I stand corrected. Really didn't think Barnes would make this switch right away. Hopefully it will work out.
I'm looking forward to seeing what they can do with a new alignment. I heard Barnes say about a month ago that they were having James and Johnson defend against guards, so you can't say that they haven't been preparing for this...
I would like to think our 2-3 just became a lot tougher, with Johnson's athleticism it will be a solid back line of Johnson - Atchley - James. When Mason comes in to spell the guards, it'll add height to the top of the zone, which is much needed.
It doesn't matter that this is Johnson's first game. We could no longer afford going ridiculously small with Augustin, Abrams, and Mason. Johnson's presence makes us better defensively by default. Mason is totally lost on the offensive side.
Great idea. The only other thing I'd maybe rather see is AJ on the bench (with Mason starting) but still getting 28-32 minutes a game, but making the other team respond. Really probably just 6 of 1 and 1/2 dozen of another. Looking forward to having a 6.5 or 7 man deep team instead of 5.5.
There was a time when I thought Mason starting and Abrams coming off the bench would be a good idea. That time has passed for me. AJ is a better player on offense this year and Mason ... is not. Johnson and James can both defend the wing, so I think we have enough defense without Mason. I am a big fan of the new lineup. The only problem is that James and Johnson might kill each other going for rebounds.
Amazing call by Barnes...thank you God. If we had football coaches like this we would be in the BCS easily.
Texas will need some quality minutes from Mason. Hopefully he bounces back from his current slump. It will be geat to see Johnson get some action too.
I wanted him to come off the bench for his 1st game for a stupid reason: I would love to hear the crowd cheer when he checked in the game.
My guess is Mason's game is going to improve, and this will make our bench better and deeper. Go Horns! Hook'em!!!
It makes sense to give us more of a "standard" line-up from a size stand point and also, I think Mason backs up DJ at PG at this point so the 3 guards can rotate in being more fresh. Hopefully JD can step his game in to give a few minutes too. Even though Mason hadn't contributed that much scoring wise, he was doing all the intangibles, playing tough D, rebounding, etc... to contribute to the team.
Happy to hear, I think this will help alot, especially during B12 play inside..I think being so small was one of the problems late in the 2nd half against WI.
I really like this idea. I love Mason and I think he will spark things coming off the bench. I'm expecting 6th Man of the Year type stuff for the kid.
