Why will next year be different?

I agree with many of your comments, 3ball.

Some disagreements:

1) I don't see Hamilton as much of a 4. He's more of a 2/3 than a 3/4.

But Barnes likes to get his "best players" on the court, even if it results in funky lineups, so maybe you're right.

2) Not really a disagreement, since I think there's a chance Pittman goes pro as well, but a counter.

While I'm not sure James can improve his draft stock on next season's team, there's no doubt in my mind Pittman can. Pittman will be a late first rounder in this year's draft, whereas I think he has the potential to be a lottery pick next year. Maybe not, because I thought the same thing about James, and that didn't happen.

But James problem in coming back is that Texas will have someone who can play the 3 better than he can, so he won't have the same opportunities for playing time there that he had this past season.

Pittman, on the other hand, is undoubtedly going to be a primary option on offense when he's on the floor, and with the greater offensive talent surrounding him in Bradley, Hamilton, Williams, and Lucas, he's going to have a chance to make an even bigger impact.

None of that means much, obviously, other than it's my opinion. We'll see how it all works out.
 
Jai Lucas will make a world of difference at PG.
Pittman will be a more polished post player. Bradley replaces Abrams as a scorer. Wagemene gives us another rebounder when he recovers from his injury. If James comes back pencil us in as Big 12 Champs and Final Four. KU will lose Collins and Alrich, OU the Griifins and Warren. Next yaer ought to be good, no GREATTT!!!!
hookem.gif
 
The biggest improvement will be at point guard. Jai Lucas will give that position stability, which it definitely didn't have this year. A team switching point guards around is like a ship without a rudder, no matter how much other talent is out there.
 
I think our team next year is going to be very good. there is no reason to speculate otherwise.

3 point shooters? hamilton and lucas. shoot, williams too.

scorers? bradley and hamilton.

this team lacked outside shooting and a bona fide scorer that didn't need to be fed the ball in the paint.

this class is not only high on talent, it addresses needs.

these notions that there's no reason to be optimistic about next year or freshmen not contributing are just humorous. uninformed ignorance.

on DJ...I thought he was gone for sure around mid-season. but his productivity really tailed off. he got less aggressive and really started deferring on the offensive end. while he does have the athleticism to play in the league, he's still an undersized 4. it doesn't seem crazy that he'd come back for one more year.

dex
DJ
hamilton
bradley
balbay

seems salty to me...especially with GJ, Lucas, Ward and Williams coming off the bench. I just have to believe that Wangmene, Chapman or Hill will make some improvements in this off season.

only time will tell, but I think there's lots of reason to be excited about next year.
 
Johnson was regarded as a stud out of HS. We were thought to believe he was all world too. He wouldn't start for most teams in the NCAA tourney, and doesn't start for us most times. Hopefully these Freshmen are SUPER STUDS, as it takes that for Barnes' teams to play good enough to advance past 32.
 
That is a really unfair statement to make about Barnes, Goodfellow. Not many teams have had the stretch of Sweet 16 (and further) runs that Texas has had....So, I guess their coaches are also fail?
 
Goodfellow is the biggest debbie downer to show up in a long time. For every recruiting "bust", you can find just as many guys who've lived up to expectations. I would say that Abrams, Durant and Augustine more than exceeded expectations on the 40 acres. We've gotten about what I expected out of Damion. You also get unheralded guys that surprise the heck out of you, a la Dexter. I would say that lack of development of guys under Barnes is the exception, not the rule. I fully expect us to be back on top of the Big 12 next season with a deep run in the tourney.
 
You think James has lived up to expectations? Wow, you didn't expect much out of him...

The guy plays his heart out, but a cursory knowledge of basketball and fundamentals is usually expected out of such a highly rated prospect.
 
James essentially gives you a double-double every night. He's been a solid part of this team for 3 years. You're way too hard on these guys. The whole team took a step backwards this season without a true point guard. I think James has had a very successful career at Texas.
 
Goodfellow is very ignorant about UT Basketball. I remember what a coup it was signing Kris Clack the first McDonald's All American to play for UT.
Now every class has one or two MCD AA's on it.
Also it seems very obvious that Jai Lucas will play the 1 unless Balbay can make 18 footers consistently. It was brutal to have Dogus,Connor and Mason on the floor at the same time because opposing teams knew they were reluctant to shoot.
Lucas should solve that problem. As for Gary Johnson he has been inhibited by health concerns
and injury. He will be a great player given the right surrounding cast.
hookem.gif
 
Agree about the fundamentals. Was this the first year this lack of fundamentals really showed up? I tend to think so, but I'm hazy about prior years. Do we need a "fundamental assistant coach", who focuses on that?
 
While there were several flaws with this year's team, I thought the team actually met my realistic expectations.

There are many problems with the arguments that this team should have been better. The most obvious problem is the glaring talent gap against the top teams. I think we only have one player who ranked in the top 50 of his recruiting class, and that's Damion at #17. While players sometimes way exceed or fall short of their rankings, rankings are nevertheless a good gauge of a team's overall potential. In the game last night, Duke had 3 top-50 players in Damion's 2006 class alone - Henderson at #11, Zoubek at #24, and Thomas at #42. They also had Singler (#5 in his class), Paulus (#11), E. Williams (#16), and N. Smith (#39). As much as we love GJ's hustle and play, he is the next highest ranked Longhorn - at #61...

