rick can't wait any longer to start working through the Pittman problem. AW and I have been clamoring for some time now about playing Pittman for this very reason: it was obvious that he was going to have to be relied upon, and probably best to figure out what you can do with him early, rather than late. But here we are. No time to play shoulda-coulda... We're now in the midst of the Pittman Problem, and it's imperative that Rick try everything to figure out what works best.

It's his most important coaching job left this season. The rest will take care of itself.

--PB--

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Comments

Paradox

"Really, the entire solution lies with Rick experimenting with his substitution patterns. Rick needs to try a little Dex here, a little there, playing him with one rotation, trying him with another, until we see what, exactly, works best."

That's what the pre-conference season is for. I don't disagree with your post - I think your logic is correct. It will take experimentation to solve this problem (paradox?). But I thought that's what the period before Big 12 play was supposed to accomplish.

Living where I do, I didn't get to see a lot of the pre-conference games like most of you. I'm sure Pittman played quite a bit in that time. But if you're still trying to find the answer to this problem one month into the conference schedule, you probably should have played him a lot more in November-December.

by beast in bama on Jan 25, 2007 3:02 PM CST reply actions

Couldn't agree more

Which is why I mentioned in the post that AW and I have been clamoring for this for a long time.

Like, since December.

--PB--

by Peter Bean on Jan 25, 2007 3:06 PM CST up reply actions

Worried about rankings?

Do you think Rick was more worried about where this team was in the polls than with getting his chemistry set right? He had to see this coming, I'd like to think.

by beast in bama on Jan 25, 2007 3:18 PM CST up reply actions

I can't explain it

I suppose there was some concern about Dexter's conditioning, though I can't imagine why playing him in a game wouldn't be a nice way to compliment his workouts.

And there was, I'm sure, the desire to develop his starting five.

But there were countless wasted minutes with Matt Hill, and, more importantly, plenty of opportunities to work Big Dex hard against teams there would be little doubt we'd beat. Like Texas Southern, or Texas State, or Centenary. And so on.

Barnes made a mistake here. No doubt about it.

--PB--

by Peter Bean on Jan 25, 2007 3:22 PM CST up reply actions

Thanks PB

Love the blog. Long time reader, relatively new poster.

I've followed Rick's career since he worked for Wimp in Tuscaloosa. He can sure coach up some defense, but he's also been known to make his fair share of mistakes. I agree that this is one of them.

by beast in bama on Jan 25, 2007 3:43 PM CST reply actions

Weight issue

Pittman was still trying to lose the weight early in the season. Rick could have played him a little bit in the early blowout games, but I think he and Dex had a deal that Dex had to get under 290 before he would get playing time in conference play.

Also, we can maybe say now that Barnes "wasted time" with Hill, but how could you know that from the beginning? I would think that you'd WANT to get him some experience and PT, see what he can do.

Barnes had a tough job this season with such a young team, there was a lot of experimenting early on (and it's ongoing).

by SelimSivad on Jan 25, 2007 3:59 PM CST reply actions

Mistakes?

You are talking about a guy who has lost almost 100 lbs since August. This is something that Barnes should have anticipated?
PB, you are getting a little preachy considering you have not been in practice and know what kind of minutes Pittman can really give.
The guy was a project coming in and he has made good progress, but lets not talk like we knew at the beginning of the season, or even really know now what Pittman can contribute to this team.

Second, you cant have DJ and KD off of the court for an extended amount of time, it will kill your offense, even if you have Pittman in there.

by Wells on Jan 25, 2007 4:15 PM CST reply actions

You can't run on every possesion

One question I have is this horns team a running team? Durant dribbles the ball high and loses it way to much. Abrams is to small and timid to finish. James has hands of stone and can't catch on the run. Mason and DJ are the only two that I would call good at running and penetrating. The rest of the team is worse. So who decided the best thing for this team was to run?
Running, that seems to be Barnes default set, in place of a top college offensive strategy. That's Barnes weakness it may not be this teams. With Pittman and KD as scorers and James as the designated rebound specialist, that is a top flight front court for overwhelming most teams defensive talent. They could also be a great defensive front court with height ,size and athleticism to match any team in the NCAA.
Then you have the inside out shooting of Abrams, DJ and Mason for teams that try to close down the big guys up front.
These guys aren't gray hounds their heavy weights who can go toe to toe with anyone.
There is only one problem, can Barnes lead that kind of team?

xerxes

by Xerxes on Jan 25, 2007 5:15 PM CST reply actions

Bingo

Running is the default option, Xerxes.

It's better than the stand around half court mess :)

--PB--

by Peter Bean on Jan 25, 2007 6:01 PM CST up reply actions

Run with four

Even if Dexter can't run with the others, he can start the break when he gets the rebound or slow down an opponent to allow the others to go four on four. And he can certainly make it down the court in time to rebound.

by Caradoc on Jan 27, 2007 1:36 AM CST reply actions