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Fire Shaka Smart

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zork

zork 629

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https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/how-jamie-dixon-to-ucla-died-and-what-the-bruins-will-do-next-in-their-coaching-search/

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...

Where does UCLA turn now? Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin seems the most logical -- and most discussed -- candidate. Cronin has won big at Cincy, and while his lack of NCAA Tournament success may be a sticking point -- he's never made an Elite Eight and only once made a Sweet 16 -- he's highly regarded as a strategist. He's done more with less, and theoretically, he could do a whole lot more with more talent at a program like UCLA.

 

Saint Mary's coach Randy Bennett, Texas coach Shaka Smart, and former Suns coach Earl Watson -- likely the most high-profile UCLA alumnus on the market -- have all been rumored as potential fallback options.

...

 

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Red Five
Red Five

That is tough to accomplish in four years, but I wouldn't put it past Shaka.

immamac
immamac
Camelback80
Camelback80

Shaka should definitely get at least one more year. Many of his recruits will finally be upperclassmen by then, and he'll have his best shot of any year he's been here. Fans need to realize 2 maj

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Fozzz

Fozzz 152

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9 hours ago, texasstrong12 said:

Bennett is the perfect example of why tournament results, without context, shouldn't drive coaching decisions. Virginia has finished in the Kenpom top 10 five out of the last six years and the other year they finished 12th. 

If you consistently produce really good teams you will eventually breakthrough in the tournament. 

 

 

But if you refer to Kenpom as the arbiter of team quality then you have to admit that Texas was actually pretty good this year, which you aren't allowed to do.  

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Herpa Derpa

Herpa Derpa 6132

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1 hour ago, longhornmatt said:

Virginia (a) was much higher in KenPom those years than any Shaka team has been  at Texas, and (b) won ACC titles and had 30 win seasons those years rather than finishing 16-16 with a sub .500 conference record.

But otherwise, Shaka and Bennett have been on the same trajectory.

Yeah, but Bennett has still never beaten a higher seed.

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Burt Macklin

Burt Macklin 19053

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5 hours ago, ATLLonghorn said:

UCLA wouldn't pay Jamie Dixon's buyout so why would they pay the buyout for a worse coach? 

Hopefully CDC has gone to Shaka and said if they come calling take the deal and we'll lower the buyout but I'm not holding my breath. 

lol. the buyout for a new team getting Shaka is not the same as UT’s buyout for firing Shaka.

Also, the implausible part of this is UCLA wanting him. If UCLA called CDC being interested in Shaka, CDC would give them the discount of a lifetime. I’m not sure how that’s even a question.

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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1 hour ago, 4th&Five said:

Heard Beard on Rome yesterday say that they didn’t get beat, they just ran out of time. Do not want. 

Yeah fuck that guy for having confidence in his teams abilities. I'm astounded at some of the comments I hear in this thread. Just who is suitable to coach at UT ?  John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, coach K, or Dean Smith maybe?

 

I don't know that I agree with his comment ( a lot of teams "ran out of time" against UVA this season) but I wouldn't be passing g on him for that.  I'd be more concerned with his W-L record and how he got there.

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4th&Five

4th&Five 41606

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3 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Yeah fuck that guy for having confidence in his teams abilities. I'm astounded at some of the comments I hear in this thread. Just who is suitable to coach at UT ?  John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, coach K, or Dean Smith maybe?

 

I don't know that I agree with his comment ( a lot of teams "ran out of time" against UVA this season) but I wouldn't be passing g on him for that.  I'd be more concerned with his W-L record and how he got there.

oh my god wtf GIF

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ChickenSandwich

ChickenSandwich 9856

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19 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

Yeah fuck that guy for having confidence in his teams abilities. I'm astounded at some of the comments I hear in this thread. Just who is suitable to coach at UT ?  John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, coach K, or Dean Smith maybe?