I believe Coach Barnes has recruited extremely well - so well that we have a talent gap because our best players fulfill their college potential early, then leave early. Our 2006 class was better than Duke's - Durant and Augustin are both in the NBA now. If anything, it looks like Coach Barnes has done a better job developing his talented players (vs. Coach K), allowing them to be lottery picks earlier.

I was afraid before the season that the success of this year's team depended on the development of Balbay, and unfortunately that came true. Don't get me wrong - I think he will be an extremely productive 4-year player at Texas. But I had heard of his poor shooting coming in, especially FT shooting. That is a big Achilles tendon for a college point guard. As we have seen many times in NCAA basketball, point guard play determines how far you can go in conference play, and especially in the tournament. I hope he woks hard on his shooting during the off season and form a dangerous PG rotation with Lucas next year.

For those complaining about Coach Barnes' ability to develop players, just look at what he has done with this roster. There are a couple of players I thought could be better, but more have exceeded expectations. For example, Dex was considered a project, and we are talking about his being drafted this year or next. Did you know AJ was the 103rd-ranked player in his class? He has certainly out-performed many players rated ahead of him. Varez was not even ranked in his class, and has become a regular contributor. These guys are certainly not perfect players, but I think they have improved throughout their careers at UT and/or exceeded realistic expectations.

Sure the TO's and poor FT shooting drives me nuts, but I am sure those are areas the team will work on. With an infusion of greater talent the next 2 years, I hope we can see a few deep runs into the tournament.
 
Avery Bradley can shoot the rock. I will be interested to see how much he contributes. I am expecting a lot. I can't wait to see Hamilton too.
 
Damion, Hamilton, Bradley, and Pittman are not most of the team...even if J'Covan somehow makes it in, that's still only 5.
 
Next year is going to be different because I'm going to be a better fan. I'm not worthy.

I missed about 5 home games this year because they weren't 'important' enough.

If I'd of filled one of those empty seats early on, maybe things would have come out differently.

I sat back down during games when people yelled at me.

I second-guessed player rotations decisions.

I wondered why AJ was still in the game sometimes.

I do hereby resolve to change my ways. AND bring a friend.

Next year, I promise to be a better fanatic and I hope to be delivered to the promised land and have _earned_ my place.
 
James = gone. I'm less sure about Pittman, but if someone in the NBA took a chance on a low-stamina backup post player with below average ball control, I wouldn't be surprised.

Lucas arriving and a more "controlled" Balbay will be major reasons for improvements in ball movement, thus helping with the turnovers.

Everyone expecting Bradley to light it up from outside is probably going to be disappointed. That's not his role, nor ever has been except in shootarounds, blowouts, or practice. Something that he'll add to the mix, however, is a slashing guard presence that TJ and DJ mixed up opponents with. He'll drive and kick it to the wide open teammates, creating opportunities for them to get easy points. Or, at worst, he'll shoot it from within 6 feet, and make a lot of them.

My guess is that with the improvements in ball control, Hamilton will originally be our "Josh Carter" for a little while. He'll be the go-to three-point dude as a freshman with Abrams and Atchley gone. I still don't think Ward would handle that role well (didn't he start the season like 0-19 on threes?). Lucas will take his share of threes as well, but not as his primary option like Abrams.

Wangmene back will help our rebounding game, hopefully on the offensive side. I don't see Hill or Chapman making huge strides to become dominant forces down low, like Klotz did throughout his time on campus.

Johnson... eh. I doubt he'll ever truly find a "role" during his tenure at Texas. We saw PJ Tucker kind of stuck in the same spot his entire time at Texas, and for the most part, he was good at it. He was the undersized forward who could body underneath and make 10-footers with ease. He also came up with some big defensive plays. I'm not sure Johnson is going to get into this niche. He's out of control with the ball when he has it, and other than his wide open looks from 16 feet, he's not really impressive in footwork, not fouling, or rebounding. I think he's going to end up as the Deginald Erskin of this group. Useful, but only to a point.

We need Mason for his defense, but I officially retract any and all "Royal Ivey" comparisons I made when he was a freshman. Mason will get 20 min/game next year because he's earned it, but other than his offensive tip-ins, he should be playing safety when we have the ball on offense, getting ready for transition defense.

Smith will come in during mop up.

Brown will not be playing for Texas.

Williams won't get many minutes next season, but if another guy leaves early, it'll open up plenty of time for him in 2010-11.
 
I won't claim to be an expert, but my understanding was that he would sit out one year from the date he announced the transfer and the transfer papers were completed. IIRC that was somewhere around mid-December 2008. So, "by the end of classes" meaning mid-December 2009 sounds about right.

Agreed, that it does make a huge difference - December 15th vs. January 15th. UConn and UNC will be shells of their current teams with early draft entires, although they will both be loaded again. Not sure about Pitt and MSU, but I believe MSU has several seniors in their top 8 players.
 
Where did you see that we play Pitt and UCONN next year? I don't recall seeing that anyway. MSU and UNC I knew about...
 
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