How Do You Say 'Gut Punch' in Canadian?

Call me a fool, but I got my hopes up.

Yeah, so, I thought there was a chance Hamilton would come back and very much believed Thompson was telling the truth. You have nothing to feel bad about.

Of the draft boards. The guy is a natural shot blocker who will be a hell of a 4 in the league. I’d pick him over an unknown Lithuanian

This was a really good read. Though I was bemoaning TT leaving in mid-January and have a few bones that I pick with the one-and-done, I agree with almost everything said here. And I think you were able to articulate your points with more sensibility and clarity than I think most of us could have upon reflecting over the fact that we could very well have lost five out of our five starters. It still stings a little (and let’s be real, I’ll still complain about it to anyone with ears/eyes/whatever), but I think this post did a solid job of reminding us all that UT basketball isn’t going to disappear all together. This season might not turn out to be what we had all expected when Jordan and Tristan expressed interest in returning in March, but the world certainly isn’t going to stop spinning.

And just remember, Longhorns, there are many, many worse things that can happen to your school’s athletic program of choice rather than having a few great players declare for the draft. Just ask Ohio State.

One reason top recruits come here is that Barnes has a reputation for teaching defense. Many of these guys come with offensive skills that can take them to the NBA, but they need work on defense and that’s where Barnes’ system come in. Until lately, anyway, practices were mostly about defense. Barnes needed players who could score on their own and they needed to learn to play defense — perfect fit. I have no doubt that Hamilton’s draft stock improved this year when he showed he could be a competent defender.

I thought Avery was crazy when he left last year and he was drafted 18th overall. I think CoJo’s game will eventually transtition better to the NBA compared to Avery because unlike Avery, CoJo can run an offense. I think the numbers are pretty similiar to what each player did during their first season. While I agree he shouldn’t go, I just won’t be surprised if he gets picked in the late first round after he goes through some workouts.

I’d like to see some stats on that, but people using this as an excuse for greed is getting really tired. Maybe the reality is that players are seeing that good jobs are harder to come by than ever in our economy these days, thus making an NBA career that much more important.

That said, Tristan still hasn’t signed with an agent, right? I wonder why. He could still come back.

Rec’d for sadness. I think you hit the nail on the head with why we expected Thompson to stay, and why it’s not a bad choice that he’s leaving.

The problem, as you alluded to in the comments above, is the lack of talent development around these one-and-dones.

Having one-and-dones hasn’t stopped John Calipari from making it to the Elite 8 and Final 4 the past two years. Why? Well, partially, because he has so many of them that the talent level is elevated. But if you look at this year’s Kentucky team, Calipari did a remarkable job of turning Josh Harrellson into a legit post presence, Darius Miller into a confident 3 point shooter, and DeAndre Liggins into a class A defender. Trust me, none of those things seemed possible during the Billy Gillispie era.

Meanwhile, what do we get at Texas? Besides seeing Gary Johnson start from a raw but talented freshman into a confident forward that would bang inside, guard 2’s, and hit the open 15 footer, where is the talent development? Dogus Balbay and Justin Mason could never hit a jump shot. Matt Hill and Clint Chapman never developed a post game. Dexter Pittman never figured out how to play more than 3 minutes at a time without committing a dumb foul.

Recruiting talented 5* won’t be a Barnes problem. In fact, if anything we may be seeing the recruiting renaissance period over consecutive classes, a la Calipari, thanks to the most talented crop of high schoolers the state of Texas has ever seen. You can bet Rick is working hard on the recruiting trail to land some of these young studs. Instead, we should be worried about how Barnes is going to “coach ’em up.” Will they be fresh in March? And will they have the sufficient supporting pieces around them to succeed? Trust me: you’ll greatly enjoy watching Myck Kabongo, Cameron Ridley, and a host of other young talent play. The real question is, will Barnes do enough coaching to get them to win? That is truly to be determined.

On the bright side, we’re right back to having the same limited (if any) expectations we always have for our college b-ball team. And remember kids, you set your expectations low enough, good things will happen.

BTW, there’s only one "b" in "54b, you were right to be cynical all along."

One and done is absolutely awful for college basketball. The NBA should change to either out of high school or 2 years in college. No exceptions. The big dance is the
little dance in my opinion until then, which unfortunately will never happen. $$$$
rules as always. So we have to suffer gladly with what we get with the current status
of UT basketball. We will never win a championship.

The NBA and players union made a work rule and did nothing to College baskerball. The fact that the NCAA prostitutes themselves for thes players is beyond ridiculous. Why doesn’t the NCAA realize that these transient players just increase the brand of the jersey? If you don’t bond with the players – the team is the thing. Why not try a little integrity in the NCAA. No schollies thru streetagents. Minimum scholastic requirements for these players. If they are there for a year – they go to school for 2 semesters or you lose a schollie. Force the NBA to pay for a developpmental league because these guys will not have the NCAA to use as a farm system for one and dones.