Texas Basketball

[thebigabd]

They constantly underachieve with Rick Barnes... kind of surprises they don't fire him and hire someone like Gregg Marshall from Wichita State. I assume Texas could hire any of the up and coming coaches that they want.

 

[DenverSooner]

His job isn't to win the Big XII, it is to prepare kids to play in the NBA. I am pretty sure he actually said that.

So if I am an intelligent parent, I would never let my kid play for him. Only a small percentage of his players will have lengthy NBA careers. His real job is to prepare those kids for life and win the Big XII.

 

[SoonerTraveler]

I agree that Texas should be better, but Coach Barnes does recruit good talent to Austin. Of course, most good coaches should be able to recruit good players to UT.

Texas at 17-9 (6-7) has a good shot to make the NCAA Tournament, but they have a tough five game slog remaining.

Iowa State
@ West Virginia
@ Kansas
Baylor
Kansas State

If Texas survives this slate and finishes 20-11 (9-9), then they will certainly make the Big Dance. The 'horns have the talent and size to make a run in the post season. With a few good bounces and some good match-ups, UT could get to the Sweet-16.

Texas is still a young team and could be a load next season, even with Barnes as its coach.

 

[AdaSooner]

They constantly underachieve with Rick Barnes... kind of surprises they don't fire him and hire someone like Gregg Marshall from Wichita State. I assume Texas could hire any of the up and coming coaches that they want.

You're repeating what I have been saying for the past three years or more. Rick Barnes is a great recruiter, he's just not a good coach. Texas was picked to finish second in the Big 12's preseason poll this year. They're in 7th place right now, with a losing (6-7) record in conference play.

UT has more talent on paper than any team in the Big 12, except maybe KU. Two Mickey D All-Americans and six other players who were ranked in the top 100 nationally, a total of eight high-profile recruits coming out of high school on their current roster.

Barnes is a classic underachiever. If I was a Horn fan, I would put him on the next train out of town and stand guard at the station to make sure he didn't get off.

 

[AdaSooner]

For the record, OU has won four in a row and five out of the last six against UT. The only loss during that stretch was an overtime game in Austin.

 

[DenverSooner]

If Texas survives this slate and finishes 20-11 (9-9), then they will certainly make the Big Dance. The 'horns have the talent and size to make a run in the post season. With a few good bounces and some good match-ups, UT could get to the Sweet-16.

Texas is still a young team and could be a load next season, even with Barnes as its coach.

I feel that way about WVU too. Texas' size and WVU press are going to be difficult for teams to deal with, especially in the first round and possibly the second round. This conference is really tough.

 

[thebigabd]

I wouldnt want to play WVU in March, for sure.

 

[Max Power]

For the record, OU has won four in a row and five out of the last six against UT. The only loss during that stretch was an overtime game in Austin.

In which we blew a 20 point lead after M'Baye did the horns down

 

[scrybe]

I agree that Texas should be better, but Coach Barnes does recruit good talent to Austin. Of course, most good coaches should be able to recruit good players to UT.

Texas at 17-9 (6-7) has a good shot to make the NCAA Tournament, but they have a tough five game slog remaining.

Iowa State
@ West Virginia
@ Kansas
Baylor
Kansas State

If Texas survives this slate and finishes 20-11 (9-9), then they will certainly make the Big Dance. The 'horns have the talent and size to make a run in the post season. With a few good bounces and some good match-ups, UT could get to the Sweet-16.

Texas is still a young team and could be a load next season, even with Barnes as its coach.

I agree, Trav, that UT has the size and talent to make their presence felt in the tournament. But I've got to agree with Ada, et al, that Barnes is simply not a good coach. Barnes' recruiting is almost (not quite) on par with the guy at Kentucky, but his teams seldom play up to their potential.

 

[NickZepp]

What's been shocking about Texas is that they really haven't had any stand out guards in recent years. Maybe they get guys that get hype early on but none of them end up being stand out guys. Their guard play has been about average at best most years. They usually have a lot of good size inside.

 

[stormspencer]

I agree that Texas should be better, but Coach Barnes does recruit good talent to Austin. Of course, most good coaches should be able to recruit good players to UT.

Texas at 17-9 (6-7) has a good shot to make the NCAA Tournament, but they have a tough five game slog remaining.

