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dogbreath

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Posts posted by dogbreath

  1. A. C'est la vie.

    B. The first clause in your second point has no relevance.  Whether I am a clown or not, doesn't change the arguments put forth.  Your second clause in your second point is highly debatable.  Is Shaka killing the program?  I think not considering that he has a full roster with quality experience.  Killing a program is when players rebel against their coach and don't play hard for him.  In the three years of Shaka, I've seen the players play hard.

    C. your third point is a mischaracterization of what I said.

    D. Bitch fests are fine if they are entertaining. 

    E. That was a penalty and Sweden got screwed.

     

  2. Febres and Coleman make all big12 academic team.  And let me add that this is good news and promising for next year's team before Derka shits all over this  by explaining how disappointing the incoming freshman will be and that Osetkowski's progress in the offseason is actually a bad thing and all Shaka's fault.

    It's promising for the future because players in the program can get better and we have good character guys who do well in school and with Coleman in particular will be counted upon to be a leader on and off the court. 

    Poking the dyspeptic bear is not always a smart move but what the hell, I'm indistinctly indistinguishable.  Just kidding Derka, although I did wish you have your own forum, so I could zip past the boring bitch fests that you seem to get involved in.

     

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  3. 5 hours ago, Mileslong said:

    i almost put it tier 2 but i personally don't care much for crime dramas, they are all the same.  i love Narcos because it involves the highest level of criminal and the hunt by the DEA.  the Wire is crime at the lowest level, crack dealers on the street and regular cops trying to bust them basically.  that has never interested me.  i watched season 1 and quit.  i can see why people who like that genre like it however, its well done.

    Fuck the genre. 

    Got to. It's America, man.

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  4. If I were to limit it to five from youngest to older then it would be...

    Animated: My Neighbor Totoro, Jungle Book, Balto, Lion King and Spirited Away.

    Non-animated: Mary Poppins, Wizard of Oz, Blazing Saddles, The Gods Must Be Crazy and Prisoner of Azkaban

    TV series: Arthur, The Muppet Show, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Monty Python and Freaks and Geeks.

    Documentaries: March of the Penguins, Planet Earth, Spellbound, Hoop Dreams and Blackfish.

     

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  5. 13 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

    The top two freshmen from the last several years and their pertinent stats:

     

    2018- 

    Mo Bamba- 12.9 pts, 10.5 reb, 3.7 blk  (1 yr)

    Jericho Sims- 5.0 pts, 3.9 reb, 0.5 blk (back)

     

    2017:

    Jarrett Allen- 13.4 pts, 8.4 reb, 1.5 blk (1 year)

    Andrew Jones- 11.4 pts, 3.9 reb, 3.5 ast (only 10 games in soph year)

     

    2016: 

    Kerwin Roach- 7.5 pts, 2.5 reb (back and was improved player in junior year)

    Eric Davis- 7.4 pts, 2.4 reb, .382 3P% (gone - never matched effectiveness as a freshman)

     

    2015: 

    Myles Turner- 10.1 pts, 6.5 reb (1 year)

    Jordan Barnett- 1.9 pts, 1.3 reb (never played real minutes under Barnes or Smart)

     

    2014:

    Isaiah Taylor- 12.7 pts, 4.0 ast, 1.1 stl (filled a huge hole because Felix wasn't very good as a pg)

    Martez Walker- 4.7 pts, .353 3P% (gone after a year)

    There are some pretty clear indicators in there, no? Let's look at every player who scored in double digits- Bamba, Allen, Jones, Turner- all HS All Americans; Taylor- played 30+ mpg, leading the team. Then you have Roach and Davis who we all know made the All Newcomer team both putting in 7+ points and a few boards- that type of performance garnered them postseason award status, which illustrates how seldom you have freshmen who are outside of the national top 20 coming in and performing well on a consistent basis- 7.5 ppg and a couple threes or a few boards is a nice output from an 18 year-old kid who doesn't have "stud" written all over him. Expecting more is, again, setting yourself up for disappointment.

     

    I don't understand why your top two freshman for 2018 includes Sims and not Coleman with 10.2 pts, 4.1 assists and second on team in steals.    

    The fact that Coleman will be back as a major contributor at the most important position in college basketball speaks very well for Texas.  In fact I would argue that in Barnes/Smart era quality point guard or lack of determines success of team.

