Jump to content

Who was the Best Horns Defensive Player Since 2000?

LTtxfan

By LTtxfan
in Basketball

 Share

Recommended Posts

LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49144

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Royal Ivey......  always played tough Defense

From Barking Carnival:

Several years ago on Longhorn Sportsline, Craig Way described a recent game where Royal Ivey had come up big—I forget the circumstances—and Way pitched the idea that it was nice to see Ivey become such a contributor because he wasn’t the most talented guy Barnes had on the team. Barnes cut him off with this:

"Playing hard is a talent."

Ivey provides the best case study. Roy, despite being barely recruited to play big school basketball, still holds down an NBA roster spot: firmly entrenched as the fourth point guard option on the Sixers' depth chart.

What Barnes means by playing hard, historically, has been almost fanatical effort on defense and the boards, discipline with the basketball, the courage and temperament required to play through rough moments and total commitment to Todd Wright’s conditioning regimen.

All good…except this season one suspects that playing hard by the Barnes definition is not just a talent, but the only talent that matters. Oh, if these kids could only be Royal Ivey. Of course, Ivey represents an outlier of a couple of standard deviations with regard to achievement drive.

Edited by LTtxfan
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

Posted
Posted (edited)

Also Cam Ridley was averaging 3.5 blocks per game when got hurt his senior year. He was top 3 or 4 in the nation at the time. If he had stayed healthy I imagine he would have contended for all sorts of awards, both conference and national- I'm thinking first team all conference, first team all defense, possibly the conference DPOY, and even as high as third team All American. He was the only player in America averaging a double double and 3+ blocks per game when he broke his foot. Such a shame, for both him and that team. Everything he did has already been forgotten because of that injury. 

Edited by Goo Punch
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

Posted
Posted
39 minutes ago, Revolution512 said:

I’d take Bradley at the guard spot

Meh. He was very hyped up coming to Texas but he never really lived up to the billing. He's become a much better defender in the pros than he was in college. I'd take Balbay, Ivey, Fredie, and Holland > Bradley as collegiate defenders.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ztejas

ztejas 43411

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Goo Punch said:

Royal Ivey

Fredie Williams

Doj Balbay

Demarcus Holland

Daniel Gibson- underrated 

PJ Tucker 

Mo Bamba

Prince Ibeh

AB not even on your list lol. You're trippin man. He didn't live up to the hype but a lot of that was because he wasn't a great scorer. 

In a technical sense he was definitely the best defensive player Texas has had since then. I guess his body of work wasn't as high but he was as advertised on that side of the ball.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

Posted
Posted (edited)

for me Doj and Ivey were >>>>>> Bradley at Texas. He never stood out to me any more than Holland or Fredie did. Also, and this is just one of those personal preference things, but the other guys I listed, Demarcus and Fredie in particular, had that "i can't wait to gird their best player with the game on the line" type attitude. They would show up in big games and just make life hell on someone for 35 minutes and enjoy doing it. Bradley was good, but not as good, and imo he didn't have the same attitude that the other guys did.

Oh, and Doj was just unreal btw. Big guys, small guys, scorers, distributors, slashers, whatever you got- from Kalin Lucas to James Anderson to LaceDarius Dunn, Doj locked guys down. Unreal athlete, technically proficient, and just had a sense for how to defend. He had some of the fiercest blocks i've ever seen from a guard. If his name had been Aaron Craft ESPN would have slurped him incessantly.

 

Edited by Goo Punch
Link to comment
Share on other sites
ztejas

ztejas 43411

Posted
Posted

I won't question you even though I think you're underrating Bradley a bit. I think you know about as much about UT ball as anyone here.

I agree Dogus was a fierce defender. I remember when he started dunking in games it would get the EC so hyped. Back when the fam had season tickets.

Also always loved the Turkish flag guys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
justhookit

justhookit 4191

Posted
Posted
6 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Where do BJ Tyler and TJ Ford fit in this discussion??I

Trying to remember other forwards that played good defense.....

 

You mean other than they don’t? And weren’t forwards? Burdett was one though.

Tyler is my vintage, we were coming out the tunnel after losing in the semifinal to Wichita Falls. PAL was hyping up and it was well.... something we didn’t see much in San Antonio. 

Ill defer to Derka because he will probably know, but there was another player on that Lincoln team that was really good. Wanna say he was a big guy. Also the year before at an all star game in I think Phoenix? Benford fucking Williams crossed over a guy on the break and then spread his legs and jumped over a dude for the dunk. It was sort of then I realized I would not be playing for Penders.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
justhookit

justhookit 4191

Posted
Posted (edited)

Well this has brought back a lot of memories and I think it was actually Burditt, Albert 

San Antonio has never seen anything like it. Shaq was there at the time but he wasn’t a can’t miss prospect by any means. If I recall correctly UT flirted with him but he was always LSU and Dale Brown bound since middle school. ‘Bo” Charles Outlaw and Ski Jones made the league. Calvin Thomas who I think played for Wichita State was actually the best of all of them. David Shivers played for SMU and Matt Collins at Tech. I’m leaving out a bunch especially the guys at east central that scored in the high twenties which was unheard of at the time. Hell my 4A team went 6foot, 6’2, 6’3, 6’7, 6’7 and we all got college scholarship offers. I didn’t accept, one went JUCO, one played D3, one went to UMiami and one Marquette.

