The End Of The Road: Where Do Barnes, Texas Go From Here?
by Peter Bean on Mar 19, 2010 4:22 AM CDT
in Texas Longhorns Basketball
124 comments
A fitting end. There will be more than enough time in the coming weeks and months to continue the year-long conversation about Rick Barnes. But first... first, we have to lay this on the feet of the players on this year's team, who have only themselves the blame for leaving New Orleans first round losers: I hurt for Damion James, who missed the free throw to win the game in regulation. I hurt for J'Covan Brown, who missed a pair of free throws in OT that would have all but sealed the game, extending Texas' lead to six. I hurt for Gary Johnson, who missed both free throws with Texas up by one with ten seconds to play.
The list of reasons this team is one and done in the NCAA Tournament is a long one, but in the end, these guys had a chance to wrap up a first round victory for themselves and they blew it. They blew it with each missed rebound. With each failure to get back in transition. And most of all -- and most fittingly -- with each missed free throw down the stretch.
Though over the coming weeks and months we as fans will spend plenty of time discussing the failures of this team on a macro level... tonight, the truth is that this team will fly back to Austin blaming themselves, too. They know that they blew it. They know that they choked.
I have no doubt we'll have plenty to debate about the big picture failures. But let us not make any mistake about it: whatever blame belongs to the coaches, the players on this team will have to move on knowing they failed themselves, too.
Beat on the boards. The only reason the missed free throws even mattered was because Texas got slaughtered on the boards -- on both ends of the floor -- all night long. Wake Forest out-rebounded Texas 56-31, cleaning up 80% of Texas' misses while scooping up 45% of their own. There's your difference in the game. And like the free throws, it's a facet of the game that was within Texas' control.
Again: we mostly have ourselves to blame.
Looking ahead. James, Pittman, and Mason are gone for sure, so now we wait to see whether Bradley and/or Hamilton will return for another go-round. Assuming all three will-be sophomores return, Texas will be a guard-oriented team with the upside of a group like this year's Kansas State Wildcats. Without question, we'll be a very questionable team if you look at our frontcourt, but truth be told, if there's a lesson of 2010, it's that Rick Barnes is going to be as successful as are his perimeter players.
Assuming Texas wasn't likely to beat Kentucky anyway, the silver lining of tonight's game is that if everyone returns, the 2010-11 team is going to be an impressive guard-oriented group revolving around Brown, Hamilton, Bradley, and a host of other athletic players who are most likely to thrive in the way that a Rick Barnes team needs to successful. We should be ready to run, to press, and to funnel everything through our guards as the playmakers. However sad it is that we couldn't make things work with Pittman, at least Barnes won't have to spend another season struggling to try to do something he's not capable of doing.
Over the summer, the hope has to be that Barnes signs Corey Joseph and that Bradley, Hamilton, and -- most of all - Brown develop into perimeter players who consistently give Texas the high quality minutes that they only sporadically were able to produce as freshmen. And that means Rick Barnes learning from mistakes made this year, learning how to teach and build a team that can fly on its own. Barnes must understand that getting the most out of these kids will often mean getting out of the way. Teach them and coach them... but trust them.
What might we take from this terribly disappointing season? I don't doubt that some will conclude from this disappointing season that Rick Barnes is limited and that we should consider looking for an upgrade. Tonight, I will say this: we can no longer dismiss those who think as much as irrational screamers.
Nevertheless, my take on the situation is as follows:
- Rick Barnes' baseline success rate is something most programs desperately want, and struggle to attain.
- There are but a handful of fan bases who would consider Barnes' current success rate (without more) as unacceptable.
- While Texas is one such fan base where football is concerned, it neither is nor (arguably) should pretend to be one where basketball is concerned.
- The foregoing is not to say the goals for Texas basketball should be perceived to be any less than they are for football, only that the approach we take to achieve them will (and should) be different. That is, in terms of aggressively acting to achieve program goals, the same kinds of measures that are deemed both worthwhile and necessary for Texas football and Kentucky basketball may not necessarily be deemed appropriate for Texas basketball and Kentucky football.
- The critical difference between them is not that our aspirations for Texas football exceed those for UT basketball, but that the approach we are willing to take to football is not appropriate for hoops: The interest and demand of our football fan base, which might justify going through what Kentucky basketball went through in letting Tubby Smith go, is not applicable to how we evaluate the Texas basketball coach. That is, it is possible to share the same goals for each sport (competing for conference and national championships) without believing it realistic and wise to gun for one (hoops) as aggressively as we would the other (football).
- Recognizing this difference is not about a willingness to accept less with the hoops program. It is about understanding and appreciating the meaningful differences between the two sports, generally, and at Texas, specifically.
- In both cases, they amount to roughly the same thing: Were Texas to decide approach being the top dog in basketball with the same rigor as it does football, its options for doing so would be limited to a trying to hire Bill Self, Mike Kryzewski, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, or Jim Boeheim. (Calipari is out as a character we wouldn't want associated with our brand.) Beyond those five guys -- each of whom has won national championships -- the best of all the rest roughly are, or aspire to be, at Rick Barnes' level. Everyone else beyond those five have failed to prove themselves at a level superior to Rick Barnes' level of achievement at Texas. They would be lateral replacements, hired on our hope that they simply needed to be at Texas to rise into that super-elite upper echelon.
- KEY CONCLUSION: Unless Texas is so hyper-committed to investing in basketball superiority that it's willing to make a run at buying one of those five proven gems, there is no compelling argument for replacing Rick Barnes. Indeed, the more productive discussion is centered on where Rick Barnes is right now relative to those championship winners, focusing on whether and how he can grow into a title-winner like Boeheim and Williams did over time.
- Though I would not put it past us in football (perhaps the biggest reason especially to appreciate Mack Brown's particular style of resurrecting and empowering the program), we simply are not hyper-obsessed with basketball such that we'd plunge into and endure the kind of drama that, say, Kentucky has over the last four years (firing someone like Tubby Smith and culminating in the hiring of a coach -- John Calipari -- most of us would be nervous having as a representative of the University of Texas).
- Once we cut through all the disappointments of this season and the important discussion of weaknesses/failures, what we really want is to understand is how we can achieve our goals with Rick Barnes as our head coach. Because at the end of the day, there is not much of a case for replacing him. There just isn't. He's our guy, and to upgrade would mean so committing to hoops that we unloaded the treasury on getting one of the truly guaranteed upgrades. Perhaps some of you will advocate we do just that, and if so, I won't hold your aspirations against you. I'll just note that even if we wanted to make such a commitment, I'm not sure any of those guaranteed upgrades could be bought to come play second fiddle to Mack and Muschamp in Austin, Texas.
- In the end, Deloss Dodds and Texas have a coach who succeeds at a level that -- unless we're going to make that big, expensive move to try to get one of those exceptionally proven few -- neither is going to be, nor should be, replaced.
- All of which means this: We not only need to talk about Rick Barnes' weaknesses, but also about how he can overcome them and succeed -- here, at Texas. Express all of your concerns. But either make the case for why Texas can, should, and will upgrade to one of the super-elite coaches or think about how you want to see Barnes do better. Feel free to fight for the former, but I recommend the latter, because that's reality, and as awful as we all feel tonight, at the end of this season, it's the basis of any future fulfillment you're going to enjoy from this program heading forward.
What I want heading forward. Obviously, you can count me in the camp of those accepting that Barnes is our guy. As bitter as I am about this season, I can't really make a good case for replacing him unless it's with someone I know we either can't or won't hire in his stead. My concern, then, is on Rick Barnes learning, growing, and improving as a coach in the same way that Mack Brown, Roy Williams, and Jim Boeheim have over their careers. On my mind tonight:
Point guards, point guards, point guards. Rick is who he is and -- by far -- the single most important takeaway from this season has to be that nothing can be as important as having elite ball-in-hand guards on the team. Guys like TJ Ford and DJ Augustin don't grow on trees, but if consistently matching their caliber will be tough, it should nonetheless be Barnes' top priority. It's generally true that all championship-level teams will need a strong point guard, but it's especially true that Barnes needs a top-notch ball-handling guard (or two) to compete even for Final Fours.
Learn to let them learn. Throughout his career, Barnes has struggled at times to trust guys to develop and learn on their own -- his idea of "letting them grow" being to refuse to call a timeout when the opposition is ready to run us out the gym. But looking ahead, getting it right means Barnes must take a more holistic, season-long approach to developing players and the team. It's great that Barnes has had some special leaders who've pushed back and provided a counter-balance to his desire to drive-and-demand the team into the ground, but if Barnes is to be an elite coach -- not just a good one -- he needs to be systematically choreographing it all on his own.
Self-evaluate and get stronger. How much does Rick Barnes miss Ken McDonald? Frank Haith? And irrespective of whatever those two added, what are Rick Barnes' weaknesses that he simply must be aware of and actively seeking to strengthen? Just like I don't care which way Mack Brown gets to BCS Bowls, I don't care whether Rick Barnes gets to Final Fours as a B+ coach with A+ assistants or as an A+ coach without any help. Indeed, what I love about Mack Brown is how he has reacted to his failures, which is far more important than being relatively less fallible to begin with.
