What Rick Barnes Needs to Do
by RMHorn on Feb 9, 2009 1:59 PM CST
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PrintThis team SHOULD be in the NCAA tournament, but they’ve not played like an NCAA tournament team since conference play started. And if they play the next month like they’ve played the last two months they WON’T be in the NCAA tournament, even though they have more than enough talent and the early season record to be there. Therein lies the rub: an under-performing team, out of character for RB (at least as far as the regular season goes).
RB should:
- Sit Atchley instead of trying to be Counselor Troi to him. He won’t be back next year and he’s not contributing to this season, so let him ride the pine and let Chapman and Hill compete for the time. Give them both a set of criteria they’ll be evaluated on and whoever is better starts, the other plays off the bench.
- Dogus is in the Dog(ho)us(e). He’s young, he’s wholly unfamiliar with US-style hoops. He may have future potential, but until he decides to follow his coach’s instructions to the letter he rides the pine. He’s not good enough to freelance, especially when his teammates aren’t on the same page and he ends up turning the ball over recklessly, multiple times each and every game. He’s a fast dribbler and passes the bb around faster than most, but he’s inattentive and a horrible shooter. Since he’s young RB may be able to develop him into something better. But he’s earned nothing yet, certainly not a starter role, the other young guys should get as much, if not more time on the court to develop, learn and earn the roll.
- Abrams has the most combined talent and experience on the team this season. But for the team “shooter’ to have a 37% season average, 33% in conference is inexcusable. I know coaches always say you need to let shooters shoot through slumps. But when does a slump become a player’s season par? Whether or not teams are doubling him and in his face AJ has not been on the mark all season long, with few exceptions. Expectations of Conner were raised last year when he had a handful of breakout games; but nobody confused him for a shooter. AJ has had as many "breakout” games this season as Conner did last; but he’s still considered the shooter? AJ had NBA fantasies at the end of last year and broke up the team chemistry when he and his daddy wanted their egos stroked by prematurely testing the NBA. If he thinks defenses in the NBA will be easier to overcome than what he’s facing right now he really is delusional. NBA talent is able to fight through what the other guys throw at you. If I’m RB I tell AJ "look, it may seem like a raw deal that other teams are able to double you up and defend you almost to the exclusion of the rest of the team, but if you really want to play in the bigs you’ve got to elevate your game that much more – ‘cause in the NBA the other guys are all bigger than you, all just as fast, all of ’em know how to play defense better than anything you’re facing today. Your future is in your hands, either you find a way to get it done and prove to the scouts you’ve got it; or you go play in the European leagues; or you sell life insurance. In the meantime I don’t leave him in 40 minutes, Ward gets in for at least 7 minutes that AJ’s not.
- Dexter should play much more. And he should be allowed to foul out. If he gets into foul trouble early RB should leave him in. If he fouls out so be it. He needs to learn how to play without fouling so much, yet still be effective and not unnecessarily avoid contact. Let him get his 5th playing ball, not waste away on the bench with 4. He’s gotta learn and what better way than learning under the pressure of a real game with real foul out consequences. Pittman seems like a real good kid who wants to please his coach and teammates as much as he wants to feel good about his own effort. Let him fall off that bicycle and get some cuts and bruises. He’ll get the hang of it.
- Gary Johnson is an animal when he wants to be. I’ve watched him dominate the middle and his eyes glow red when he gets in a groove. If there’s a tonic RB can brew that brings out the Mr. Hyde in him for 25 minutes then he needs to be a’brewin. An angry Gary is a good Gary as far as I’ve seen. RB has to be Patches and Gary has to be Gordon (Dodgeball).
- Mason & James. Both these guys have regressed without a true team leader. In the absence of a leader on the floor RB has to fill that void with his own leadership. M&J have the talent to provide quality minutes in their respective rolls. But if RB has defined clearly what those rolls are it’s not obvious. RB needs to narrow down what he expects of them, but then expect they’ll perform those duties flawlessly. They’re trying to do too much, and not succeeding at doing anything well. They need focus and more definition.