Everyone I listed was within 1 year of each other in age.

Edited by justhookit
Link to comment
Share on other sites
LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49144

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

Great stuff on the thread.... Awesome Memories!!

If pre 2000 I enjoyed watching Blanks play defense.... dude was quick.  Also Johnny Moore both in Gregory Gym and on the NIT Championship Team that played in FEC.  

Sidenote:  One of the most freakish players I ever saw play at Gregory Gym was Robert Parish from Centenary...... Crowd was Lit🔥🔥🔥

Edited by LTtxfan
Link to comment
Share on other sites
realgreggym

realgreggym 835

Posted
Posted
15 hours ago, LTtxfan said:

Great stuff on the thread.... Awesome Memories!!

If pre 2000 I enjoyed watching Blanks play defense.... dude was quick.  Also Johnny Moore both in Gregory Gym and on the NIT Championship Team that played in FEC.  

Sidenote:  One of the most freakish players I ever saw play at Gregory Gym was Robert Parish from Centenary...... Crowd was Lit🔥🔥🔥

It was a lot safer being in the crowd.😀

Link to comment
Share on other sites
realgreggym

realgreggym 835

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, longhornmatt said:

Balbay, Fredie Williams and Bradley were ridiculous on the perimeter as far as on-ball pressure goes.  They’d get up in their man’s grill and just hound him up and down the whole court.  

We’ve had a bunch of big guys who could block shots, with Bamba being the most freakish as a rim protector.  Tristan Thompson might have been the most well rounded on defense, at the college level anyway, because he was more mobile than guys like Mihm, Ridley and Ibeh and way more physically developed in college than Aldridge, Bamba and the other one and done big guys we’ve had. 

Agree but what sets Balbay apart in my opinion is that all those that you listed were great defensively but what I think that Balbay did better than anyone is that he would crush them mentally and he took many guards out of their game.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

Posted
Posted (edited)

We had two PG's who were perfectly complementary- JB was a volume shooting, risk taking, flashy PG who could score 30 but played no D and made poor decisions; he was also less athletic than Ron Baxter. Doj was a defensive wizard, an unreal athlete, a great but risk averse passer, and he could not score or shoot to save his life. If you combined the two you'd have the best PG in the nation. They were still pretty fun to watch though. 

We'll always have to wonder how things would have gone bad Doj not gotten injured. In all seriousness Rick Barnes may very well still be here if not for that injury- it was that drastic. That's probably the most impactful UT basketball injury this side of Mike Wacker, but it never gets talked about because the conclusion to that season was so horrendous that most people don't even remember that it happened. 

Edited by Goo Punch
Link to comment
Share on other sites
realgreggym

realgreggym 835

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

We had two PG's who were perfectly complementary- JB was a volume shooting, risk taking, flashy PG who could score 30 but played no D and made poor decisions; he was also less athletic than Ron Baxter. Doj was a defensive wizard, an unreal athlete, a great but risk averse passer, and he could not score or shoot to save his life. If you combined the two you'd have the best PG in the nation. They were still pretty fun to watch though. 

We'll always have to wonder how things would have gone bad Doj not gotten injured. In all seriousness Rick Barnes may very well still be here if not for that injury- it was that drastic. That's probably the most impactful UT basketball injury this side of Mike Wacker, but it never gets talked about because the conclusion to that season was so horrendous that most people don't even remember that it happened. 

How old were you when Ron Baxter played or are you just throwing out names to make posters think you know what you are talking about. 

  • Haha 1
  • Fuck You 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

How old were you when Ron Baxter played or are you just throwing out names to make posters think you know what you are talking about. 

you'd think that a loud and proud UT letterman such as yourself would appreciate a young person who himself knows and appreciates Longhorn basketball history. shame. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
realgreggym

realgreggym 835

Posted
Posted
7 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

you'd think that a loud and proud UT letterman such as yourself would appreciate a young person who himself knows and appreciates Longhorn basketball history. shame. 

 

You took a cheap shot at Ron and being a proud letterman who knew Ron well, I am calling you out on your comment. Throwing out a name means nothing. Again, how old were you when Ron played.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49144

Posted
  • Author
Posted
25 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

How old were you when Ron Baxter played or are you just throwing out names to make posters think you know what you are talking about. 

