Horns Play Terribly, Show Incredible Heart, Still Lose

by billyzane on Jan 31, 2009 6:16 PM CST in Basketball Comment 19 comments

Denis Clemente somehow managed to beat the entire Texas team 1-on-5 today, scoring 44 points. The Longhorns played absolutely terribly for the first 30 minutes of this game before turning up the defensive pressure with a full court press and engineering a spectacular comeback before falling just short in overtime. The full court press was a great call by Barnes because even when KSU beat it, they were up by so much that they didn't take easy shots, instead choosing to pull back and kill clock. It worked as long as it could.

Great effort during that second half run by the entire team, with special accolades for Mason and Ward. Texas had been playing simply terribly but didn't fold when they were down 17 points. Instead they fought back, full well knowing that it probably would never be enough. And it wasn't quite enough today, with Clemente drilling everything he saw, but the very fact that the Horns took this game into overtime is a victory in itself. That doesn't excuse how unbelievably badly they played in all facets of the game for the first 30 minutes, but it's something to admire about this team.

Full recap is coming from txtwstr7 tomorrow, but feel free to talk about the game in the comments until then.

[Update by billyzane, 02/01/09 12:49 PM EST ] KenPom's data from the K-State game is out and, following up on the "tempo" discussion from my preview, the number of possessions per 40 minutes was 76. As I said in the preview, over 70 was going to put us in a dogfight and it did, as it put our offensive efficiency at the third lowest of any game this season.

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Great comeback

When the game went into overtime, I was sure the outcome would be in Texas’ favor. Good luck the rest of the way.

We'll carry the banner high!
Bring On The Cats

by TB on Jan 31, 2009 7:18 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Conor Atchley= failure

my first born shall be named vy

by hookemkp on Jan 31, 2009 8:18 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

yea right

I shouted “please dont go into overtime!!!” cause I knew there was no way we were gonna continue that offensive play into OT. Our offense is atrocious to say the least!

by greenspointexas on Jan 31, 2009 8:28 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Oooouuuuuuuuualaalallaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!11aaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Wow. That was difficult to watch. I was so excited that it got to overtime. I thought we were gonna pull it out. Foul trouble and more pooooooooooooooooor shooting ended that thinking.

Really tough home loss to stomach. Clemente was unbelievable to watch…6-of-6 from downtown, jeebus.

Hook ’em!

by jimmer on Jan 31, 2009 8:50 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

There is no excuse for this team

to play this horrible. They should take nothing out of this that is positive and I hate that we have to sit through the apologist talk about the comeback instead of focusing on the real issues with this team. This team needs its ass kicked by Rick I guess. Terrible fundamentals collide with average talent. Just a poor combination.

Atchley needs to be kicked off the team and his scholarship revoked. Ward and Balby don’t have enough talent between the two of them to equal an adequate point guard that a top 15 should have. Chapman and Hill….just wow.

I don’t know what the solution is to turn this debacle around. I don’t think Rick is the problem (except for recruiting some of these failures) so the reason for sucking could be 1) lack of talent and/or 2) insufficient hustle. I suspect a combination of both but what really kills me is lack of hustle which helps explain Rick’s bulging forehead vein today.

We all knew this team was not a final 4 team this year but this is embarrassing. I would rather cut our losses with the players who can’t play at this level and send them on their way. I ‘d rather see a bunch of 5’7 guys with heart than some of these wastes of space. How can you have a team with Gary and Damion working their asses off playing next to Atchley???

I have read that Rick has some major talent coming in the next few years. Good. Maybe we can stop recruiting guys like Balby. I just hope they have the heart and desire to win that James and Johnson show. We have enough dead weight on this team as it is.

by UT2001 on Jan 31, 2009 10:24 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Tell us how you really feel

It doesn't matter if you win or lose, as long as you come in first.

by Super Saiyan Patrick on Jan 31, 2009 10:35 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Obvious over-reaction. .nt whills

by Horn Brain on Jan 31, 2009 10:36 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

4 hours after the game! I wonder how he felt immediately after the game?

by whodat on Jan 31, 2009 10:47 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Better stop watching

I’d strongly suggest that you take a step back from the ledge and also stop watching UT basketball, at least for this season. We don’t have a true point guard and aren’t going to find one between now and March. Balbay is the closest one we’ve got and he is still a long way away, including the development of a jump shot. Connor is still as lost as you suggest but the fifth year senior won’t be kicked off the team any time soon. He could be relegated to the bench but no one behind him has exactly earned a starting job either. James and Johnson will continue to hustle but both will probably miss free throws at the worst possible moments and take ill-advised and forced jumpers when passing would be a better option.