 

I don't know that I agree with his comment ( a lot of teams "ran out of time" against UVA this season) but I wouldn't be passing g on him for that.  I'd be more concerned with his W-L record and how he got there.

He’s wrong. They didn’t run out of time. They provided Virginia extra time. 

Donf know anyone who thought they would be winning that OT. 

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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Everyone here knows by now that maybe my least favorite thing about Shaka's personality is that he's been here for four years and he's never once said anything particularly honest, or enlightening, or important about his team or players, at least not publicly. He's very guarded when it comes to speaking about his program, and what I think has gotten lost in my ire for this practice is my coinciding belief that this is a practice that's done by losing and underperforming coaches. It isn't just annoying, it's a trait that many underachievers in the coaching industry share, and any Longhorn fan need look no further than Mack Brown for another great example of this type of attitude coinciding with an underachieving program.

Well tonight I had ESPN on in the background and I heard a great 30 second clip of Nuggets coach Mike Malone publicly speaking about his team, and it was a great example of the type of attitude that i'm looking for from our next coach:

 That's legit. That's a coach who treats his players like men and expects the most out of them. Here's a list of some other coaches who have been known to speak in a similar manner about their team and players: obviously Coach Barnes (an overachieving regular season coach and an underachieving postseason coach I'll grant that), but beyond him I'll name John Calipari, Nick Saban, Bill Parcells, Tom Izzo, Bobby Knight, and Pat Summit, just to name a few. All extremely successful if not iconic coaches, and all of them sharing the trait of being frank, and honest, and open with their expectations, and then in turn expecting their players to be mentally tough enough to handle it, because operating that way is how these people became great at what they do in the first place. You want to win big you gotta put your big boy pants on and earn it. Period.

Let's talk some more about Mack Brown- Mack had more talent come through Texas during his time here than all but one or two other programs in the country, and yet he didn't even lead the best program in his own conference during that time, and in fact was actually owned by arch rival OU for a long period during that stretch. Why- because his Papa Bear routine bled down into his program and made his players soft, whether they realized it or not. He coddled them, he tried to protect them, things were given to them and not earned, and he ran a program that did not resemble a professional environment, and we suffered for it. The man won two conference titles in 18 seasons and he needed 7 straight years of transcendent QB play just to pull that off. For as much success as he had his teams routinely underachieved and were known for being soft, and it started at the top. 

Does that sound familiar at all to any Texas basketball fans out there? Our guys try hard, and so did Mack's players, but when push comes to shove other teams have alpha players who can take over a game, and mentally strong role players who don't fold in crunch time. Meanwhile not a single player Shaka has ever recruited to Texas has become an alpha player who we can rely on (not one), and our team is known for folding down the stretch and/or in close games. This is not mere coincidence.

Our KenPom ranking (#27 or #28 iirc at the end of the regular season) combined with our 16-16 record is damning empirical evidence that we underachieved more than any team in America this year when it comes to winning games. But that's what you get when you have a coach who "protects" his players from the harsh but fair reality that comes with being a major D-1 athlete. Under Shaka you get the fame, and the money, and the tattoos, and the groupies, and the pussy, and the bottle service, and the instagram followers, and the TV time, and the free Nike/KD swag, and all that good shit, but then we don't demand that you actually earn all of that by being held accountable for your performance as a member of the team, day after day, decision after decision, both in the classroom and on the court. Nope. That part we leave out.

How has that worked out for us? From all of the good players who've transferred out, to all of the players who've been suspended and/or in trouble, usually multiple times, to players being kicked off the team, to us having a squad that can beat UNC or Purdue and then lose to Providence, and Georgia, and UTA, to our guys routinely looking lost during crunch time of close games- it all comes back to a mental fragility that starts with Shaka Smart. 

