Game Recap: Much like the Rice home game, which came just after the Maui Invitational, the Texas Longhorns (8-1) came out flat against an inferior opponent yesterday afternoon against Texas State. The Longhorns played two marquee teams, in UCLA and Villanova, in the last week and the game with Texas State didn’t solicit the same energy or focus. The fans didn’t show up, the team looked tired and sloppy, and it almost cost Texas a victory.
The Longhorns jumped out to a 10-0 lead in the first three minutes behind a strong start from Dexter Pittman in the post and turnover littered opening possessions by the Bobcats. As good as the start was, the rest of the first half was equally bad. Other than some nice catch-and-shoot threes by AJ Abrams, Texas couldn’t do much right. Connor Atchley missed his first two three pointers, lost any confidence he had left, and was ineffective for the entire game; the Texas transition defense was horrible; the Texas bigs took turns missing basket after basket from inside five feet, and the team shot 8-of-15 from the free throw line in the first half. Despite all that, Texas did manage to lead 38-34 at the half.
The game remained tight for most of the second half. On the positive side, Justin Mason delivered some nice passes to Clint Chapman and to Damion James in transition for dunks; Pittman was extremely active in the post and efficient from the free throw line, and James became a more active rebounder on both ends.
It was still a four point game at the under eight television timeout before Abrams provided a much needed offensive spark. Abrams knocked down a mid-range jumper on a curl move, made a steal on the next possession, and sank a game-breaking three pointer in transition to put the Longhorns up 70-63. In a smart coaching move, Barnes moved AJ to the point for the final four minutes of the game. Abrams took care of the ball beautifully and, with Texas State behind in the closing minutes and forced to foul, AJ made 8-of-8 from the stripe to close out the game.
Abrams finished with 30 points, 13 of which came in the final five minutes, as Texas survived, 81-73, and improved to 8-1.
The outcome was: Way too close. I am not going to read too much into this performance but I don’t want to make excuses either. The excuses of tip time, finals weeks, travel, or missing fans don’t really matter. There is a significant mismatch in talent between these two teams and the margin of victory should have been much larger. The Longhorns play another no-name opponent on Tuesday before hooking up with Michigan State and Wisconsin to close out 2008. I want to see the intensity and execution in the Texas Southern game before we jump to conclusions about this team overall.
Stat of the Game: Turnstile 6,415. This is embarrassing. Period. If Rick Barnes were to ever leave Austin, it will be because of this—poor fan support. This from the AP story:
Sensing a possible upset, a small group of Texas State fans piled into some empty seats behind the Texas basket to taunt Longhorns players at the free throw line.
The Offensive MVP was: Dexter Pittman. The Bobcats had no answer for Sexy Dex. In just 14 minutes, Dex secured his second double-double of his career with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Pittman was an absolute terror in the paint to start both of the halves. If he hadn’t picked up his second foul midway through the first half, Texas would have led by double digits at the break. He was that unstoppable. His perfect 7-of-7 game from the free throw stripe was a joy to watch and makes him that much more difficult to guard. It is either get out of the way and get dunked on or grab him and watch him take two easy points from the line.
Before this game, the Texas offense has relied too heavily on perimeter jumpers and dribble drives. Abrams, Mason, and James have carried almost the entire offensive load. If Dex can deliver this kind of production every game, Texas becomes a dangerous offensive team—inside and out.
The Defensive MVP was: No one. The half-court defense was decent but the lack of transition defense allowed Texas State to stay in the game. There is no reason to allow Texas State to score 16 fast break points and to outscore the Longhorns 44-28 in points in the paint. Last, Texas was outrebounded 46-42. All three of these stats get back to energy and intensity. Texas simply didn’t show up.
Three Things: (1) This team is not as deep as we think. College basketball teams are allowed to have 13 scholarship players. With J’Covan Brown’s difficulties getting into school, Texas only suits up 12 scholarship players. We learned that Alexis Wangmene is out for the season with a knee injury. Now, we’re down to just 11. Neither Harrison Smith nor Matt Hill will be contributing significant minutes any time soon. Now, we’re down to just nine players, which is not that bad. However, there are some other limiting factors--Dogus Balbay is barely playing offense, Clint Chapman moves too quickly from good to bad moments, and Dexter Pittman is capable of playing no more than 20 minutes per game. This team is nowhere near as deep as we expected them to be at the beginning of the season.
(2) Damion James is still evolving into a small forward. For as much as DaMo likes to say that the wing is his natural position, his current skill set doesn’t match his perimeter position, yet. At 6-7 and with good hops, James is an excellent rebounder. He can also play with his back to the basket and is comfortable knocking down fade-away jumpers from a few feet off the block. Last, he is excellent in transition and finishing near the rim. I’m not saying anything you guys don’t already know—when Damion is attacks the basket, he is a beast. And with that comes, the need to make free throws. Against Texas State, James was 4-for-10 (40%) and for the year, he is 21-of-37 (57%). Yikes! James needs to work on the trajectory of his free throw attempts. To me, they look way too flat and that is why he has so many rim out.
(3) Mason continues to impress at the point. Justin quietly turned in a solid performance with a career high nine assists. In the last three games, Mase has 22 assists to just three turnovers. His shooting from the field and from the line still need improvement, but he has been outstanding protecting the ball and creating for others.
