Barnes & Texas “Playing Well at Right Time”

General Media NCS Basketball43

Two of my favorite college basketball coaches – Rick Barnes and Billie Gillispie – split in their regular season match-ups this year. You can surf this link to a few other historical entries which may be of interest to you.

Today, Barnes and the Texas Longhorns won the rubber match against the Aggies in the Big 12 Semi-Finals and will advance to tomorrow’s Big 12 Championship. The Longhorns will be making their 8th consecutive appearance (probably as a #1 seed) in this year’s NCAA Tournament appearance — an appearance for EACH of Rick Barnes’ seasons in Austin. (Which is amazing when you consider he walked into a scandal-ridden program that contained only 7 scholarship players due to problems under previous coach, Tom Penders).

The Longhorns are looking for a sweep of the titles after Barnes’ 2nd Regular Season Championship this year, and they are currently playing well enough to make it happen despite an injury to their star, Daniel Gibson. Ohhh, imagine a team and a group of leaders that don’t doesn’t make excuses about injuries to their (ever-changing) “best” players every single season. I turn your attention to this insightful entry about Barnes and the winning culture that he instills that was written LAST YEAR when UT was battling a rash of injuries.

Texas has been on fire as of late, having crushed their rival and Top 20 ranked Oklahoma 72-48 last week. (Could you imagine? I mean, how has Barnes been able to succeed after walking into the shadow of Kansas and Oklahoma and now having to battle Bobby Knight?)

Earlier in the week (before the Big 12 Tournament began) ESPN’s Steve Lavin said:

“Texas playing well at the right time of year. 8 out of 10 wins. Their tough non-conference schedule has led to a level of confidence. They had injuries early in some of those blowout losses. They are at full strength playing well at the right time.”

It is public knowledge that Barnes, a native of North Carolina and graduate of Lenior-Rhyne, has coveted the NC State coaching job in the past. Because of the current environment around the Wolfpack program and embattled coach Herb Sendek, it is only natural that Barnes’ name is on the front of many Wolfpackers minds on various internet message boards.

A few people question why Barnes would leave his $1.4MM a year position for any school…let alone NC State? I am going to refrain from jumping too deep into what I know to be true about that thought right now. If you choose to base any of your conclusions on your own uneducated presumptions about someone that you do not know and an industry that you do not know, then there is not much that many people can do to open your mind.

What I will do is share with you that Barnes has made no secret of his frustration of Texas’ fans apathy towards basketball from the outset of his tenure in Austin. Texas is a different world and if you haven’t ever left North Carolina or spent significant time in the Lone Star state then it is just going to be tough to grasp. But, I will give you illustration number 5,024 of what I am talking about —

About 90 minutes ago, The Big 12 Regular Season Champion, Texas Longhorn Basketball Team has just advanced to the Tournament Championship. I am writing this piece on an independent fan site for a school located 1,200 miles away and if you were to visit the UT Blog named Bevo Beat at the Austin American Statesman (similar to the News & Observer) RIGHT NOW, the lead story on the blog was posted yesterday and is titled, “How did Vince’s (Young’s) test score get out? Here’s one explanation.”

The entry before that (from Thursday)? How about,“Columnist rips on Vince; what do you think?”

In fact, the front page of the Blog doesn’t have a single entry related to basketball that isn’t in just press release form – like “PJ Tucker named POY”. Additionally, there are more football related entries currently on the blog (in the middle of MARCH) than there are basketball entries. Review the left side of the blog and you will see links to “other recent entries” which are as follows:

Ramonce Taylor to miss spring drills (Football)
Osterman picks up another honor (Womens’ Softball)
Jamaal Charles plans to sprint for track team (Track)
Texas secondary mixes it up this spring (Football)
Atchley, Williams make Big 12 academic team

In review….I think that I need to ask the idiot naysayers out there that don’t understand how WINNERS & COMPETITORS view the world the same thing that they ask …“why would a basketball coach want to come to NC State and have to compete in the nation’s top conference in an arena that sells out for every game (when fans are energized) against the likes of Roy and K?”