    Ford years (02, 03): S16, FF.  POY that controlled the game.

    Ivey (04): S16. Senior leader of balanced team.

    Gibson (05): first round loss.  Struggled at pg.

    Gibson/Paulino (06): EE.  Should have been a FF team.   

    Augustin (07, 08): 2rl, EE.  Barnes made him into a closer in soph year.

    Balbay (09): 2rl.  Teams learned to play off of him due to poor outside shooting.

    Balbay/Brown (10): frl.  Just a craptastic season going from #1 to uninspired play at the end.

    Joseph (11): 2rl.  Really good team that wore out in the end.

    Kabongo (12): frl.  All shake but no sizzle.

    Felix (13): cbi.  Overmatched.  

    Taylor years  (14, 15, 16): 2rl, frl, frl.  Teams learned to play off him being a poor shooter, but he was effective even if teams underachieved.

    Roach/Jones (17): nada.  Jones should have been designated as pg.

    Coleman (18): frl.  Key player and leader on team.  The cog for next year's success.  

     

    As to your argument on the limited influence of freshman, I believe this year's team foundation is better than it has been since Smart's first year.  Look at the effectiveness of Davis and Roach in their freshman year as role players.  When Roach has not had to play pg he has been an effective player.  Davis never could match his first year.  The freshman will have that same opportunity to fit into roles.

    And I think this situation is better than Smart's first year because 1) he has been here for 3 years;  2) he has recruited these players) and 3) he has better overall guard talent than three years ago.  What it comes down to is that I trust that Coleman will be better and be a leader next year.  I don't know if the team will finish higher in conference or get past first round, but I believe they will play and look better.   

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  6. The one reason to be excited about Texas next year is quality guard depth.  Coleman, Roach, Long, Ramey and Febres.  Another reason is senior leadership.  I would argue that none of Smart's teams at Texas have had any.  His first year was a transition year and while he had seniors and quality guard depth, there was no way that everyone was on the same page. 

    Frankly, I am glad to see Davis and Young go.  Young wanted to be a feature player and he wasn't good enough and Davis after three years continually made poor decisions on team defense, couldn't handle the ball effectively and wavered in his ability to hit shots.

    As others have argued on post depth, it would have been good to still have Banks and I think Smart should have played him more in his soph year, but not sure it would have made a difference in his decision to leave.

    The freshman have a chance to integrate themselves into the team without having to be primary players and I think that will help them be more effective later in the season.

    As far as Big 12 - KU by a long shot.  KSU and WV next tier and we will see after that.  There have been plenty of JC players who have been studs (Mitch Richmond) or effective players (Pierre Jackson) and plenty who have not. 

     

     

     

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  7. Supposition: Smart wants to coach in the NBA.  He models his coaching after Billy Donovan and uses the read and react offense, while spending most of his time emphasizing defense.  

    Who was good at playing the read and react offense on Texas in the last 3 years?  There was a lot of reacting, but not much reading.  Senior PG Taylor qualifies.  Senior PG Felix.

    Who can do it next year?  Coleman, Long, Ramey.  Coleman because he will be better than he was last year.  Long because he is experienced.  Ramey because he thinks he can and has bb IQ. 

    Who has shown more reacting than reading?  Osetkowski and Roach.  Roach showed an ability to create for himself. Osetkowski needs to defer except on mismatches.

    Who knows?  Liddell and Hepa. 

    What are the strengths/weaknesses of the freshman?  Who among them will be contributors next year?  

     

    The 17-18 team were in a lot of ball games last year where they either pissed away the lead or got beat in the last five minutes.  Will that improve with a better, stronger and more rested Coleman?  When it's 2 minutes left and the team needs to score, who does the play go through? Is it Coleman or Ramey or is it Osetkowski or Roach (if he comes back)?

     

     

     

     

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  8. 16 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

    Matt Coleman looks like a guy who is primed to become a leader, But to say that he is already there is premature. I love the way he is constantly talking to his guys on the floor, I love his visible competitive desire, and I do expect him to become a real floor leader this year. But it hasn’t happened yet. We all thought that EDJ was primed to be a team leader heading into his sophomore year and we see how that turned out. To just take for granted that Coleman will be a leader this year is, again, premature. 