- Ward has a ton of potential. The season is such that Texas can afford to develop him for next season now. The team is not going anywhere this year, and losing to OSU on Tuesday or CU on Saturday will send them to the NIT, regardless. It’s time to get Ward the playing time and experience he’ll need to be an impact player next year when the posse arrives. He can be a young leader to next year’s freshmen and incoming transfer IF more is expected of him this year. Sure, he’ll make his share of mistakes, but as long as he is learning from them, and not making the same mistakes over and over (like Balbay continues to) he should get more and more playing time – even let him get a big taste of the conference tournament so he learns what stepping it up to the next level looks like.
- Chapman & Hill. Let ‘em compete for Conner’s minutes.
- Smith. Still a great unknown to me. Does he have anything? If not it must be nice to ride the bench and get four years of free school with no expectation of contributing anything in return. When UT was a weak program we had plenty of these guys littering the bench. As RB has succeeded he’s had fewer and fewer of these guys with splinters and bruises in their asses. If RB is asking himself what he’s paid for in reserving a spot for Smith he needs to find out. If he’s got game he needs to play like it when he’s in. If he approaches his minutes like they’re only junk minutes he’s filling then we’ll get more of the same. If he believes coach expects more maybe he’ll give more. RB should leave it crystal clear that he expects more. Otherwise, Harrison gets a four-year degree paid for just by being a junk minute cleanup guy. Every team has one like him, heck, that’s what we all thought Conner was until last season surprised us (but this season he’s back to form). Does Smith have a spurt in him to help?
All comments, FanPosts, and FanShots are the views of the reader-authors who create them.
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What the hell happened to CA
Went from one of my favorite players to a walking disaster over the summer.
Anyways, I especially like the ideas about DP. Big guy sitting on the bench all game with four fouls is just as good is sitting on the bench with five. Give him a chance!
This posting is really about each player, but all in all, Texas needs to make the transition to having a dominant inside game. Every opponent has figured out that they can just double up on Abrams… Our little guard needs to be an outlet threat, not the main feature.
I'm not gonna lie
I’d like to have Harrison Smith’s position. Four years of college + front row seats to every Longhorns’ basketball game for free. Plus he probably balls better than I do.
Johnson, Mason, James, Abrams
They’re the core of Texas’ talent and experience. The solution to this slump has got to come from them. Disappointing that AJ hasn’t emerged as the leader and heart of this team.
i think its clear
that Abrams has ZERO nba potential. Agree about Connor – give the minutes to somebody who’ll be around next year.
Don't agree with comment about Balbay
I think Balbay has enough talent to help out this team. We’ve seen flashes of brilliance this team. Making an error in a game shouldn’t cause him to be benched for the rest of the game. They really needed him against Missouri and he was sitting on the bench in the doghouse. RB has to realize that his players are going to make mistakes.
Lets review
- Don’t play Atchley for the rest of the season
Atchley has his best game since Rice coming off the bench. At least you go the bench Atchley part right.
-Dogus Certainly not a starter
Dogus starts, plays most of the game and leads the team to the highest scoring of the season, 7 assists, 10 points, 2 steals, 2 rebounds, 1 turnover in 33 minutes
-Abrams will go play in Europe
4 for 5 from the 3, but will still probably be playing in Europe when all is said and done.
-Dex should play more
Dex only had 1 foul in his 10 minutes of action, but played hard in his limited action and got 6 points as a good change of pace.
-Manson and James need focus
Both seemed focused in their solid performances.
-Ward should play more than Dogus
Contributed solid minutes, but not better than Dogus
-Chap and Hill should compete for Atchley’s minutes
Chap and Hill competed for who was going to score in the clean up time.
-Does Smith have a spurt
Can’t hit a open three in clean up minutes.
Premature
Look, I LOVED the outcome of the game. If the worst thing about this season ends up being I was wrong and the Horns pull it together I’d be grinning from ear to ear. I HOPE tonight was a preview of what’s to come.
All too often on BON this season I’ve noticed the cheerfulness and giddiness of a good game has been premature. Sorry, but I thought the boasting and swagger that started showing up here after beating Baylor was premature. It’s not like the Bears are a great to good team. They’re a good to average team. But Texas has been pantsed the past three games, two of ’em at home and all against previously unranked teams.
Tonight was nice. But I get to see this team in Boulder on Saturday and I’ve got great tickets right behind the bench. This kind of win should help with any confidence issues they were having. But I’ve seen several highly ranked UT squads get beat by unranked CU teams this past decade. CU played OU tough and has been getting better. Their coach has been a winner everywhere he’s been in Colorado at the pro and college level. He’ll get them turned around one of these days. Beating UT would do that for them so they’ll be plenty motivated.
