Barnes: An "F" in recruiting Program Players

I appreciate the well presented comments. They do an excellent job of exposing what I had to say. That was all I was hoping to do – to generate some good BB dialogue – to get insulted right off the bat really threw me off (people who attack the messenger and not the message are the very ones I try to avoid on blogs – and in life in general).

To those of you who gave support and indeed, engaged in a fun basketball commentary, thanks!

Rick Barnes is not the man that brought Texas out of the dark ages. That title belongs to Tom Penders. Rick Barnes rode on Tom pender’s shoulders to get the recruits he got. But good recruits alone won’t win anything – you need good coaching – for proof of that, just look what happend to us this year. If he could atleast have a little motion in the half court i wouldn’t feel so insecure about this ball club.

both pro and con, and certainly points can be made both ways. I understand it is a crap shoot on some of these kids but, just to pick one year, last year, I just didn’t understand how we could have 4 guards who couldn’t shoot the ball from more than 10 ft from the basket (Mason, Balbay, Smith, and Ward – Ward came on as a good dribble penetrator but really didn’t have a reliable outside shot). So were these kids good in HS and forgot how to shoot in college, was it stepped up college defenses that impacted their shots, or were they recruiting issues. Yes, you could recruit one or maybe two guys like this, but 4? And maybe Ward will develop and we can drop him off the list.

My point is, we do seem to be lacking the supporting cast to surround the more elite recruits. Maybe it is just a cyclical thing – you can’t hit home runs every year.

The other thing I wonder about is, are the guys coming in being developed to the top of their potential? I look at a kid like Chapman in pre game warmups and I’m really impressed by his athleticism. OK, I know he may have some defensive issues but is he any worse on defense than Dex? On offense he at least has a jump shot, can dribble the ball some, can make tip in baskets without bringing the ball down to his belly to spring up for a slam dunk every time, etc. He had more minutes playing as a freshman than he did this year. I’m not trying to play coach, Rick sees him in practice every day and there is obviously something going on we don’t see. But since this is a discussion board, I’m just raising the question. Does anyone else have any pros or cons about player development over 4 years?

And speaking of recruiting, what do folks think about teams like No. Iowa, St Mary’s, and Cornell this year? Is that good recruiting, good coaching, just good luck for one year, or what?

look at how Sam Houston played Baylor – they lost the game but acquited themselves very well – they exploited holes in Baylor’s zone that Barnes seemed unable to even locate, and he had 3 chances to do so

good points on Chapman – he couldn’t be worse than Dex, or so it seems – his is weak on defense, no question – but he can score in more than one way and seems to help the offensive flow with his better movement – he does move a lot better than Dex – but for whatever reason, he was in the same doghouse that others seem to occupy – I hope he gets a shot next season – it’s his last chance

excellent point – he can actually get out from the basket area to do so and is more than willing – he is also the first guy off the bench to encourage his teammates whenever there is a timeout

Texas, needs to fire Rick Barnes ASAP and hire the Butler head coach. For all the ppl saying Rick Barnes shouldn’t be fired nothing will change next year, Barnes will continue to get out coached every game like always. Barnes is the longest tendered head coich in the Big 12 all the horrible coaches are gone and now he’s the weakest link and should be let go.