We'll forego the usual recap and just dive into the meat of the analysis. There are no MVPs when you lose by 17 points.
1. Don't overdo the panic. Texas lost and lost badly, but it wasn't nearly as devastating as it seemed. Texas trailed 29-7 at the 10:00 mark in the first half. They hit their shots, we did not. We turned the ball over. They did not. We missed free throws. They hit eleventy three pointers. From that point forward, Texas outscored A&M 56-51.
I don't say point this out to suggest the "better team lost" or that the final 30 minutes were any more important than the first 10. I only note that the two teams are much more evenly matched than last night's final result suggests. Don't hang yourself over this one.
2. "Don't let Josh Carter get hot." That was one of yesterday's keys to the game, but Carter buried us in the first half. After missing his first three point attempt of the game, Carter went on to nail his next three in a row. He also hit on two free throws to score 8 points in about a five minute span, and it was his three point basket that put Texas in the 29-7 hole.
And that was that. Credit Texas A&M for pounding the ball inside early; not only that, but converting those looks in the paint. Connor got absolutely muscled around and Damion James was just plain outsized. Once Texas began collapsing with help defense, the Aggies had plenty of easy looks from the outside. Once more, the three point shot destroys Texas.
3. AJ Abrams should not play 39 minutes against a team that big and physical. What's the point? He can't create his own look. We're not good at creating great open shots for him. He's a zero on the glass. And a liability on defense.
I don't want to be too harsh on Abrams, because he can be a solid player, but there are games and teams against which he's clearly ineffective. And it would really be nice if Rick would sit him when it appears we're in such a contest.
To be fair, we were down by 22 points so quickly that one can't blame Barnes too much for sticking with Abrams and hoping he got hot from the outside. At the same time, Abrams just isn't very effective against teams who can defend. He finished the game 3-13 overall, 2-7 from downtown. And only 2 rebounds in 39 minutes of action. Our lack of depth at guard is just killing us right now.
4. Bad shooting all around. AJ wasn't the only Longhorn missing shots last night. Though you have to credit A&M to some degree, Texas also missed open jumper after open jumper. Brick-brick-brick. With no defenders in our face. Augustin finished 6 of 18 (2-9 from downtown). Damion was 1-6. Connor only 3-8. Yuck.
5. Dexter Pittman's getting close. The big fella had 14 points, 7 rebounds, and a steal in just 14 minutes of action. He also had four fouls. Though he's still learning how to harness his body, he's playing with better control than at any time since he arrived. The big story of the second half of Texas' season might not be Gary Johnson, as we expected. It might be Dexter Pittman. He's really hard for opponents to deal with when he's playing basketball the officials can live with.
6. Adjustments going forward? The most unsettling thing about this Texas team right now is that there's no cure for the weakness which hurts us most: perimeter defense. We're a three guard team, and all three start. Seriously: what do you do?
Mason is a great defender, but he can't do it all. Augustin and Abrams are both midgets. And behind them there's... Lewis? Mooney? Harrison Smith? There just aren't any answers. I think the one thing Rick ought to think about trying more throughout the rest of the season is a lineup of DJ, Mason, Damion, Connor, and Pittman/Wang/Gary/Chap. That gives us size, rebounding, and an interesting offensive mix. I love AJ Abrams when he's shooting well and all, but playing two sub-six foot guards for 35-40 minutes a game is crippling this team.
Thoughts?
--PB--
0 recs | 33 comments
next year we get dogus
or whatever has name is
that should be something
abcdmetrius - January 31, 2008
next year we lose augustin
that should be something as well.
jc25 - January 31, 2008
true
but we get a slashing point guard, with a somewhat off shot
possibly get better guards with the recruits
aj comes back
dex comes back
the freshman are a year older and bigger
conner comes back ... i think
so i'm a bit excited
not that this year is bad
more than likely we lose both the dj's
but i'm looking forward to having a real good shot the next couple of years with matured bigs
abcdmetrius - January 31, 2008
Damion James will regret it if he turns pro
He's not ready.
