quality really quality minutes he looks like my accountant but plays like a demon gave really good minutes on both ends of the floor How great will it be to know Ian can come in and give others a breather in March, knwoing Ian will be agressive and energetic Ian has given the Horns 3 hard years at practice. I am proud he got a schollie
I like his effort, but we're going to be in some serious trouble if he needs to pick up 14 minutes in a March game.
I am glad he was able to make a positive contribution, but I found Rick's substitution pattern in this game to be rather questionable.
One of the big gripes agaisnt Barnes this year has been the lack of production off the bench. Ian didn't contribute points but he sure held his own on D and he played his role well on O Getting people like Mooney quality minutes prepares him for 5 min in March. I wish Barnes had started earlier to get the bench on the floor BUT I trust him to know how to manage a team to get them to the tourney
I know they play different positions, but I am flabbergasted as to why Moody and Lewis get minutes and Pittman does not. (Disclaimer: I followed the game via updated boxscore. If Pittman did play and didn't score or commit a foul, I would not have known.) Anyway, I wonder why Pittman doesn't get at least 10 minutes a game -- if for no other reason than to lean on the opposing team's big man.
Pittman really puzzles me. He seems like the exact same player he was a year ago. As soon as he comes in the game, we hear "this guy lost over 70 lbs......now he just needs to get his conditioning up so he can give more than a couple of minutes at a time." His season averages are about 1 min per game more than last season and he scores about .3 ppg more. The learning curve with that guy just seems to have stalled.
Mooney looks like a 35 year old insurance salesman. I guess the reason he is getting playing time over the freshmen is because he doesn't make a lot of mistakes on both ends and gives great effort when he's on the court. Pittman looks like a long term project and may not make a significant contribution until he's a junior, or even a senior.
I wish Rick would quit mincing words and beating around the bush. It's always so hard trying to figure out what he's trying to say in his post-game interviews...
Mooney played incredibly well. He looks like he could be playing in a gym with sweat bands. He hustles like no other. No mistakes, solid D and assist man on offense.
Cool. I didn't get to watch the game but I'm envisioning Jim Carrey in The Cable Guy. OR even Hank Dudek.
Knoxvulle you have it exactly right. whereeve Mooney NEEDED to be he was there and harrrasing his player or harrassing a defender so the Horns got better shots. He also never looked winded even tho he played at an extremely high level. I am not saying he is a starter but he is a really damned good role player and one that will be needed as March approaches. Plus how cool is it to see a walk on that you know worked his butt off in practice for 3 years get court time Go Ian
One other thing that I noticed was that his picks were very well executed. When he would set a screen out on the wing for Augustin or Mason, he would pick the guy right off of them. You don't have to be 6'10 to set a quality screen. I really appreciate a player that knows how to set a pick and isn't afraid to stick his chin in there.
The problem with Mooney playing is that he takes minutes that should be going to the younger, inexperienced, taller, better athletes, who played when the team was playing much better than it is right now. There is only so much "lesson" to be learned by being planted to the bench before you potentially screw with the mind of a young player. If Mooney would be an asset in the B12, it's fine to play him, but I wouldn't agree with that assessment. Here's an example:
if y'all would promise to play Mooney 25 minutes each time you play Baylor, that would be swell, by-golly.
Another reason you saw less of Pittman was the matchup didn't favor him. TCU wasn't particularly big inside and the smaller, quicker Mooney was a better defensive alignment. As for Mooney's picks, I would agree. However, numerous of them were blatantly illegal. Even though fouls are rarely called on moving screens, etc., I was really surprised that he wasn't called for several fouls with his aggressive picks. I honestly think he got the benefit of the being the walk-on insurance salesman. If our starters set all the same picks, they probably pick up some fouls. That said, I would definitely trade a few fouls for consistent, good, and aggressive screens.
Based on Coach Barnes' comments, I think he used this game to use Mooney as an example to the younger guys as well as reward him for his hard work. I expect to probably see the same vs. St. Mary's on Saturday. I found it odd that he played the whole team but with injuries and maybe some lack of production from the bench, he tried to see what worked and TCU is not a powerhouse. Come conference play, the bench will tighten up and we will probably see what we've been seeing in previous games where Chapman, Pittman, or Wangamene are the first post guys off the bench. When Abrams is healthy, it'll be Mason the first guy off the bench and if the big guys do not improve, we'll probably have a 6-7 man rotation with the 7th guy being a few minutes from Chapman, Pittman, and Wangamene.
