By Steve Habel/Senior Editor
The 24 hours that passed after the Texas men’s basketball team lost to Butler Thursday in the NCAA tournament’s round of 64 has brought about a whirlwind of emotions, declarations and demands from fans and media members alike that understand that these Longhorns did not meet the expectations that were set for them in the preseason.
If it was possible to set Twitter afire, Texas fans did so in their damnation of the way the Longhorns underachieved this season.
Yes, Texas – with the [s2If current_user_can(access_s2member_level2)]talent brought to Austin by coach Rick Barnes and his staff – should have been better, should have won more games and should have been able to go deep in the NCAAs. About that there is little debate, especially from the players and coaches themselves.
But does the disappointment of unrealized expectations warrant the removal of Barnes from his job and a total upheaval of the program he steered back to prevalence and prominence over the past 17 years?
Many learned media feel it’s time to take the Longhorns away from Barnes and his staff but you won’t hear that coming from me.
For some unexplained reason, Barnes never got the best out of the 2014-15 edition of the Longhorns. Was it personality conflicts, injuries, stubborn attitudes (from both the coaches and the players) or something so simple as the fact that Texas never really showed the confidence on the court and ability to shoot the ball that the team needed to get over the hump and win those games they didn’t.
A look at the stats from the year shows that the Longhorns were better than their opponents in every category save from 3-point shooting percentage and steals.
This team set an all-time record for blocked shots with 265 in 34 games (previous mark was 206 blocks in 2013-14). Texas should finish the year leading the nation in blocks per game (7.79 blocks per game).
The Longhorns posted a double-digit rebound advantage in 17 of its 34 games this year and limited 22 of their 34 opponents to under 40 percent field goal shooting (they had a 17-5 record in those games).
But Texas also lost six games by five points or less. Winning those games could have given the Longhorns a higher seed in the Big Dance and translated into an easier path in the NCAAs.
Barnes has been great for the Longhorns and players understand that it’s up to them to bring the things the coach and his staff gives them to the court every game.
My stance on Barnes’ situation is this: he deserves to leave the 40 Acres on his own terms; it’s up to him to decide if he can no longer reach the players he’s brought to Austin.
Some of the readers of this column will say I’m being too easy on Barnes. Know this: I am believer in coaches – I respect what they do and will (nearly) always come down on their side until it’s proven to me that they have to leave for the program to be better.
It hurt to watch Texas play the way it did for most of the season and to see them lose so early in the NCAAs – we are all feeling it. But none of us are hurting more than Barnes and his players.
Wouldn’t it be sweet to see a return to the top in 2015-16, when the Horns should be even better than they were expected to be this year? Here’s predicting that Barnes gets his chance to make one more stab at the national title next year.
Just sayin, ya know?
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