Peter Bean - January 31, 2008
agreed
but what's to stop people from making bad decisions
especially with durant in his ear
and daniel gibson doing well even though he was recommended not to leave
abcdmetrius - January 31, 2008
Nothing to stop him
I just hope he doesn't get bad advice.
James can be a first round pick, but he needs to be patient.
Peter Bean - January 31, 2008
Dan Gibson
I thought there was no way Gibson was ready to go to the NBA but he is having a good NBA career. I'm sure Damion will look where he fits into the prjected NBA drafts before he makes up his mind. He is a super talented guy who has been having a rough time lately. I think maybe Barnes is a little too tough on these guys and hurts their confidence sometimes. Shooting a basketball is all about confidence.
Kafka - January 31, 2008
Your right
I am really on the AJ bandwagon this year, but this was not a game for him, unless he is relieving DJ or Mason. We needed big bodies last night, those mofos were trees underneath.
G-unit is not there b/c of his defense - everyone else has 13-14 games on him.
Could Dex do the same thing against a team that doesn't have trees down low? In my mind that was Dex and the freshman's game to really excel, and Barnes waited way to long to get them in there. And some weird officiating happened. Barnes should have gone after a T just for good measure. Wingman needs more PT.
Why can DJ not execute a bounce pass on the pick and roll? It's like he didn't even attempt to get the ball to the wide open screener when A&M was showing. Am I missing something? Connor would be wide open and DJ would be dribbling to the other side of the court.
That screen at half court absolutely murdered DJ. His head was on a swivel the entire rest of the game.
We're fine, we'll work it out. I hope.
jimmer - January 31, 2008
You're
jimmer - January 31, 2008
I totally agree with point 1
Whatever happens in the first 10 minutes of the game, stays in the first 10 minutes of the game. A&M came out with an NBA Jam-like On Fire, but pretty much settled into their normal play the rest of the way. Problem was, we never had a hot streak to get us back in it.
Meanwhile, Augustin and James both played their WORST game this year. I know A&M was just stuffing the box, but Augustin's first half drives (when he wasn't just jacking up the 3) were ALL about him trying to score; he wasn't looking for the open man at all. In the second half, he just gave up trying to accomplish any penetration, instead mostly settling for the pick and pop for Connor's sometimes good, sometimes bad 3 point attempts. That's not what a leader is supposed to do.
I'm not sure if those missed baskets and free throws got into James' head, or if it was the Cloverfield-esque scariness of Brian Davis' face, but he was lackluster on both ends all night. It's hard to remember him contributing anything positive, which just about says it all.
I'm chalking this one up to an aberration of both Augustin and James playing so poorly, rather than a trend. Kudos to A&M for coming out hot and playing 40 minutes of suffocating defense, but I'm not writing off the Horns as a 5+ seed just yet.
jc25 - January 31, 2008
thoughts on the game
After watching Pittman and Wangmene thug it up, I don't want to hear any more bitching about Kellen Heard.
Pittman got away with a lot of crap that the refs didn't call. The replay where they showed Davis' beautiful short jumper showed three no-calls that were fouls; Davis' unflappable stare while he stood his ground and waited for the ball was awesome.
I don't think this game means Pittman is ready to take on a bigger role. I think in a game where A&M controlled the tempo, b/c we kept feeding it inside, Pittman was able to keep pace. However, in texas' normal offense, when you want to run the floor, Pittman is a liability. I think this particular game was Pittman's pace, but most other games won't be. We'll see, I may be wrong.
Augustin is very limited when his out-of-control drives to the basket don't result in foul calls and free throws. The refs at least called that correctly.
The refs did their damndest to keep y'all in the game.
Barnes' whining about the T on Pittman surprised me.
Dominique Kirk and Joseph Jones will leave having never lost a home game to texas.