You are totally wrong about Ward. He was pretty freaking good yesterday. There is a reason he was out there for most of the second half and all of overtime. The kid has more heart and toughness than just about anyone on the team. When he adds a reliable jump shot, he’ll be a big time contributor over the next three seasons.

As for the future, it is bright. Hamilton, Bradley, and Williams will add a ton to this team in the fall and Lucas will join the team as the only true point guard in December. That all sounds great but we also will be without AJ, James, and Connor. This team has a real chance to be great next season but with that many key contributors leaving and true freshman getting lots of playing time, it will take time next season to develop chemistry and consistency.

So, if you don’t mind seeing a team rely on defense to win, if you don’t mind seeing a poor shooting team clank jumpers from all over the court, and if you don’t mind seeing the Horns play in tight game against supposed “inferior” teams, then stick around, cause we’ve got 10 conference games to go.

--AW--

by awiggo on Feb 1, 2009 10:01 AM CST up reply actions 4 recs

Just getting caught up, but c'mon man.

I'll never forget ol' what's-his-name.

by Horntod on Feb 1, 2009 3:45 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Every player learns from mistakes,

and yes most repeat them anyway..This team is GOOD. not great..but GOOD. They’ve got heart and hustle..It takes hustle to come back from 17 against a D-1 opponent. Not a season breaker, they just need to learn from their mistakes and come back focused..Anybody think KSU is better than Baylor? I sure don’t and we outplayed Baylor. Yes the offense needs work, but with the exception of Klye Mcalarny and Clemente shooting lights out two games out of the year, we’ve played pretty good if not great defense all season. The season is still young..Everybody wants a football playoff so a team can lose one game and it doesn’t ruin their season correct? The season is way young still folks.
Hook Em.

by jacobb23 on Jan 31, 2009 10:58 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Wow bad game

but come on the teams issues are well documented at this point, shouldn’t shock anyone.

This team is good fundamentally. They play good defense, they get in good position to score, you can see it every time. They just arent polished enough offensively and waste too many scoring opportunities. Its hard to think of an appropriate analogy. Maybe like a girl with an ugly face. Everything generally looks good but when you see the face it kind of ruins it

by owenh on Feb 1, 2009 12:14 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

No moral victories from this one

I didn’t get to watch most of the game. I saw our comeback at the end and then OT. Just a horrible game to watch. They say sometimes “We won because we wanted it more.” In this case it was more like we wanted to lose it more.

Sad thing is I’m not really that pissed off anymore. I’ve said before my expectations is pretty much getting to the 2nd round of the tournament. Just getting to the Sweet 16 with this team would be a huge accomplishment (Barnes for President) IMO.

I give them credit for coming back from 17 pts, but they were at home (surprisingly good crowd at least from TV), and had no business being blown out at any point to Kansas State. Who the hell is Clemente. Just inexplicable. Had more than half their points.

Of course we once again had problems on offense. 4-17 from three (10 misses from AJ), missing 14 FTs in a game that goes to OT, and 20 turnovers. Yet with all those mistakes, we scored 74 points in regulation. I’d take that any day with this offense. You’d think our great defense would be able to contain teams to 70 or less.

Also, Barnes playing Pittman just 15 minutes bothered me. I know Pittman had some struggles with turnovers, but I think he regrets not having him in there to get free throw rebounds. How pathetic was Connor in that inability to rebound the missed FT at the end when he had his man boxed out? Unreal.

James is a solid defender I think, but this is the 2nd time now where I’ve seen him play terrible clutch defense. First, recall the Arkansas game where he let Washington blow by him and then posterize him. This time, he let Brown get an open look, and made the GW three. I know it was a lucky shot, off a totally broken play, but James should’ve recognized the clock was winding down, and could’ve made an attempt to get a hand in his face. It was pretty sad that Brown got a completely open look.

We’re not a top 15 team. We should be in the lower 20’s to upper teens. Andy Katz was right today when he said Kansas has a better chance of catching OU than us. This loss pretty much kills any chances of a Big XII regular season championship (not that I had those expectations anyway). And we move on….

by goingforthecorner on Feb 1, 2009 12:27 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

yes this team

has some severe inadequacies that cannot be out-schemed or coached up. They do try at least, you can see the effort, the sum of their parts just isnt that great

by owenh on Feb 1, 2009 12:47 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

A point guard would help!

