Sunday Thoughts from Reliant

by awiggo on Mar 30, 2008 10:23 PM CDT in Basketball

I just got back from Houston and wanted to add a few thoughts of my own. PB has already done an excellent job of breaking down the game and reasons why we lost. I’ll try not to overlap on what he’s already mentioned.

This morning I sat down with my girlfriend at a bagel shop and picked up the Houston Chronicle. I started to read the article previewing the game and became deeply concerned. The quotes from the Texas players were very disturbing. Coach Calipari predicted that an up and down game would lead to a final score of 106-102. The Texas players were asked about his comments.

Texas' Connor Atchley didn't hesitate. "106-102?" he said. "I think that would be a blast.

"I think you can erase the shot clock, because I don't think any of us are going to need it," Texas junior guard A.J. Abrams said.

"We love to run. That's our game," UT's Damion James said. "We want to make our game similar to the Phoenix Suns. Our philosophy is to try to score in five seconds."

Huh? Was this really going to be our strategy? Surely, the players were just shooting off at the mouth. Right? Coach Barnes would definitely have the Longhorns play a more controlled game that plays to our strengths and not to those of the Tigers. Right?

I thought Texas needed to play a game in the 60’s. I thought they needed to run their half-court offense for 30+ seconds. I thought they needed to do everything possible to eliminate the Memphis fastbreak and make the Tigers score in the half-court. After reading these comments, though, I was very scared.

I knew heading into the stadium that Texas needed to play a near perfect game and hopefully have Memphis get into some foul trouble, be uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball, or be ice cold from the floor to come out victorious. From the opening tip, things didn’t go the way of the Longhorns. Turnovers, easy fast breaks, quick shots, and the man-to-man defense quickly led to a double digit deficit from which Texas could never recover. Texas did eventually go to a 2-3 zone, play at a more deliberate pace, and really protected the ball well in the second half, but against a team as good as Memphis, it was too late.

If Texas starts in zone or plays a half-court game or does a better job of protecting the ball, the game is definitely closer but the outcome is probably the same. Memphis is just really, really good.

I wear burnt orange tinted glass just like all of you most of the time. But those of you commenting or thinking that the better team lost today weren’t at Reliant Stadium. Memphis was clearly the better team. They are quicker, longer, deeper, more athletic, more efficient, and definitely a better team. I am sad to report that in person, it wasn’t even close.

--AW--

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Stop the Memphis lovefest please!

Yes - they played much better today (yesterday). Even overall they may be a little better, but I'm sick of all the people who based on one single game write us off.

IT WAS ONE GAME. It's college sports, you have on and off nights. We beat UCLA, Tennessee and Kansas. Did you write them off after the losses?

I know I probably don't make much sense. My point: don't judge our whole season on this one game. On an average night, we are competitive with the Tigers. 2 wins out 5 is about right for us IM(not so humble)O.

Get your ass going! You ain't hurt!

by Cyrus on Mar 31, 2008 1:55 AM CDT 0 recs

To be fair

No one's judging the season on this one game at all. Not Andrew; not me.

What we're saying - forcefully - is that we just ran into a better team today. That doesn't diminish our season in the slightest. And I personally think we would have been well positioned to defeat UCLA.

As is, though, we ran into a better team in the Elite Eight. I know that's not what Texas fans want to talk about, but that's what happened today. We can admit that without diminishing our accomplishments.

--PB--

by PB @ BON on Mar 31, 2008 2:12 AM CDT up 0 recs

re

I meant you are judging the quality of these two teams based on one game. Had the Texas that played Kansas showed up on Sunday, we would have been competitive IMO.

Anyways, next year should be even a better year :)

Get your ass going! You ain't hurt!

by Cyrus on Mar 31, 2008 1:09 PM CDT up 0 recs

Not one game, all season

Memphis was better on Sunday and they've been better than, not just Texas, but almost every college basketball team all season.

The Tigers are an extremely talented team that would beat this Texas team eight out of ten teams.

Sure, we had an off night shooting, turned the ball over more often than usual, and looked confused more that we've seen since our trip to College Station. However, the reasons for those shortcomings come more from what Memphis was doing well than what Texas was doing poorly.

One last thing, this loss is nowhere near as painful as the loss to LSU in the Elite Eight two years ago. I wrote immediately after that defeat that Texas had just fallen to an average team. LSU was a group of athletes, not a group of basketball players. Memphis is a complete TEAM and a fantastic group of basketball players. The Tigers had made the Elite Eight in each of the last two seasons are about to set a record for most wins over a three year period.