Beergut - January 31, 2008
"Your a moron"
Oh, yeah, because turning around quickly and contacting (not crushing the ever-loving, blah blah blah aggie hell out of) a jaw/back of the head is so in the same league as intentionally smashing someone well after the play, when it was obvious that the play was over.
Newsflash: That hit won the cheap shot of the year at Wizard of Odds last year. I doubt either of the fouls on the Horns will make anyone's cheap shot list outside of B/CS, where they will both live forever in exaggerated trudishun as "that time when two fightin' Texas Aggies were killed in cold blood on the court by hired assassins posing as players under direct orders from Rick Barnes, may his name be cursed and denied the love of the Collie forever, amen."
Very, very aggie of you to sit in your armchair and wait for a Longhorn to screw up, then rush to a Texas site and justify something that an Aggie has done that has no place in sport or life. Outside of that hit coming up in the natural flow of a conversation (like discussing the cheap shot of the year, enemy of the nation, etc.), I don't recall hearing anything about it for quite some time, but I guess now we're "even" by Aggie-logic, and you thought that that was somehow noteworthy. Are you quite excited now that you have something to blow out of proportion and use as an excuse for Heard? Disgusting.
Horn Brain - January 31, 2008
it isn't about justifying Heard's hit
Quite frankly, it is amusing watching 'sips go apoplectic when Heard's name is mentioned.
I read through the open game thread, and was surprised to see so many references to 'dirty' play by A&M, yet attempts to justify the bullshit from Pittman and Wangmene.
Wangmene didn't 'turn around quickly and contact' Jordan's jaw, he swung an elbow, trying to jack DeAndre.
Nice attempt to spin Wangmene's dirty play.
Fortunately, the refs tossed him.
I was surprised to see a Barnes-coached team acting so undisciplined.
Beergut - January 31, 2008
what's REALLY amusing...
is if the Aggies think this game is any indication that they are back in the hunt.
I was at the game and will not try to sugar coat how completely aweful UT played. To put it in terms an Aggie can appreciate, PB is trying to spin silk out of a pig's ear here and I'm not too convinced right now, but hope to be as the season progresses. However, if I'm Turgeon I'd not be near as pleased as one might think.
The facts are that on a night when UT basically didn't even get off the bus, the Farmers turned over the ball more than we did and showed very little discipline and should have easily beat us by 25-30 point margin. If you take into account the horrendous free throw % from UT (as noted at the bottom of this thread) that 17 pt lead could have easily been 12 or less, maybe even 10. Now you are only one or two jump shots away from a pretty close game and that is pretty sad. Yes, your big bad post men pushed around poor little Conor Atchley, and our bigger post guys picked up fouls way too quickly to slow you down, but other than the super easy points we gave up inside I was not that impressed.
If I had a freakin' quarter for every time I heard an Aggie say "the officiating was terrible" I could retire! The Aggies have had very physical teams since the Barrone days and lead the Big XII in fouls more times than not over the last decade so unless you are gonna go Hillary Clinton and say this is a 'vast rightwing conspiracy...' get over it. That is where you live, own up to it. I thought the officials called way too many fouls both ways and should have let the teams play more, which I tend to think might have lead to a run by UT, but it didn't happen and that is that.
Bottom line, this years Aggie b-ball has done just like their football team and played a pantywaist non-conf schedule and were pushed up higher than they deserve. You then hit conference play and have been trying to find yourself ever since. You have very good, physical post play and UT has very little and you completely used that to your advantage Wed night. For that you deserve credit, but you are a far cry from the team that went deep into the Tournament and unless you find some consistency in your game Wed night beating up on UT is going to be the highlight of your season.
longhornJ - February 1, 2008
Oh I agree that we stunk
But that's why I tried to emphasize that panic is not appropriate.
Peter Bean - February 1, 2008
I don't think the game means anything as far as
us being 'back in the hunt'.