A point guard would do wonders for this team.

by jhwutx74 on Feb 1, 2009 9:39 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Is the play degenerating ?

It seems like the periods of bad play are growing and those good periods of each game are getting shorter?
Maybe the other teams are improving as the season goes along and the Horns aren’t keeping up.
How many possessions does a team get in an average game 40+, if you have 20 turnovers your pretty cutting your own throat add to that having only one good jump shooter and are dead last in the conference in 3 point shot percentage and 11th of 12 in overall shooting percentage.
Leading the conference in rebounding and blocked shots and having a low turnover to assist ratio is not going to do much if you can’t score.
If this team can’t stop the other team from scoring it not going to win because it is worse at scoring than anyone they play.

by Xerxes on Feb 1, 2009 11:45 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Is there something else at work here?

Your comment brings up a consideration that has occurred with Rick: too much practice and/or too hard practices. When a team practices too hard, particularly late in the season, the legs start going dead more quickly. No matter the enthusiasm, such teams wear down late in the game. Their concentration is minimal through out the course of the game, and the incidence of errors – TOs, bad passes, poor shots, and the range of poor judgmental decisions – increases, often compounded by frustration. The players are fighting themselves as much as the other team.

If a team is tired but enthusiastic – up for the game – it will have rallies, it will fight, even late, to stay in the game.

If the team is tired but not enthusiastic, you get a range of judgmental errors and ragged if not outright atrocious play.

I don’t know if this was the case; I was able to listen to the last part of the first half, which sounded horrible, and the last 10 minutes and the OT. They were better but just couldn’t seem to overcome themselves and KSU.

I can understand Rick pushing the team hard because they have so many areas where they need improvement, both team-wise and individually. For him, the day probably isn’t long enough to accomplish what he needs. For the players, it’s hell on wheels.

The last element from such practices is the assimilation factor. Just because it is taught, doesn’t mean it is implemented into play. In track, conditioning work takes about two weeks or so to show improved times or smoother technique. I’m sure there is such a lag factor in basketball just as well. And the contrary factor is that when players are tired, they lapse into old habits and poor decisions.

With the end of the season 10 games away, roughly four to five weeks remain to get what teaching and polish that can be achieved. So, what we might be seeing is a cycle of teaching where the Horns seemingly play inexplicably poorly, and then periods when they catch up with the learning curve, assimilate the lessons, and play great. In between, they’re just trying to stay on the court and stay alive, caught between Barnes’ will and the opposing teams.

Not seeing that many games this year, those of you with eyes-on experience would have better insight. My intuitive judgment is that this team, with its disparate elements and no point guard, just has bigger cyclical swings than most of Barnes’ teams. A point guard like DJ can really smooth out the curve, a great shooter can save the bacon, but when you have neither, each end of the cycle is amplified to some degree.

I think AJ has a psychological block. His slump is one that’s really hurting; it’s as much that he isn’t a serious outside threat as that he isn’t producing the points. I think the cold truth of the upcoming NBA draft has stolen into his psyche and he knows there’s little chance for him, which is something we seem to understand here, but he and his family didn’t with their almost Pollyanna outlook. I hate taking a shot at a player like that, one who has contributed so much in four years, but something is out of sync. Hopefully, he will rally, realize that what will be will be and do the best he can and let that stand as his final testament.

Lotta bones to chew on. This team really does remind me of the 2007 football team.

by whills on Feb 1, 2009 1:08 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Still worried

Some disturbing numbers in the box score:

- 20 turnovers, mostly inside (Johnson 4, James 3, Pittman 3). Most of these because the player could not hold on to the ball.
- 57 personal fouls, 74 free throws. This was not a particularly hard fought game. Just bad refs.
- 3 point percentage, Kstate 67, Texas 23. AJ shoots us out of the game.
- 44 points for Clemente. Every so often a player goes off against us and has a career game. Can’t explain it.

But for all that we managed OT. At that point, we should have brought Pittman back

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.

by Caradoc on Feb 1, 2009 12:03 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I still think we're a great defensive team

but lately the hole in our D appears to be at the guard position. We had no answer for Clemente, and Austin Johnson killed us too in the OU game. If we run into guard play like that, we could be one and done in the big dance.

by goingforthecorner on Feb 1, 2009 12:23 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs