Streaking toward mediocrity

The Good

 

 

 

Isaiah Taylor had 16 points.

 

Jonathan Holmes had 17 points.

 

Cameron Ridley had 12 points.

 

 

 

That about covers it.

 

 

 

 

 

The Bad

 

 

 

Myles Turner had 2 points and didn’t start the game. Connor Lammert had 4 personal fouls, 0 points, and did start the game. Both players had poor games but if Rick Barnes would have started Turner, it might have slowed Baylor at the beginning of the game.

 

 

 

The Ugly‘”

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[*]When Texas plays on the road, Texas never starts the game fast. And by “never”, I mean not ever. From the game’s start to the first media timeout, the Longhorns went 0-11 from the field. Baylor went 4-4, and raced to a 12-0 lead. It’s mind boggling…how can this team be so consistently bad at the beginning of a game?

 

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[*]The Longhorns whittled the Baylor lead down to 4 points in the first half – conventional thinking would be something along the lines of, “let’s take good shots and not let the game get out of control again.” ….so much for conventional strategy – Baylor went on an 11-3 run to end the half.

 

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[*]Baylor fans chanted “UT sucks” at the end of the game. Can’t say I disagree but they did show ugly “sportsmanship.”

 

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83-60 was the final score.

 

 

 

Eulogy

 

 

 

If you didn’t notice the subtle difference, I changed “Epilogue” to “Eulogy”. A eulogy is usually a speech of praises to someone who has died, but I’m not going to do that here. This eulogy is about unrealized potential being wasted.

 

 

 

Rick Barnes’ key attribute has been his recruiting. He does well in getting athletes to come to Texas to play basketball. However, when it comes to the actual season of playing basketball, those recruits typically fail to live up to their potential.

 

 

 

It appears that Barnes’ career is paralleling Mack Brown’s to some extent. Coach Brown started strong – 9 win seasons became 10 win seasons, then 11 win seasons, then NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP! After the championship, there were great seasons to follow and then BAM: 5-7. In following years, Texas football did better than 5-7 but never reached the level they once dominated. Eventually, Mack Brown “resigned” and left the program.

 

 

 

I can’t help but wonder – is there something in the water in Austin? What leads great coaches down a path that leads to mediocrity?

 

 

 

When coaches arrive at UT, they appear hungry to prove themselves. Once they do so, they seem to get complacent. When the mantle of being average settles, other teams take advantage of the lull, leaving Texas in an awkward position of whether or not to fire a coach who has been one of, if not the, winningest coaches UT has ever had in their sport.

 

Texas athletics stands at the pinnacle of college sports. Once a coach gets hired at Texas, it’s a signal to the sports community that this coach is “good.” If that coach shows he deserved the job, he is set for life. With Texas’ deep pockets, coaches get comfortable, and that appears to be where Texas is at with Rick Barnes.

 

 

 

The question is, will someone stop the cycle?