A whole bunch of great coaches are assholes; the majority of the list i have earlier are assholes, but they're also all winners. There's a level of mental toughness that required to get where they've been, and we do not have it. Now I'm not saying that I want Gregg Marshall, because I don't- but I am saying that as long as I live, I never want to see Texas here another Mack Brown/Charlie Strong/Shaka Smart Papa Bear type coach ever again, in any sport. It's a virtual guarantee for underachieving. God damn it i'm so pissed that this fool is returning as our coach.  Rant over.

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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Posted (edited)

Barnes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Brown. Like, not even close. Two conference titles in 18 years and was owned by OU and perpetually underachieved vs 3 titles in fewer years and was KU's stiffest competition while perpetually overachieving (regular season-wise anyway). also Barnes is the greatest coach in program history by a mile while Mack is at best no.2 in his sport. Also Barnes is funny and more likable. 

Edited by Goo Punch
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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49378

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5 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Everyone here knows by now that maybe my least favorite thing about Shaka's personality is that he's been here for four years and he's never once said anything particularly honest, or enlightening, or important about his team or players, at least not publicly. He's very guarded when it comes to speaking about his program, and what I think has gotten lost in my ire for this practice is my coinciding belief that this is a practice that's done by losing and underperforming coaches. It isn't just annoying, it's a trait that many underachievers in the coaching industry share, and any Longhorn fan need look no further than Mack Brown for another great example of this type of attitude coinciding with an underachieving program.

Well tonight I had ESPN on in the background and I heard a great 30 second clip of Nuggets coach Mike Malone publicly speaking about his team, and it was a great example of the type of attitude that i'm looking for from our next coach:

 That's legit. That's a coach who treats his players like men and expects the most out of them. Here's a list of some other coaches who have been known to speak in a similar manner about their team and players: obviously Coach Barnes (an overachieving regular season coach and an underachieving postseason coach I'll grant that), but beyond him I'll name John Calipari, Nick Saban, Bill Parcells, Tom Izzo, Bobby Knight, and Pat Summit, just to name a few. All extremely successful if not iconic coaches, and all of them sharing the trait of being frank, and honest, and open with their expectations, and then in turn expecting their players to be mentally tough enough to handle it, because operating that way is how these people became great at what they do in the first place. You want to win big you gotta put your big boy pants on and earn it. Period.

Let's talk some more about Mack Brown- Mack had more talent come through Texas during his time here than all but one or two other programs in the country, and yet he didn't even lead the best program in his own conference during that time, and in fact was actually owned by arch rival OU for a long period during that stretch. Why- because his Papa Bear routine bled down into his program and made his players soft, whether they realized it or not. He coddled them, he tried to protect them, things were given to them and not earned, and he ran a program that did not resemble a professional environment, and we suffered for it. The man won two conference titles in 18 seasons and he needed 7 straight years of transcendent QB play just to pull that off. For as much success as he had his teams routinely underachieved and were known for being soft, and it started at the top. 

Does that sound familiar at all to any Texas basketball fans out there? Our guys try hard, and so did Mack's players, but when push comes to shove other teams have alpha players who can take over a game, and mentally strong role players who don't fold in crunch time. Meanwhile not a single player Shaka has ever recruited to Texas has become an alpha player who we can rely on (not one), and our team is known for folding down the stretch and/or in close games. This is not mere coincidence.

Our KenPom ranking (#27 or #28 iirc at the end of the regular season) combined with our 16-16 record is damning empirical evidence that we underachieved more than any team in America this year when it comes to winning games. But that's what you get when you have a coach who "protects" his players from the harsh but fair reality that comes with being a major D-1 athlete. Under Shaka you get the fame, and the money, and the tattoos, and the groupies, and the pussy, and the bottle service, and the instagram followers, and the TV time, and the free Nike/KD swag, and all that good shit, but then we don't demand that you actually earn all of that by being held accountable for your performance as a member of the team, day after day, decision after decision, both in the classroom and on the court. Nope. That part we leave out.

