We blew the NC State game too

After being heartbroken after the last 2 seasons, I took to following approach this year: this team isn't going to accomplish anything in the post season so just enjoy the season for what it is. No heartburn for me so far this year.
 
With eight minutes left, J'Covan Brown was whistled for a touch foul, his fourth. As he walked off the court. he said something (stupidly) and the ref T'd him up to foul him out of the game. From that point, NC State went on an INEXPLICABLE 28-2 SCORING RUN. Of course, Barnes refused to call timeout as his young team completely fell apart.

NC State missed two clinching free throws at the end, then Barnes finally called time with 1.6 seconds left (!?!?). UT then missed a potential tying 3 that appeared to be goaltended at the buzzer.

Apparently Barnes then threw Brown under the bus on the postgame, saying "he should be ashamed of himself" and "he cost his team the game."

I know this is only the fourth game, but man, this was a disheartening loss.
 
In spite of the tight officiating, up until the Horns built their second 18 point lead, they were moving on offense, passing the ball well and knocking down decent shots.

Just when I thought it was in the bag, they went into that stagnant shell of standing around on offense and making bad decisions that Barnes teams have been known to do. Very disheartening, but not that surprising.
 
I saw the game. The loss is squarely on J'Covan's shoulders. I would also point out that Barnes likes to test teams early in the year by not calling time outs during critical stretches. I am not surprised....and I think he also used it as a lesson for the young guys (someone has to step up) and J'Covan (you are integral to this team...and it is a team). Barnes should receive some well deserved criticism for his offensive sets (specifically before last year) but his game management is always very very good.
 
From the 65 - 49 Texas lead, Texas shot 2 of 16 from the field. To that point, they shot 23 of 37. Brown led the decline by missing three straight before he reverted to the punkish ways of the past and earned the technical.

Lewis was 0 of 7 from the 65-47 score. Oddly, Texas had only 3 of its 23 turnovers during that stretch.

As for Barnes' handling of the game and Brown, I have no issue with it. Brown's actions were immature and just plain stupid. If Barnes hammered him publicly, good for him.

This was not an excusable freshman mistake and Brown needs to learn that as the upperclass "leader" of this team, he cannot pull this type of stunt. I am certain his mentor Ivey will back Barnes' hardass treatment 100%.

Consider the consequences:

1. Caused a loss to an undefeated ACC team on national television broadcast from NYC, the east coast media center and hoops hotbed.
2. Took away a win that might mean something come tournament seeding time.
3. Tarnished Brown's outstanding start to the season. At his pace, he is on track for All American consideration.
4. Possibly marked Brown as a ref baiting hothead, not a good thing on a team that is undersized and foul prone.

Not calling a timeout tells this squad three things:

1. You need to be prepared to play without one of your star players who might be injured or fouled out or just plain stupid.
2. You need to figure out how to beat your opponent without the staff holding your hands.
3. You might now believe that coaching means something and you might be a bit more attentive to the staff the next time they tell you what to do.

If I were Barnes, I would let Brown sit the pines the next game and let the other players learn to play without him. There is no assurance he won't do this again. Barnes has been more than patient with Brown to date. It is very disappointing to observe this incident.

Assuming Lewis can start hitting 40% plus and Brown keeps his head out of his ***, this team has potential. There are no complete scoring gaps in the lineup as the past two seasons. Wangmene has been a pleasant surprise and the youngsters are scoring. Barnes' teams generally imiprove on the defensive end during the first two months of the season and I expect this team to do likewise.

National ink like this does not help Brown or Texas.
The Link
 
What he said.

The quote by Barnes about Brown getting it together says it all. There's truly no telling how many chances J'Covan has had off the court. Barnes has had to sit him in practices for mouthing off and not playing at 100 percent. Can you imagine if he had the work ethic of a guy like Royal Ivey? The dude might have gone down as one of the best guards in recent history (not just for UT).

I fully expect more 23-2 runs this year if we can't form a basic semblance of a defense. The young guys are rotating slower than the 7th grade team I used to coach. I'm not sure if it's nerves or conditioning, but it's really not that hard. Guys playing a guard on the elbow shouldn't collapse every single damn time the ball is put on the floor. The wing players have looked inept moving over 4 feet to try to stop a penetration, which leads to the inevitable foul or kickout.

The BU game looks more and more like the aberration and not the norm. We're going to get pantsed by a few more offenses... especially ones that penetrate.
 
