Texas Bball Pulls Away in 2nd Half

by patienthornsfan on Jan 2, 2007 11:03 PM CST Comment 16 comments

Easy win for the Horns tonight, and easily a better performance than the Centenary game. Sluggish start, and lots of missed shots in the first half, but Texas really came out firing in the second half to put UTA away, 84-52.

Yet another standout game for KD, with yet another 20 point game and yet another double-double. He was named the Big 12 Rookie of the Week yet again last week (for the fourth time) - is there any doubt this guy won't be the Big XII Rookie of the Year, if not Player of the Year?

http://texassports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=16&url_article_id=5499&url_subchannel _id=&change_well_id=2

Durant had a slow first half, and missed 5 of his first 7 shots I think. He missed all 4 of his 3-pointers in the game, something that concerns me given his success from BTA in the early games. But he still ended up with 20 points and 15 rebounds. AJ also had a SOLID game, with 20 points and NO turnovers. He was really aggressive going to the basket. DJ added 14 points, but was limited in the first half with foul trouble.

Fan favorite Dexter the Molester had some valuable minutes, going 4 for 4 on his shots with one sweet spin move under the basket, and only 2 fouls for a change.

I'm sure AW and PB will have much more in-depth analysis, but the only other comments I had on the performances tonight were Winder - finally some decent minutes from him - and Atchley - nice swat among his 3 blocked shots tonite, but I keep waiting for him to replicate his LSU performance! And Damion James? Well, despite the 10 rebounds, I'm just not seeing it. He ended up with as many fouls as he had points (4). James is getting about the same minutes as Atchley, Hill, and Pittman, and I don't think any of us expected that when the season began.

http://texassports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=16&url_article_id=5502&url_subchannel _id=&change_well_id=2

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Actually, we won't

Sadly, neither AW nor I saw the game!!

AW is in Florida, and I'm in California. We're enjoying the vacationing, but missing out on the local sports.

Any and all who watched the gaem please chime in with game thoughts here.

Thanks, PHF, for posting

by Peter Bean on Jan 2, 2007 11:08 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

You and 10,000 other Horns Fans, PB

There were fewer than 5k in attendance tonight, which may have accounted a bit for the slow start. The Erwin Center was a morgue.

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Jan 2, 2007 11:15 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Durant

Will he maintain his lead in production over Oden? He's played in twice as many games to date.

Greg Oden 6 games 5 starts 26.8 minutes FG 5.7 Made 8.0 Attempted 70.8% BTA 0.0 0.0 FT 3.2 Made 6.5 Attempted 48.7% Rebounds 3.5 O 5.8 D 9.3 T 1.0 AST 1.3 TO 0.5 ST 3.7 BLK 2.3 PF 14.5 PPG

Kevin Durant 12 12 30.9 FG 7.3 15.7 46.8% BTA 1.8 4.9 37.3% FT 5.1 6.1 83.6% 3.1 O 6.8 D 9.9 T 1.5 AST 3.0 TO 1.7 ST 1.9 BLK 2.1 PF 21.6 PPG

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Jan 2, 2007 11:41 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Easily

Oden's going to be a real force in the NBA eventually, and he's already an effective center in college, but he's still VERY raw. His offensive game is pretty much, um, dunks. You can debate about who has more long-term upside, but I don't think there's any doubt that KD's going to whip Oden in production this year.

by Peter Bean on Jan 2, 2007 11:48 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

odd Game

maybe the lack of a crowd.
UTA did a good job inside in the first half, they put some good pressure on the interior defense. Lots of rebounds for both teams horns had 47 to UTA's 32. Not many turnovers on the part of the horns but they had 11 blocks.
Pretty poor shooting night horn went 7-25 in 3's.