The game gives me hope that Turgeon will abandon his hopes to run a motion offense, and run our offesne inside-out, playing to our strengths.
We still don't defend the 3 very well; texas had way too many open looks.
We're nowhere close where we need to be on defense.
Im still taking a wait-and-see attitude on Turgeon. His whining really turned me off, and he's too thin-skinned.
You saying we've been a physical team since Barone is almost too laughable to comment on. You obviously didn't watch the Melvin Watkins era; we were always soft under him. Billy Clyde was the first coach to make us play a physical style of defense. You obviously haven't seen us play this season, either. We're disgustingly soft, nowhere near as physical as we need to be. This is one of the reasons we lost to Tech and Baylor.
The refs let too many calls go, imo. They missed a blatant goaltending on Atchley, I think it was. They didn't call some of Pittman's fouls.
If they hadn't called the fouls they did call, a brawl would have broken out with the cheap shit Pittman and Wangmene were doing.
As for our early season ranking, we were ranked as high as we were b/c odf the talent we have on the squad. We moved into the top 10 b/c other teams were losing while we kept winning. Our non-conference schedule was okay, I wouldn't call it weak. We didn't play two top 10 teams like texas did, but we can't help it if we get LSU in a year that they suck. We played in the pre-season NIT, which is usually decent competition. Our non-conference schedule isn't a bunch of world-beaters, but it wasn't weak, either.
Hell,, texas is ranked #10 right now, and we all know that is a crock.
Beergut - February 1, 2008
Goaltending
From the rulebook:
Section 32. Goaltending
Art. 1. Goaltending shall have occurred when a player touches the ball during
a field-goal try and each of the following conditions is met:
a. The ball is in its downward flight,
b. The entire ball is above the level of the ring and has the possibility,
while in flight, of entering the basket and is not touching the cylinder.
Art. 2. It is goaltending to touch the ball outside the cylinder during a free
throw, regardless of whether the free throw is on its upward or downward
flight.
Watch the replay. The ball was going up, it was below the rim.
Meekrob - February 1, 2008
Good job Horn Brain..
..
Kafka - January 31, 2008
Check up on that brain
"Very, very aggie of you..."It's funny how sips will cry class to us, but exhibit none themselves. Aggies will extend class to those who deserve it, and longhorn pansies are far from derserving any of it.
BTW: It's "You're a moron". Go get an education.
I'll just call scoreboard. Next time in Austin, we'll shoot for 30.
Jackass04 - February 3, 2008
HAhahahaha
There is a reason he put it in quotes.
See Here
Wells - February 3, 2008
Nice
That's funny, because the reality is the opposite. While the magnitude of UT's sucktitude was far greater than the impact of the refs, the refs helped prevent Texas from coming back to make it a real game. Basically, you're way off.
Pittman played a good game, and his numbers would've been even greater had the refs not called ridiculous fouls on him. Pittman was muscling for a rebound like a lot of big men do and was called for a technical. I've seen players swing their elbows like that all the time and it's legal. That resulted in a personal foul.
And there was also a horrible foul called on him when Jordan flopped. And another call on him where he was called for going over the back on a rebound when all he did was use his arms to get the ball. He was penalized for his size.
You have no room to talk about the refs calling favorable calls for Texas. A&M got the benefit of the doubt many times (like you mentioned with Augustin), which is expected in a home game.
The game in Austin will be the opposite, so Texas will win. It'll be a carbon copy of last season. Exactly like it.
goingforthecorner - January 31, 2008
are you blind?
seriously?
He got a technical b/c he took a swing at Davis.
Did you even watch the game?
Beergut - February 1, 2008
There's a reason why Barnes went nuts
on that call, and there's a reason why I'm not the only one who thought it was a BS call. I've seen big men do much worse than that and nothing happens. It was a ridiculous call, and if that exact same thing happened in Austin, it probably doesn't get called.
