I'm a myopic idiot

W

Wulaw Horn

1,000+ Posts
for thinking this team could get a really high seed.

I never said I thought we were really good, but I thought we were a lot better than the rest of the conference.

Obviously not.
 
Don't be overly harsh on yourself Wulaw. Most of us were lulled into a false sense of security with this team early on. I will say I am a bit concerned that this team does seem to be sliding backwards, in contrast to most of Barnes' teams. Of course we all see the gaping flaw with this group is they can't create adequate offense for themselves in the half court. I'm sure Barnes does too, but he hasn't be able to address it. It is what it is with Barnes. I still view him as Kelvin Sampson without the stench. Really that's not fair to Barnes as frankly he is a better recruiter than Sampson was (except for when Sampson was in Bloomington Indiana- with an excess of anytime minutes!), but the comparison on their respective abilities with X and Os holds water. Neither can coach a lick of offense. When Barnes doesn't have a Terrell McCintyre (butchered I'm sure), a TJ Ford, or a DJ Agustin, his teams aren't great. This team is now sitting on the dreaded 8/9 seed. We are now a bubble team. No two ways about it, our RPI was 28th on Monday and our strength of schedule was 46th or so. I am confounded by the SOS rating given who we played and where preseason, but I know a win at Wisconsin is sure next to meaningless now. We desperately need 10 conference wins, and with 9 games left that means we need a 6-3 record down the stretch. I give us Tech at home, Colorado, and Baylor. Where this team finds the other three wins is a huge mystery without some unseen improvement, but I am inclined to think we get them. Barnes hasn't missed a tournament yet in Austin. I'll expect we make it until we don't. But the time to make hay is sure here. After all, Kelvin Sampson missed the tournament when at OU too.....
 
Our wins and losses do not seem that impressive anymore. Wisconsin sucks. Arkansas is 1-6 in conference. Notre Dame is clawing to keep relevant. UCLA is OK, but has had its struggles. Only team that is any good is Michigan State and they have even slipped as of late. That is why the SOS has slipped. As it should.
 
Villanova is now alone in 5th place in the Big East, and they have only one road game left against a team that is .500 or better in the conference, and that's Syracuse, which hasn't played all that well of late. While Villanova also has to host Marquette, it is maybe just as likely to move up as down in the conference standings, because PItt still has to play UConn home and away and has to host Marquette and go to Providence. I can't think of anyone who would rather have Pitt's remaining schedule.

Add the fact that Texas beat Villanova by nearly double digits in a "neutral" site that was within 100 miles of the Villanova campus. Add the fact that Villanova currently blows UCLA away in rpi.

The win over Villanova looks a lot more impressive than a 4 point win over UCLA in Austin.
 
All it would take to turn this team around is a couple of good shooting nights from beyond 15 feet. Not much, but still a lot, considering the shooters.
 
Or maybe shoot somewhere north of 60% from the foul line.

Or grab some much needed rebounds on D without the opponent getting a second or third shot.

Or take care of the ball while on offense.
 
If one is suffering from myopia, they should go see an optimist. Or maybe it's an ophthalmologist. I always get the two confused.
 
Bob,

From my last comments, there was no disrespect intended, nor was I going out on a ledge. I was merely making an observation about some items that I feel warrant improvement. I guess I was a bit off on the FT percentage, but I'll still stand by all three of my statements.

Given that this team struggles to score in a half court set, you would think a higher emphasis would be placed on improving the FT percentage. 66.7% is still not stellar. And considering we have missed some FTs at crucial times, it makes one scratch his head. Texas was 64.1% vs. K-State and 60% vs. Mizzou. They did shoot a bit better in Lincoln @ 68.4%, but I wouldn't call that great. When you lose games by a single possession, sinking 2-3 more FTs would make a huge difference.

My rebounding comment was really an attempt to say there have been times where we allow opponents too many second (and third) chances. That puts Texas at a disadvantage, especially when we go one and done on the offensive end. In the past, this team has been able to clean up the boards after the other team misses a shot.

Yes, it's much easier to limit turnovers when you have DJ running the offense, but the guys we have now should be able to do enough to be serviceable. Don't put yourself in a position to cause careless turnovers (bad passes, inability to pass out of a double team, dribbling out of control, picking up an offensive foul when driving the lane, etc.). Also, at times there's an inability to see the floor and get the ball to the guy that's in the best position to score. While this may not result in a turnover, it reduces the chance of an open look or causes the offense to become stagnant. Of course, taking care of the ball doesn't fall squarely on the guy handling the ball. Things like floor spacing, movement, off the ball screens, creation of good passing angles and catching the ball when it's passed to you all become more important when you don't have a true PG. Even without a DJ or TJ-type player, the other positions have to pick up the slack, and it doesn't seem to be happening on a consistent basis. This team has a propensity to be much more careless/reckless with the ball than any team in recent memory, regardless of who's running point.
 
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