Bob in Houston
2,500+ Posts
This is a little bit nerdy, and perhaps overestimating, but interesting to me, anyway.
Everyone knows that Rick Barnes has the best record of any hoops coach at UT.
It's notable that he's won more games in nine years, 213, than his predecessor, Tom Penders, could win in 10. The UT media notes chronicle how Barnes' teams have done in total wins compared to the previous best eras in UT history, and Barnes now has the top three in just about all of them.
But, just for the heck of it, I've also kept track of the losses.
Now this stat may seem superficially obvious, but Barnes not only has won more, he also has lost less.
How much less?
Assuming that UT does not win the B12 tournament or the NCAA tournament, Barnes will finish his ninth season with 86 losses.
To find the last nine-year period in which Texas lost as few as 86 games, you have to go back to 1968. By comparison, those UT teams won 136 games in that period. So Barnes has gone the equivalent of 77-0 as the schedules have been increased over the years.
Another piece of raw data:
In the '80s, basically the end of the Lemons era, and the basketball wasteland that were the Weltlich years, Texas won 152 games. In the '90s, all Penders except for '99, Texas won 202.
Barnes is averaging almost 24 wins a year, and his schedules, until the last couple of years, anyway, have been tougher than any the school has ever had.
This really is a golden era for UT hoops.
One other brief comparison.
What has the development of a national recruiting profile meant?
I've looked at the records over the Barnes' nine years, and conveniently dropped out the FF season, which right now is the midpoint of the nine seasons.
In the first four years, Barnes's teams had a 90-43 record.
In the first four post-TJ years, UT has a record of 97-34, with the potential for a few more.
What do I think this means? Well, being able to convince guys such as Durant and Augustin, as well as Aldridge and Gibson, appears to have meant, at a minimum, a couple of wins a year.
This does not take into consideration that Barnes probably has done his best coaching job over the course of a season in this season, getting this team to 22 wins.
If Barnes stays for the long term, I think we are just about at the point where UT basketball can think in terms of 25-win seasons, rather than 20-win seasons.
Everyone knows that Rick Barnes has the best record of any hoops coach at UT.
It's notable that he's won more games in nine years, 213, than his predecessor, Tom Penders, could win in 10. The UT media notes chronicle how Barnes' teams have done in total wins compared to the previous best eras in UT history, and Barnes now has the top three in just about all of them.
But, just for the heck of it, I've also kept track of the losses.
Now this stat may seem superficially obvious, but Barnes not only has won more, he also has lost less.
How much less?
Assuming that UT does not win the B12 tournament or the NCAA tournament, Barnes will finish his ninth season with 86 losses.
To find the last nine-year period in which Texas lost as few as 86 games, you have to go back to 1968. By comparison, those UT teams won 136 games in that period. So Barnes has gone the equivalent of 77-0 as the schedules have been increased over the years.
Another piece of raw data:
In the '80s, basically the end of the Lemons era, and the basketball wasteland that were the Weltlich years, Texas won 152 games. In the '90s, all Penders except for '99, Texas won 202.
Barnes is averaging almost 24 wins a year, and his schedules, until the last couple of years, anyway, have been tougher than any the school has ever had.
This really is a golden era for UT hoops.
One other brief comparison.
What has the development of a national recruiting profile meant?
I've looked at the records over the Barnes' nine years, and conveniently dropped out the FF season, which right now is the midpoint of the nine seasons.
In the first four years, Barnes's teams had a 90-43 record.
In the first four post-TJ years, UT has a record of 97-34, with the potential for a few more.
What do I think this means? Well, being able to convince guys such as Durant and Augustin, as well as Aldridge and Gibson, appears to have meant, at a minimum, a couple of wins a year.
This does not take into consideration that Barnes probably has done his best coaching job over the course of a season in this season, getting this team to 22 wins.
If Barnes stays for the long term, I think we are just about at the point where UT basketball can think in terms of 25-win seasons, rather than 20-win seasons.