A buddy of mine didn't care much about basketball but loved Ron Baxter because he was so pudgy and such an aggressive physical player.  At one game we attended, RB ran over a guy and still made the basket.....

After the play, RB looked down at the defender on the ground and then just smiled and walked away.  The dude he ran over had to leave the game for awhile.

I can still hear that collision in my mind.... DAMN!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

Posted
Posted
50 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

 

You took a cheap shot at Ron and being a proud letterman who knew Ron well, I am calling you out on your comment. Throwing out a name means nothing. Again, how old were you when Ron played.

took a cheap shot? get out of here. as if you even need a reason to reply to me with your typical retarded shit talk, as if you don't reply to everything I say like this. Ron Baxter wasn't a great athlete; J'Covan Brown wasn't good at defense; Doj Balbay wasn't good at shooting; and you don't have to have watched someone play in person to know about them. For example I've never met you and I know that you're a bitter old cunt who nobody likes. See?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
realgreggym

realgreggym 835

Posted
Posted
7 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

took a cheap shot? get out of here. as if you even need a reason to reply to me with your typical retarded shit talk, as if you don't reply to everything I say like this. Ron Baxter wasn't a great athlete; J'Covan Brown wasn't good at defense; Doj Balbay wasn't good at shooting; and you don't have to have watched someone play in person to know about them. For example I've never met you and I know that you're a bitter old cunt who nobody likes. See?

You calling anyone's post retarded is laughable.  I don't respond to all of your nonsense because thats what most of your posts are but when you take a cheap shot at a former player especially considering that according to you, you couldn't get into Texas and wouldn't be allowed anywhere near a real bball court, you are the last fan that should be commenting on anyone else's abilities. If I remember correctly, Ron was the LA player of the year and the reason you won't answer my question is because you weren't alive when Ron played and you never say him play a live game. Even you should know that watching someone live is far better than watching a video assuming that you even did that.

You can call me any name you want but that doesn't change the fact that you are nothing more than a bad fan and doesn't know nearly as much as he thinks. Stick to posting pictures.

  • Haha 1
  • Fuck You 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
hobbes2702

hobbes2702 13029

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, realgreggym said:

You calling anyone's post retarded is laughable.  I don't respond to all of your nonsense because thats what most of your posts are but when you take a cheap shot at a former player especially considering that according to you, you couldn't get into Texas and wouldn't be allowed anywhere near a real bball court, you are the last fan that should be commenting on anyone else's abilities. If I remember correctly, Ron was the LA player of the year and the reason you won't answer my question is because you weren't alive when Ron played and you never say him play a live game. Even you should know that watching someone live is far better than watching a video assuming that you even did that.

You can call me any name you want but that doesn't change the fact that you are nothing more than a bad fan and doesn't know nearly as much as he thinks. Stick to posting pictures.

Dude get the fuck over it. It’s a thread about Texas basketball players. It wasn’t a cheap shot. Stop derailing the thread because you’re mad that Derka compared someone to a player that played before he was alive. Who fucking cares

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

Posted
Posted

dude i made a post about three UT players, and I was honest about each's strengths and weaknesses. nobody took a cheap shot at anybody, you just flip out every time you see me post. i mean literally said, "j'covan was less athletic than ron baxter". that's it. you'd think that an octogenarian such as yourself would have learned not to sweat the small things, but i guess not. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Dbeasy

Dbeasy 15042

Posted
Posted
When derka takes cheap shots at players, former players or posters, I will  call him on it. Go the the sam thread and see the crap that he pulled over there and how many posters pounded him because of his crap.

Dude he didn’t take a cheap shot and you are way over-reacting. Quit starting shit with him all the time.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
VolenteHawk

VolenteHawk 495

Posted
Posted
On 2/16/2019 at 8:36 PM, longhornmatt said:

Balbay, Fredie Williams and Bradley were ridiculous on the perimeter as far as on-ball pressure goes.  They’d get up in their man’s grill and just hound him up and down the whole court.  

We’ve had a bunch of big guys who could block shots, with Bamba being the most freakish as a rim protector.  Tristan Thompson might have been the most well rounded on defense, at the college level anyway, because he was more mobile than guys like Mihm, Ridley and Ibeh and way more physically developed in college than Aldridge, Bamba and the other one and done big guys we’ve had. 

Tristan Thompson is a guy that physically could have been a poor man’s Anthony Davis, but never really put it all together until after college.

*being a poor man’s Anthony Davis is neither insult or cheap shot

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
hobbes2702

hobbes2702 13029

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, VolenteHawk said:

Tristan Thompson is a guy that physically could have been a poor man’s Anthony Davis, but never really put it all together until after college.

*being a poor man’s Anthony Davis is neither insult or cheap shot

 

TTs problem is that he never learned to dribble, or shoot, or pass.

Elite athlete, bad basketball player.*

*Not an insult or cheap shot

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...