There is no shame in losing to the Tigers. Texas had a fantastic year that was full of overachievements but also one that fell one W short of the Final Four.

--AW--

by awiggo on Mar 31, 2008 8:57 AM CDT up 0 recs

Disappointment, not shame

No one is ashamed of the team. They had a great season and exceeded every expectation. The disappointment is that they did not go out playing their best. Things that we did well all year, like avoiding turnovers, we did poorly. And for the most part, this was not because of the play of the opponent. These were mostly unforced errors resulting from poor decisions. Bad shot selection across the board killed the offense.

In my opinion, had we played as well as we did against Kansas - either game - we would have beat Memphis. If you expect a team to play its best when it matters the most, we should have won this one. Thus the disappointment.

by Caradoc on Mar 31, 2008 10:05 AM CDT up 0 recs

Don't be sad to report the truth

There is no shame in this losing this game. Sometimes the other guy's Xs are betteer than your Os. The Horns were a young team with some problems and still made the Elite Eight. It was a very good year.

by 71grad on Mar 31, 2008 2:13 AM CDT 0 recs

Homer

Realizing that I am probably an overly-biased fan, I think yesterday was a result of the Horns not showing up to play. Yes, Memphis is a great team, but I do not think they are better than Kansas. I know its already been said, but look back to the Kansas-UT game: Texas lost, but we played well. Yesterday, the team played like shit. Call it a bad game plan, an off night or whatever, but either way, we just didn't show up.

I think that if both teams played at full strength, we could split a set of games with them, just like we did with Kansas.

Again, I know I'm biased, but I thought Memphis was overrated all season, and I still do. Excellent team, but not the best in the county.

by Texas Our Texas on Mar 31, 2008 8:13 AM CDT 0 recs

For our sake

I hope you are right...but I watched that game, and Memphis was scary good. Granted, I think UCLA's defense and post-play may be better than that of Texas. UCLA may not have the quick-shooting perimeter game of Abrams and Augustin, but hopefully their defense can stifle some of those runs by Memphis.

Congrats on a great season. I wish our teams would have been able to face off again, but just like 2006, I guess it was not to be.

GO BRUINS. HOOK 'EM HORNS.

A Trojan can only be used once. A Bruin is forever.

by uclawarren on Mar 31, 2008 9:07 AM CDT up 0 recs

Too Late?

you and PB both said something close to this:

Texas did eventually go to a 2-3 zone, play at a more deliberate pace, and really protected the ball well in the second half, but against a team as good as Memphis, it was too late.

With 18 minutes left it was a 5 point game and the Box and 1 that UT was playing was giving Memphis trouble, it took them 5 minutes to go from 39 to 46 points. The problem was that we could not make out shots on offense.

AJ and Connor are both good shooters and support players, but against a team as good as Memphis, they really can't create their own shots.

Both Mason and James have the potential to be able to create their own shots against teams this good, but are still too raw.

The only way we beat Memphis is if DJ starts breaking down the defense and making his fade aways and drives. If that had happened, it would have opened up the offense for AJ, Connor, James and Mason, because their defenders have to start helping on DJ. But DJ could not figure out how to beat what Memphis was doing and that was it.

I think that coming out trying to run with Memphis probably hurt us, but I don't think the game was over becuase of it.

by Wells on Mar 31, 2008 9:56 AM CDT 0 recs

IMO

I think Texas played scared (turnover) and afraid to make mistakes - which led to turnover after turnover.

By no means am I saying the outcome would have been different, (turnover) but I think the refs could have blown that whistle a few more times against Memphis. (Turnover) Seems like they got away with a few. (Turnover)

Yea, X's and O's and schemes played a part (turnover) and Memphis is a better team (turnover) but the mindset of Texas just wasn't there. In my opinion. (turnover)

But congrats to the Horns on a great season.

by UTHorns on Mar 31, 2008 10:10 AM CDT 0 recs

Texas only had 8 TOs

which is one less that what you wrote in you post.

8 is just over their season average and all but one was in the first half.

The TO played a part of the reason we were down in the first half, but does not explain the second half at all.

by Wells on Mar 31, 2008 10:15 AM CDT up 0 recs

Thanks, AW

for saying what too few on here want to admit, that y'all just ran into a better team.

The amount of delusion on here is startling, quite frankly.

If y'all played Memphis 10 times, I'm not sure they don't beat you all 10 times. Sometimes, the other team is simply just better, and no amount of denial changes that.

