Unfortunately, their season average is sort of an anomoly. One of their guys shoots something like 90%. Everyone else is terrible. I think 4 starters are in the 50-55% range or something? I think every loss they suffer will be, in large part, due to free throws. This team is good enough that if they were to shoot 75-80% from the line, they'd win every game IMO.
I think you are forgetting the '07 team. Durant, Augustin and Abrams were great from the line. The team shot 74% from the FT line. http://kenpom.com/team.php?team=Texas&y=2007 The '06 team was solid, too. 73%.... Those are good numbers for college, IMO.
I did forget those 2 years. I think my point stands, though, historically about the Rick Barnes era at Texas. Seems like it's always been an achilles heel for his teams. It's going to kill them come tourney time. They are currently 324th out of 347 teams in fg %. It absolutely has to improve soon.
I'm really just sick to my stomach after what I just watched. They got their asses handed to 'em in the second half. Bone headed plays, no interior D, Pittman is just a mess... I'm really not sure if Texas is even a top 10 team right now. It all started with the win they barely pulled off against Corpus and we've been playing like crap since then. Also, when a team is on a 13-0 run, it'd be nice of the coach to call a damn timeout.
I agree. It doesn't even look like the same team that handily beat UNC and Michigan St. The only consistency, sadly, has been AWFUL free throw shooting. There doesn't seem to be any leaders on this team. I've never seen a team lose so many loose balls. Pittman is playing like an 8th grade girl. Hamilton and Brown have the shot selection of a blind man. There is still a lot of basketball left, and I'd much rather have these struggles in January than in March. If these things don't get fixed, however, I'm afraid our stay in the tournament will be short-lived.
There is every reason to believe UT will figure things out and be a Final Four favorite by March. Rick Barnes is a very good coach. I think the players needed to eat some humble pie to get grounded. They weren't mature enough to stay focused and hungry after such a strong start to the season. Now they know what can happen if they don't keep their heads for all 40 minutes. I also think Avery Bradley has the potential to emerge as their best player before the season is over. Some guys on that team will sink and others will swim. Pittman, James and Bradley are the 3 guys that MUST play at a high level for UT to contend.
I'm almost convinced Barnes is trying to see if the team can figure things out on their own. Might not be the best time to do it, being in the middle of conference play and all. I have the confidence that he knows what he's doing and all will be well in the end. This is a tough stretch their in. Hopefully, they figure it out quickly and get back on track. I still think they will get a #1 seed in the end. A win over KU in a week would be a good way to start the final stretch run...
And keep in mind, if Texas gets a #1 - and maybe even a #2 - they're basically guaranteed of being in Houston. (I can't think of another top-seed candidate from this region of the country, and the committee always rewards top seeds with location preference when possible.) A lot of Texas' problems lately have to do with an apparent inability to respond to adversity and the tendency of little problems to snowball away from home. For a young team like that, having the Sweet 16/Elite Eight rounds as virtual home games would definitely help. Aside from that, I really think whether UT is a true title contender depends largely on the growth of J'Covan Brown as a point guard and a leader. Balbay brings some positives, but when you have a point guard that can't shoot from the outside and can't shoot free throws playing 50-60% of a game, it's absolutely going to complicate your spacing when you go up against sound defensive opponents. (I think it's played a big role in the struggles to get Pittman involved.) That said, I'm not blaming Barnes - Brown has been erratic and hasn't proved worthy of extended minutes yet. But he needs to for this team to be a true contender, imo. This team could really use Varez Ward right about now.
All Baylor or any team will get out of Wall will be one season. There's no real benefit in a one-year-and-gone guy. Look at K-State this year -- they haven't benefitted at all from Michael Beasley playing there for one year. I suspect Scott Drew believes that Clifton is the kind of guy that lots of young players would relate to (players that will stay three or four years). Drew has always been a smart and savvy recruiter, and knows what he needs to do to attract kids to his program. How do you think he rebuilt the Baylor program so quickly? Somehow he's able to attract great recruits that you wouldn't think would even consider Baylor.
Huh? Wall is currently playing for Kentucky, and is the best player on the soon to be #1 ranked team. If they get a championship, or even a Final Four appearance, there's plenty of benefit. They're a top ten ranked team right now, which I think is pretty good for a team based in Manhattan, KS and having to play second fiddle to the Jayhawks. If players saw Beasley succeed there, it will help them get more talent and continue to win games.
they have the talent, but i'm sure some team from the big east, sec, acc will beat them. right now, kansas = texas, but by the end of the year, kansas > texas. won't even be the best team in the conference.
10-21 from the line thus far tonight. I've really never seen a team struggle this much just to hit half of their free throws. Incredible, really.
Texas has to get something working in their half court set. Their free throw shooting hurts to watch and while I thought they good 3 point shooters, recently the only guy that can knock it down is James. That said, if Wagmane and Pittman would get quicker it would help. They are a 2-3 seed right now. :grin: I think Syracuse looks real good.
Free throws again... just unbelievable. All the while 57% and 47% shooters for Baylor calmly drill 5-of-6 down the stretch.
