AW was at the Drum and might chime in with something more thorough later, but I'm currently in Texas on vacation and actually got to sit down and watch the game, so I thought I'd offer up some thoughts.
It's hard to take too many lessons from such a mismatched game, but there were a few developments.
First, Jai Lucas can flat-out shoot (5-7 from three), but isn't doing it in the flow of the offense very much. Maybe it was just the opponent, but he jacked up a bunch of pull-up 3's and was good enough to make them. That's great, but when he's not hot enough to hit those, will he pull back or will he turn into AJ Abrams?
Second, Mase had a decent game, 8 pts (4-9 shooting), 4 boards (2 offensive), 4 dimes and 2 steals. He actually made some honest-to-god basketball moves too, which was great to see. I remember a solid drive to the hoop for a layup, a thundering dunk off of a broken play and a beautiful little hop step into the lane with a mid-range jumper to finish. It's a broken record to hope for a confidence improvement from Mason, but if he is going to be valuable to this team in any meaningful way, he HAS to provide something on offense. He's got some moves, but he defers too much to the more talented players around him. He just has to realize that 4 super-talented players are not better than 4 super-talented players plus a hardworking semi-talented player. Get involved Mase!
Third, Jordan Hamilton played 11 minutes, took zero shots, and dished out 3 assists. Against a high school team he could have dominated. You think Rick maybe had a little talk with him after the last few games? This is obviously the opposite extreme of what he was doing against UNC and MSU, and extremes are not what we need from Jordan. We just need him to pick his spots to unleash his playmaking ability. But this game was certainly a sign that Hamilton understands how he needs to change as a player to be good for this team. He initially turned the shower faucet on super-hot and then overcompensated to super-cold in this game. Now it's just a matter of him calibrating his play to that happy spot that gives you the perfect temperature.
And finally, we are indeed capable of hitting free throws. This was a very lightly officiated game (which benefited Texas greatly as we are the more physical, athletic team), so not many free throws were taken, but DaMo went 8-8 from the line and Gary went 7-8. The team as a whole shot 16-21, or 76%. Solid effort.
0 recs | 5 comments
I love Mase....
But 9 shots with our talent is too many for him to take with the talent on this team. Granted – I did not watch the game or even look at a box score yet, so I don’t know if his shots were appropriate in the game flow or not. i assume they were as Mase knows his role and is the furthest thing from a selfish offensive player. My only assumption – and you touched on it BZ – is that Barnes was just using a patsie on the schedule to recalibrate some things he hasn’t liked to date. That’s what 0 shots for Jordan screams at me as well.
Also BZ – soak it up while you’re down there…bone chilling cold up here. Don’t forget to pack your muff.
Horndogger - December 29, 2009
Doing your homework as always, buddy.
The substitution rotations were all off in this game. Mase played 24 minutes, which is way more than he would normally (Gary and Jordan played less to compensate). He took a couple threes that were ill-advised solely because they were threes (they were wide open, but frankly he just can’t make them), but other than that every shot he took was in the flow of the offense. 9 shots in 24 minutes is a solid ratio, I think. All in all, it was just a weird game so the stats look out of whack. Texas’ 13 first half turnovers attest to that.
And you know I carry my muff with me wherever I go. Which is good because it’s actually surprisingly cold down here right now. Sure, “feels like 39” is no “feels like -1,” but when I’m in Houston in December, it’s 70 or bust.
billyzane - December 29, 2009
The weather is still shitty here.
kriess - December 30, 2009
Great analysis BZ
And welcome back to God’s Country. Some random thoughts:
It was great to see the free throws improve. Hope we can keep it close to that level. Again, I think just “Not Awful” would suffice. Anything beyond that and I would be ecstatic.
I actually loved Jordan’s non-shooting exercise tonight. Like a pendulum, maybe he will eventually find the center where he can be most effective.
Jai looks to me like he is confused out there sometimes. Hopefully in time he will find a rhythm with the team.
Attaboy Mase
The amount of "hopefully"s and "eventually"s in posts about our squad goes to show how much more potential this team has. I just love this group.
Hook’em
SwimTexas - December 29, 2009
listened to the post game radio
We always listen to the post game wrap up on our way home from games. When they talked to Barnes, he said that they spent at least 1 day of practice forcing Mase to bring his offense. The guy has offense – remember when he was a freshman? – but he doesn’t use it often enough. So they are going to force him to do it. And if he doesn’t, then he won’t get to play.
But I gotta tell you, he had a beautiful dunk tonight that reminded me of the best dunk of last year – the one that Mase had against Notre Dame in Hawaii last season. It was powerful and a thing of beauty. If you get a chance to look up either one of those, you should!
bballgrl - December 29, 2009
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