How has that worked out for us? From all of the good players who've transferred out, to all of the players who've been suspended and/or in trouble, usually multiple times, to players being kicked off the team, to us having a squad that can beat UNC or Purdue and then lose to Providence, and Georgia, and UTA, to our guys routinely looking lost during crunch time of close games- it all comes back to a mental fragility that starts with Shaka Smart. 

A whole bunch of great coaches are assholes; the majority of the list i have earlier are assholes, but they're also all winners. There's a level of mental toughness that required to get where they've been, and we do not have it. Now I'm not saying that I want Gregg Marshall, because I don't- but I am saying that as long as I live, I never want to see Texas here another Mack Brown/Charlie Strong/Shaka Smart Papa Bear type coach ever again, in any sport. It's a virtual guarantee for underachieving. God damn it i'm so pissed that this fool is returning as our coach.  Rant over.

Accurate.  Rant too long to make your point though.

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LTtxfan

LTtxfan 49378

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4 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

Barnes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Brown. Like, not even close. Two conference titles in 18 years and was owned by OU and perpetually underachieved vs 3 titles in fewer years and was KU's stiffest competition while perpetually overachieving (regular season-wise anyway). also Barnes is the greatest coach in program history by a mile while Mack is at best no.2 in his sport. Also Barnes is funny and more likable. 

 

Derka's love for Barnes is never ending....

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HookEm

HookEm 2468

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Mack won a MNC, coached one of the best teams of all time, played for another title (that we should have won), had 9 straight 10 win seasons, was 10-5 in bowl games, had 7 top 10 finishes, etc. Mack's resume is so much better than Barnes it isn't even funny.

Barnes has coached a who's who of NBA players and has a single Final Four to show for it.... and a lot of losses to lower seeds. Say what you want about Mack, but he generally beat the teams he was supposed to beat (see his 9-2 bowl record from 2001-2013).

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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3 minutes ago, Eskimohorn said:

You can make the argument that comparing Barnes to Mack Brown is apples to oranges given we are a football blue blood. Will not entertain the notion that Rick Barnes had more success than Mack Brown.

what Barnes did in/for basketball > what Mack did in/for football. Texas was already a blue blood when smack showed up and he underachieved. Texas was behind the likes of K State in basketball pedigree before Barnes and is now one of the best jobs in the country due to his success. Rick is *by far* the best coach in basketball, our #3 sport, while Mack is again at best #2 and a definite underachiever who got owned by his biggest rival during the time when his program's talent level was at its highest. 

mom nit saying that a Final Four appearance trumps winning a national title in football, but comparatively speaking and when accounting for context, it's not close. 

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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7 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Everyone here knows by now that maybe my least favorite thing about Shaka's personality is that he's been here for four years and he's never once said anything particularly honest, or enlightening, or important about his team or players, at least not publicly. He's very guarded when it comes to speaking about his program, and what I think has gotten lost in my ire for this practice is my coinciding belief that this is a practice that's done by losing and underperforming coaches. It isn't just annoying, it's a trait that many underachievers in the coaching industry share, and any Longhorn fan need look no further than Mack Brown for another great example of this type of attitude coinciding with an underachieving program.

Well tonight I had ESPN on in the background and I heard a great 30 second clip of Nuggets coach Mike Malone publicly speaking about his team, and it was a great example of the type of attitude that i'm looking for from our next coach:

 That's legit. That's a coach who treats his players like men and expects the most out of them. Here's a list of some other coaches who have been known to speak in a similar manner about their team and players: obviously Coach Barnes (an overachieving regular season coach and an underachieving postseason coach I'll grant that), but beyond him I'll name John Calipari, Nick Saban, Bill Parcells, Tom Izzo, Bobby Knight, and Pat Summit, just to name a few. All extremely successful if not iconic coaches, and all of them sharing the trait of being frank, and honest, and open with their expectations, and then in turn expecting their players to be mentally tough enough to handle it, because operating that way is how these people became great at what they do in the first place. You want to win big you gotta put your big boy pants on and earn it. Period.

