Not really agreeing or disagreeing, Blake. Just adding some specific numbers. I think too often we all have ideas about what happened in the past and fail to do a little fact checking against our perceptions.
I think in general that Barnes has gotten pretty good but not remarkable results from his players. I also think that Texas fans (me included) tend to view the incoming players optimistically. I don't think Barnes has heroically transformed average talent into high quality Div 1 teams, but I don't think he has failed to get better than just reasonable results from his players. I do think the perception of Barnes as getting more from less in the first half of his tenure at Texas and less with more has an air of validity to it, but I'm not sure that perception shouldn't be more greatly tempered than it is by a recognition that college freshmen generally don't win championships, no matter how talented they are.
I do think Barnes has failed to get much progress from his interior recruits over the last 4 years, and that troubles me greatly. Outside of Atchley developing a pick and pop game and Pittman managing to stay on the floor for 19 minutes a game as a senior, the growth chart of Texas players not named Durant and over 6'7" tall is a flat line. On the other hand, I think the idea that DJ Augustin came here as an unquestioned super guard talent is somewhat a fallacy.
(Oh, and you did mention Gibson).
The last two years have been disappointing; there's no doubt about that, but the idea that Barnes has squandered an incredible wealth of talent is more than just a bit over the top.
Now, if he doesn't do better over the next couple of years, I'll be ready to revise that opinion, but I'm currently questioning whether Texas will have any kind of effective interior game over the next two seasons.
I think in general that Barnes has gotten pretty good but not remarkable results from his players. I also think that Texas fans (me included) tend to view the incoming players optimistically. I don't think Barnes has heroically transformed average talent into high quality Div 1 teams, but I don't think he has failed to get better than just reasonable results from his players. I do think the perception of Barnes as getting more from less in the first half of his tenure at Texas and less with more has an air of validity to it, but I'm not sure that perception shouldn't be more greatly tempered than it is by a recognition that college freshmen generally don't win championships, no matter how talented they are.
I do think Barnes has failed to get much progress from his interior recruits over the last 4 years, and that troubles me greatly. Outside of Atchley developing a pick and pop game and Pittman managing to stay on the floor for 19 minutes a game as a senior, the growth chart of Texas players not named Durant and over 6'7" tall is a flat line. On the other hand, I think the idea that DJ Augustin came here as an unquestioned super guard talent is somewhat a fallacy.
(Oh, and you did mention Gibson).
The last two years have been disappointing; there's no doubt about that, but the idea that Barnes has squandered an incredible wealth of talent is more than just a bit over the top.
Now, if he doesn't do better over the next couple of years, I'll be ready to revise that opinion, but I'm currently questioning whether Texas will have any kind of effective interior game over the next two seasons.