Iowa State
@ West Virginia
@ Kansas
Baylor
Kansas State

If Texas survives this slate and finishes 20-11 (9-9), then they will certainly make the Big Dance. The 'horns have the talent and size to make a run in the post season. With a few good bounces and some good match-ups, UT could get to the Sweet-16.

Texas is still a young team and could be a load next season, even with Barnes as its coach.

I don't know if I'm the only one feels this way, but I think Texas is starting to put the pieces together....albeit late in the season. They've played much better the last several games. Currently, their biggest issues are Taylor's consistency and getting Holmes to even show up for a game. If they can somewhat fix those two problems, I think they can be a very dangerous team in March. The talent and energy are there, but they have to play more disciplined and take care of the ball. The other night, we slapped the ball out of their hands on several occasions with ease.

I think they would get in the tournament at 8-10 with their current resume, but I do think they will finish at 9-9 regardless. They will probably be seeded somewhere between 8-10. Imagine if you're a #1 or #2 seed in the NCAA tournament and you draw Texas in your second game of the tournament.....that wouldn't make me very happy.

 

[AdaSooner]

What's been shocking about Texas is that they really haven't had any stand out guards in recent years. Maybe they get guys that get hype early on but none of them end up being stand out guys. Their guard play has been about average at best most years. They usually have a lot of good size inside.

While it's true that UT has good but not great guards this season, that hasn't been the case over the years. D. J. Augustin, Avery Bradley, Daniel Gibson, Royal Ivey, P. J. Tucker and Corey Joseph, to name a few, were all drafted into the NBA.

The guard that started it all and made Barnes look like a better coach than he is was T. J. Ford. Ford gave Barnes and UT that "shot in the arm" in recruiting they had never had before, one that continues to this day. Problem is, Barnes also continues to underachieve with the talent he brings in.

 

[NickZepp]

While it's true that UT has good but not great guards this season, that hasn't been the case over the years. D. J. Augustin, Avery Bradley, Daniel Gibson, Royal Ivey, P. J. Tucker and Corey Joseph, to name a few, were all drafted into the NBA.

The guard that started it all and made Barnes look like a better coach than he is was T. J. Ford. Ford gave Barnes and UT that "shot in the arm" in recruiting they had never had before, one that continues to this day. Problem is, Barnes also continues to underachieve with the talent he brings in.

I'm talking the last few years. Not since the late 2000s. Corey Joseph was 2011? And he wasn't all that great.

 

[sperry]

Barnes is just abysmal. I posted elsewhere, but as Sooner fans we're very lucky that Texas is so apathetic abuot their sports programs. Because if they ever get the right coach in men's basketball or in football they're going to be a juggernaut.

 

[AdaSooner]

I'm talking the last few years. Not since the late 2000s. Corey Joseph was 2011? And he wasn't all that great.

You're right about the last five years or so. My point was that Barnes has brought in the guards and the bigs over the years, he just hasn't coached them to their full potential. Aldridge is a good example. Most of us thought he would be a flop at the next level. Boy, were we wrong! But the truth is, he wasn't very good when he was at UT.

Having said all of that, I tend to agree with stormspencer in that UT may be on the verge of putting it all together just in time for the postseason. To be honest, we were fortunate to come away with a win Tuesday night. Coming off of three wins in a row, albeit against the lower third of the conference, Texas came to play in that game. They were blocking shots and playing good defense. They essentially shut down our two best guards. If not for Woodard, Booker and Walker, no way we win that game. If stormspencer is right, UT could make some noise in the NCAA tourney.

 

[scrybe]

Barnes is just abysmal. I posted elsewhere, but as Sooner fans we're very lucky that Texas is so apathetic abuot their sports programs. Because if they ever get the right coach in men's basketball or in football they're going to be a juggernaut.

On the surface, that seems about right. But frankly, I'm not sure Texas will ever be consistently good enough to be considered a juggernaut. Sure, they'll likely catch lightning in a bottle once ever decade or so – that's almost a certainty with the type of talent they bring to Austin.

I'm afraid (actually, I'm ecstatic), however, that the culture of arrogance and entitlement is so deeply ingrained at UT that the football and basketball teams will never be mentally tough enough to reach juggernaut status.

JMO

 

[chuckb]

I wouldnt want to play WVU in March, for sure.

Yes, but they're a lot different in Morgantown than they are anywhere else. Also, they're a lot different when forced to play in the halfcourt than when they're not.

They can be really good but they can also be really ordinary. They could go to the sweet 16 or could lay a huge egg in the first round.