Outstanding Quotes from Rick Barnes
by awiggo on Feb 14, 2010 12:45 PM CST
in Texas Longhorns Basketball
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PrintFree article from Chip Brown at Orangebloods.com, enjoy. Really good stuff from Coach Barnes.
Talking about turning the corner as a team:
Everyone thinks they know the answer to the problem. Sometimes, I don't know if I know the answer all the time. But from a basketball standpoint, it's easy to figure that part out. The hard part is to get them to carry it over and see it.
I don't know why it took J'Covan Brown, because he's one of the smartest players we've had. It takes getting out of your comfort zone. It's harder than you think. And he'd tell you it's harder than he ever thought. But he's figuring it out.
On Jordan Hamilton, (classic Barnes):
Jordan, I point-blank told him, 'The way you want to play, you're not going to be able to do that at Texas. If that's what you want, you're going to have to leave. We're not changing. If you want to play here, this is what you have to do. And you better understand it right now, or you won't play another minute this year.
Reiterating what he said in his post-game comments with Craig Way after the Nebraska win:
We thought he (Jordan Hamilton) and J'Covan (Brown) would be out there a long time ago. But I would be willing to die a slow death before I was going to give into those guys and reinforce bad habits.
On playing Dogus Balbay and Justin Mason at the same time:
And we knew at the beginning of the year if we had to play those two guys (Justin Mason and Dogus Balbay) it was going to be painful. But we also expected by this point, right now, we would be starting three freshmen. Actually, by the end of January.
I don't care what anyone says, about John Wall (of Kentucky) or anybody. Avery Bradley, Damion James, Dexter Pittman have been playing three against five. That goes back to what we're trying to build to. If we would have put those guys out there too early, we would have lost everybody. And we couldn't do that.
On outsiders second guessing personnel moves or non-moves, in this case:
You're going to take one step forward and three steps backward. And that's what people can't understand unless they are here every day.
That's why I refuse to judge other people's teams because I'm not there. It's the dynamics that go into making the big picture.
We're going to win games. That's not what we're trying to do here. We're trying to hopefully one day be the best we can be, get in the tournament, hopefully, and we can play for it.
And, finally, J'Covan Brown on taking the next step:
My job is to take over this team and get us to the national championship game. So I gotta step up and be a big player with this team.
I told Jordan (Hamilton), 'If you want to be the person that everyone thinks you are, don't worry about your offense. Your offense is always going to be there.'
I had to learn that defense, in order to win games, we have to play defense. Jordan and I had to take that big step. So that's what I talked to Jordan about most was just playing defense.
Sure, his stubborness clearly shows through here. But these quotes make me like him more, not less.
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And suddenly...
… Everyone remembers why we love Rick Barnes. Augie may be the best overall coach on the 40 Acres, but no one is harder to please than Barnes.
He is awesome.
"Football's so important in Texas. On the West Coast, it's a social. On the East Coast, it's a culture. Here, it's a religion."
-- Major Applewhite
That's great stuff...
…probably one of my favorite articles over Rick Barnes since the seminal piece in the DMN over his relationship with PJ Tucker.
I’m getting pretty fired up for Wednesday.
Couldn't find the PJ Tucker article on the DMN's site.
Would you mind sharing the gist?
Here's the article...
…it’s mostly about Randa Ryan—who is INCREDIBLE—but the parts involving Barnes always give me chills.
Dont forget to see the quote on Page 5…
It's like the guarantee on the box...
…it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside…when something goes wrong, it will make it all better….
Hang on a second Ted… (ok…end of Tommy Boy references)
"Stats are for losers. I like winning games." ~ Will Muschamp
""I always felt like, and I paid a price for it, that it didn't seem right for one guy to bring me down." ~ The Tyler Rose
I think the link to the OB story is broken.
link for the lazy:
http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1051991
3/19/2009 & 12/15/2009 - Games Where Dogus Balbay Made a Three-Pointer. Never Forget.
Fire Rick Barnes!
I kid. This should help alleviate the knee jerks the next time they lose.
Good stuff.
by Infield Elephant on Feb 14, 2010 2:39 PM CST reply actions
Brown gets it
This kid is taking charge. I can’t say how glad I am to see signs that this team is beginning to gel.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
Thanks for sharing this
Rick said exactly what I said after the Okie State game. Hamilton was “Fool’s Gold,” and half the shots he made were freaking horrible looks at the basket. Sure enough, he came back and stunk in the next few games.
After yesterday’s game? Like others have said, I at least have hope that Texas has time to turn it around. It sounds like J’Covan is getting it, and he’s doing his best to get the message across to Jordan. It’s also refreshing to hear that Rick sees what we’ve all seen, but he has to worry about the repercussions of rewarding players who don’t put in effort on both sides of the court. Now, with about 7-10 games left before the NCAA tourney, I have some hope that we can work out a rotation and indentity that could carry us deeper in the tourney.
Here’s hoping we can still pull out a 3 seed, or maybe even work our way back up to a 2….
Its things like this
that give us on the outside glimpses into the internal struggles this team has faced all year. Anyone who has ever played sports at a relatively competitive level knows results do not just come from criticism. This team, and especially the younger players, have not just had to develop different aspects of their game – which they can do in practice and in games, but has also had to mature and grow mentally – which can just take time.
I loved the win on Saturday, but win or lose, I will love it even more if they bring the same intensity this coming week.
No longer scared
I hadn’t given up on Barnes yet, but I have to admit I was starting to worry a lil. I just don’t ever get to read much of what he ever says. I’m exceptionally glad that this came out. We may not be what we thought we would be by the time it’s all said and done, but we are in exceptional hands I believe. We often forget (because it’s easier) that these kids have a responsibility as well to buy into the system they signed on to be a part of. A coach can only berate and belittle so much, not that I think Barnes is doing that, just some un-knowledgable coach speak.
Thanks Chip Brown and awiggo for the link.
feeling better..
for the moment and its subject to change.
great result, great to see the way it happened, great to hear the post game comments.
they did it for one game, let’s see if a good consistency can return now.
feeling much better that our head coach saw what we saw
My only concern is that Rick suggested he’s not concerned with winning games right now,, especially at the expense of the overall growth of the team. It’s a curious strategy as your total # of regular season wins has a huge impact on tourney seeding which has a huge impact on your probably of winning a title.
As you said AW, Barnes comes off as a very stubborn coach with high standards
Whatever message he was trying to send by starting Mason and Balbay, it’s obvious the team did not react well towards it, and it was really starting to look like he had lost the players.
Suddenly, we go back to the rotation of old (Brown starting, Hamilton playing 20+ minutes off the bench, Mason barely playing [was injured vs Nebraka]), and everything is back to normal. We’re back to playing like the team that was blowing up every opponent and earned a #1 ranking.
I hope the message was worth it, because we’ll be lucky to get a 3 seed at this point, and we’ve probably lost the opportunity to play in the Houston regional.
“My whole deal with him is you have to defend. You can’t score 15 and give up 20. You can’t do that.”
I think this quote is just another example of him being a defensive oriented coach. While Hamilton was a net negative when you factor both defense and offense, couldn’t you say the same thing about the Balbay/Mason pair? To go with Barnes’ quote, that pair “saved” us 15 points on defense but prevented us from scoring 20 points.
I don’t think Barnes realized how much a terrible offense can affect the defense. Having an efficient offense that doesn’t turn the ball over prevents points off turnovers and transition buckets, energizes the team to play defense, and puts a lot of pressure on the other team to score.
Did anyone notice how great our defense was, considering Mason did not play and Balbay only played 15 minutes? 51 points for Nebraska was the lowest output for the opposing team since Texas Pan-Am game on December 15th. While everyone is going to point out that Nebraska is a bad team, this same team played @ Kansas just a week ago, and trailed by just 4 points at halftime (we were up by 27 at half).
by goingforthecorner on Feb 14, 2010 7:02 PM CST reply actions
For SOME of us...
the criticism of Barnes was never knee jerk. It was based on a pattern of problems that could be traced back through the last decade. It acknowledged the terrific job Barnes has done building this program, but ultimately came to the conclusion that he couldn’t overcome his deficiencies in coaching a half court offense and in making in-game adjustments, nor could he overcome the pattern of many of his talented teams flaming out in the post season. Barnes had, for the most part, taken the program as far as he is going to take it. That criticism never called for anybody’s job (that would have been a handful of people, at most). But for many people who frequent this site, any criticism of the coach is seen as knee jerk and reactionary and that is unfortunate. Rick Barnes is a big boy and he can handle it. And many of you may find that this “pressure” on Barnes and his program may actually go a long way towards making Rick Barnes a better basketball coach.
I am not sure why the editors are so hell-bent on carrying the water for Rick Barnes. Sometimes it seems like they do it for no other reason than to be seen as the anti-reactionary. The “cheerleading” nature of this post is frightening with comments like “outstanding qoutes” and “classic Barnes.” Lets not turn the site into firerickbarnes.com but lets not turn it into rickbarnesfanclub.com either.
All I can gather from these quotes is
1. That Rick is aware that he is the coach and he is actively coaching his players. So sorry if I am not jumping up and down.
2. A while back I asked if anyone had ever heard Barnes state the goals of the basketball program at Texas. In these quotes, Brown talks about getting “us to the national championship game.” Barnes, however, says “we’re trying to hopefully one day be the best we can be, get in the tournament, hopefully, and we can play for it.” WTF is that? What scares me is that he always deflects criticism by saying things like “the guys don’t get it” or “they’re not listening to me.” He has got to accept an appropriate amount of responsibility when his team fails and he has got to give us something better than the frighteningly ambiguous “we’re trying to hopefully one day be the best we can be, get in the tournament, hopefully, and we can play for it.” Otherwise, when the firing squad comes, he is not going to have many defenders (outside of BON).
Just a Fan
Neither me of PB are trying to carry the water for Rick Barnes nor are we trying to deflect criticism. Speaking for PB, we are both just fans of Rick.
I really appreciated his comments, found the article, and wanted to share with the BON community. Other than the title, I mostly let his words speak for themselves. I was particularly struck by his candidness. Rarely do you hear a high level college coach speak so openly about his players, his frustrations, his conversations with individual players, etc. Maybe the post should have been titled “Insights from Rick Barnes”, but I don’t that would have made much of a difference.
“Classic Barnes,” is just that, classic. He is who we think he is. It’s his way or the highway. And he hasn’t changed much over the years. He is an incredible recruiter and a defense first coach. He tells his players this time and time again, and we hear it as fans in every press conference.
The fact that Barnes told Jordan that he should transfer unless he wants to start playind defense is both appropriate and hilarious to me. That is why I called it classic. It reminded me of the quote that Kevin Durant likes to retell. Durant says that Barnes told him he was the worst defensive player that he’d ever seen, shortly after arriving on campus. More classic Barnes.
Neither PB nor I ever want to limit legitimate criticism of any coach. In fact, both of us have professed our own knocks on Barnes time and time again on this blog and our previous one. PB’s post was last week wasn’t about that. It wasn’t about limiting free speech or trying to save Barnes from legitimate criticism. Anyone who read that post knows that. PB was trying to limit to reactionary “Fire Barnes,” “We suck,” “This is the worst team I’ve ever seen” stuff from engluffing the blog, particulary the in-game threads.
Legitimate criticism should be posted and debated. It is welcome and what makes this such a strong blog and strong community.
--AW--
One of the things that make this site interesting
is that people can offer their views, including the authors. It’s not a completely objective news environment like say Fox News or CNN (joking). I happen to be in agreement that the quotes were ‘classic’ Barnes. He is a very candid fellow, a trait that I wish Mack Brown would exhibit more sometimes. When he says “the guys don’t get it” or “they’re not listening to me” I think you can take that at face value. It’s not an attempt to deflect criticism; he was actually being candid with his frustration with Hamilton, frustration that we all had, and apparently to a lesser degree Brown. This was reassuring, I was at times wondering if Hamilton had carte blanche to put up whatever shot he wanted and not play defense. Loved to hear that Barnes laid it on the line to Hamilton, who plays like he expects to be one and done. He just might be one and done if he’s not careful. I needed to hear that and it was classic Rick Barnes.
When Barnes says the goal is to “be the best we can be” and “get into the tournament and play for it” again that can be taken at face value. The team was headed towards attaining neither goal, still may not be, and in saying “play for it” I’m pretty sure he means playing for the NC.
Now I am a huge Barnes fan (I suffered through Bob Weltlich and Tom Penders) and obviously you aren’t; that’s fine. We’re all welcome to speak freely, including the authors, and offer varying opinions; they don’t have to mesh. Hopefully they are thoughtful. I doubt Barnes reads any of our comments so I don’t think anybody is hurting his feelings. Likewise I doubt if any of the authors contribute any solace to what has been a very frustrating season thus far for Barnes with a team that has a few players seemingly hell bent on playing in the NBA at the expense of the team goals Barnes mentions.
This board probably fairly accurately reflects the attitude of the fan base, there is a reasonably large sample size of posts, and I suspect many others were glad to hear these quotes and probably have a higher opinion of Barnes that say, you might. You, me, them and the authors can all offer opinions. Not brown-nosing, I have nothing to gain. Just sayin’.
"If worms carried pistols, birds wouldn't eat 'em"- Darrell Royal
by SpiritOfTheFedora on Feb 14, 2010 9:20 PM CST up reply actions
My issues with your thoughts
Rick Barnes is a big boy and he can handle it. And many of you may find that this "pressure" on Barnes and his program may actually go a long way towards making Rick Barnes a better basketball coach.
If RB reads this fan site, I’d be surprised. If RB went so far as to get coaching advice from this fan site, I’d foot the check for firerickbarnes.com
The "cheerleading" nature of this post is frightening with comments like "outstanding qoutes" and "classic Barnes."
Clowns are frightening, not posts on a fan site, let’s ease up on the drama.
He has got to accept an appropriate amount of responsibility when his team fails and he has got to give us something better than
1. He does have to accept an appropriate amount or responsibility
1a. He does NOT have to give us anything else.
He has to answer to Dodds and the parents of these kids. If he had to answer to anyone else, he would have killed himself prior to now. If you think you can demand an audience with him, I would suspect you have some unfounded delusions.
Since you are going to probably be pissed about what I wrote, I’ll finish with saying, I don’t understand why a fan thinks a coach has to answer to them. You want to know the goals of the program, yet you’re pissed when he says he’s not here to win games, but championships. What do you want him to say?
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 14, 2010 11:10 PM CST up reply actions 1 recs
When I refer
to “pressure,” I am under no illusion that Rick Barnes reads this blog (lol). I am referring to the pressure that will no doubt seep into the mainstream media and the general “fandom” before too long.
“Frightening” was dramatic. Sorry. Replace “frightening” with “retarded.”
1a. You need to read what you wrote. “He does NOT have to give us anything else.
He has to answer to Dodds and the parents of these kids.” What dream world are you living in? I mean that sounds great, in theory…but that ain’t the way it works in the real world. Seriously, are you new? How many times during the course of a season do we here about “coaches on the hot seat” and that “the natives are getting restless” or about a “rabid fan base.” Again, what you wrote would be nice…but it’s just not real. When the coach loses the fan base, it’s over.
Note to self: Ignore at least half of yall's comments
While some of yall are concerned with “wasting” a championship potential year
Clearly you’re not understanding the negative effect that a couple of people that don’t feed into the program can have on future recruiting and the overall shape of the program
Yes, one year, one player can send you on a spiral that you may never get out of
The “risk” is worth the reward
If Durant, Aldridge, Gibson, Augustin, Ford, Tucker and countless others can buy into the program and be successful during and after … then Hamilton can too
Not to single that guy out, I’m sure he’s trying hard, but some of you seem to want to sacrifice the program for the sake of appeasing him, and you all
Championship teams aren’t built in a year
appeasing?
What do you mean? Is he attacking Poland? (BTW if you look close at your keyboard, you’ll find the period just a couple of keys to the right of the ‘m’.)
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
Isn't the real question this:
Is the Barnes way (great players playing great defense) going to bring Texas a national title in basketball? It’s great to have a “my way or the highway” attitude, but if the “my way” part of that philosophy is flawed what difference does it make.
4 of the last 5 national champions have been coached by guys (Donovan and R. Williams) whose teams aren’t exactly known for great defense. It didn’t really matter since everyone on the court had the ability to score.
The last two Texas Elite 8 appearances (06 and 08) belonged to top 5 offensive teams according to Pomeroy.
What make a team good offensively?
Good defense. Transition starts with blocking out and a rebound. I think Williams would agree, he’s written books on the subject.
"If worms carried pistols, birds wouldn't eat 'em"- Darrell Royal
by SpiritOfTheFedora on Feb 14, 2010 9:53 PM CST up reply actions
Actually what makes a good offense is... good offense
Our best guard defenders in Mason and Balbay weren’t in the starting lineup, and yet we were great defensively. Part of that is we were great offensively, so we didn’t turn the ball over and force bad shots. Why were we great offensively? Not only with Brown starting, we passed the ball, we were patient, and unselfish. We played like a team.
by goingforthecorner on Feb 14, 2010 11:29 PM CST up reply actions
Defense
It’s easier to set up your defense when the other team is taking the ball out of your basket.
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 14, 2010 11:36 PM CST up reply actions
Agree but...
I like Barnes’ defensive philosophy with the exception that he doesn’t seem to accentuate help in the lane as much as I’d like. The part I like though is defense starting transition offense when the other team doesn’t score. It’s a Greg Popovich style, sort of. Of course you have to have shooters but playing them (Hamilton) at the expense of sacrificing your philosophy should not be an option. At some point you have to blame the playas’, not the game.
"If worms carried pistols, birds wouldn't eat 'em"- Darrell Royal
by SpiritOfTheFedora on Feb 15, 2010 8:38 AM CST up reply actions
I'm not sure where you are getting your info
2005 – UNC ranked 5
2006 – UF ranked 5
2007 – UF ranked 12
2008 – KU ranked 1
2009 – UNC ranked 16
The lack ack of defense seems to be the exception rather than the rule as you seem to think. Additionally, Texas was ranked 10 in defense in 06.
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 14, 2010 11:34 PM CST up reply actions
Compare them to the offensive ranks
These teams had good defenses, but they almost universally had BETTER offenses. Texas had a better offense than defense in 2006 as well.
This isn’t a great statistical analysis by any means, but I believe having 5 guys who can score is better than having 5 guys who can defend and that doesn’t seem to be the Barnes philosophy.
It's not one or the other
Avery Bradley can score and defend. Both are important and win games. There’s was guy that coached Princeton named Pete Carril that led the NCAA in defense 14 of 21 years there, they won 0 national championships. We played them a few times, most boring games I’ve ever seen. On the other hand, none of the defenses in the last five years were worse than 16th. Five transition buckets a game off of steals and other turnovers translates to 10 or so points per game and makes your offensive ranking higher. Five treys a game does nothing for your offensive ranking.
"If worms carried pistols, birds wouldn't eat 'em"- Darrell Royal
by SpiritOfTheFedora on Feb 15, 2010 10:45 AM CST up reply actions
five treys does nothing for your defensive ranking, rather.
"If worms carried pistols, birds wouldn't eat 'em"- Darrell Royal
by SpiritOfTheFedora on Feb 15, 2010 10:46 AM CST up reply actions
The sentiment I'm making
If you get recruited to the University of Texas, you’ve probably shown that you can score at some point in your prep career. I would say scoring came naturally and easily for 4 out of 5 of all players going into collegiate ball. Clint Chapman averaged 19 points a game in high school and his game is completely incompatible with college basketball.
Defense has to be taught, perfected and consistent. Who goes to the gym and practices lateral quickness? Defense is being committed to guarding your guy and helping on 4 others.
I can’t agree being defensive minded is flawed.
"I live in the tower with Coach Brown." -Bevo
by run Bevo run on Feb 15, 2010 11:25 AM CST up reply actions
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