It was good to see Abrams slash to the front of the rim more often, he's quick enough that that could be a good addition to his outside shot.
All night I watched the front court play closer than the rest and there is a big difference between Big Dexter and the rest of the team. BD is very good dueling for position down on the box and has a talent for boxing out on the boards. Hill and Acthley don't start early enough during a possession to get good position and end up losing prime real estate. Hill, Atchley and James can rebound decently well but when they get an offense rebound they aren't every successful with the put backs. it's bad hands, slow jumping or lack of strength. Though Pittman isn't a quick jumper he usually has good position and enough strength to power the ball into the hoop. He also has a better touch within 3 feet of the rim than the other three. Hill and Atchley are slow, weak and clumsy, James is much quicker a little stronger much more athletic but has hands of stone.
Pittman is up to 10 minutes a game so maybe by march he will be able to play 15-20 minutes and be a real inside threat.

xerxes

by Xerxes on Jan 3, 2007 12:16 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Couldn't agree more

I wish y'all had gone to high school with me, so I could comp big Dex to this kid who you used to play for my high school. Kid was not a great athlete, but just had amazing hands and terrific basketball IQ.

Anyway, Pittman's got terrific touch around the rim, outstanding effort/hustle, and very good sense of how to use his body to get position. That's hard to teach players - and especially young ones. Pittman's great at it, already.

Here's to hoping the development continues. We simply must have his presence for 10-15 minutes per game. 20, against the right opponents, would be gravy.

by Peter Bean on Jan 3, 2007 12:41 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Who?

Player?

by Wells on Jan 3, 2007 8:54 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Yup

Player Richardson

by Peter Bean on Jan 3, 2007 12:48 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Part of the reason for the slow starts

... against Centenary and UTA:

"Barnes has been conducting long, difficult practices since the team returned from a short holiday break on Dec. 26. The result has been tired legs during the past two games but progress on defense, the area in which the Longhorns need the most improvement."

http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/sports/stories/longhorns/01/03/3texmen.html

Bad crowd also contributes. There was NO energy in the house.

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Jan 3, 2007 8:56 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

it makes sense

once conference play starts there might be less time to run strenuous practice and have recovery time before a game.
Now that you mention it the horns seemed to do better, smoother on defending high picks. There weren't many drives from the top of the key. It's hard to tell if it's the opponent or better play but defensive rotation looked less chaotic. UTA shot only .308, maybe practice pays off.

xerxes

by Xerxes on Jan 3, 2007 9:27 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

Plus

during the school year, there is a limit on how many hours the coach can schedule practice, but during the break, he can practice for 12 hours a day if he wants.

by Wells on Jan 3, 2007 9:33 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Nice favorable schedule to start the Big XII too

At doormat Colorado, followed by games at home against Mizzou and the Land Thieves, which both should be easy wins. The first real test doesn't come until January 16th in Stillwater. Time enough to iron out the last couple of wrinkles.

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Jan 3, 2007 1:05 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

I'm Back

in Austin minus one golf bag. Don't you just love traveling during the holidays?

Anyway, I have the game on tape (I think). I'll try to add my thoughts in the next preview.

You are right: our Big 12 schedule couldn't start much easier: at Colorado and then Missouri and OU at home.

Next Game: at Colorado Saturday Jan. 6th 3 PM

--AW--

by awiggo on Jan 3, 2007 11:11 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

You must have flown American Airlines

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Jan 4, 2007 8:35 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I did

and not to turn this blog into a bitch session about the airline industry. But I arrived at the airport two plus hours before my departure. I was on a "direct" flight through Dallas to Austin. "Direct" meaning it stops but you don't have to get off. That is not my definition but the industry's.

But of course we did have to get off after the plane had some difficulties. None of our three bags made the trip to the new plane with us, even though we had well over an hour. Two of our three bags showed up on the next Dallas to Austin flight. Thankfully we were still trying to find out what happened to our bags when the next flight arrived.

Yet, I'm still missing my golf bag, which of course carries the most valuable possessions.

Anyway, it's good to be back.

--AW--

by awiggo on Jan 4, 2007 9:06 AM CST up reply actions 0 recs

I worked for AA for 10 years

You have NO idea how chaotic it really is behind the scenes. Especially when you throw in a little bad weather and/or a mechanical problem on the airplane. It's amazing they manage to get 600+ airplanes in the air every day.

The only US airline I haven't had a problem - a serious, stroke-inducing problem - with in my 10 years of constant travel since I've been at IBM is jetBlue. Unfortunately they only fly to NYC and Boston.

Starting in January 2007, just another Limey Longhorn

by patienthornsfan on Jan 4, 2007 10:15 AM CST reply actions 0 recs