Could texas have played better? Yes. But even playing at your best, you still lose to Memphis. They were simply bigger, taller, and faster than texas' players, and they obviously wanted it more.

texas overachieved this season, getting as far as they did without a true center. You made it to the Elite Eight, which means your #2 seeding was right on the mark.
I don't know why some people have to muck it up by being poor sports about it, and denying Memphis the credit due to them.

by Beergut on Mar 31, 2008 11:41 AM CDT 0 recs

Selective Vision?

The amount of delusion on here is startling, quite frankly.

Utter BS. Compared to most sites, the fact that a majority of the posters seem to agree that Memphis is the better team is actually what is startling.

Do you feel that you are starting to like UT too much and need to spew out some BS to reaffirm your aggieness?

by Wells on Mar 31, 2008 11:54 AM CDT up 0 recs

nope, no worries about liking texas too much

I thoroughly enjoyed watching Memphis destroy texas, just like I enjoy watching any other texas loss. It helps that I have Memphis winning it all in my bracket.

I stand by my statement that there are fans on here who are in denial, and if you read the comments on the other threads, you'd know who I'm referring to.

PB and AW are telling it like it is, Memphis was simply better.
It is the people who are complaining about how "texas wasn't prepared" or "they came out playing scared" that I quibble with. They're making excuses.

This game was jujst like the loss to USC last year, taller, more athletic players making texas' guards disappear. I don't know why that shocked anyone.

by Beergut on Mar 31, 2008 12:28 PM CDT up 0 recs

You know what delusion is?

Delusion is you, Beergut, not admitting that you're a troll. And an ass.

That said, I'm so glad you're always around to point out how stupid/arrogant/ delusional/racist/hypocritical/etc. we all are. Does it make you proud, being the one Aggie willing to stand up to the evil awful Longhorn fans and tell us what's what?

It's not even your love of the Aggie way or dislike for the Longhorns that really bothers me, it's that that everything you say is fact when everyone else understands that this is a forum for opinion. It doesn't help that your facts are sometimes just plain wrong.

To wrap up: go away. There must be an Aggie forum somewhere that is capable of accepting complete sentences; find it and use it.

So take that.

by Kahuna on Mar 31, 2008 12:47 PM CDT up 0 recs

I know, right?

It's like blaming the refs for your losses or something.

by Meekrob on Mar 31, 2008 2:17 PM CDT up 0 recs

You are a complete jerk.

Kindly get lost, forever. Typical agric retard.

I'll never forget ol' what's-his-name.

by Horntod on Mar 31, 2008 4:25 PM CDT up 0 recs

There's a way to say that...

... Without being a troll. That wasn't it. Has A&M ever lost a game in which at least some Aggie didn't start whining about being the better team? I recall a certain football game in 2005 that you personally have had some monster rants about, even when the victors won the national championship and the losers didn't even make a bowl game. Some people are just wild homers and refuse to admit that they're not the best at anything, and that's part of the fun of being a fan for them. It's sports, dude, people are fans. Deal with it. Maybe at Rice or Baylor you could find a fan base totally devoid of homerism, but that's why they're Rice or Baylor.

Most of us know, just like most of the rest of the country knows, that Memphis was the better team. That does not diminish the great season that Texas had, nor does it mean it was an overachieving miracle of some sort.

Go boom, mothers. Please, just go boom.

by Horn Brain on Mar 31, 2008 12:08 PM CDT up 0 recs

What Wells said

Seriously - read the comments in this and the previous post. Though all agree Texas could have played much better, most understood that we ran in to a buzzsaw.

Wells is absolutely right - what's startling is how few BON'ers are suggesting the better team lost. You're really reaching here.

--PB--

by PB @ BON on Mar 31, 2008 12:10 PM CDT up 0 recs

Only one in delusion

... is me (and you). I didn't even say that we were the better team. NO, Memphis was better by LOTS, and on an average day is better by some.

Go watch one of those 7 game series NBA games. You can never tell the final result from the first game, even if it's a 20 point rout. That's pros, this is college with more emotions. What I was saying is, based on 1 game you simply can't predict the result of a 10 games series.

Me being petty --> are you done crying about the no call?

Get your ass going! You ain't hurt!

by Cyrus on Mar 31, 2008 12:53 PM CDT up 0 recs

They were better prepared.

Memphis did a good job on defense. They knew how they were going to play the high pick and roll and defended the other variations that DJ runs off the high picks. It really cut down on the number of easy shots and easy drives to the rim.
On the other hand the Horns defense was not as well prepared for Memphis and broke down fairly easily which led to easy baskets. That combination never changed enough for the Horns to climb back into the game. In this case the personal match ups helped the Memphis game plan and hindered the Horns from executing.

by Xerxes on Mar 31, 2008 11:45 AM CDT 0 recs