I HATE going into work the next morning after CU beats UT at anything. And it happens most often in Men’s BB. I’ll be pulling for Texas to do a repeat performance this weekend. But any kind of “I told you so” after one game is pretty lame. See how it all plays out before crowing. The difference is if you have cause to crow I’ll be happy ‘cause we’re winning, but if I have cause to crow every reader would question my team loyalty if I actually did. Not my bag, man.
Glad we're on the same team
I think your analysis of this team and this blog’s coverage of this team has been utter horsesh*t, but at the end of the day, we’re both rooting for the same team. Let’s focus on that and hope we’re all happy after the game in Boulder on Saturday.
Hook ’em
--PB--
Hard to resist after that game
I hear what your saying too early to tell, but to me it looks like Balbay is the missing piece. Good luck in Boulder. You should print out your FanPost and give a copy to Rick before the game.
I have to say this
Was A Fan Post Or Fan Shot, or whatever it was, but it wasn’t a main post. Sorry, but the posts on the right side of this page from fans, not the main guys, don’t really interest me much – they’re usually devoid of information I deem reliable, and don’t contain information I’m all that intrigued by, so, I can’t say as I read them regularly – the title has to catch my eye. [RMHorn]’s post was nice, but not information I give as much weight to as PB’s or AW’s, or what they deem worthy of moving from the Fan Post section to the main screen shot area.
link
Exactly!
Proves my earlier point: my Fan Post really isn’t all that interesting and is not deemed reliable by many who read BON, “utter horsesh*t” it’s been called. I’ve freely admitted I don’t get to see UT play much up here and my basketball knowledge is limited. I read attitudes, body language, motivations, intangibles, management of personnel, etc. much better than I know the sport itself. If one of my Fan Posts actually made the main screen shot area I’d think less of BON ;)
One exception: When the football team travels to Wyoming in September we’re putting together charter buses from Denver to Laramie. We’ll have kegs on board and it’ll be a rockin’ party on the way up and back (about a two hour drive each way). We’re doing this for local alumni and fans, as well as visiting fans. Airfare to Laramie from Texas is about $150-200 more expensive than flying into Denver. And lodging in Laramie is more expensive and limited. If we’re able to pull it off for $100 a person on the bus we hope a bunch of fans and BONer’s who travel to away games join us. We posted here our tailgate and Friday night party info ahead of the CU game and that jumped to the main screenshot area (thanks PB/AW). I hope BON will do the same for us when we’re advertising our Wyoming event. We raise money for our local Texas Exes scholarship fund (to send kids from Colorado to UT) whenever we get a chance, and that’s what we’re doing with the buses.
In fact, we’re raising money for scholarships this Saturday with the group tickets we’ve arranged for our fans going to the game. We’ll have about 60-70 fans in burnt-orange in the section behind the UT bench who are part of our group.
Hook ’em }-
Thanks for giving everyone permission to ignore your opinions.
Not that we really needed it. Kidding!* Hook ’em.
*Note: not kidding.
by billyzane on Feb 11, 2009 11:24 AM CST up reply actions 1 recs
You
You really are a dickhead. If you want to keep this up I suppose I can be a loser like you and stalk your posts and call you names on all of them. In the meantime, as usual, go F*ck yourself!
Settle down, big fella.
I have never called you a name. I have replied to your posts twice. The first time was in my capacity as an editor of this site warning you that some aspects of your comments were inappropriate for this site (link). You responded with a childish comeback mocking my serious admonishment. Some thought you maybe should have been banned for that (link). You were not. The second time I ever responded to you was above, and yes, this was a sarcastic comment that was in line with every other sarcastic comment that has been made by anyone else on this site about your questionable and borderline inappropriate opinions that you’ve been expressing over the past few days, and that was a continuation of you making fun of yourself for not really knowing what you were talking about. Here’s an artist’s rendering of how this conversation went:
You: “My point was that we need the people who write the main column to give their expertise on all the games [It’s at this point that I remind you that I write for the main column] because people like me really don’t know all that much about basketball.”
Me: “Tell me about it!”
You: “You’re a dickhead for agreeing with me. Go fuck yourself.”
