Morning Coffee Is A Mack Brown Fan
by Peter Bean on Feb 14, 2008 7:26 AM CST
in Quick Hits
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Nothing parochial about it. Criticizing Mack Brown right now is simply futile. He righted the ship for the Holiday Bowl, hit a grand slam with his defensive coordinator hire, put Ken Rucker on player relations full time, and managed to bring some fresh young blood in to help with the offense. And now Mack's offering elite national prospects scholarships ($) for the 2009 class. Despite some of Mack's comments which suggested he may have soured on the idea of trying to supplement his Texas class with out-of-state studs, in practice he's targeting some key national players. If the Texas staff got an 'F' for the Texas A&M game, it's been nothing but A+ ever since. I can't recall being this excited, this early, during an offseason.
Yes, please. One in-state prospect Mack Brown is recruiting is West Texas DB Kenny Vaccaro. Along with some silly raw testing numbers (4.47 40, 475 lb squat? Really?), his video page shows a smart player with terrific instincts. Want.
On the road again. You'll rarely, if ever, hear Andrew and I complain about the hoops team after a road win. Even when we play poorly against a bad team, as we did last Saturday against Iowa State, the win itself is all that matters. Kansas State, competing for the conference title after picking up a historic win over Kansas three weeks ago, proved that point last night, dropping an 84-75 contest at Texas Tech.
The loss drops KSU to 7-2 in the Big 12 standings during a year in which the top of the conference showcases four strong tournament teams (Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Texas A&M) ahead of a pair of solid bubble teams (Baylor, Oklahoma). The Longhorns are in excellent shape to pick up a first round bye for the Big 12 tournament, and could, if they finish strong, pick up the conference's #1 seed. Texas is tied with Kansas in the loss column, but own the head-to-head win. With games left against A&M (Austin, Monday 2/18) and at K-State (Manhattan, Monday 2/25), the team controls its own destiny.
One of many reasons why Saturday's road game in Waco is so important.
Yeah, they were pretty good, too. In this week's Texas Basketball Report, I inadvertently overlooked the 2005-06 Longhorn team which won 30 games overall, including 13 in Big 12 play, reaching 20 wins on February 6th. Thankfully, reader mattyj was quick to correct my oversight. That Longhorn team, featuring Lamarcus Aldridge, Daniel Gibson, Brad Buckman, and Kenton Paulino, fell one game short of the Final Four, but provided one of the all time great moments - maybe THE all time greatest moment - in Texas basketball history:
Quick Hits. The Lady Longhorns (16-8, 4-6) picked up a huge win last night over Baylor... As Indiana sours on Kelvin Sampson, could we see Bob Knight return to the Hoosiers?... Duke keeps its stranglehold on a #1 seed with a 77-65 win over Maryland... Ditto with Memphis, 68-59 winners over Tom Penders' Cougars... Tennessee, too, who takes down Arkansas 93-71.
--PB--
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PB...
Thank you, sir for the credit and the video of such a great moment. And just FYI, if you look closely at the top of the screen around the 29 second mark, you'll see a kid wearing a black shirt and khaki pants with a shaved head jumping like crazy. That would be me. So the fact that I was a student manager that season make it hard for me to forget that team. It was a fun year.
I don't think there's any question ...
that some one put a burr under Mack's saddle after the A&M game. Maybe it was his defense? I think it's both fair and accurate to say that Mack has a history of reacting and making needed changes, but that sometimes it takes him a while (too long) to do so. At least he has shown the propensity to eventually get it done. Plus, I think we are seeing that our coach still has the fire to lead and win all the games.
I think what occurred at the end of last season was the realization of what it's going to take to get back to the 2005 mountain. We can't pat ourselves on the back and just "hang in the neighborhood". Practices need to require accountability, and in fact, the whole program does.
We need to continually bring in the best coaches in the nation, and this seems to be occurring. (BTW, the fact that the best coaches keep coming tells you a lot about the state and direction of this program.) And we need to continue to recruit ... even better than we have before. Players win championships. Stoops dirty little secret is that he had better players than we did for much of Mack's tenure.
PB, you are right: This has been one fun off-season. You didn't even mention bringing the messiah, er Major, back home. There's a lot of direction, energy, and purpose in Austin.
All in all, it appears since the A&M game that we've added an edge to a lot of the other positive things we have been doing the last 10 years. The '05 team had some leaders and an edge, I seem to recall.
by B Orange on Feb 14, 2008 10:29 AM CST reply actions
That was a hell of a game
That game that took about $300 out of my security deposit sophomore year. We had about 15 people over to watch it, and drinks flew everywhere after Paulino hit that shot. It was such a great game.
And Kevin Pittsnogle can still go fuck himself.
The ******* 3 pointers
by WVU in that game were unbelievable. In the first half something like 90% of their points were 3's.
Even as an aggie fan I loved Paulino making that 3 to seal it. Great win.
More ancient history
Back in '93, we played a high ranked Utah team in a game with amazing plays at the end of regulation and again at the end of the second OT. In both, Tommy Penders passed to Tremaine Wingfield for a long jumper as time expired. Double heart attack. Big win.
I remember that
People started leaving the FEC when we had the ball with 0.2 seconds left and the length of the court to go, down by two. Tommy Penders Jr. threw a baseball pass to Wingfield at the top of the key, who caught it and made it. The refs called it good even though this is physically impossible (I think). We thought it was a 3 but they called it a two.
At the end of the second overtime we were tied with 2 seconds left, and ran the same play with the same result. Amazing!
Majeres had a fit after the game.
What a moment
Does anyone have the link of the gameday thread between these two teams? I was able to find the preview but not the thread.
by BarcaFan on Feb 14, 2008 1:26 PM CST reply actions
Joe Kines definitely speaks aggy!
Now if he learns the war hymn and respects dead collies, they will worship him...at least until they lose their first game.
Wait, it gets better:
"Joe Kines was born on July 13, 1944 in a train car that was en route from Cedartown, Georgia to Piedmont, Alabama".
Never underestimate the trivia that can be found on wikipedia.
Will the real Longhorns please stand up?
WBB team, I mean.
They upset highly ranked teams like Baylor and OSU, and lose to teams they have no business losing to like Tech and Nebraska.
It will be a struggle for Texas to get to a .500 record in conference play, which I think they have to have at a minimum to get a post-season invite. They have proven they can keep up with the best of the Big XII (except OU so far) so they could make a deep run in the Big XII tourney, which also should help. And their RPI is also solid, having played ten games against ranked teams this season.
Tempest, you might be best-placed to explain why this team has been so inconsistent. Are they still adjusting to Coach G's style of play?
by patienthornsfan on Feb 15, 2008 3:20 AM CST reply actions
My take
I remember hearing about Coach G saying something along the lines of once she plays all the Big XII coaches once, she'll know all their tendencies. I would bet that it's a combination of that and the girls still figuring out her style.
Another out of state offer
And now Mack offers the top DE in the nation from Arizona. A bit different from "1/5 --> 1/4" speech I say.
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