OSU game

14-2 run with James on the bench. Pittman with 16/8 so far. Hamilton still missing free throws. Team only 14/24, but up 14. Very nice steal and break by Bradley.

I so wish this team still had Ward and Balbay and was just pressing non-stop every game.
 
I thought we beat tech?
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A lot of good things in this game.

1) Pittman woke up and played quite well the second half. A lot of his totals might reflect OSU simply didn't have anyone who could put a body on him very effectively, but still, he converted every fg attempt into a basket or free throws, got a good number of rebounds and seemed to have a little more movement and spring today.

2) Hamilton playing defense. Three steals and lots of harrying people on the perimeter. He had some lapses, notably that layup he allowed late in the second half when it looked like Texas might want to repeat the Tech game and fritter the lead away, but I give him good marks overall for defensive effort. His shot selection was a little spotty, though.

3) Team going on 14-2 run with James on the bench with 3rd foul in second half.

Some areas for further concern:

1) J'covan Brown. I did think he brought more effort to his defense today, which is a critical factor, but he was absolutely nowhere on offense. That last time he was in and went to the line and flung the ball up while falling backward on a free throw--what was that? One less carelessly slung up there free throw and Texas would have won the Baylor game in Austin.

2) Combined input from bench interior not named Johnson--1 minute, 1 foul.

3) James picking up 3 fouls in a 3 minute span in the second half, the third being a really stupid chase far away from the basket. The senior leader of the team has to be smarter than that.

4) Free throws. 58%. Missed the front end of both 1 and 1 situations in the second half. Missed the front end of a 1 and 1 in the first half. Hamilton goes 3-7.

5) Completely shutting down the offense with 5 minutes to go. There has to be a better way to end a game than just run 27 seconds off the clock making no effort to get someone free for an easy shot inside, then start to try to create a shot with 8 seconds left. It seemed like everything Texas scored at the end was the result of offensive rebounds or fouls after a defensive rebound.

A pretty good win, overall. Win the next three and Texas is guaranteed no worse than the 4th seed for the conference tournament.
 
I'm not necessarily saying Texas should play at a fast tempo with a 12 point lead late in the game, but when Texas takes the air out, it doesn't do anything to create a shot opportunity in the first 27 seconds of a possession.

I really think there is a happier medium in which there is movement away from the ball , coupled with more ball movement on the perimeter, to make the defense work and create opportunities for easy shots. Take those easy shots that do appear while working the clock. If nothing opens up, fine, but if something does, I don't see the need to pass it up.

OSU did zone through a lot of that time, so I fault Texas less for being passive last night than I did against Tech, but I still think a little more effort should be demanded away from the ball at the end of the game.
 
This is what happens when you play November shakedown in February.

I think it was pretty much, come foul us, which Ok State did not want to do. If they are in position to do that at A&M or Baylor, they wouldn't mind trying to pressure at all.
 
One thing i notice this game that I don't remember seeing previously, was the high low post action from gary johnson to dex. They got Gary the ball around the free throw line or slightly closer to the basket. When the defense collapse he lobbed it a few feet over to Dex for the easy layup. If the defense stays on dex then johnson can hit that short jumper all day. I hope to see more of that.
 
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