On Augustin's penetration, same thing. He is reckless, but he gets the calls because of his aggression. Again, he'll get those calls in Austin. Some call it the "D-Wade treatment". The refs are rewarding the more aggressive player that drives all the time.
goingforthecorner - February 1, 2008
regarding Augustin
That isn't the benefit of the doubtr,t hat is actually someone calling the game straight.
Him flying into the paint out-of-control and charging into a defensive player is his bread-and-butter offensive move. It is about time someone called him on it.
Beergut - February 1, 2008
Re:
Disagree. While some of Augustin's drives are out-of-control, most of them are knife-through-butter where he manages to slip by the defender for an easy layup or dish.
The problem with Augustin's play against A&M was he was solely looking for his shot and/or a foul call, which is not the way you want to penetrate, especially when your opponent has as many big men and collapse help D as A&M.
jc25 - February 1, 2008
Game thoughts
If you are going to lose, you might as well lose badly. It is less painful and is more likely to trigger necessary strategic changes. The game demonstrates that the horns can't play D against a good team with good size when the horns play their small lineup.
When Mason is playing small forward and Abrams is at guard, there is a ripple effect such that every horn is undersized. Connor is always light for a center, Damion is small for a power forward, Mason is small for a small forward and Augustin and Abrams are always small.
In general, the horns need to be playing 2 guards not 3. If Mason plays more guard and Damion plays only small forward (i.e. no power forward), the horns have decent size and athleticism for playing D. Dex and connor can both play center. Gary, Wingman, and connor can all play power forward. Damion can play small forward but Mason is pretty small as his relief. Mason has good size and excellent athleticism at guard. I agree that Abrams minutes need to be reduced. Maybe cut the minutes down to 25 or 30 and see how that works. In the Tech game it worked great (Abrams shot lights out with the lighter work load).
Pittman's conditioning is very encouraging. He can run up and down the court and he can dunk the ball in traffic easily. Lately he is getting a rebound once every two minutes (which is awesome). He is world class in his ability to catch the ball and establish position anywhere he wants. His hook is working well and he needs to use it much more.
Dex really needs to work on his footwork. You don't really need too many moves as a low post player. You need a short hook on a power move to the middle (which Dex can hit). You need an up and under (preferably shot with the left hand) after faking the hook from the power move to the middle. Dex should be able to do that with his huge hands but I have not seen it. You need to be able to drop step after faking the power move to the middle.
The key thing is to be able to execute these moves rapidly while maintaining balance. To select which option to execute on a particular play, you read the defender. If he is cutting off the middle, then drop step. If not, power move to the middle and execute the short hook. If this is not progressing as well as you had anticipated, fake the hook and do the up and under. A non key reading probabilistic approach is OK too.
If the horns would work a two man game with Damion and Dex or Augustin and Dex, Dex could get the ball at point blank range (i.e. two inches from the basket) so he does not have to worry about having the above mentioned polished moves (i.e. just get the ball, jump up and dunk). It takes a pass that is really on time (because of the 3 second rule) but Damion and Augustin could deliver such a pass and Dex can definitely get the position and catch the pass.
Dex can probably play 20 minutes a game now so long as he does not have to play man to man D against a lot quicker guy. Dex is useful already as center on the zone D. He blocks and alters shots and grabs rebounds and takes up a lot of space in the middle.
The key thing is for the horns to improve.
On offense, the horns should start out each possession running a play and resort to Augustin going 1 on 1 only later in the possession clock. This will rest Augustin and help the horns develop a more balanced offense. Augustin will still get loads of shot opportunities as the shot clock winds down. They should be running much more pick and roll. They have young, athletic big men (Damion, Gary, Dex) who can catch the ball and finish against a mismatch (i.e. resulting from the pick induced switch). If Augustin sets his mind to it, he should be able to do the pick and roll passing to a big man really well.
