Monday, January 31
Kansas 90 Texas 65
The Horns got pounded on Saturday night, 90-65 by a very good Kansas team. Kansas was better at all aspects of the game. They out shot us, they out hustled us, they protected the basketball better, and were the much better team for the full forty minutes. This game was over quickly, more quickly than I expected and much more quickly than it should have been. But Kansas played as well as they are capable of and we looked confused from the early minutes on. (The Jayhawks looked like a legitimate Final Four team. They are now in first place alone in the Big 12 and their schedule will likely lead to another conference title. They travel to OU and Tech but get Ok State at home and don’t play Texas again.) KU played as tough man to man defense as I have seen from any college team this year. We weren't turning the ball over, Kansas was forcing turnovers. Mike Williams and Buckman continually lost control of the ball down low and seniors Miles and Langford owned Gibson in the first half. We could never recover.
It's time to regroup, ideally reload, and look forward. Texas doesn't play again until Saturday when a mediocre, Iowa St team visits Austin. A week off could not come at a better time. Gibson and Taylor need to work on taking care of the basketball. Paulino and Harris need to get healthy. Buckman and Klotz need to find and fine tune their low post games. And maybe most importantly for this team's March success, Williams and Dowell need to find their offensive games. Williams was a McDonald's All American last year in Alabama. Athleticism can take you far in high school basketball, but there have to be some raw offensive moves there somewhere. Dowell, although not McDonald's material, was no slacker either. We can not play seven deep come March. He must develop on both ends of the floor and harness his athleticism into basketball talent.
It doesn't look like we are reloading anytime soon. The rumors in Austin are Aldridge is out with a serious hip injury that will sideline him until the fall. I have heard nothing official to confirm that, but we also aren't hearing that he could be back in one week, two weeks, a month, etc.
So we have to look forward and play with the pieces we have. The next five games, Iowa St, at Colorado, Kansas St, the Ags and at Baylor are all winnable. We must get offensive production from more than one big man and Gibson and must continue to play our 2-3 zone with periodic man to man pressure. If we can do those things and play tough while staying out of foul trouble, we should be able to get through the next three weeks okay.
--AW--
************************************************************************************************************************
Andrew has done a nice job summarizing this weekend’s mismatch, so I’ll take this space to share my personal experience of the game. First of all, if any of you are thinking about coming up to Washington, D.C., you really ought to. I had the pleasure of watching the game with Wells Person and his wife, err… girlfriend, at their gorgeous home in Northeast D.C. Both he and I have lots of extra room in our homes, so if you guys are looking for an excuse to visit Washington, you definitely have a place to stay. (He also makes some ridiculously good stuffed mushrooms. I don’t even like mushrooms and I inhaled his.)
My girlfriend and I got over to Wells’ in time for the 7:30 Georgetown-Boston College game. We were hoping for the double upset whammy – Georgetown hands BC its first loss of the year and then the Horns devour Kansas on the road. We were sorely disappointed.
Georgetown scored four points in the first minute and a half, then didn’t score another point for ten minutes. BC never managed to blow out Georgetown, but the outcome was never really in doubt. Jeff Green, Georgetown’s super freshman, who I’ve touted on this blog, looked lost and was absolutely manhandled by BC’s Craig Smith.
The Georgetown debacle ended just in time for the Texas game, which was interesting for about five minutes, at which point it became painfully obvious that we were grossly overmatched. Nevermind the fact that Kansas looked extraordinarily sharp. Texas looked like a JV squad, turning the ball over, allowing Kansas to get to the rim at will, and struggling to get quality shots on offense.
I entered Saturday night hoping to see both of my teams play brilliantly against higher ranked teams. Both of my teams had their core weaknesses exposed, while the better teams capitalized on those weaknesses and played like conference champions. If not for the great food, company, and libation, it would have been a lousy Saturday night. As it was, things turned out quite well. Thanks, Wells.
--PB--
It's time to regroup, ideally reload, and look forward. Texas doesn't play again until Saturday when a mediocre, Iowa St team visits Austin. A week off could not come at a better time. Gibson and Taylor need to work on taking care of the basketball. Paulino and Harris need to get healthy. Buckman and Klotz need to find and fine tune their low post games. And maybe most importantly for this team's March success, Williams and Dowell need to find their offensive games. Williams was a McDonald's All American last year in Alabama. Athleticism can take you far in high school basketball, but there have to be some raw offensive moves there somewhere. Dowell, although not McDonald's material, was no slacker either. We can not play seven deep come March. He must develop on both ends of the floor and harness his athleticism into basketball talent.
It doesn't look like we are reloading anytime soon. The rumors in Austin are Aldridge is out with a serious hip injury that will sideline him until the fall. I have heard nothing official to confirm that, but we also aren't hearing that he could be back in one week, two weeks, a month, etc.
So we have to look forward and play with the pieces we have. The next five games, Iowa St, at Colorado, Kansas St, the Ags and at Baylor are all winnable. We must get offensive production from more than one big man and Gibson and must continue to play our 2-3 zone with periodic man to man pressure. If we can do those things and play tough while staying out of foul trouble, we should be able to get through the next three weeks okay.
--AW--
************************************************************************************************************************
Andrew has done a nice job summarizing this weekend’s mismatch, so I’ll take this space to share my personal experience of the game. First of all, if any of you are thinking about coming up to Washington, D.C., you really ought to. I had the pleasure of watching the game with Wells Person and his wife, err… girlfriend, at their gorgeous home in Northeast D.C. Both he and I have lots of extra room in our homes, so if you guys are looking for an excuse to visit Washington, you definitely have a place to stay. (He also makes some ridiculously good stuffed mushrooms. I don’t even like mushrooms and I inhaled his.)
My girlfriend and I got over to Wells’ in time for the 7:30 Georgetown-Boston College game. We were hoping for the double upset whammy – Georgetown hands BC its first loss of the year and then the Horns devour Kansas on the road. We were sorely disappointed.
Georgetown scored four points in the first minute and a half, then didn’t score another point for ten minutes. BC never managed to blow out Georgetown, but the outcome was never really in doubt. Jeff Green, Georgetown’s super freshman, who I’ve touted on this blog, looked lost and was absolutely manhandled by BC’s Craig Smith.
The Georgetown debacle ended just in time for the Texas game, which was interesting for about five minutes, at which point it became painfully obvious that we were grossly overmatched. Nevermind the fact that Kansas looked extraordinarily sharp. Texas looked like a JV squad, turning the ball over, allowing Kansas to get to the rim at will, and struggling to get quality shots on offense.
I entered Saturday night hoping to see both of my teams play brilliantly against higher ranked teams. Both of my teams had their core weaknesses exposed, while the better teams capitalized on those weaknesses and played like conference champions. If not for the great food, company, and libation, it would have been a lousy Saturday night. As it was, things turned out quite well. Thanks, Wells.
--PB--