If you don’t already inherently know the answer, you still aren’t going to get it.

General Media NCS Basketball

43 Responses to Barnes & Texas “Playing Well at Right Time”

  1. william 03/12/2006 at 9:26 AM #

    Rick Barnes has not won big games. He has won some upsets and made it to the Final Four where Texas promptly realized that they did not belong and exited immediately. His teams are mysterious; great one game and awful the next.

    I think that Calipari is a far better coach and has far better credentials, having learned from Larry Brown. He also reminds one a little of Valvano, albeit he may be a better coach.

    If NCSU could get Calipari, Wake Forest would be in huge trouble. I don’t think that NCSU has anything to be ashamed of, and the idea that Rick Barnes would change anything is a joke. He already coached at Clemson and did little. Calipari, on the other hand, took UMass from nothing to the top and now has done it again at a program similar to, but inferior to NCSU in terms of history. He could truly shake things up.

  2. class of '74 03/12/2006 at 9:41 AM #

    Jeff’s comments about the academic structure are right on. We should hire coaches to coach their sport not to be academic advisors and study hall monitors. At some point the kid who accepts the grant in aid must take responsibility for his actions. If they don’t want to go to school that’s fine drop out and apply for the NBA draft. Life is all about choices and responsibility for those choices we make!

    My question to all of those misguided Valvano bashers is where were the admissions officers in the ’80’s? Or did V have control of their jobs as well? Anyone who knows anything about college admissions knows exceptions are allowed but with review by the staff in admissions office not to mention review by the NCAA. You can not get around these compliance issues no matter who the heck you are!

    Sqeeky clean Herb’s academic record is not much better than the record the fool’s quote about that horribly manipulative Coach V. The facts are Herb does not measure up on the court or the classroom and yet fool’s think he has us on the right path, the path to perpetual mediocrity!

  3. SaccoV 03/12/2006 at 10:27 AM #

    William, has Barnes not changed Texas into a Big 12 power? Did he not take Clemson to three consecutive NCAA tournaments? Calipari did make two Final fours and One National championship game, so his record is good. I don’t think however, that he will ever have the same sort of passion for beating Carolina and Duke that Barnes obviously has. Secondly, for a coach like Barnes, who has the ACC region in his blood, there’s no comparison as to who you want between he and Calipari. Thirdly, learning from Larry Brown is the absolute worst sell ever. Larry Brown ruined Kansas for Roy to clean up and ruined UCLA in his two years there, which is the main reason Larry Brown didn’t become coach at UNC after Smith or Guthridge were gone — UNC didn’t want to blemish their reputation with Brown’s checkered past. Lastly, who cares about Wake Forest? I don’t think that the point over our hire at head coach is to put Wake Forest in trouble. Maybe we should focus on hiring a coach THAT WANTS TO COACH HERE and I don’t think that NC State is one that John Calipari could give a crap about.

  4. william 03/12/2006 at 10:47 AM #

    Valvano was not from here and he seemed to enjoy beating Duke and State enough. Granted, doing anything at Clemson is tough, but Barnes did not get them back to the levels that that had been at in the mid-80’s, early 80’s, or during the Tree Rollins period, when they were fringe top ten teams. Barnes’ Clemson teams were not memorable and were not markedly better than NC State. So explain to me again how he is a step up?

    Texas basketball is like UNC football. UNC went 11-1 two years in a row in the late 1990’s and nobody cared. He has sumptuous recruiting effects in terms of budget and amenities and no pressure since no one down there really cares whether he wins or not.

    In terms of coaching ability, I seem to recall Barnes’ team playing Duke this year and one can only wonder how many points Texas would have lost by, without Barnes’ coaching genius there on the sidelines. Just think, if he is worth ten points to his team, Texas would have lost by 50.