An alternative to the pick and roll with Augustin would be doing a give and go and roll with Damion at the free throw line and Dex or Gary coming up to be the receiver of the initial give pass. this reduces the ball handling stress on Damion and permits him to get the ball (after he has given and gone) without having dribbled. This means he can immediately shoot or fake a shot and still have his dribble intact. The picker (Gary or Dex) can roll to the bucket being guarded by a small forward.
It is much easier for these young big men to have confidence when they go up against a smaller guy (they can relax and just make sure their body is between the ball and the defender).
Kafka - January 31, 2008
You are right
but you won't see it in the Baylor game. They are a guard-oriented team, so I don't see Pittman playing much if at all. Abrams/Augustin will both be playing 37-40 minutes most likely.
Size won't be a problem in the BU game. However, playing defense really isn't about size anyway, as long as you're relatively close to your opponents' height (which is the case in the BU game).
Our players are just BAD defensively, regardless of height. If Abrams was 6'3", he would still be a pathetic defender and a liability. He just has no clue how to play D.
goingforthecorner - January 31, 2008
It will be interesting to see what changes
occur in the Baylor game. I hope Dex plays a bunch because I like to watch him play and improve but I understand what you are saying about unfavorable matchups keeping Dex out.
I think size makes a difference in post defense. It is difficult for a little guy to deny a bigger guy post position. It is not difficult for a bigger guy to deny a smaller guy post position (or push the smaller guy out of post position). It is difficult to block the shot of a wide body guy who is shooting a hook shot.
Outside, a taller guy can make it difficult for a smaller guy to get his shot off.
My experience is that size makes a definite difference on D. Of course technique (as you point out), speed, and effort have a huge impact, too.
Kafka - January 31, 2008
I would say
that the most important aspects of defense are basketball IQ, instincts, reflexes, agility, and desire/effort/motivation (whatever you call it). Then I would put size after those 5 categories.
I do agree that size becomes a little more important in post defense, but it still isn't as important as the other 5 things I listed above. Pittman for example, doesn't have the agility to play defense well against smaller teams, which is why he hasn't been playing much. Abrams is a perimeter guy obviously, so size is even less important.
As a Rockets fan, I can give you examples in the NBA. 6'5" Chuck Hayes is the best defending PF on the Rockets. I've seen him neutralize Chris Bosh, and he recently contained Carlos Boozer. I also saw him recently play great clutch defense on Durant, that helped the Rockets win. Conversely, I've seen 7'6" Yao Ming get contained by players much smaller than him. A lot of times, they front him or he gets doubled by forwards.
Basically, unless the size difference is larger than the radius of a basketball, it's not a big issue. When you play 3 guards out there that are about 6 foot, you will have problems. But against Baylor, they play a lot of guards also, so the problem is less magnified.
goingforthecorner - February 1, 2008
And everything I just said about defense
You can say the exact same thing about rebounding.
goingforthecorner - February 1, 2008
PB, thanks for making it not seem TOO bad
I am admittedly not a basketball expert and I had to listen to the first half on the radio - a horrible experience I have to tell you!
Thanks for the breakdown. It sounds like a work in progress which is the way with college basketball when every phenom leaves after 1 or 2 years. Teams always seem young at Texas - or is it just my age. Seems like the schools that get great stars (that come and go so quickly) will have to struggle against the teams with the journeymen who have to stick around all 4 years, learn to play smart, playing against the phenoms.
Sometimes stardom wins - sometimes not.
Girl Horn Since Earl - February 1, 2008
FREE THROWS
Texas has to be one of the worst teams shooting free throws. I just don't see them improving at all. Good teams make free throws.
Longhorns84 - February 1, 2008
Totally agree
Free throws have, and will continue to kill us all year.
Its commonly known as the charity stripe, not as the,maybe you make it, maybe you dont line.
Free throws are fundamental basketball, its what makes fouling even. We are at a disadvantage every night we put a team out there that cannot hit free throws.
BoddickerIsClutch - February 1, 2008
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