So, in conclusion, I do not understand how I am “stalking your posts” or “calling you names.” Further, I don’t quite understand why you thought it was a good idea to call an editor of the site you are enjoying the privilege of participating in a “dickhead” and tell him to “go fuck [him]self” when your very complaint about me was that I was calling you names (which, once again for the record, I never did). Did that seem like a good idea to you?
I'll Own Some of That
I’ve expressed frustration with this team on this site, which I think is appropriate. One of the reasons I enjoy BON is because it’s not as homer-ish as most UT fan sites. It’s been about as objective as it can be considering it is a fan site. But I have noticed that this season, in contrast to the last couple I’ve been following BON, that the commentary and posts have become, well, more homer-ish. And this is probably the least likely squad I’d have suspected homer-ism about.
I brought up the post-Baylor euphoria as an example of being way to premature. As is any euphoria over last night’s outcome. I’ll take it, but it only means the wheels haven’t totally come off the bus, they’ve got a lot of work to do and bigger fish to fry if they are to become worthy of the adulation. Overconfidence at CU could prove disasterous.
With respect to my ‘tude in this or the prior posts you reference, jimmer’s “d-bag” comment is what earned my equally tasteless reply. Quite frankly, when you weighed in and called me a “bigot” just because I don’t have much respect for the European game I just lumped you in with jimmer. I was wrong to transfer the vulgarity that the exchange with jimmer was about to you.
Look, I know that some regular posters to the site, as well as the editors were put off by my snarky cricism of BON for no analysis of the OU loss. But I thought that was put to bed at the time. Folks who can’t let that go for what it was have got to move on. I enjoy this resource and appreciate all the work and dedication that goes into keeping up the site. I really get into Texas Longhorn sports, I enjoy being able to share ideas with other fans who are not “homers” (rBr’s in-game posts exhibit A for homer). I admit my ignorance on some things and can have a good laugh on myself when I earn it. My apologies for my previous vulgar comments directed at you.
Hook ’em Horns, Beat the Buffs!!
Fair enough.
Keep your comments respectful and we won’t have a problem anymore. Continue on your previous path and we will.
Mabe the difference in our homerishness
is that some of us had lower expectations going into the season.
Do they still serve Beer at the Coors Event Center?
you're lucky i'm not an editor
or you’d have to kiss my ass too.
i don’t think lumping him with me makes your lashing out excusable.
your a ‘bigot’ for referring to Dogus as ‘euro-trash’ and the way in which you compared him to ‘blacks’.
Okay, Everything I Wrote in my 1st Reply to bz
Applies to you, ’cause I honestly thought I was writing it to you.
And I suppose the movie “white men can’t jump” is a racist movie, too?
And the Darko’s of the world earn the eurotrash designation for any of these guys who hit our shores who end up being all hype and zero production. Balbay, with the exception of last night, has been all hype and zero production this season.
For the record, I kiss no one’s ass. When PB/AW took offense to my critcism about no OU wrap I gave them my honest assessment, knowing full well they were editors. And I’ll do so in the future if need be.
But, you are a stalking troll, and as I wrote: “I suppose I can be a loser like you and stalk your posts and call you names on all of them”, it’s game on if you want to waste time like that.
Hmmm
(rBr’s in-game posts exhibit A for homer)
To be honest, I think you are trying to cut me down. You have a funny way of doing it. Usually when you diss someone you highlight a negative characteristic about them. Like this:
Me: I bet the RM in RMHorn stands for “Really Mental”
You wouldn’t go about it by saying something they don’t mind hearing.
Like this: I bet RM in RMHorn stands for “Requires Money”
If you want to play the dozens, I’ll be glad to dance. I’ll give you my email address so you won’t have to embarrass yourself in public.
-rBr-
by run Bevo run on Feb 11, 2009 5:53 PM CST up reply actions
Whatever
Look, rBr, I don’t have anything against you, I just don’t respect your blind adulation of the team (def: homer). I do respect objectivity. I don’t care to get into a pissing match with you, and remain content to read over and past your posts.
So you are on a Longhorn fansite, but don't like to hear fans of the team?
I’m guessing you won’t be testing for Mensa anytime soon.
-rBr-
by run Bevo run on Feb 12, 2009 9:57 AM CST up reply actions
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