    The Big 8 and 12 have won one NCAA title in the last 50 years, under Larry Brown.(Roy Williams won 19 games during his first year of the probation, which was relatively minor–remember Norm Sloan anybody?)

    The Big 12 conference tournament is not even on national television during the first two rounds. This is not a league that is even close to the Big East or ACC or SEC or Big Ten, or Pac Ten, all of which have numerous NCAA titles and champions among their member schools. Now that Roy Williams has left the conference, watch it slip further and further back, as the Texas Techs and Baylors slog it out with the Nebraskas and Kansas States and Colorados out in the plains while everyone out there is talking about spring football practice.

  5. site admin 03/12/2006 at 10:48 AM #

    So much of what you say is so flawed and so stupid that I think we should edit it just for our pledge to maintain accuracy.

  6. william 03/12/2006 at 10:59 AM #

    Edit away, but check the statistics first and you might learn something. I think that the statistics regarding the Big 12 are readily available and it is clear that no titles have been won save Brown’s in 1988. I think it is also clear that Barnes won no titles of any kind at Clemson. I think that a quick check will show that the Big 12 tournament was not, in fact, shown nationally during the first two rounds.

    So essentially, you are left with nothing more than your opinion about Barnes. Which is fine, but I could just as easily call that flawed and stupid. Such namecalling is inelegant and proves nothing. If you think that Barnes is good, back it up with facts. Going to 3 NCAA tournaments at Clemson doesn’t impress me. Sendek is about to go to 5 in a row.

  7. SaccoV 03/12/2006 at 11:16 AM #

    Jesus couldn’t convince this guy.

  8. william 03/12/2006 at 11:19 AM #

    Among the top 56 listed all time NCAA coaching records, Rick Barnes is 11-13 in 55th place. This puts him behind the previous Texas coach Tom Penders who is 12-10, and also behind Bobby Cremens, at 15-11. Valvano was an excellent 15-8. Lefty was 16-14. Admittedly, Herb is not on the list, but he has not coached as long.

    Among coaches primarily active since the NCAA went to 64 teams, the leaders are who you might think. Coach K, Izzo, Roy Williams, Rick Pitino and Tubby Smith.

    Coaches like Knight and Dean Smith, who went often, but under the old system whose byes and low team format eliminated easy first round wins for a large part of their careers, are further down the list.

    http://members.aol.com/dbwoerner/page/coaches/all_105.htm

  9. site admin 03/12/2006 at 11:27 AM #

    ^ Yet you have historically supported a coach with much worse records in the very stats that you criticize Barnes for and you don’t understand how stupid it sounds?

    Nor can you understand the difference between adjusting for the resources of the schools that you choose to compare?

    Because Barnes didn’t create a national power at Clemson he can’t at NC State? Classic. And it shows how low of an opinion that you have of NC State.

  10. Jeff 03/12/2006 at 11:40 AM #

    All of William’s posts about the “strength” of basketball in Big 12 & at Clemson would indicate to me that he understands the impact that commitment to resources can make and that he could understand the difference between resources and commitment to basketball at various places.

    But, he makes the exact point and then can’t figure out how to draw the right conclusion. It is classic HSSS, to say the least.

  11. william 03/12/2006 at 12:04 PM #

    How will Barnes have the same resources at State that he has at Texas? How do you think that he got Durant? Apparently, the basketball facilities down there are the best in the country, regardless of the fact that I agree with you, pretty much no one down there cares. Does State have better facilities than Texas? Texas has meager in state competition and will have even less when Knight retires in a couple of years.

    Maybe Barnes will put it all together this year and prove his critics wrong, but up to now, his tournament record leaves something to be desired and his teams’ penchant for rollercoaster rides from excellence to mediocrity is puzzling. Yes, they beat Villanova and Memphis and he is to be commended for that.