Let's talk some more about Mack Brown- Mack had more talent come through Texas during his time here than all but one or two other programs in the country, and yet he didn't even lead the best program in his own conference during that time, and in fact was actually owned by arch rival OU for a long period during that stretch. Why- because his Papa Bear routine bled down into his program and made his players soft, whether they realized it or not. He coddled them, he tried to protect them, things were given to them and not earned, and he ran a program that did not resemble a professional environment, and we suffered for it. The man won two conference titles in 18 seasons and he needed 7 straight years of transcendent QB play just to pull that off. For as much success as he had his teams routinely underachieved and were known for being soft, and it started at the top. 

Does that sound familiar at all to any Texas basketball fans out there? Our guys try hard, and so did Mack's players, but when push comes to shove other teams have alpha players who can take over a game, and mentally strong role players who don't fold in crunch time. Meanwhile not a single player Shaka has ever recruited to Texas has become an alpha player who we can rely on (not one), and our team is known for folding down the stretch and/or in close games. This is not mere coincidence.

Our KenPom ranking (#27 or #28 iirc at the end of the regular season) combined with our 16-16 record is damning empirical evidence that we underachieved more than any team in America this year when it comes to winning games. But that's what you get when you have a coach who "protects" his players from the harsh but fair reality that comes with being a major D-1 athlete. Under Shaka you get the fame, and the money, and the tattoos, and the groupies, and the pussy, and the bottle service, and the instagram followers, and the TV time, and the free Nike/KD swag, and all that good shit, but then we don't demand that you actually earn all of that by being held accountable for your performance as a member of the team, day after day, decision after decision, both in the classroom and on the court. Nope. That part we leave out.

How has that worked out for us? From all of the good players who've transferred out, to all of the players who've been suspended and/or in trouble, usually multiple times, to players being kicked off the team, to us having a squad that can beat UNC or Purdue and then lose to Providence, and Georgia, and UTA, to our guys routinely looking lost during crunch time of close games- it all comes back to a mental fragility that starts with Shaka Smart. 

A whole bunch of great coaches are assholes; the majority of the list i have earlier are assholes, but they're also all winners. There's a level of mental toughness that required to get where they've been, and we do not have it. Now I'm not saying that I want Gregg Marshall, because I don't- but I am saying that as long as I live, I never want to see Texas here another Mack Brown/Charlie Strong/Shaka Smart Papa Bear type coach ever again, in any sport. It's a virtual guarantee for underachieving. God damn it i'm so pissed that this fool is returning as our coach.  Rant over.

You do realize that this  ^^^comes off like this:

 

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no ........ well,  you get the picture.......

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HookEm

HookEm 2468

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Posted

Our football program was arguably in worse shape under John Mackovic than our hoops team was under Penders. Neither were anything special.

Regardless, I can entertain the notion that Barnes was relatively better for our hoops program than Mack was for our football program. But that is a different argument than you made earlier claiming that Barnes is better overall than Mack.

Who is more important to Bama: Wimp Sanderson, their best hoops coach or Bear Bryant, their 2nd best football coach.

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immortal13

immortal13 4059

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Posted
2 hours ago, Onboard 2.0 said:

You do realize that this  ^^^comes off like this:

 

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no ........ well,  you get the picture.......

He needs to hire a fucking editor, or start paying for some of the bandwidth he is taking up.

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Blotto

Blotto 23585

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Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Here's a list of some other coaches who have been known to speak in a similar manner about their team and players: obviously Coach Barnes (an overachieving regular season coach and an underachieving postseason coach I'll grant that), but beyond him I'll name John Calipari, Nick Saban, Bill Parcells, Tom Izzo, Bobby Knight, and Pat Summit, just to name a few

Fucking lulz at that collection of names. You are probably the only person on the planet that could come up with that exact list, in any context. Your obsession with that dude is something else. 

