AJ Abrams

The difference is I think AJ comes by it naturally. It's not his fault, really. On the teams he played he WAS the offense. Of course he's going to be comfortable shooting the ball.

DJ was the very definition of an unselfish player until this year at UT, especially when he was at New Orleans and playing AAU ball. I put that on Barnes as much as anyone. The message he seems to be giving DJ is that what he's doing --- dominating the ball and often shooting without looking for his teammates --- is exactly what Barnes wants out of him.
 
SLX, I know you watch a lot of college basketball, and follow it closely, so I respect your knowledge of the game. However, I've felt like you've had something against AJ for a while now, and I don't completely understand it. As for your complaint about his FGA/Assist ratio, I did some brief research on just Big 12 teams, and here's what I found.

AJ Abrams 310/33 (9.4/1)
James Anderson 247/24 (10.29/1)
Michael Beasley 346/28 (12.36/1)
LaceDarius Dunn 172/15 (11.47/1)
Curtis Jerrells 234/75 (6.5/1)
Matt Lawrence 189/20 (9.45)

As I said, this is only a brief look at the Big 12. I wish I had more time to check other teams across the country, but, as you can see, AJ is far from alone in this category as you claimed. Further, did you know AJ was 182/111 (1.64/1) his freshman year? Did he just all the sudden become "selfish" this year, or, did his coach's instructions to him change?

Finally, please think about our offense for a while. There's a reason that no one other than DJ averages over 2.4 assists a game (AJ is 3rd with 1.6). The way our offense is designed, DJ dominates the ball. Very rarely do you see anyone else dribbling the ball for an extended period of time. For the most part, everyone else catches the ball off screens, or near the basket. That's by design, and therefore AJ (and everyone else, other than DJ) has very few opportunities for assists. The next time you're watching a game, take your focus off the ball, and watch AJ work to get open. Barnes has him doing that to free him for a shot, not to free him for a pass. I don't think AJ is perfect, but I do believe he gets an unfair share of criticism.
 
WOW, the topic of AJ sure brought out a lot of good comments and a lot of bellicose comments which are good but all second or third hand info . IMO
My thought is from a team point of view and I am sure that Barnes is still trying to get everyone to play tough defense.

Everyone was happy when the team won 11 games to open the season,IMO Barnes woke up and said this is not going to work during conference and the dance. When we were running and being quicker then most teams we played we were great but just lacking enough Defense for Barnes sake.

The bigs bore the brunt of Barnes desire for defense, remember Dex, clint and Alex and later Gary took their turn in the dog house now is D James turn. The key word here is team defense and playing it for 40 minutes. Period.

I do agree that having the ball 80% of the time in DJ's hands is not a good offensive scheme, Having AJ taking 20 shots a game is not good. In a perfect world DJ would have a quiet 10-11 assists per game and around 15 shots.

Conner getting 9-11 shots per game would take the pressure off of AJ to take a lot of shots.
James and Conner and DJ and AJ should be taking 10-15 shot per game and the balance would make it harder to stop our poor OFF. scheme.

Mason will continue to play with the energy and hustle the rest of the season, But I agree that Barnes has gotten into everyones head and they are tight about making a mistake and that has shown in some very poor games the last 8 games or so. If Barnes is getting the players to play D then we will see James, and Johnson match Mason's energy ,both really played that way during their HS days, just image the three hooping with all that energy and hustle, I think that is what Barnes is trying to get at. IMO

AJ's a smart shooter when he is not counted on hitting for 25-30 points due to our poor game plans and that is Barnes stuff.
Our Defense is getting a little better. I hope it gets better sooner then later.
 
DJ over-dribbling is evidently what Barnes wants him to do. The movement in general is awful. AJ is constantly running off screens, but not much else is going on.

I wish Abrams would drive to the basket more. If I shot around 90% free throws I would do everything I could to get to the line as much as possible. Headfakes, leaning in to draw contact, anything. Something besides jumpers. However, last night we would have lost without his performance. He also is a good passer when he wants. Wish he would do it more.
 
My criticism has more to do with the team as a whole and the manner in which Barnes runs the offense. We haven't been good at feeding the post for a longtime now (I would say ever but I try to stay away from absolute statements like that), so it's obvious that Barnes doesn't emphasize this enough in practice. Lastnight I was actually surprised to see Johnson, Atchley, and even Alexis given a few chances to do something in the post. I believe this contributed to both A.J's and Mason's success outside lastnight. Hopefully it will continue.
 
I'm not sure if AJ is "selfish" or not, but I do that he has a flaw that is not uncommon in basketball. He takes too many shots without looking for the other options. I love his quick release. His accuracy when he's open is great. But when he shoots a three with a guy playing tight D on him and the shot clock still at 25+, not only does it maybe only go in a fourth of the time, but often we only have 1 guy in the post and rarely get the rebounds.

In reply to:
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Who is AJ suppose to give the ball to for the assist? Our posts just drop passes that get to them anyways, and Mason, DJ, and James have been in a a HUGE shooting slump. AJ can look for the pass all he wants, he still needs someone who can knock it down.
 
AJ might shoot some "ill-advised" threes, but with his quick release and ability to get the shot off even while tightly defended, I don't think too many of his shots are actually "ill-advised". I agree with the poster who said that AJ should probably work harder on drawing fouls, though. We need him on the line.
 
SLX-
While I fully agree that posters should feel free to criticize on a message board, I think it should be done within reason, remembering that these are college players who work their tails off for our university. Having said that, my problem with your original post was that MC Orange started this thread to congratulate AJ on a great game against OU, and his post was followed by 5 others recognizing his effort. Then, out of nowhere, comes your post, "[AJ's] the most selfish player Barnes has ever had at Texas. This team would be so much better if he . . ."

What in the world possessed you to come on a thread congratulating one of our players for a great performance and begin to bash him?
 
AJ is 5'-9".

In order to shoot the ball over taller players he must shoot it quickly before they can get to him. When he is open he is supposed to shoot it. I have no problem with this. He is our best 3-point shooter. He is the "shooting" guard in case some of you forgot.
 
When the guy is shooting 60% from inside the arc, and around 40% outside the arc, he can be as "selfish" as he wants.
 
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