    Yet, they lost by 37 to Duke on a sort-of neutral court, and embarrassed themselves, CBS and the nation (that is 2 hours that I will never have back) and then lost by 17 at home to a good Tennessee team, perhaps comparable to UNC this year, but 17 points?

    The Sendek haters would be howling if Herb had such a result against UNC.(He did have such a result and howl they did). But Barnes gets a pass from you. Texas then lost by 21 to an average OK State team and by 10 to, an O.K. team, far below their teams of the past. Then came a loss to Texas A&M that was laughable in that they only scored 43 points and was exacerbated by PJ Tucker’s not knowing how much time was on the clock. Barnes apparently can’t get Tucker to go to class or pay attention in the huddle. Still, he gets a pass.

    Herb lost by 13 at UNC in a deceptive score and got eviscerated. Yes, the past month has been terrible for NCSU, but why does Barnes get a pass for these horrible results by Texas? When did he beat a team the caliber of UConn, like Herb did last year. Ask anyone who knows basketball and they will tell you that the UConn team last year was a monster and maybe the third best team overall after Carolina and Illinois.

    Barnes doesn’t have to compete with Coach K or Roy Williams down there. Gary Williams would be the top coach in the league if he were to move to the Big 12.

    Furthermore, I am not even sure that Barnes wants the job. He turned down the UVA job, a school without titles, but otherwise similarly situated in the basketball world to NC State, in terms of famous players and Final Four appearances, at least since the 1970’s, and which has a beautiful campus in the mountains and a very good academic reputation, perhaps even better than Duke’s.

  12. Jeff 03/12/2006 at 12:44 PM #

    ^It is amazing how not knowing anything doesn’t stop you from typing so much.

  13. Fred McCulloch 03/12/2006 at 4:13 PM #

    If you watch Barnes players at Texas, which I do since I live near Houston and I’m married to a Longhorn, you’ll note much more improvement in them than you see from HS players. The main thing RB would bring to Raleigh would be fire and a lack of fear with respect to K and Roy.

  14. dan 03/12/2006 at 4:14 PM #

    William brings up good points. I see no reason to call him names and insult him.

    I do think he ignores that Barnes is a better recruiter than Herb, and would schedule a more fan-friendly OOC schedule. Oh, and Barnes has that intangible “FIT” quality that Jeff likes.

    Otherwise, his points seem objective.

  15. dan 03/12/2006 at 4:55 PM #

    I should clarify.

    If we use the BJD95 scale (with Sendek at the “pretty good” level) I’d agree that Barnes is a step up (maybe “very good”?). However, I’d also agree there’s no evidence to suggest he’s an “Excellent.”

    If Sendek is not retained or leaves, It’d be nice if the admin to go after an “Excellent” coach. Personally, I’d love to see them open the vault and go after Calipari, but that’s just me.

  16. SaccoV 03/12/2006 at 7:26 PM #

    How can taking Clemson, a basement dweller, to multiple top-FIVE rankings and taking Texas, a perennially ranked team (usually from 15 to 25), to a consistent Top 10 team and make a Final Four not be perfect examples of what makes an “excellent” coach? Forget his work at Providence which was good, Barnes’ only drawback is that he’s moved in his career. If you put Roy and K at the top of the list (which most of us would), you cannot disregard their long tenures at big programs as part of their elite status. K’s 20-plus seasons at Duke and Roy’s 14 years at Kansas before the last three in Chapel Hill cemented both of them as elite coaches and refounded the wondeful success those programs previously enjoyed. Six years at Providence, four at Clemson, and now six at Texas are pretty good indicators of Barnes potential and his success.

  17. william 03/12/2006 at 8:31 PM #

    I honestly don’t think that the conference tournaments matter anymore, but some of you do. Memphis has done very well the last two years in its conference tournament under Calipari.

  18. Jeff 03/13/2006 at 7:07 PM #

    You’ll get no complaints from me about Calipari. I cherished him 10 years ago as my #1 when Todd Turner blew it. But, this entry was focused on Barnes.

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