RELAX!!! This team is very young. I was very impressed how they looked early in the second half, but I had not realized Brown had fouled out either when NC State made their comeback. OK, so this team will only go as far as Brown takes them. Damn, I hope he learns from this. Brown should suspend him for a game.
 
9 minutes without a field goal? I've seen this act before. Too many times, I'm afraid.

Hook'em!!!
texasflag.gif
 
The hating on Barnes here seems a little ridiculous. I watched the game and Barnes did call a timeout when it was clear the guys were rattled. I just looked at the play by play and he called it at 6:58. We lost that game because the freshmen got tight at the end after Brown went out. They were in their sets and taking mostly decent shots; they just were clanking iron or turning over the ball. What would you want Barnes to do? There is no easy bucket play call in bball; the guys have to get out there and make shots. Defensively, they were a mess at the end, but what can you expect in that situation? We had almost exclusively freshman on the floor who have had less than 2 months of team practices.
I thought a couple of things were noteworthy from the last two games:
1.) Barnes wasn't calling or drawing up the play at the end. An assistant (Lanier?) was drawing it up and instructing the guys. Barnes was just watching. Is this a change this season? I'll be interested to keep watching that dynamic.
2.) Kabongo expectations were way too high. He's good and quick with the ball, but he's got a long way before he becomes the instant impact that many were predicting.
3.) Brown has been incredible. Makes me wonder what could have been if Barnes gave him the lead dog role with last year's team. We sorely needed a play maker last year.
4.) The teams biggest weaknesses are defense and rebounding..... Luckily, those two areas are Barnes' coaching strengths.

I think this team has a lot of potential this season. I'm not at all discouraged by what I saw Saturday and Monday. A young team played well, but couldn't finish out either game. Replay those games in February and I think we dominate both. We've got tons of room to get better in a hurry.
 
This team is young and needs to develop over the season. The talent is there to do something in post season. They just have to figure how to close out games and play smart at the end.
 
I was at the game. Live.

I've been to every game in the NY/NJ area since I moved up here 9 years ago and this game sucked. Not only were there less than 1,000 people in attendance at the game (pathetic), but the Horns fans that were there were so quiet that our Bench players started cheering and making noise since it was so quiet.

Obviously I had to start a few Texas Fights, but I'm telling you it was quiet...

We lost because J'Covan Brown said "********" on a bad call about two feet from the ref. After that it was all down hill. That and Barnes refused to stop the time when State was making their scoring run.

The only cool thing was that Durant and Royal Ivey were there on the bench with the players trying to help out, but the facts are the facts, it's a young team and they need to get better at playing together...

Hook 'em
 
Aces, if Kabongo thinks he is the stud king who should run the show, Barnes gave him a chance to do it. I surmise that Barnes was thinking he would test Kabongo and as a result Kabongo gets some experience against good competition and a lesson in humility which, based on some comments here and elsewhere, is something he might need.
 
Branyon, you can teach lessons in practice. There was someone earlier in this thread that suggested that Barnes didn't call a timeout to teach the young ones a lesson. What lesson is that? Teach during practice, and do everything you can to win during games. After all, that is how they determine who tournament teams are, and what seed you get. No one takes a loss to teach a lesson at this level.
 
Don't agree. One can teach all one wants in practice, but it's a different ball game on court with opponents, not teammates, and professional officials. Do it early in the year to lay the foundation for conference. Early losses and close wins over marginal opponents have less impact now than later during the year.
 
Aces, there was a media timeout about 40 seconds after Brown fouled out. He called another one about a minute later. The other three timeouts were called in the last minute when they were trying to come back. What do you want?

You can't call time out every time a team hits a bad streak. They have to learn that there are fundamental strategies and plays that they would use no matter what. They have to learn this in games.
 
I didn't see the game. The comment was made that a timeout was not called during a 28-2 run. If that was the case, that is just dumb coaching. Like I stated, I didn't see it, and don't know. "Smart" coaches at this level don't lose games to teach lessons. Especially when their jobs are based on wins and losses, and the team's post season play is determined by Ws and Ls.
 
It's a long way from "Barnes didn't call sufficient timeouts during the run" to "Barnes purposely lost the game to teach the team a lesson."

The first statement is arguable, even though I'm inclined to disagree. There is no evidence to back the second statement.
 
I'm not going to dog Barnes any , but Texas should be a giant in basketball. Duke and NC back in the day used to raid the state for talent.
 
They still are.

There are a lot of talented players here, and Barnes has gotten a good share of them, but it's not like he has first pick, as football by and large still does.
 
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