Postgame Wrap: Texas Blows Out A&M
by Peter Bean on Feb 19, 2008 11:11 AM CST
in Texas Longhorns Basketball
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PrintGame Recap: Texas wins 77-50. We hit our early shots. We defended well. They did not hit their shots, early or ever. They did not defend well.
And there you have it. Oversimplified, but basically all you need to know. The defense is the real key, helping us not only in the obvious ways (keeping points off the board), but also incidentally, allowing our free-flowing to offense to - well, to flow a little easier. It's much easier to defend well after made baskets, and last night A&M didn't have many of those.
The outcome was: Perfect. No need to elaborate here. This was what we wanted.
Stat Of The Game #1: 12 blocks, Texas. Four from Damion and three more from the machine that is Connor Atchley. At some point during last night's telecast ESPN flashed a stat showing Atchley as the conference's top shot blocker; I'm not the least bit surprised.
Stat Of The Game #2: 1-14 3Pt FG, A&M. Remember when this was our achilles heel? Not lately, as Rick Barnes has done a nice job adjusting the way we help and the way we rotate to close out on shooters. This isn't just a matter of teams missing open shots; we're defending better.
The Offensive MVP was: DJ Augustin. No question about it this time around, as DJ erupted from his scoring slump with a 27 point, 9 assist, 3 turnover ball game. That's All American production. If we get that from DJ down the stretch, we have a fine chance of winning out the rest of the regular season.
The Defensive MVP was: Damion James. Think he was motivated by his lackluster showing in College Station? Me, too.
A Few More Things: 1. A note on AJ. Though Abrams didn't have a memorable night on offense, the key stat for me wasn't that he missed six of his eight shots, it's that he only took eight shots. It wasn't long ago when AJ was regularly shooting 12-15 times per game, whether he was getting good looks or not. He forced two shots early in the first half, but played within the offense the rest of the way. Defensively, he gave us his best effort of the season. That's how you justify 30+ minutes a game.
2. We're seeing frontcourt depth emerge. Now that Gary's looking comfortable out on the floor (8 points, 7 boards in 23 minutes), we're exhibiting some frontcourt depth that bodes well for the rest of the season. WingMan and Chappy are taking baby steps forward, but forward they go. And Dexy keeps flashing signs of being on the cusp of a big breakthrough. James and Atchley are critical, but being able to spell them some sure helps.
3. On the flipside, the guard depth remains a concern. The one thing you still have to worry about with this team is a game in which DJ Augustin gets in foul trouble. Mason's fine to run the point... so long as DJ's also out on the floor. We can survive with Abrams or Mason in foul trouble by going big, but Texas fans should tremble with fear if we find ourselves in a game in which DJ's on the bench due to foul trouble or injury.
Initial Postgame Notes
Box Score
NEXT GAME: Home vs. Oklahoma – Saturday 2/23 2:30 p.m. ABC
--PB--
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OU game on ABC
Anyone know if it's national or regional? Specifically, will I be able to watch at home in Virginia, or will I get Georgia Tech vs. Miami or some such nonsense?
the other regional game
is oregon/ucla so i'm guessing folks in NoVA and the rest of the eastern seaboard would get ou/texas. unless, of course, abc still thinks oregon is worth a shit, in which case they'll beam that one to more of the "neutral" areas. if they do that, it's fucking criminal.
by LonghornRoadTrip on Feb 19, 2008 3:50 PM CST up reply actions
Understatement of the Week
"Gary's looking comfortable out on the floor."
The man is a beast. He has developed before our eyes in a matter of weeks. His aggressiveness last night was tireless, breathtaking. I was surprised when I checked the stat sheet and saw he'd made only 8 points. Seemed more than that the way he was hitting.
What a gift he is to this team, and how timely his arrival.
Couple of Thoughts
That was, by far, the most complete win of the year. We ran A&M out of the gym and this team has me seriously thinking of Final Four.
I'm with you PB that the key for this team is getting to Houston, whether a number one or two seed. If we get in the Houston Bracket you can, almost, pencil in a birth to San Antonio, unless Memphis is in our bracket.
The way we played this game makes me wish we can have that Wisconsin game back. God, I wish we won that game, that was such a winnable game and a game that we blew. We would have an even sicker resume if we wont that game.
The OU game could be a potential trap game because we might be caught looking ahead to K-State. The only way we can lose that game is if we shoot like low 30 percent. We should handle them with ease and set up a huge Big Monday matchup with K-State, with the conference title, potentially, on the line.
I am so pysched and estatic about last night. It was a beautiful thing to watch.
Go 'Horns.
by BarcaFan on Feb 19, 2008 1:05 PM CST reply actions
Question
How mindful will the selection committee be that Houston and San Antonio are both in our backyard, so sending Texas to Houston could (to some) be an unfair advantage? Does that make Houston less likely?
as a #2 seed, yes
that doesn't mean they won't do it, but it will certainly play into the committee's thinking that they're giving a 2-seed semi-home-court advantage over a 1-seed.
I think
In that respect (giving semi-home-court to #2 over #1) I think Texas fans would outnumber Memphis fans at any location except for Detroit. With a fan base as loyal and numerous as Texas' it would be difficult for Mempis to outdraw us.
Plus they proved last year they can win in Texas against a Texas team (Ags) in the Dance. That was in Texas, wasn't it? I can't really remember anymore. I just remember sitting in Hut's, eating a #7, and watching Acie choke the game away.
There's precedent
Like... 2007, when UCLA got the #2 seed out West. The game was in San Jose, which is a decent equivalent of us getting shipped to Houston.
Yes but where was the final?
Texas getting a seed to Houston with the final in San Antonio .. is there precedent for a double blessing such as that, I wonder?
but you have to remember
that seeds are only protected in the first round....of course, that didn't "protect" texas very well in MFing spokane last season.
as mentioned below, ucla had home court in SJ last year over a kansas team that was squeezed out by OSU and memphis.
by LonghornRoadTrip on Feb 19, 2008 3:47 PM CST up reply actions
Defensive rotation
Last night the rotation to the ball was outstanding - about as good as ANY team I've seen so far this season. That'll keep the opponent's scores low and the shot block totals high - and that's a very good combination. If we play defense like this in the tournament, we'll be very difficult for anyone to beat.
That win over Kansas seems to have done a lot for this team's confidence. They played with a real killer instinct last night.
abrams
i'd completely forgotten about his forced shots early in the game, as his limited number of looks on the night made him kind of fade into the background. as you mentioned, i like that a.j. hit a few key threes when needed, and keep the ill-advised running threes with a defender in the face to....one or two a game.
by LonghornRoadTrip on Feb 19, 2008 3:48 PM CST reply actions
Defensive MVP
I think was Mason. He was all over the place last night keeping the A&M guards from getting open looks and he does a nice job in the paint on backside rebounds among the bigs. I think since the A&M loss he's the one who took it upon himself to raise his level of defensive play and now it's catching across the team. It used to be that if Mason didn't hit his first shot, he disappeared from the game. Now, he dominates the defensive court which frees AJ and DJ to focus on offense.
Also, Barnes did a nice job playing 3 bigs at a time during the game. It really neutralized A&M and Turgeon never answered. I've always considered Barnes a great recruiter, teacher and program manager. If he keeps improving in X's and O's, we may start winning that conference tourney and, who knows, we may start winding up in the Final 4 more than once a century.
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