    I don't recall a story about EDJ going straight to the gym at 3 am to work on his weaknesses.  You may be right that it is premature, but there is a fight for the soul of every team and I'm betting on Coleman. 

    Calling DO a leader is just completely fucking stupid. He’s soft, not to mention he somehow seemed to be gaining weight as the season progressed, while his game seemed to get worse and worse over time. He’s a volume shooting PF who can’t shoot, and he’s a high post passer with a negative AST/TO ratio. He looked great against Duke, but he didn’t do a damn thing to lead the team after that. I’m of the opinion that DO surely *has* to be much improved this season, if only due to his senior status and the fact that the league will be down, not to mention that he was just plain bad last year. But to call him a leader? That’s ridiculous.

    It's not stupid, if DO is giving instructions in huddles during time outs.  This happened in several late game situations. Smart looks like he wants his guys to ascend to leadership positions, but we need DO to be more than weak-ass forward on a broke ass team.  I agree that I'd prefer to have him lead by example. 

    Finally, notice that I said that I expect Coleman to be a “floor leader” next year. A senior team leader doesn’t just lead on the floor, he leads by example 24/7, from his diet, to his workouts, to his study habits, to demanding that the rest of his team follow his lead and work as hard as he does. I’m not looking for Roach to go win us every game, I’m looking for some VY, “Anybody who wants to beat Kansas meet me at Cooley at 6 am” shit.

    Based on Coleman's history, I'd assert that he is more likely to do this.  I haven't heard anything about Roach doing anything like this, but that would be awesome if he did. 

    Leading is realizing that you can’t have your last year of college ball being jeopardized by younger teammates who aren’t all the way bought in. THAT is what I want to see from Roach, and you should too camel, considering your inexplicable man crush on a coach who’s been a total disappointment and who needs his team to have a great year if he wants to keep his job for much longer.

    Agree with general premise, and  one can argue that Roach and Davis bought in more freshman year due to senior leaders.  Soph year they fell off the cliff and while EDJ stayed in the lower tier of the cliff, Roach made a steady climb back up.   So, in your opinion you believe that the incoming freshman are in danger of not buying in?  They all look like ballers to me.  They may not have initial success, but they look to have the qualities of being solid players down the road. 

     

  9. 22 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

    The thing about Roach thinking so hard and taking this much time is his: he needs to be our leader next year, period. He’s become a fine college guard who still has a bunch of upside, and if he does have a jump shot next year then he could make the All-Conference team and make himself a draft pick in the process. The better he shoots, the higher he goes.

    So, he thinks he’s good enough to be a pro, but he’s finding out that not a lot pro personnel agree with him. If you believe you’re good enough to be a pro but you end up returning for your senior season then prove it by leading the team. It’s that simple. You can be a team’s best player and a pro prospect without being a leader. I want Roach to take the reins and lead, particularly since I’m still not super high on the team’s prospects. We need that from him. Besides, it won’t just help the team out, it’ll improve his draft stock as well. 

    If our argument for having him return is to be a pg in the making then fuck that, we are screwed.  Coleman is the leader of next years team and I want him to seize the leader role from Osetkowski.  I don't want Roach back if he thinks he has to show the NBA that he can be a pg.  If Roach comes back, then he fills a role of d and shooter.  He needs to lead by example.  He doesn't need to create for anyone except himself.  Ramey, Coleman and Long will be the creators on this team.  If Roach  succeeds in the pros, it will be because he bootstraps his way there.  If he's matured, knows his limitations and works his ass off then that will take him further on his quest than some bs leadership skills. 

  10. Quote

    Plus, Vlade and Peja (Assistant GM) are huge in that area of Eastern Europe. I would be very surprised if they haven't known Doncic for years already. I doubt Doncic would have a problem with Sacramento.

    Do Slovenians and Serbians get along?  I guess so from a brief review of google

  11. Smart needs to model his coaching attitude on this guy.

     

    Quote

    Ainge picks the players, but Stevens is the arbiter of playing time. The (deserved) fawning over his stoic demeanor and play-calling genius has obscured another fundamental truth: Stevens is something of an old-school hard-ass. "If guys aren't doing their jobs," Horford said, "they just won't play."

    In Boston's seventh game of the season, Shane Larkin failed to pursue a loose ball along the left sideline:

     

     

    Stevens removed Larkin at the next stoppage. He didn't play again until garbage time. "I learned right away," Larkin said. "If you don't get a 50-50 ball, you are coming out."

