Posted March 2nd, 2006 by Brian
Filed under: Basketball
The Longhorns fell to Texas A&M last night in Aggieland. It was an absolutely brutal basketball game to watch. Both teams played absolutely terrible and put on a clinic on how to play sloppy offense. Turnovers galore and Coach Billy Gillespie’s annoyingly effective defensive strategy turned this one into a snoozer. When you have lesser talent, it’s an incredibly smart strategy to play tough, physical defense to hold the score down and hope to be close enough to make a late run at the end of games.
The game came down to the final minutes and Texas made one more mistake than they could afford. After a timeout with 15 seconds to go in the game and 10 seconds left on the shot clock, Rick Barnes called an isolation play to give P.J. Tucker a chance to make a play and Tucker apparently lost track of time remaining. He dribbled out the shot clock and didn’t get off a shot. Then with less than 4 seconds to go, UT guard Daniel Gibson gave the Aggie’s Acie Law got off a clean 3 pointer that he drained for the win.
Definitely a disappointing performance coming off the big win over Kansas, but not the end of the world for the basketball team. They already probably weren’t getting a #1 seed for the NCAA Tournament and still should be at worst a #3 unless they lose to Oklahoma this weekend and lose early in the Big 12 Tourney. The team definitely has to play more consistently if they plan on making any kind of run in March.
Note to Aggie fans: You’re not supposed to rush the court when you a beat a team you claim is your rival. And with your non-conference schedule you’re probably still not making it into the NCAA Tournament.
reply to #1
Matt
March 2nd, 2006 at 10:13 pm
As dumb as a play as PJ made running out the shot clock, I somehow feel a lot of the blame should be put on Barnes. They should have fully made him aware that there was only 10 second left on the shot clock. But either way, it was still pretty frustrating…
reply to #2
Brian
March 2nd, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Rick Barnes didn’t tell me anything and I knew there was only 10 seconds left. And my only organized basketball experience is the 7th grade C-team, I think PJ should be held responsible for being more aware of the situation at this stage.
reply to #3
dog
March 4th, 2006 at 3:56 pm
My my someone’s bitter.
reply to #4
Aggie
March 6th, 2006 at 7:18 pm
Classy summation of the game. That’s why we think so much of you guys in Austin….
reply to #5
Brian
March 6th, 2006 at 8:24 pm
Other than the cheapshot mocking your massive celebration, exactly what part wasn’t classy? It’s an accurate description of Billy Gillespie’s very smart strategy that’s helping him win a lot more games than he should with the talent he’s got right now.
reply to #6
Agfan09
March 8th, 2006 at 2:22 am
We didnt storm the court because we beat the rival, we stormed the court because for the past two years we have upset the Longhorns who have been ranked way higher than us. So just shut the hell up and let the Aggies enjoy the win. The lone star showdown is gonna get even more competitive so u Horns need to watch out and stop talking all that mess. If I do recall correctly, u almost lost the game to the Aggies for thinking we werent gonna bring it……
reply to #7
steak=bevo
March 21st, 2006 at 9:54 am
Guess A&M didn’t make the tourney, per your biased prediction. If you guys turned around a program like they have in no time at all, you would rush the floor too. Go Pumpkins!
reply to #8
mal
March 21st, 2006 at 9:16 pm
so much for not making it to the NCAA tournament. enjoy your bitterness, and at least be proud that texas was represented by two really talented teams and celebrate that the two teams also made it further than the other representatives from the Big XII.