What has happened to our defense?

[TheFied]

It used to be that a Rick Barnes' team played tough defense (man-to-man) and rebounded. That was his trademark. The past few years, it has eroded. What is going on? I realize that Pittman makes us switch to a 2-3 to keep him out of foul trouble but even when he is not on the floor, we struggle defensively when we did not Barnes' 1st 6 years or so.

 

[IndyHorn]

Barnes made a conscious decision to go to a more wide open Phoenix suns type game in order to recruit Kevin Durant and DJ Augustin. Still, our team does play good defense. The only shots Baylor hit last night were well defended running "prayers". The issue is our best defenders are also offensive liabilities, and our best offensive player is a defensive liability. This team, this roster is flawed. This isn't news to anyone. I will say a more worrisome issue is right now is that Rick Barnes is a top 20 coach principally because of his recruiting. Kansas' Self has always been a tad better recruiter, but Jeff Capel has certainly dug in getting the best HS players in Texas two years running. If Barnes falls off recruiting in the future, well that would be very bad for us and him. Next year, he has assembled an awesome class, so no real worry at this point. But as The University of Texas, I'd like to see some of our own not flee over the northern border. Does two years mean a trend, or a random fluctuation? I fear Jeff Capel. He seems to have it going on. If Barnes doesn't have top level talent, he isn't a top level coach. Of that much I am quite sure.

 

[TheFied]

Self is a better Xs and Os coach than Barnes (IMHO). Capel is not.

 

[mars]

I started a thread below that no one found interesting on talent vs. coaching. I have been frustrated with Barnes' coaching from time to time, but I think he usually does well with the talent we have. I think talent usually overcomes coaching in college basketball, unless the coaching is just terrible. I have faith that given the right players we can return to the final four a few more times. Of course, getting the players is easier said than done, but we are heading in the right direction.

Until we have the talent level of the UNCs, UConns, Memphises, etc. (not assuming that this will ever happen), it's hard to really evaluate coaching. This team could have done better, but had some glaring shortcomings talent-wise.

I did have one other thought this morning. Barnes is known for falling in love with the hardnose, good defenders. Often these players are limited offensively. I would have to think that teaching a scorer to become a good defender is easier than teaching a good defender to be an offensive threat.

In my mind, Barnes is not above criticism, but he is good enough to get the job done with the right players. We have had some of the right players some years, and we have become awfully close to getting some other great players. If we had been able to close the deal on Tyreke Evans, or Devin Ebanks, we might be singing another tune altogether this year. Hell, if J'Covan Brown had qualified, this would be an entirely different team. However, this was a huge risk. I'm disappointed in the team this year, but I am still excited about the future.