    Stevens didn't upbraid Larkin. He approached him calmly and told Larkin why he had been taken out. In evaluating players, both during games and in film sessions, Stevens is careful with language, according to coaches, players and team higher-ups. He focuses on actions: We didn't get this rebound. You should have made this rotation earlier. The criticism is never about the player's character. No one is labeled lazy or stupid or selfish. Stevens simply describes what did or did not happen, and what should happen next time.

    That has gone a long way in securing buy-in, players say. They feel Stevens is with them, even as he holds them -- and himself -- to almost impossible standards. That is a hard balance to strike. It is not a show, either.

     

  12. Good info, HE.  If Osetkowski is part of 2016 class, then Long should be part of 2017 class.  

    I think Derka is right that Shaka's history is five or six guys play a lot of minutes and it appears that he plays guys he trusts.  I think his options for trusting ball handlers goes up with Coleman, Ramey and Long.  Advantage from last year is that Coleman doesn't have to play as much and hopefully he will learn not to commit stupid fouls.  If Roach comes back, he will get a lot of minutes.  I think Liddell gets decent minutes due to being a sf. More minutes if he shows he can defend.  Sims minutes depend on his foul trouble so I expect Hayes to get some decent minutes.  And Hepa will get minutes as backup but also when Shaka goes small and Osetkowski moves to center.  What I hope is that all freshman show that they deserve minutes and force Shaka to play a big rotation.  I would be very surprised if Cunningham becomes a part of the rotation.

     

  13. Quote

    The reason why the rotation was 7 deep had more to do with Shaka's poor team building than Jones getting cancer, and the fact his entire 1st recruiting class is likely gone 2 years after they signed.

    Smart has had his issues, but I would take these choices everyday when not using hindsight.

    First year recruits:  Mack, Roach and Davis.  The only sophomore transferred at midseason and the only junior was a transfer. It would be more appropriate to say Barnes mismanaged the roster. Davis never progressed after his freshman season.  Is that on him or the coaches?  Mack had problems.  Sometimes it doesn't work out, but you take the chance.

    Second year recruits:  Allen, Jones, Young, Banks, Isom (gtr) and Osetkowski (tr).  I'll take the quality of Allen and Jones every year.  Young and Banks are gone after two years.  If the replacements are Ramey and either Roach/Cremo/grad transfer then that's a win.  Isom was hurt most of the year--shit happens.  Osetkowski - a frustrating but decent player in his junior year.  The roster had one senior who was a transfer and no juniors.  Again how is that on Smart?

    Third year recruits:  Bamba, Coleman, Sims, Febres, Hamm, Long (tr).  Not sure what to say here, all look to be quality with Hamm and Febres needing to improve.  Lose Bamba, but take that quality every year.

    Fourth year recruits:  Ramey, Hepa, Liddell, Hayes,  Cunningham.  May still get a gtr/tr if Roach stays in draft.  And hopefully Jones comes back.  Giving Texas a roster of

    PG: Coleman, Ramey, Long

    SG: Roach/Cremo/unknown, Ramey, Long, Febres

    SF: Liddell, Febres, Roach/Cremo, Cunningham

    PF: Ostekowski, Hepa, Hamm

    C: Sims, Hayes

    I would guess that there would be a 9 man rotation without Roach/Cremo/gtr and possibly Jones: Coleman, Ramey, Long, Liddell, Febres, Osetkowski, Hepa, Simms and Hayes. 

    None of the above suggests to me poor team building by Smart.  There may have been some poor team management in individual games, but not team building.  And again to BWG's point, I have not seen Texas players quit, no matter how poorly the team has played

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  14. The advantage of Ramey is that there is another ball handler and that makes three with Coleman and Long.  Add another one with Roach or even better, Cremo and we are ensured of having at least two in the game at all times.  With this many ball handlers you don't need Osetkowski to be a creator on the perimeter.  I think Shaka and he felt he had to create once Jones was gone. The problem was that his range extended to having a toe on the line. If he can do some work and extend his range by 6 inches on catch and shoots, then he can be effective as a pick and pop guy.  And other times he should by posting.  Does anyone know if Ramey and Long make good entry passes? 

    Febres now has incentive to work if he wants to be a part of the lineup. Any word on who they will hire as an asst?

     

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