More than ever, that's what I want to see from Rick Barnes heading forward. We know who he is and what he can and cannot do. What remains to be seen now is whether, and if so how, he is able to learn from and build upon his failures. Twelve years into his tenure, he's accomplished enough, at a consistent enough level, that there's not really any doubt of his worth as a good, steady, revenue-producing, solidly-competitive coach. We've been damn lucky to have him here and to establish that as our baseline. It's neither to be undervalued nor taken for granted.
But quite separate is the question of whether there is more. Whether there can be more. The question is not whether Rick Barnes has weaknesses -- every coach does, even the best ones -- but whether they are blind spots.
I have no doubt that no one will feel worse about the way this season turned out than Rick Barnes. He will feel like he failed Damion and Dexter. He will feel like he failed the fans. And more than anything, he will feel like he failed himself and his own goals and expectations. He will hurt, and he will doubt....
And then, his future will be shaped by what he takes from it all. What he learns. How he changes. The things he does to help himself. He'll need to learn what it means to try to be the best without thinking it possible to demand it -- from himself, or into a team. That's one of the things that makes Bill Self so special. If Rick Barnes is to elevate to that level, it's something he'll need to improve. With or without a great point guard, he's got to learn how better to build up a team with a balance of demanding standards and rewarding love.
It doesn't particularly matter the form the adjustments wind up taking or how they come about -- whether he evolves as a taskmaster himself, or brings aboard others who fill the gaps -- but that Barnes has the security, wisdom, and foresight to understand the need to seek out, understand, and improve upon his own limitations.
That will be the difference between Rick Barnes spending 20 very good years here and his becoming at Texas what Jim Boeheim became at Syracuse. I know that he's 'very good' enough that we are going to (and should) keep him in Austin. What I don't know, but have to hope, is that he's capable of learning and evolving from this year's disappointment, to become something better and stronger in the future.
It will always be tough to complain much about Rick Barnes, Very Good Head of the Program. And yet, when it's all said and done, it will be tough to be less than disappointed if that's all he ever is.
For both his sake and our own, I hope there's more than this.
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Great read
Tough to read as well and with that said, I have no idea how you were able to write that so quickly after tonight’s loss. Maybe it was because we could for-see something like this happening tonight, unlike the BCS NC game a few months back, when we were blindsided by an injury to our star player and an unblocked-Crimson-blitzer. Its been over 2.5 months since that dreadful night, and I’ve yet to re-watch that game out of anger, depression, and the reluctance to kick my dog across the room. I guess its the same reasons I refuse to re-watch any RRS game from 2000-04, talk to my ex-fiance, or go to a strip club on a Sunday afternoon.
Poor analogies aside, I couldn’t agree more with this post as I’m in the same camp by wanting to see how Rick adjusts to this setback, and grow as a coach at Texas. Being more of a football and baseball guy, I too sometimes get caught up in the high successful standards that us fans have for Barnes. Problem is, we just have to look at where we were at in comparison to where Barnes has taken this program. If i remember correctly, alot of our fans (me included at the time) we’re calling for Mack Brown’s head on a stake for most of the early 2000’s, and it wasn’t until VY came along to persuade Mack to relax a bit, take his foot off the pedal, and let the kids play. Now obviously Mack is still more a CEO-type HC rather than a field general; however, it proves that coaches can alter their style to benefit the character and growth of a team. I feel that Rick Barnes is a little stubborn in this area, and I think its going to take some soul-searching this off-season to find that missing link. Once he does, he will be unstoppable, and his players will feed off that.
Rick is certainly the guy we want for the job. We trust him, and he has shown he can lead us to being an elite-level team. He’s going to deal with this setback nonetheless, but it is key to see how he handles it, and what direction he takes us. Regardless, we’re behind Rick and his boys all the way. We’re Texas, and we’re not going to forget that. This wasn’t an easy loss to swallow, but I think for the big picture—a necessary one.
Stumpy: It's called the '80s. Ford was president, Nixon was in the White House, and FDR was running this country into the ground.
I probably have a different viewpoint on this
One of my main things to watch this season was Jeff Capel and Oklahoma; I wanted to see if Capel was a good coach, who could produce consistent NCAA Tournament teams, or if he was what I suspect he is, which is a so-so coach who had Taylor and Blake Griffin to make him look really good the last two years. After a disappointing season, Capel did say something that I think applies to this texas team; he said one of the main problems they had was with players refusing to accept their role on the team. He said if he said one player was the best player on the team, he’d have three other guys angry at him in the locker room; he had individual players who were too selfish to truly become a team.
I wonder if some of that is going on at texas. IIRC, both Brown and Bradley had serious issues with their HS coaches their senior seasons, Brown’s causing him to get thrown off the team, Bradley causing him to leave and transfer to Nevada. It makes me wonder if there wasn’t some competition between Brown, Bradley, and Hamilton over who was the top dog on this team, nd that competition hurt team chemistry. I think Barnes may have overestimated his ability to handle those three this season, and I think that probably hurt the team. Barnes is to blame for that what happened this season, because he is the guy paid to produce results, but I don’t think he is any more to blame than they players, who looked to me like they refused to take coaching at times.
I also wonder if there was some animosity between this class of seniors, who wanted to control this team, and the freshmen, who saw themselves as the ones who would take this program to new heights, and thought they needed minutes and playing time that was going to the seniors so they could showcase themselves on their way to the NBA.
For all the flak you get here, you do have some decent commentary.
Granted not capitalizing Texas when Texas is literally in your school’s name is a tad odd. Good luck tomorrow or today I guess I should say considering it’s morning already.
TEXAS FIGHT
You make good points about the freshman
There were a number of times where I saw Mason pass up a wide open pass to Hamilton or Bradely. And against Baylor in the Big 12 tourney I saw Bradley try to call a huddle before a free throw and then Mason just push his arm out of the way.
Not calling Mason out, just giving a couple examples. I just wonder if that is true, and/or how much it really affected this team.
"The best decision I ever made was coming to Texas," James said. "The second-best decision was coming back."
Thompson
I can’t disagree with the point you’re making regarding Barnes. Although I believe it was Tristan Thompson who had serious issues with his HS coach and transferred to Nevada. Bradley didn’t have any character issues or conflicts with his coach in Washington.
Sorry, can't take anyone seriously
Who has the mentality of a 5-year old and can’t capitalize “Texas” properly. Grow up.
In-VINCE-able.
by iamjackburton on Mar 19, 2010 12:51 PM CDT up reply actions
I think there's some truth to that, Beergut
I do think there were some chemistry issues with this team, some of which can be blamed on the players themselves. But in writing about this issue, my hypothesis has been that the failure to come together as a team was largely Barnes’ fault. I think he wound up too tight for this season, pressed too hard, never let up, and the harder he tried, the more harm he wound up doing.
You ain't hurt...
Brown made Barnes look like a fool
You don’t have to watch him play for very long to know that he is our best PG. He is also a clutch player(missed Ft’s aside) on team seriously lacking in clutch play. Why hasn’t been starting for month’s now? That’s what I would like to know. Who couldn’t even get on the floor, for meaningful minutes, until the 2nd half. We have a very sluggish offense without him. It just doesn’t make sense. I hope he stay’s in the program.
Barnes is on notice now. A bad year next year and I will be on the fire Rick Barnes bandwagon. I have lost a lot of confidence in him.
"big-time players make big-time plays in big games."
I must have been watching a different game
I’ll give you the obvious fact that Brown is our best talent at point guard, but it is painful to watch him. We were winning at half time without him playing at all. On the stat sheet he had a great second half and overtime, but did anyone else play well? I would ask what is more important- your point guard has a good game scoring, or he is able to distribute the ball and help get teammates some easy shots. I would argue for the latter. Too many times he brought the ball up and never even looked to pass before driving or shooting. Luckily his shots were generally falling, but I think we can all agree that he is not Ford or Augustin and shouldn’t be operating this way. On defense he is almost lost. He goes for too many steals, gets beat off the dribble to easily and looses his man off the ball. I can’t believe I’m about to say this but at the end of the season I thought our best lineup was Mason at the point with Bradley, Hamilton, Johnson, and James. I would have liked to have seen Brown come in and split time between point and shooting guard because he is a little too selfish for my liking as a 30-minute point guard. Hopefully great improvements can be made before next year or I fear it will more of the same.
Must have been
I agree that he is too selfish at times. I don’t agree that was the case last night. I saw a team letting the game slipping away. A team that needed someone to step up. Brown did. He also had a couple of nice passes in the post that Pittman and Johnson couldn’t finish. We desperately needed his offense and he came through. Too many times Barnes wait’s until the game is slipping away to insert Brown. I think he destroyed his confidence during conference play. He make’s a lot of mistakes. He is immature. I don’t like how he cries about everything. But if he had been starting I think he would have had a chance to work through a lot of these issues. Dogus and Mason were exposed this year. I love both player’s but they aren’t starting caliber player’s. Brown was alway’s our best hope of making a run in the tournament. I agree that he has a lot of growing up to do. I hope Barnes has what it take’s to help him do that. This year make’s me question whether that is the case.
"big-time players make big-time plays in big games."
by SoonerSlayer on Mar 19, 2010 8:58 AM CDT up reply actions
is it just me or
does it seem like Pittman is never quite ready for a pass and eith looses it or has it bounce off of him. He also is lazy on rebounds and calmly reaches out with one hand in traffic.
by Ryan2907 on Mar 19, 2010 10:34 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Um
We were up at half without playing brown because Hamilton scored 16 points in the first half…not because we had a better/more effective PG on the floor
by ibleedburntorange49-9 on Mar 19, 2010 10:42 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
And where were Hamilton's looks in the second half?
by BoddickerIsClutch on Mar 19, 2010 2:24 PM CDT up reply actions
Sitting on bench to start the second half
I never said that hammy shouldn’t have shot more but the reason given for saying that with brown off the floor we were winning is because Hamilton had 16
by ibleedburntorange49-9 on Mar 19, 2010 2:59 PM CDT via mobile up reply actions
-1
I saw Brown look like a fool in enough games. His shot was on tonight so everyone is jupming back on his bandwagon. If he’d come in and jacked up bad shots and missed them, like he’s done many, many times and made a bunch of bad passes no one would be up in arms. He was on tonight (and I was happy for it), but he was still taking some bad shots and he only managed 2 assists in 22 minutes. Hell, Brown was a fool at the end of the game giving up the ball. If he has this ‘fearless attitude’ and has been playing pg since Jr high (or sooner) he should realize he needs to hold on to the ball and take the shots.
He needs to get his head on straight. You can’t make someone do that. I hope he gets it figured out by next year.
I disagree
Brown doesn’t use the other players on the court and turns the ball over to much. He was good in the 2nd half last night and put the team on his shoulders, but he needs to learn how to run offense, not be him vs 5.
by Ryan2907 on Mar 19, 2010 9:48 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Brown...great talent; needs to grow up
Until Brown matures he will do exactly what he did last night. He is a super talent, but at the same time he will make and even force silly mistakes.
He was the reason we were up in OT and were starting to have a lead which would carry us onto victory…but….then he got cocky: he threw a needless arm into his defender and caused a turnove; he carried an attitude over to his FT’s which he shot almost immediately without going through his routine and missed them both; and then he did not guard his man who drained the 3 which put them back into the game.
These can all be written off as freshman mistakes and I hope that is all they are. I also might beleive that they are examples of what Brown needs to do to improve and unless he does so he will continue to frustrate Barnes and the fans.
I can buy that there might have been friction among him and the other freshmen and between the freshmen and the seniors. While Mason has always appeared to be the ultimate team man, Brown appears to be all about Brown: rarely passing, jacking up shots from downtown, and playing sloppy defense.
I hope this summer he grows up or the next season could be as long as this one with even greater misdirected drama.
Well that is what most freshman go through!
There is a reason why they are freshman you know, most of the time they may have super talent but they need to be able to grow up. And sometimes just growing up by himself on a sinking ship while in the dog house just isn’t going to work. He needs somebody on the team to be the leader and teach him, you know be his mentor that sort of thing. So far, I don’t think any of the seniors or the Coach really stepped up to help the freshman mature.
by willyoubemycharizard on Mar 19, 2010 11:39 AM CDT up reply actions
I'm conflicted about Barnes
He’s put us up and raised the school’s awareness of basketball to new heights, but if you do go for an upgrade or plausibly even a move that looks like it could be a bit of an improvement, people will have more of a reason to tune in for the basketball program.
At minimum we should be looking to add some top quality assistant coaches, especially on the offensive side and heck, he didn’t even do very well on the defensive side in the last few games of the season. I just don’t see Barnes getting further than a final four quality team unless he can make major improvements in his approach with some of the players.
OH and if you didn’t know, according to one of the articles posted by Dimecoverage in the March 18th spot Texas made $6,878,617 in profit last year on it’s basketball with 14,770,278 made and 7,891,661 in expenses. Oh yeah, UT can definitely afford it.
TEXAS FIGHT
To put into perspective how much UT made in comparison to some top programs
http://money.cnn.com/2010/03/18/news/companies/basketball_profits/index.htm?postversion=2010031807
It’s in university, money made, expenses, profit, profit margin
Duke University 11,842,009 13,873,859 (2,031,850) -17.2%
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 19,852,544 7,488,429 12,364,115 62.3%
Syracuse University 16,817,122 7,784,244 9,032,878 53.7%
Michigan State University 15,592,500 9,031,373 6,561,127 42.1%
University of Kentucky 14,773,034 8,615,726 6,157,308 41.7%
Even if you don’t think we have the need to, we certainly can go out and get a great coach and we stand to possibly reap higher rewards from doing so. Unless that money is absolutely locked into other things, it’s possible to consider it an investment to try for better.
TEXAS FIGHT
Top Assistants
I am certainly in the camp that does not want Barnes fired yet, but I do think we could use some changes this offseason. But, unlike in football where the top coordinators and position coaches are known, I don’t know who the top assistants are.
So, who are some top assistants that we could go out and hire to provide new ideas and a spark to our team?
Good post. Some comments . . .
I agree that we have to stick with Barnes. I also agree that we must hope that he is humble and circumspect enough to observe his weaknesses, question his methodologies, and bring in people to do what he cannot.
Despite a top-flight level of talent over the past several years, there is no question that Barnes puts an inferior quality of basketball on the floor. As Bill Simmons and a guest were commenting on one of his recent podcats, How do you have Kevin Durant and DJ Augustine on the team and lose in the first round? Barnes needs an Xs and Os guru and he must let that person reign.
Two, what does he recruit? While Barnes seems adept at landing some incandescent talents, there also seems to be a trend of surrounding them with average to disappointing players. Has Texas not gotten to the stature that we have to recruit project players? Yet, especially with big men, that seems to be the case. There are two spindly white guys on our bench who are not developing. Yes, they were highly recruited. But in the end neither seems to have what it takes to become a high level performer. Wangmene is another example. Same with Pittman. He’s made a lot of progress, but . . . well, only if he had another 3 years in college to get in shape.
Furthermore, why does Barnes recruit 6’5" guys who only played inside in high school?—PJ and GJ. WHen they get to the college level they end up being tweeners who have limited paths to success. This was shown yesterday, as GJ had his shot blocked in a crucial moment.
And, lastly, why can’t these big guys make layups or block out? A lack of solid, fundamental skill is a hallmark of Barnes’ teams. Missed bunnies are a recurring problem year after year.
I think Barnes needs to take a hard look at his coaching staff and find among them or make room for someone who’s going to help make up for these weaknesses.
Good points all around
I think Barnes is at a point right now where he needs to do some hardcore self-evaluation. I do wonder whether he’s struggled with his coaching without Ken McDonald and Frank Haith. I also think you’re right on the recruiting: he simply has to be aware of the basketball he wants to coach and recruit to that system. Not unlike how a coach running the run-n-shoot has to recruit the personnel to play it, I think Barnes needs to look harder at what it is he tries to do as a coach and start being more strategic with his recruiting.
A guy like Matt Hill does nothing for this team. Athletic guards who cannot create offense or shoot jump shots are particular liabilities in Barnes’ offensive system. And above all else, he’s got to be throwing the kitchen sink at making sure he’s got elite on-ball talent. Texas doesn’t run offense; we make offense. That requires certain personnel.
You ain't hurt...
As a Kentucky fan ...
… I am forced to take some umbrage with my friend Peter Bean.
(Calipari is out as a character we wouldn’t want associated with our brand.)
Was this shot absolutely necessary or desirable? Two things come to mind:
- Texas’ “brand” when it comes to college basketball, with all due respect to the remarkable program success you have had in Austin, is not even in the same solar system with that of Kentucky. As a national football power, Texas fans can surely appreciate that fact. John Calipari is one of the finest coaches in America, to which his consistent track record of success will surely attest. He is on a path to exceed the success of any of the coaches you mentioned even though coaching, up until now, at markedly inferior programs. The public campaign against him is facially unjustified with only a cursory examination of the facts – which seems to be something nobody but me and a few others care to do. In other words, this argument smacks of media “groupthink.”
- Without meaning any offense, the implication that a program like Texas could entice John Calipari to leave Kentucky to come to Austin (or any of the other coaches you mention as acceptable) borders on the risible. Texas is a football school. That is an indisputable fact, and suggesting that any of the great coaches in college basketball would leave basketball schools to coach in Austin defies reason. You could probably not get any of them not matter how obscene the offer.
(firing someone like Tubby Smith and culminating in the hiring of a coach — John Calipari — most of us would be nervous having as a representative of the University of Texas).
This comment is slander. Kentucky did not fire or threaten to fire Tubby Smith. Smith decided he needed to be elsewhere and left. He was under pressure from the fans due to two years of sub-par performance, but it is not even remotely accurate that he was “fired” or even forced out by the Kentucky administration. While coach at Kentucky, he negotiated and accepted the position at Minnesota completely under the cover of secrecy. There is no doubt that some Kentucky fans were happy to see him go, but most were not.
I do understand the second part of the sentence – that you think UT fans would not be comfortable hiring Calipari – in light of the fact that you don’t have the issue to hand and there is no reason to worry about it. When UK hired Gillispie, many of us had the same opinion of Calipari – I know I did – to our shame. None of us had ever bothered to try to square reality with the media meme that Calipari is “sleazy” or “smarmy.” To be sure, he is not a saint, but he is no sleazier than any other major college coach you can name, including Rick Barnes. The problem is, the world is comfortable taking the opinions of others as fact without so much as a Google search. That’s sad, but it is just one of the realities of life.
But now that I have criticized the offensive parts, I want to praise most of the post. It was, as always, thoughtful and, I think, right on the money. Given the profile of basketball at Texas, Rick Barnes is truly a great coach to have. Kentucky probably would have tried to hire him away if he had been remotely interested after Tubby Smith left, which should act as a tribute to the national perception of his coaching skills.
Texas should be disappointed in this season, but not in the program overall. Some years are like this, and sometimes an injury to a player that is seemingly replaceable turns out to be a major disruption in team chemistry, and when a team begins to unravel, its a hard process to stop even for the most experienced coaching staff.
But ultimately, I think the composition of this team was ill-suited to Rick Barnes’ style. He prefers a faster offense than is really possible with the mix of personnel at his disposal this year, and his experiment with even a slimmed-down and svelte Dexter Pittman simply didn’t work out that well. I truly wish that Texas had gone on to play Kentucky just because I think the match-up would have been exciting, and it was a game that Kentucky fans have often pined for. Obviously, you hate to stake the tournament on such a tough opponent, but I believe that Kentucky needs as tough a test as possible, and I thought overall that Texas was a little better than Wake. But alas …
Sorry to take up so much space. Best of luck next year, although I’m pretty sure you won’t need luck. Texas under Barnes almost always fields a nationally competitive team.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
Texas Brand
Going beyond Kentucky’s company line, it’s pretty obvious that Tubby Smith was forced out of Kentucky. We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.
And, if you read PB’s post, he qualifies the statement about going after the handful of coaches with better resumes than Barnes. If Texas, whose athletic program makes more money than any in the country, dedicated itself to basketball as it does in football, who would they go after besides Barnes. Given that Texas athletics is now the top brand in college sports based on merchandise sales, would we want a disreputable character like Calipari.
Unfair or not, Calipari will be forever known, fairly or not, as the only coach to have two Final Four appearances vacated by the NCAA. How accurate that is doesn’t matter. What matters to the Texas brand is that Calipari is perceived as a sleeze anywhere besides Kentucky.
Heh.
Going beyond Kentucky’s company line, it’s pretty obvious that Tubby Smith was forced out of Kentucky. We’ll have to agree to disagree on that one.
Obvious to who? I was covering it closely. Were you?
I’m thinking no, and I daresay I know much more about the situation than you do. So take my word for it – you are very much mistaken.
As for the perception of Calipari, I can’t say you are wrong.
What I can say that blithe acceptance of a dissimulation is neither attractive nor praiseworthy, especially for those desiring to assert moral superiority over others.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
those big words in the last sentence were cute
nation’s perception of the tubby smith “leaving” was that he was pressured out. he was just pointing that out. mind citing ur sources/evidence saying otherwise? im not saying i DOUBT u im just curious as to why left.
by ibleedburntorange49-9 on Mar 19, 2010 6:21 PM CDT up reply actions
He left ...
… because he wanted something different. That’s it in a nutshell. He wanted his son Saul to coach with him, and he knew UK would never allow it.
There is a guy on the blog who knows Tubby Smith personally and has dinner with him several times per year. He has written extensively on the subject at A Sea of Blue. His handle is FortyYearCatFan. You can do some searches on there and find out more, if you’re interested.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Truzenzuzex on Mar 20, 2010 12:41 PM CDT up reply actions
Nice to have you come by
I think, however, you misunderstand some of PB’s points.
1. PB was not insinuating that Texas basketball and Kentucky basketball are on par; in fact, I think it is clear throughout the remainder of the post that he does not think so. He’s simply saying that the entire brand of Texas would probably not be a good fit for a coach like Calipari. Neither was he saying that Calipari is not an elite college basketball coach (it’s safe to say he is). However, it is a bad coincidence, even if one buys that it is a “coincidence,” that both of his Final Four teams are now sliced out of the record books at two different schools. Calipari has undeniable baggage, and that’s not what we want to deal with at Texas. Mack Brown, on the other hand, despite dumb accusations from fools like Thayer Evans, is respected both as a football coach and a guy who is clean. Whether or not you believe Calipari is actually dirty, that is real media baggage that any school who signs him will have to think about.
2. Again, you mistake PB’s intent. He wasn’t saying we can entice Calipari because we’re just as good or better. It was all a hypothetical exercise on who would be better than Rick Barnes. Outside of the elite coaches, it’s hard to know who to get, and it’d be hard to see if any of those coaches would be willing to come at a school where football is undeniably first. Secondly, there IS a way for Texas to entice elite coaches that sets it apart from almost any other school. It looks like this:
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Texas has a lot of it.
Anyway, thanks for your input, and good luck against Wake. I wish that would be us you’re playing, but we weren’t likely to beat the Wildcats anyway.
by TheElusiveShadow on Mar 19, 2010 12:34 PM CDT up reply actions
Most welcome.
And all the same to you. Thanks for your kind remarks, but I’m not as sanguine that Kentucky would have handled Texas. In fact, most of my community was scared to death of that matchup.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
Everybody loves a winner.
If your Wildcats were stinking up the joint, you guys would be hanging both Calimari and your AD and Ashley Judd in effigy. We’ve seen you guys in action when you’re not winning. Quit whining.
And you had better bring some facts to support this kind of supposition about Rick Barnes. Last I checked, there are witnesses to facts how Calimari has blazed a trail of through the NCAA.
To be sure, he is not a saint, but he is no sleazier than any other major college coach you can name, including Rick Barnes.
Sorry to say ...
… but there are only false witnesses, apparently. Feel free to prove me wrong.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
Sent you an email
But I should probably respond quickly on public record, as well.
On the first point, the discussion was not about whether Texas can lure any or all of those coaches I named to Austin. The argument being made is that there are a handful of high-elite established coaches in the game, and my opinion is that unless Texas fans are prepared to set their sites on landing a super-high caliber replacement, the more productive focus is to discuss what it is that Rick Barnes needs to do to improve. That is, I’m not saying Texas could land any of those coaches, but that Barnes is succeeding at a Tier 2 level, below the proven title-winners, and unless you think Texas should try to upgrade to one of them, my view is that we’re better off focusing on what Barnes can do to get better rather than looking to replace Barnes with someone who may or may not get into the Tier 1 that has thus far eluded Barnes, and who also may or may not match the very solid, consistent level of success that Barnes already has achieved.
On the second point, I didn’t choose my words particularly well, as my intent was not to say that Texas’ basketball priorities are superior to Kentucky’s basketball priorities. The point was that they’re different, and those differences are relevant in discussing whether Barnes is performing at an acceptable level. At Texas, there’s less urgency to find out whether Barnes will ultimately take that next step forward, into the upper echelon of coaches; he’s done awfully well and has been very consistent, which is enough to continue earning time to do even better. At Kentucky, the same likely does not hold true. Tubby Smith won a national championship and every SEC Tournament ever played but still came to be viewed by most as too limited to recruit and develop his own team into a national title winner. That he left under his own accord is beside the point; you and I both know that if Smith hadn’t decided to move on on his own accord, he was going to be asked to do so within the year. All of which is fine; again, the point here is just to highlight the differences. I intended no disrespect towards UK or Wildcats fans.
You ain't hurt...
Talk productive?
Barnes is the only one who can change if we improve. Talking about it isn’t doing anything unless we can somehow present that to Barnes himself in a coherent argument for what he could do better and how.
On the other hand it is possible to evaluate other coaches and see if you can do better even if it’s not with those in your top 5. That seems like it would be more productive as then we could show if there is even that move to make in the first place.
TEXAS FIGHT
No problem at all, Peter.
You and BON are a class act, and I appreciate your comments above. I know you meant no disrespect, I intended to take that opportunity to clarify some misconceptions.
I happen to know that Smith was not going to be asked to leave, or be fired within a year. He was going to be asked to make some changes, which he would likely have found unpalatable. But his reasons for leaving were not the proximity of bad seasons, but of changing priorities for his life. See my comment above.
All in all, what he did was probably best for all concerned. But UK, as far as I know, never seriously considered firing Tubby Smith, and I have that on fairly good authority.
A Sea of Blue -- Kentucky Sports for the Discerning Fan
by Truzenzuzex on Mar 20, 2010 12:46 PM CDT up reply actions
Good post PB
Just remember, it can always be worse (see OU 09-10 season)
The Ralphie Report - University of Colorado Athletics
The Crimson and Cream Machine - University of Oklahoma Athletics
Wake VS UK
My heart sank last night when Wake made that final shot. I haven’t been upset more since the national championship VS BAMA. I hope that UK wins by 30 on Saturday.
by Gilbert is beast on Mar 19, 2010 8:18 AM CDT reply actions
I'll be brief as I'm on the iPhone
I’m ok with Rick as our coach. However, the coaches you listed as winning chapionships are not the only coaches worth looking to replace Rick with. Yes those coaches are better but there are probably other up and coming coaches better then Rick. You got to look at more than just championships as your criteria.
I’m glad dex is gone. Have fun in the Turkish league.
Brown is going to be really good next year.
I’m done thinking about this teams failures. It’s not that I thought we would win but to lose the way we do and give games away because we can’t consistently do the things even junior high kids are taught makes me numb.
I would rather do the right things, play hard and lose by 15 than what happened last night.
Your tongue can't repel flavor of that magnitude!!
by UT2001 on Mar 19, 2010 8:23 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
Up and coming coaches
It’s a fine idea in theory, but in practice not only is it a gamble, but I’m not sure we’d be on the right side of the odds.
Three years ago, I’m sure if Texas was looking for a coach Texas fans would have been delighted to get “up and coming” Keno Davis (Drake), Greg McDermott (Northern Iowa), or Todd Lickliter (Butler). All three were hot commodities, but since heading to Providence, Davis has yet to make the NCAA Tournament. Iowa State fans wanted McDermott fired after this year; he’ll be back one more time, but if he struggles again, he’s out. And Lickliter, of course, just got fired after three lousy years at Iowa during which time he went 38-57.
I’m glad to listen to arguments for replacing Barnes with someone else, but I think outside the top proven coaches in the game, not only is it difficult to predict who might be special enough to win a national title, but it’s even difficult to predict which coaches would be able to come in to Texas and match the level of success that we have with Barnes. I feel confident in saying that many, and in all likelihood most, replacements would struggle to match Barnes’ consistent level of season success.
Add it all up and not only are the odds against us picking a guy who can win us a national title, but the truth is that many of the replacements we might choose would actually cause us to regress.
You ain't hurt...
Texas can get a top coach
Texas can show one of the top tier coaches the money and they will come.
I don’t hurt for any of the players really. The team sucked at free throws all season and I think it fits that they got bounced from the tournament by missing free throws.
Why did Barnes take Hamilton out at the beginning of the 2nd half? He was on fire.
Texas isn’t going to pay obscenly better than the other tops schools. Those 5 coaches would take one look at the fact that we had trouble filling our stands when we were ranked in the top 5 and undefeated and say “no thank you.” Who would want to coach at a school that had the expectations of a top tier program but had the fan support of a tier 3 program?
UT should try and get Petino
The games that matter have good crowds. Football is the same way. The crowd is much better when the games are better.
Barnes
Not many people would keep their job after a year like this…no matter what profession they are in. Horns turned into selfish posers last night. No team ball.
by Dawnpatrol on Mar 19, 2010 8:42 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
no team
J’coven Brown almost won he game by himself in the end of the 2nd half. Hamilton lite it up in the 1st half and disappeared and the 2nd. Brown didn’t show up until mid way through the 2nd half. Watching the offense looked like a 1 on 5 battle every time. passing and court movement wasn’t there, it makes it easy for the other teams defense.
by Ryan2907 on Mar 19, 2010 9:04 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
There lies the problem
Too many young players trying to do to much. I’m saying this right now. Brown is good…but he is poison for this team. There’s something about him that screams “me” all the time. I’m not a fan no matter how good he is.
At least half the conversations I have with people about this team go something like this:
“Did you watch the game last night?”
“No. I’ve given up on this team. It’s too frustrating to watch them, so I just don’t turn on the games anymore. I think it’s time for Rick Barnes to be fired.”
Fickle fans that want elite results. We can’t have it both ways. Rick put this team on the map at a school that’s more interested in offseason football recruiting than they are basketball. You’re not going to find an elite coach that’s going to come to a second teir basketball school. And, outside of those Peter mentioned above, there aren’t any that could do a better job, IMO.
The reason this season feels like such a kick in the nuts is because of the enormous expectations put on this team. But, it’s important to remember that without Rick those expectations might never have existed. He assembled this preseason top 5 team. Only a handful of coaches would have put us in that situation to begin with.
Another thing that continues to get lost in all of this is the injuries. We basically lost two starting guards over the course of a season. Any team will suffer from those kinds of losses.
I think all this is irrelevant though. I can’t see anyway that Deloss Dodds will fire Rick Barnes given his track record at Texas.
...
if Barnes doesn’t step down or get fired, he needs to have this team shoot so many free throws over the summer til their arms can’t get the ball to the rim. Some of the rebounding issue is from the defense being in zone but is no excuse, you have to work and box out. They were also in bad position to get the rebound. All I can do is shake my head about how this team has just tanked. One thing that gets me is how bad this team misses dunks and layups. As far as Barnes, he should be on the hot seat next year if he doesn’t decide to step down. The past 2 years, it seems like Barnes has lost his edge and something isn’t right.
by Ryan2907 on Mar 19, 2010 8:59 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
The past 2 years, it seems like Barnes has lost his edge and something isn’t right.
Yeah, it much tougher w/o a TJ Ford/DJ Augustin type guard running the show. I can save you the anticipation. He’s not going anywhere (not yet). Accept it, and hope he learns from this season.
by vy til i die on Mar 19, 2010 12:07 PM CDT up reply actions
I wonder if those who want Barnes gone...
don’t remember what life was like before he was at Texas. Tom Penders (solid recruiter, mediocre coach) was not doing badly getting Texas at the level of a fringe top 25 team. Everyone seemed pretty happy with that level of play. Barnes quickly raised expectations for this program to the point where this year’s finish (fringe top 25 team) is viewed as a disappointment.
Let’s say that we were to go out and throw a pile of money at Coach K. What are the chances that it would lead to better performance in the NCAA tourny? Since the 2000-1 season, Duke has made 7 Sweet 16’s, 2 Final 4’s, and one 1 championship. This is a very good record. Over the same time, Texas has made 5 Sweet 16’s and 1 Final 4. So Duke has done better, but it is not like it was by some enormous margin.
Michigan State got to 5 Sweet 16’s, and 3 Final 4’s over this same time period. The difference between Texas and Michigan State over this time period is not that large, as Texas came damn close to getting to those extra 2 Final 4’s that Izzo made.
The point is, Barnes’ Teams has done pretty well relative to the other top coaches and programs. Barnes just doesn’t have an championship yet. But he has made Texas into a top tier basketball program.
We are all just upset because this team was such a disappointment.
Point is we need the next level coach...
Barnes is good…but not great.
by Dawnpatrol on Mar 19, 2010 9:12 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
I don't think there is a next level coach.
Take Boeheim. Is he really a better coach than Barnes? He has won a championship. But it took him over 25 years coaching at Syracuse to do it. He has also missed the NCAA tournament 3 times since 2000.
I am not knocking Boeheim. My point is, if we take PB’s list — Bill Self, Mike Kryzewski, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, or Jim Boeheim — which one would you guys want to replace Barnes with? Self is the youngest, Williams is only a few years older than Barnes, and Izzo is about Barnes age. Kryzewski and Boeheim are a fair bit older, their names are hard to spell, and they have both coached where they are right now for so long that I don’t ever see them moving to a new program.
Williams is basically at his dream job, so there probably is no amount of money that brings him to Texas. Self is at one of the top 5 jobs, and a move to Texas would be a step down. I don’t know if we have enough money to pry him loose. Also, he was good at Illinois, but he has certainly seen a big recruiting benefit by coaching at Kansas. I don’t think that he would recruit any better (or as well) at Texas as Barnes does. That leaves Izzo, who I think is absolutely great. We probably would have the best shot making a run at him, using our big money to do it. But Izzo has stuck with Michigan State through a lot of coaching changes. Don’t you think one of these other top programs that changed coaches over Izzo’s tenure would have snapped him up if he was willing to leave?
coaching
if Barnes resigns or is fired, I would rather see a coach that is up and coming. find the next Bill Self or next Coach K and one that will be around for a while.
by Ryan2907 on Mar 19, 2010 9:42 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
Time to make a move
Barnes is toast. Texas has the ability to find the next coach in line and pay him. No more excuses. Doug G. on Sportscenter was basically laughing at how bad we choked.
Barnes is toast?
Havent we made the tournament for 12 straight years or some shit?
The dream coach list cant say that, even if they are at better basketball schools than Texas. Boehim has missed the tourney, so has Roy, so has Calhoun.
I dont know if Barnes is the final answer for cutting down the nets, but toast? Come on. Or did you think Roy Williams wasn’t good enough to win the big one also?
When we have a history of successful seasons, and we end one that everyone can call disappointing, where 3 players are lost for the season, and freshmen are heavily leaned upon, all of the sudden the one constant, the coach, is to blame?
by BoddickerIsClutch on Mar 19, 2010 2:38 PM CDT up reply actions
Some of the guys that we might be able to get:
I don’t know that these guys are “up and coming;” I think you could say that most of them are well established, but could possibly be influenced to come to Texas. Off the top of my head, and leaving out the Big 12:
From the Big 10: Bruce Webber, Bo Ryan, Thad Matta, John Beilein, Tubby Smith. (Only Matta can be considered a young up and coming coach. Beilein is up and coming, but he isn’t that young.)
From the Big East: Rick Pitino (we could probably get him, but how long would we keep him?), Jamie Dixon, Jay Wright, Mike Brey (I think that few of the other Big East coaches would be likely to come, and don’t know if these guys would even do it)
The ACC: I am not crazy about any of these guys (at least any that we would have a shot at)
The A10: I like Sean Miller, but he may not have the long track record needed.
How many of these guys are even at Rick Barnes level, in terms of record of success. Other than Matta and Pitino, none of them have the track record of recruiting that Barnes has. Ryan, Webber, and Beilein can coach offense as well as anyone, but would they recruit like Barnes has? (And Beilein’s offense would drive you guys crazy if you had to watch it 30 times a year.) Matta is probably the strongest candidate, and I don’t know that he really would be an upgrade.
If we dump Barnes and replace him, we are probably more likely to regress, rather than improve.
I remember the mid 80s to late 90s
Horns. They played in a mid-major conference for basketball (SWC) in an incredibly down time for Longhorn athletics. As much as everyone rags on Tom Penders around here, lets remember the era in which he coached and the resources he had available.
The question is can somebody who is realistically attainable do better than Rick Barnes with the resources that Texas has at hand? I don’t know who that is, but I do think the answer to that question is yes. I think the ceiling to the program is higher than where it is now.
And for those who think Texas can’t compete equally with Kansas, at least for certain stretches, I’d say look at those mid-decade Florida teams which were THE team to beat in the SEC from about 05-07. Are you telling me Texas doesn’t have the resources to duplicate that success or, at worst, ATTEMPT to duplicate it by upgrading their program?
Dunks
Did we have a dunk last night?
by Dawnpatrol on Mar 19, 2010 9:11 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
On the third attempt, Dex took a vicious hack to the forearm.
I had to replay the DVR frame-by-frame to catch it but he got ripped by the WF guard. The refs just flat missed it. Not to say that he would have made the 3rd attempt when missing the first 2 but it’s easier to make ‘em when your armbone hasn’t just been cracked in half. Cut the dude some slack. It wasn’t like he quit on his teammates or anything.
progression
if you look at results, the past 2 years especially, the basketball program is going down hill. Has Barnes lost it and at the end of his career? maybe, something seems missing or wrong with the coaching.
by Ryan2907 on Mar 19, 2010 9:39 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
First we need to know what went wrong
It’s real easy to just say the coach is responsible so just fire the coach. But before anything is done, it is essential to understand what turned a 17-0 team into the wreck we saw last night. To be sure, the #1 ranking was an illusion, but that team was playing good defense and getting strong contributions from the freshmen. Then it all fell apart. What happened?
I suspect something happened in practice. We know that Barnes’ practices are all about defense, so even if some players came in playing bad defense, that should have gotten better. From watching the games, it looks like the problem was the basics — help and blocking out — which are easy to teach and not that hard to learn. But if anything, the defense regressed. So my theory is that something made practice unproductive and if the team was not getting good practice, it would explain the mistakes. I have no idea what could have happened — a fight? a woman? a crime? — but eventually it will come out. Of course, Barnes and the players know but are not talking.
Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in their shoes. If they get mad, you're a mile away AND you have their shoes.
The "Fire Rick Barnes" meme
Brought to you by the same people who gave you the “Fire Mack Brown” meme, the “bench Colt McCoy for John Chiles” meme of 2007, the “Move Vince Young to Wide Receiver” meme, and the “Fling Greg Davis out of Texas with a Trebuchet” meme. This is not a stoic fan base.
proud to swim home
by learned hand on Mar 19, 2010 9:59 AM CDT reply actions 1 recs
Great read PB
I am a huge Barnes fan, and like you said there is only a few coaches in the country that I would take over him, those few coaches are not going to be leaving there schools any time soon and I think Barnes can eventually turn into one of them.
I like to compare Barnes to Boeheim, Boeheim has had great success at Syracuse. But he only has 1 Championship in 30 something years and since I have been following college basketball his teams have been early exists more than not. Boeheim was in the same boat as Barnes in that he took a team that did not have the tradition that Duke or Kansas has and he put them on the Map. There was a lot of discussion if Boeheim could ever take the Orange to the national Championship level and he finally did in what was a magical final 4 run in 2003. I believe Barnes to be on the same track. He is going to get one eventually, and we are going to be in final 4s and we are going to be a consistent power.
With all that being said, the one place I disagree with you is that it seems Barnes has been a “good coach” or an “Above average” coach in the last 4 seasons. When people start to gripe they seem to have a point now, Barnes has been to the sweet sixteen just 1 time in the last 4 seasons, after his 5 straight trips from the TJ ford era to Pre-Kevin Durant era. His teams have been somewhat inconsistent in that manner and I think what Texas fans want is to have a shot every two seasons. He is a victim of his own success, before Barnes fans were happy with sweet sixteens, with Barnes they want final 4s.
I maybe one of the very few, but I think I am a bigger Texas basketball fan, then I am a Texas football fan, but As PB mentioned above you can not really compare them. TJ Ford maybe my favorite longhorn of all time, and that Jumper from the elbow against OU in ’03 made me fall in love the basketball as a sport, a long with this Texas team. I crave to have a good tourney run with this basketball team, and maybe it is just that. Maybe because the Football team has been so good in the last 5 years that my expectations are continually met and my hunger is fed. But with the basketball team its not, and it is something that I desire more because it is much harder to have happen.
It was sad to see the team have this season end like this. The shot of Damion sitting on the floor after that shot went down was heartbreaking for me, you can tell he wants it more then anything, you can tell that he was disappointed and you can tell that he knew that this team had turned something great into something average.
Looking at the basketball side of things I have a couple of points.
1. You can get out-rebounded like and expect to win a game. The number of second chance points and number of one shot possessions really killed Texas’ Chances. The first ten minute of both halves seemed to have Texas getting on look at the basket and then Wake rebounding it, pushing it up the court and get a 3 or 4 good looks.
2. Not to call anyone out, because it was a team loss, but where has Avery Bradley been. Shooting something like 31% in the last 8 games really hurts the team. I wonder just how much he misses Dogus.
3. It is so Ironic that this team’s seasons ends with 5 missed free throws in key situations.
4. As the whole season has had everyone confused, Barnes subbing really made me wonder last night. We had two players just go off last night in two halves, Hamilton in the 1st and Brown in the 2nd. Yet Brown played 2 or 3 minutes in the first half and Hamilton was not seen much early in the second half. If I question one thing about Barnes’ coaching ability it has to be that.
5. Even as bad as everything was last night, Texas still should have won the game. That speaks a lot about how talented this team really is and the reason expectations were so high.
Looking into next season
-Really looking forward to next season, maybe we can turn this into our 2007 A&M game and only get better from here.
-Having Ward back is going to be huge, he may not have helped much this season, but his ability to guard and be consistent on offense is something we looked for all season and was not able to get from our guards.
-It was reported that Hamilton fully intends on coming back next season, and that has been the plan all along.
- I see no reason why this team should not run every other team out of the Gym. Losing Dex and adding Thompson makes this team so much more athletic. Its just is a matter of what Barnes wants to do.
- A new Era is starting in Texas basketball, although Damion, Mason, and Dex will all be missed its time to move forward. Thanks for the memories guys.
Hook ’em!
"The best decision I ever made was coming to Texas," James said. "The second-best decision was coming back."
Link?
-It was reported that Hamilton fully intends on coming back next season, and that has been the plan all along.
by goingforthecorner on Mar 19, 2010 11:05 AM CDT up reply actions
Post game interview
Don’t have a link. Here is a Twitter link from someone in the Locker room last night.
"The best decision I ever made was coming to Texas," James said. "The second-best decision was coming back."
To explain the last 4/5 years of not getting to the sweet 16 . . .
. . . it is about the same time that underclassmen started going pro too early. If they’re really good, they just don’t stay for the full 4 years anymore. I’m a huge Barnes supporter but if I had ANY criticism of him at all, I’d say that he hasn’t yet fully figured out how to utilize 1 & done, or 2 & done players yet. But is that really criticism? His system is a training system that’s teaches a well-rounded game in every facet and it works best by staying for 4 years.
Any good coach will feel responsible for his team having a poor performance. But, seriously, should we blame Rick for UT losing 4/5 games AND a 1st round tourney game because his top national recruits can’t hit FREE throws? Please. I guarantee you they shoot thousands of ‘em in practice. For some reason, almost all of ’em struggle in this area. It upsets Barnes as much as it does all of us. Geez, he looks like he’s gonna throw up on the sideline every time his boys miss these things in the last 2 minutes of those losses.
Thanks blazzin
Good thoughts, sir. Enjoyed talking hoops this season, even though things fell apart.
Hook ’em
You ain't hurt...
free throws
i would have every player on the team shoot free throws til their arms fall off from now til the start of practice in the fall
by Ryan2907 on Mar 19, 2010 10:14 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
Did anybody else notice
That nobody would pass the ball to Hamilton in the 2nd half?
by Longhorn11 on Mar 19, 2010 10:29 AM CDT via mobile reply actions
And Bradley for that matter.
Just seemed to be some tension
"The best decision I ever made was coming to Texas," James said. "The second-best decision was coming back."
yeah
the collection of “basketball” players at Texas haven’t played as a Team since 17-0. There is something wrong in the lockerroom. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear of transfers later because the NBA won’t be their next stop. They wouldn’t even make it in the D-league.
by Ryan2907 on Mar 19, 2010 10:45 AM CDT via mobile up reply actions
PB, what do you think about Pitt's coach Jaime Dixon?
I’m not one of the “fire Rick Barnes” fans, but I think Pitt’s coach Jaime Dixon might be an improvement. He has done a solid job at Pitt.
He did play ball at TCU and so he does have a connection to the Lone Star State.
I would want him or Tom Izzo personally, should we start searching for another coach.
I would agree and
separate from health issues Jim Calhoun is also in this group (ahead of Bohheim).
Barnes is not (and should) not be fired. But there are many coaches out there who probably have a better chance of taking the team to the next level (but with a lot more risk…hard to know who is the next Bill Self). The Kentucky’s of the world will not be calling on Rick, like they did before, so he is ours (I assume no more raises). I think many would have viewed Kentucky taking Barnes as a long-term opportunity for Texas.
The big picture picture question, has Barnes had the time to prove if he is elite (I thought either this year or next year would prove it, he failed this year). A younger guy has the chance to be elite…with a lot of risk. Who is the Coach K in the early 1980’s the Bob Knight in 1971, etc.
There is a reason the Kentucky faithful were going ballistic on the message boards when he was being considered, they do not respect his Basketball IQ.
The aura of 17-0, being ranked #1
is what has caused the sentiment of total disappointment, and underachievement. However, there are a number of factors looking in hindsight that would show our great start had some holes that we weren’t able to fully recognize.
- Not many true road games, our best wins were against UNC in Dallas (and of course that great win at the time looks like a fraud now), Michigan St. at home (here’s a team that arguably underachieved even more than us), and Pittsburgh (they were without their 3rd and 4th leading scorer) on a neutral court. Just look at our SOS. We overrated the quality of our nonconference schedule.
- We were willing to dismiss concern in games where we didn’t look impressive at all (Rice, USC, Texas A&M-CC, @ Arkansas, @ Iowa State, and finally our OT win vs Texas A&M.) The warnings signs were there, but we weren’t willing to take them into account till our first loss to Kansas St.
- We neglected the loss of Varez Ward. It was easy at the time to say the injury wasn’t a big deal since we kept winning. But with Ward, we lost one of the few players on the team that can be productive from both sides of the court. Losing him automatically gave more minutes to Mason and Bradley. This completely wore down AB, and Mason’s inability to make an open jumpshot contributed to our ineffective offense.
- Finally, the loss of Balbay ruined the integrity of our defense. Wouldn’t it have been nice to have Balbay chasing around Ishmael Smith last night? You’d never have to worry about Balbay being lazy on transition defense and the boards, allowing his man to get open for three, or playing without intensity and effort. Both Balbay and Ward epitomize the ideal Rick Barnes player, and losing them both ruined our defensive identity. Not only were we ranked #1 at one point, but we were ranked #1 in Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency, and it was by a mile! (Of course, we should take into account our overrated nonconference schedule here as well)
This is the total opposite of the Dennis Green quote – “They weren’t who we thought they were!”
by goingforthecorner on Mar 19, 2010 11:20 AM CDT reply actions
I agree
Looking back on it. This team was the exact same team it was in 08-09. Just with out AJ. WE really did not improve. Last season we beat Nova early, to give us hope but we fell on our face just not has hard because the fall was not as far.
"The best decision I ever made was coming to Texas," James said. "The second-best decision was coming back."
How many.....
….. teams made the NCAA Tournament after season-ending injuries to both of their two starting PGs?
Rick Barnes has made 15 consecutive trips to the NCAA Tournament and that is a fantastic performance.
Our fans had way overblown expectations of this young, inexperienced team with no proven leaders.
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
That never is mentioned
three significant contributors on this team are true freshmen. Growing Pains.
It's fun to do bad things. -Latarian Milton
by TexasGarcia37 on Mar 19, 2010 11:55 AM CDT up reply actions
Or that we had 4 players who did not play organized basketball last year.
Hamilton – ineligible after repeating his freshman year in high school (and being diagnosed with a learning disability) in which he did not play basketball. So he played only 3 years.
Brown – originally signed with the previous class but did not clear the Clearing House and had to wait a year
Lucas – Transferred from Florida, and had to wait until midseason to play even though he did not play a regular season game for the Gators the previous year
Wangmene – missed last year to injry
Fire Rick Barnes if you want
but how are you going to replace that sexy North Carolinian drawl? Answer me that.
Other Receiving Votes: Oklahoma
by pleaseplaykindle on Mar 19, 2010 11:36 AM CDT reply actions
Great Analysis and Comments
by many folks here. I am not a fire Rick person, but at times I can not help but think that he is getting paid something like $2.5m/yr. He is no different than a CEO of a corporation – you get paid for performance. A CEO with a good track record doesn’t get fired for one or two poor years but he does start to feel some pressure from shareholders. And if Rick ever does leave, I don’t think a “super elite” coach is necessarily the answer. I think an up and comer who has shown great recruiting ability would be the answer. After all, Rick wasn’t a super elite coach when he came here.
I agree with comments about assist coaches – maybe an upgrade is needed here. Maybe the losses of McDonald, Haith, and a few others has been a problem, especially if they are being replaced by “me too” thinkers who have played for Barnes like Paulino and Ogden. Not saying they are “me too” thinkers but they probably don’t have a very diverse knowledge background. Maybe an out of the box assist coach would have come up with an idea like the box and 2 that SHSU used against Baylor yesterday (assuming Rick wouldn’t come up with that on his own). Seems like that strategy shut down Dunn and Carter for most of the game compared with our defenses that let them almost score at will in the last two beat downs to Baylor.
Totally right about our current asst. coaches (Paulino and Ogden)
who even knows if they can even coach players and help them understand the fundamentals. Looking at this year’s team, it was unbelievable how inept we were at understanding the simple concepts of basketball, and I think some of that goes to the lack of coaching. We need someone experienced from outside the Texas program to help teach players. We need a teacher.
by goingforthecorner on Mar 19, 2010 12:31 PM CDT up reply actions
Maybe Someone Who Was A Head Coach
and was generally succesful but eventually got canned and would be happy to be an assist for a while. Can’t think of too many but Ernie Kent of Oregon comes to mind. Don’t know anything about him, just saying someone like him. Someone like that would probably also be a big plus in recruiting.
by gcinthewoods on Mar 19, 2010 1:52 PM CDT up reply actions
box and 2?
I know it is just a typo, but it is a funny one… Any defense where you can sneak a 6th guy onto the court is probably going to be a good one.
haha he meant to say triangle and 2
and udoh just dominated that defense, went for 20 and 12
by ibleedburntorange49-9 on Mar 19, 2010 5:14 PM CDT up reply actions
Yes I Meant To Say Triangle and 2
But it did seem to shut down Carter and Dunn. Pick your poison though – I’d rather give Udoh some points and take away 3 pointers from those 2 guards. Part of my point was that it was a little bit of creative thinking by SHSU. Not sure that I ever see anything too creative from Texas.
by gcinthewoods on Mar 19, 2010 6:09 PM CDT up reply actions
ya but SHSU doesnt have pride the size of the state of texas
to play a triangle and 2. besides, they wouldnt been able to keep up with baylor in a man like us. im glad we played some 2-3 against WF.
by ibleedburntorange49-9 on Mar 19, 2010 6:23 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm a spurs fan
So, for better or worse, I’m used to coaching that is constantly tinkering with the lineup…in fact, my friends and I routinely call out “Pop substitutions” when their is no reason (fouls, minutes, situtational defense/offense, etc.) for one player to be randomly substituted for another. However, Pop’s success rate over the years, has made the frustrating aspects of his style more than acceptable.
I’ll also be up front and say that I’ve only had the opportunity to watch a handful of UT games this year.
That being said, when ever I did watch a game, I could only describe it as a pick-up game with 5 talented strangers on the court at any one time….I never saw any discernable offensive plays (or even patterns), and I thought the substitution patterns were even more random than those used by Pop.
And, even with that, I would have found it acceptable, IF, the players had at least out-efforted the opposition. But as last night showed, we were out hustled throughout the match.
Is that the result of the players, or the coaches for not motivating the players? I’m not sure (though I don’t find fault with PB’s assigning blame on these players for failing to hit free throws in this particular game), but if the coaches are aware that the players aren’t going to win games on effort, then it does fall upon them to figure out who to put on the floor and what plays should be run to give them the best shot at winning.
Accordingly, unlike PB, find myself in the camp that finds Barnes unnacceptable. Do I know enough about college BB to say who would be a more suitable replacement? No, but, considering that the obvious and uncorrected failings of this year’s coaching staff have been written about by the non-professionals here at BON throughout the season, I’m fairly certain that there are several coaches out there that could do more with the talent we have….
Of course, that begs the question, if Barnes leaves, do we still recruit the same talent?
You didn't hire that way for football either
Mack was the UNC coach, not the MNC coach when you hired him. He hadn’t even won the ACC.
uh...
big difference. The coach before Mack? Malkovic and his record of 4-7. UT football was not what it is now. Barnes is not doing a BAD job where he could be replaced with an up and coming coach who doesn’t have success. Not the same thing.
by vy til i die on Mar 19, 2010 1:35 PM CDT up reply actions
I don't think we're disagreeing
I was just pointing out that when you did decide to get rid of Makovic, you didn’t hire Spurrier or JoePa or someone equivalent.
This is great, PB.
Kudos for mustering the ability to look so objectively following such a heartbreak.
I think I agree with all your points, but will add this: It is a shame to me that basketball is so much less followed than football at Texas. It is understandable why and I don’t propose that it should be equal or greater in value to fans, but it is damaging to the morale and image of the program when a bunch of football fans demand the firing of a coach of a team they are not passionate about (and often know little about). College basketball is one of the best sports in the nation, and IMO, March is as good as any championship gets. Not to belabor the point about which is greatest; I will admit I am envious of the basketball following of the UNCs and KUs of the world. We probably won’t see a Roy Williams or Bill Self in the relative near future at Texas, so for the time being, while basketball is 2nd or 3rd fiddle to the avg Texas Sports enthusiast, I cannot call for Barnes’ head. But I do look forward to him learning those lessons and growing as a coach, thus creating an elite in yet another Texas program. And of course, the fans will follow.
by Infield Elephant on Mar 19, 2010 1:32 PM CDT reply actions
Thanks, sir
Been a fun, but frustrating season around here. Though it made the fall that much harder, it was damn fun going 17-0 and being No. 1 for a week.
You ain't hurt...
The idea that Barnes is the 6th or 7th best coach
In the country is laughable. The idea that Texas would somehow need to replace him with one of those coaches you mentioned in order to reach the “elite” status is almost as absurd.
Will Rick Barnes be replaced? Of course not. Should he be? That’s a bit more murky. As long as the program continues to have some success and makes money I don’t forsee him ever really coming under administration pressure. For those of us who don’t buy into the self defeatist attitude that we somehow don’t have the resources to have both an elite football and basketball program (ahem* Peter), that’s disappointing. We could be so much more when in comes to basketball. More importantly we SHOULD be so much more
by flamingmonkeyass on Mar 19, 2010 1:39 PM CDT via mobile reply actions
+1
This year Barnes wasn’t even the 6th best coach in the BIG 12!
Cool. You can blow your nose and wipe your buttt at the same time.
Really?
Who out recruited him?
Who lost three players (two at least figuring to be key contributors) throughout the year?
Who had to deal with 4 healthy players who did not play organized basketball the year before?
The answer to those is:
Self
No one
No one
Unless the coaches play one on one to decide their ranking, Id really like to hear your argument as to how their are 6 better coaches in the Big 12. Ill give you Self, there might be an argument for Martin (though he scares the shit out of me), but 4 more? Come on. Youd rather have Turgeon, Drew, Anderson, or Smith? Really?
by BoddickerIsClutch on Mar 19, 2010 2:50 PM CDT up reply actions
This year, yes!
Barnes said it himself. He’s done the worst coaching job of his career. I agree with you on his recruiting and year over year performance. Rick has done a good job. But, he’s been terrible this year. I’m talking strictly coaching.
Cool. You can blow your nose and wipe your buttt at the same time.
Yet......
…Rick Barnes qualified for his 15th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
Where was Roy Williams (country’s #3 recruiting class), Ben Howland, Jim Calhoun, Louisville, Cincinnati and IU?
--- All roads to the Big-XII Championship lead through OU/RRS. It's not just another game! We're all about championships here. ---
You have a short memory.
The Texas Longhorns men’s basketball team has been, without question, the 2nd best program in the Big 12 since the conference’s inception. 3 conference titles and 10 consecutive 20-win seasons. And, surprise, Barnes has overseen it the entire time. While Kansas IS a basketball school and carries recruiting cache thereabouts, Rick has had to work to make UT BBall relevant to IT’S OWN fans. In that time, Kansas has rotated coaches atleast 3 times while Rick just keeps chuggin’.
Let’s cut him slack. The players and team chemistry was obviously underwhelming this year and we can give them some responsibilty in their “terrible” 24-10 season. The sky is not falling. They’ll be back. The program is too strong.
Yes, Good To Keep Things In Perspective
Everyone is just disappointed right now but we need to see the bigger picture as you have pointed out.
by gcinthewoods on Mar 19, 2010 6:58 PM CDT up reply actions
+1
Were Texas to decide [to] approach being the top dog in basketball with the same rigor as it does football, its options for doing so would be limited to a trying to hire Bill Self, Mike Kryzewski, Roy Williams, Tom Izzo, or Jim Boeheim.
What? In football, instead of going after Pete Carroll, Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Jim Tressel or Bob Stoops, we went after a star in Muschamp. Why wouldn’t we do something similar in hoops and go after someone like Steve Alford, Frank Martin, etc.? Barnes wasn’t that spectacular out of Clemson.
to respond to the idea that we could have gotten a top tier coach wen we hired barnes:
thats comical. thats like saying “hey come to lsu to coach basketball coach K!” aint gonna happen. in football we’re a powerhouse and in basketball we werent. i dont think self, K, rwill, izzo, or boeheim are in any way going to move to a football school.
or im completely missing ur point
by ibleedburntorange49-9 on Mar 19, 2010 5:19 PM CDT up reply actions
in football..
..we went to Muschamp as our DC. He’s our HCIW not HC. He’s still has training wheels on. Not the same thing.
by vy til i die on Mar 19, 2010 6:35 PM CDT up reply actions
My point is
In football (where we’re a powerhouse), we didn’t limit ourselves to going after the top, established coaches. So, why in basketball (where we’re not a powerhouse) would we do that? There are strong, up-and-coming (i.e., Muschamp-ish) hoops coaches out there (Bill Self was one when KU got him). Back when we were hiring Barnes, he was the best we could get. We can get better now.
Peter Bean on Barnes
Great article, blut 2-3 more seasons like this one and I think the powers that be will be looking for someone else.
Thoughts
I have been (and remain) a Barnes fan. The job he has done here is nothing short of amazing. I recall sitting in the Drum, watching Penders’ teams wondering if we’d ever be good enough consistently compete against Arkansas or being excited that we were ranked. The success and talent that Barnes has brought to Austin cannot be underestimated. Year and in and year out, Barnes’ teams are the 2nd best in the big-12 (and sharing a conference with Kansas, that’s saying something). LOTS of other big-name programs would gladly trade places with one whose down year is 24-9 and a trip to the NCAAs.
For those of you who think we could jettison Barnes and get a better coach to build on what Barnes has done. Don’t be so sure. If our football program can spend a decade in the crapper because of bad coaching hires, you better believe that our b-ball program can slide back quickly. Barnes is here to stay, barring a couple more years like this. Hopefully he will consider some fresh blood in the assistant ranks, because it seems that might be in order.
Ultimately, Barnes is a great fit here. He has elevated the program to an previously unthought of level. I think the Boeheim comparison is a great one. His tenure has included ebbs and flows, but they let him work through it and have been rewarded. Let’s give Barnes a chance to build on the incredibly strong foundation that he has created, learn from his mistakes and improve.
"But tonight the Superbowl belongs to the City of New Orleans" - Roger Goodell 2/7/2010
My main complaint
Is that Barnes has such a short leash on the freshman. I would much rather lose 5 games early because the young ones are learning. Barnes doesn’t give the light a chance to come on b/c he is too busy yanking them out of the game.
If the freshman hadn’t played so well we would have lost by double digits. The freshman shooting includes Bradley going 4 of 15.
Wake Forest
FG-FGA FT-FTA
Fresh 17-41 41% 7-10 70%
Seniors 6-21 29% 10-17 59%
Texas-Wake Forest
I hear Georgia Tech will host clinics this summer on free throw shooting . I’d make it mandatory for Texas players.
That was amazing watching them against OSU yesterday
Not that great of a team necessarily, but what was it… 24 or 25 from the line? That alone, won the game for them.
by Infield Elephant on Mar 20, 2010 10:42 AM CDT up reply actions
wow
but at least losing Pittman, Mason, and possibly Balbay will increase our FT% by default next year. Lets hope Thompson and Joseph (if he joins us) are good shooters from the stripe.
by goingforthecorner on Mar 20, 2010 11:19 AM CDT up reply actions
Both coaches and players are to blame
I’ve seen it written a couple times but there seemed to be a divide between the younger players and seniors. Pittman was probably the least culpable of this because he really doesn’t care who throws him the ball. Mason seemed to only be looking for the other seniors on drives and in transition, perhaps this is because he is more comfortable with them as opposed to some malicious intent but it was still wrong. James is hard for me to understand, he seemed to take plays off, whether it was screening for other players or fighting through screens he, and everyone else not named Bradley, seemed to not want to play defense. I understand that James works harder than every other player on the court about 90% of the time, but he lost so many defensive assignments and rebound battles whenever he wasn’t on his game. The freshmen couldn’t handle the ball and made poor decisions throughout, though some of those poor decisions still ended up with good results.
The reason I feel both the coaches and the players are to blame is because there needed to be corrections made within the game. How about giving James a breather? Like I said he seemed to take plays off, but that’s probably because he played practically the entire game. I don’t understand how people have pointed out time and time again the problems with how stagnant this team’s offense is and how many poor decisions are taken by this teams younger players, and yet still no corrections. I understand freshmen are young, but its been a season, we’ve seen freshmen across the country grow up, why haven’t most of these young men? I feel like there was a lack of wanting to learn, or a lack of correct teaching or a combination of both. From the outsiders perspective its easy to blame Barnes because the talent is there, but if the talent isn’t responsive sometimes it can’t be helped. I hope this team keeps its freshmen and they turn into the leaders on this team, perhaps that will help breed a learning environment for next season.
Fire Barnes?? Are you nuts???
You can’t be serious!!!
Anybody who remembers Leon Black or playing in Gregory Gym is in heaven right now. Not only did we go to the dance, but we were actually nationally rated. Texas went from 1949 to 1976 without being rated. Before you go and fire the best coach (okay, second after Abe Lemons) that Texas has ever had you should read up on how bad everybody wanted to hire Bob Weltlich. Remember him? Be careful what you ask for, you just might get it! We won more than 20 games and some (insert expletive here) people aren’t satisfied. Dang! Where do you think you are? Carolina? Kentucky? UCLA? You seriously think you are mere dollars away from a national championship?? Sheesh
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