The ticket crew are just trying to rile people up, threads like this push them more. Barnes has done more in his 13 years at Texas then all the other coaches Texas has ever had combined. Yesterday was a devastating defeat but lets not lose thast perspective.
It's hard to find fault with the statement: "He gets less out of more talent than anyone in the country."
There is no question that Barnes has raised the Texas BB program to a level it has not achieved in the past. Consistent appearances in the March Tourney are very nice. I read the research Mr. Pringles posted that showed the records of coaches in the Big Dance. Unfortunately, Rick's record is poor in March. We have come to expect him to win because he recruits so well. His teams are loaded with talent because he is such a fine recruiter. He is also a fine defensive coach. He is only average in March. I think he is a classy guy, and represents the program well. I do get frustrated when we lose games to less talented teams. Like last year to Wake and this year to Zona. I don't blame the refs, though they blew the five second call. We also blew it by calling time out with a lead and only 15 seconds left. Barnes just made the wrong decision. Yes, thats hindsight. But its also conventional BB strategy to let the other team come to you, burn clock, and then have to foul. Let hamilton shoot two shots. He'll likely make at least one. And then let Zona drive the court and make a shot, if they can.
We got a crap draw. We beat a CC team, lost to one on a crap call, and would have played our 3rd in a row if we had have won. How many 4 seeds had to go through that? This team lost 3 pretty decent players and starts unranked, and Barnes turned them into a team. Give the man some credit. We start a point guard that can't hit a 10 foot shot and our other point is a true frosh. We played an awesome half against KU, but the drubbings of A&M were what they were. We beat an average team badly. This was a pretty good team, and if you take a step back I think you'll realize if anything over achieved. Barnes got JH to buy into playing tough D and rebounding. He got Brown to take the ball hard to the hole and draw fouls instead of just jacking up off balance shots. He's never going to be a great offensive coach. Even at half when we scored in the 20s, all he talked about was our D breakdowns and turnovers. But I'd say this was one of Barnes best years as far as coaching goes. A one point loss on a crap call to a 5 seed doesn't change that.
Don't forget how long the possession was prior to the timeout. Arizona had the ball for a long time with multiple offensive rebounds, if I remember correctly. If Barnes told his guys to call a timeout, it probably was under the assumption that there would be much more than 12 seconds left on the game clock. Also, I think the "D team" of Hamilton, Thompson, Johnson, Balbay and Joseph was on the floor. How many of those guys would you want shooting two critical free throws? No way you want anyone but Hamilton....and he is a turnover waiting to happen if he gets trapped. I think it was the right call, even if it bucks conventional "never stop the clock" wisdom. Anyone who blames Barnes for all of this team's failures is forgetting our weaknesses. Our starting PG probably didn't make 4 jump shots his entire career. Combine that with a starting 2 guard (Joseph) who is a reluctant shooter, has a shaky handle under pressure, and rarely does anything with the ball in his hands. I honestly think that pair of starting guards may have been easier to defend than any other pair in the tournament.... I love J'Covan when he's on, but he shot around 20% in almost half of our B12 games. He never earned any more leash than Barnes gave him. Jai Lucas looked like an 8th grader trying to get minutes with the varsity team.......we had some talent this season, but we also had some serious deficiencies in our back court. Was it realistic for us to be expecting much more out of this squad? Should we be commending Barnes for turning that team into a pretty solid group that was as good as anyone when Hamilton or Brown was in a zone? I think Hamilton's brilliance during the meat of the B12 covered up some serious weaknesses from our guards. Its unrealistic to think that could last all season.
It was rumored (was it ever confirmed?) that Mack had Toomey come to Austin on a contract basis (or maybe he even did it free lance) to consult on the program. There is one Robert Montgomery Knight that is still around and has been pretty free with his advice on TV regarding Texas' offensive play this year ("...looks like Texas is only using 1/2 of the court... ", "...when you shoot free throws, you need to have one foot at the line, the other a bit back...", etc.). Bring BK in on a short-term contract, have him advise Rick's assistant coach on what he sees and what to do differently. If Barnes has any ego problem, I'd think that the use of his friend who is the winningest coach in college BB history (for right now) wouldn't look like wimping out.
That's an interesting proposition. For years Phil Jackson had Tex Winter (the triangle offense guy; he was born in 1922) sitting by his side. Barnes could use an older guy who knows his stuff but no longer wants to be the head guy (The Mavs used Del Harris in a similar fashion). It's that technically savvy guy with the calm voice in the huddle. I'm not sure that describes Knight though because I think Knight is too vain to be in a supporting role.