NEXT GAME: Home vs. Texas Southern – Tuesday 12/16 7:00 p.m.
0 recs | 10 comments
Texas State fans
It was a group of maybe 20 students that started in the section next to mine in the mezzanine. Before the start of the game, the PA announcer invited everyone up top into the lower level sections behind the baskets, because they were so empty (as was most of the arena). The Bobcats fans had already been making some noise pre-game, so when I saw them head towards the better seats I knew that could be trouble. For the rest of the game, they made more noise than the rest of the arena. 20 students. It was pathetic.
One thing that was obvious about the offense was how hard everyone tried to get the ball inside to Dexter. In previous games I had been disappointed with how rarely anyone attempted an entry pass. I hope this is something we continue to see, because Dexter seems like our biggest offensive threat outside of a hot-shooting AJ, and he’ll draw fouls (and make his shots!) Though I think he, and everyone else, are due for some layup drills.
Meekrob - December 14, 2008
Curious
I didn’t get to watch the game but I read the game thread. My impression is that the team is tired and it reminded at a point last year when Rick got angry with them and worked their butts off, to the the detriment of their play in their games. He finally relented and the Horns looked better.
I could see him doing that with this team, too. While it is talented, there are many aspects on both offense and defense that need work. Traditionally this is when he pushes the team defensively and experiments with many different combos.
So, is it possible, knowing that they were facing lesser opponents, that he worked them hard and their legs grew tired very quickly? With finals over, he had all their attention and possibly thought the instruction was more important than the game. That was my immediate impression; they started fine but tired and fell into their bad habits as tired bodies do and TxSt took full advantage. They could have just taken this game lightly but that doesn’t account for everything. Plus, Rick must know that Dex is an ace in the hole with such teams.
whills - December 14, 2008
I do not think tired legs are to blame this time.
The team as a whole failed to execute defensively. I think they played down to Texas State. But you are correct in thinking they tried something new defensively.
Barnes was trying to double the undersized Texas State point guard with Texas bigs, the point guard would pull back and the bigs would continue their press. This opened a huge hole at the free throw line. The back side defender was left to guard the cutting wing and the big with the ball in the paint.
This game should have been a Damion James highlight film. He was bigger than the little guys fast enough to guard him and faster than the big guys. Like awiggo said,
If I were Barnes I would set up a system were Damion would have to earn his 3 point shots by first working for a couple of inside 15 footers. I think we would all find he is a far superior player when he plays inside out, instead of his current pattern of playing outside and working his way inside. The 3 pointer is pretty and fun to make, but the dunk plus the and1 counts the same, if you make your flat, saucer like free throw shot.
I also want to bring up Connor. Oh for where art though Connor? It looks to me he doesnt have an offensive role on this team and therefore cant identify with this team. I don’t see passion or the spirit that you should have when you are 6’10’’, talented and playing for one of the best basketball teams in the nation. I hope Connor and Barnes find the solution. When Connor is on, he is one of the most enjoyable players to watch perform his craft.
run Bevo run - December 14, 2008
Thanks for the response.
Despite the general optimism coming out of the ucla and Nova games, it’s obvious that James hasn’t found his home and Connor is lost on the range. In other words, 40% of the starting line up is somewhat to greatly out of kilter.
Last year Barnes had to do a psychological job to get Connor to recognize his abilities and play with confidence. That’s when good Connor emerged. From everything you’ve said, that confidence is gone along with his aggression. I concur that when he was on he was a pleasure to watch and I have to think those same skills are still there.
Why didn’t Mason guard the point guard? Was it that bad a match-up?
whills - December 14, 2008
Good writeup
Pleasure to read a well structured, clearly written piece — pro quality, wiggo. You managed to put a nicer face on the game than what I saw. In addition to shaky defense, we had deplorable shooting by half the team. That’s you, Mason, Balbay, Hill, Johnson, and Ward. Collectively, you ate up 90 minutes of playing time and threw up 21 shots and 13 freethrows with only 11 points to show for it. (Not that Atchley and Chapman were much better.) If Pittman had not had a career game, we lose. For this kind of performance, I can’t blame the no-shows for taking a pass on this one.
Caradoc - December 14, 2008
Attendance
with people going back home after Finals, expect a similar attendance issue if not worse in the Texas Southern game.
Honestly, will anything help our attendance? It seems there’s not enough Austin natives that care about basketball. Will winning championship increase our attendance against the Texas States?
goingforthecorner - December 14, 2008
I went to the game
But I think it was a combination of finals, nobody wanting to wake up early on a saturday, texas state being a terrible team, and the cheapest seats still being above 10 bucks after fees and everything.
I think attendance could be improved a little if the student section covered the sidelines as well. Currently, you have to get there very early to get a good spot in the student section, and even then you could get screwed and have to go to the upper deck. To a non hardcore fan that is a beating.
vyvyvy - December 14, 2008
Why noon
Don’t we have enough sway with FSN to get our game on later? It’s not as if they had a packed schedule.
Caradoc - December 15, 2008
Good point, doc. nt
whills - December 16, 2008
One thing the Aggies may be better than us in
Free throws.
They were a perfect 20-20 from the line in their 10 point win over Florida A&M.
goingforthecorner - December 15, 2008
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Burnt Orange Nation to post a comment.