I completely agree with most of your takes on Shaka, but when you bury it in these strange online tributes to Barnes, the discussion inevitably degrades to arguments about barnes. We have a thread about that dude already.

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jimmyjazz

jimmyjazz 46293

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Posted
17 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Barnes >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Brown. Like, not even close. 

What in the ever-luvin' hell?

This is a bit, right?

Mack Brown built a program that arguably was the best in college football over a decade.  Certainly top 2 or 3.  Rick Barnes . . . didn't dominate anything.  He was great for UT basketball, no doubt.  I'd even buy the argument that he was roughly as successful as Mack.  Your take?  Insanity.

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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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Posted (edited)
17 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

What in the ever-luvin' hell?

This is a bit, right?

Mack Brown built a program that arguably was the best in college football over a decade.  Certainly top 2 or 3.  Rick Barnes . . . didn't dominate anything.  He was great for UT basketball, no doubt.  I'd even buy the argument that he was roughly as successful as Mack.  Your take?  Insanity.

again, my take seems to be the only one that takes context and history into the equation. it's fine if you don't want to consider these things, but i do. the only thing that Mack Brown was the best at as far as UT head football coaches go was recruiting. Mack didn't do anything at Texas that hasn't been done before, and considering his absolutely elite recruiting there is no argument that says he shouldn't have done more at Texas. Give Bob Stoops (who again absolutely dominated Mack during the height of Mack's recruiting, the thing he was best at) the Texas rosters from 2001-2010 and his record is vastly superior to what Brown accomplished. 7 years of VY and Colt with defenses full of NFL studs and Stoops and his staff would have Texas where Bama is today. Or do you disagree?

Now then, what did Rick do for the Texas basketball program? It's almost the exact opposite of everything i just said about Mack. Essentially everything Rick did at Texas was a first. First modern era Final Four; first NPOY at Texas (happened twice in five years); first #1 ranking in school history; was KU's biggest rival and toughest foe in conference; took the program from a non-competitor to a nationally elite program. Again, Texas was behind the likes of Kansas State in terms of basketball pedigree before Rick Barnes. Now? Now Texas has at worst the third best roster of NBA alums, is a destination school for 5* players from all over the continent, and is so elevated from where they were before Barnes' time here that we've seen Barnes turn down Kentucky for Texas, and Shaka Smart turn down UCLA but accept the Texas job. Come on man. Do not ignore the significance of this. 

So now I'll ask you: in what universe is what Mack did as HC of Texas football more impressive or significant than what Barnes did for UT hoops? Mack is responsible for one natty two conference titles, and i guess technically did coach one Heisman winner (in his first year), and that's it. A nice contribution to the program overall, but nothing compared to DKR, and nothing that we couldn't envision Tom Herman doing. Meanwhile Rick Barnes is responsible for, I dunno, 90% of the greatest achievements in UT hoops history? Something close to it anyway. Comparatively speaking it's not even remotely close. Not even a little bit. 

Edited by Goo Punch
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Goo Punch

Goo Punch 4275

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Posted
2 hours ago, Henry Hill said:

derka- does rick know you on a first name basis? be honest.

If i saw him or Rob Lanier today I would probably have to say, "Hi coach, I'm GooPunch, you know me from xxx." But here's a post i made on the subject earlier this year:

full post: 

Also, let's recap my loyalty to Rick Barnes for the record. This whole "high school crush on Rick Barnes" shit is so off base it's pathetic. You've been around enough to know better, but for those who don't know, here's why I'm personally still passionate about the guy, not that I ever would or ever have expected anyone else to feel the same:

My dad was the basketball SID at Texas in the 80's and 90's, and worked with Texas athletics from the 70's up until just about 2000. Texas basketball is my first love, because I grew up within the program. I'm no different than Rob Lanier's kids, or Eddie Oren's kids, or Todd Wright's kids. My love for this program goes beyond what yours does. My love for this program has been instilled in me my entire life. I was hanging out at UT practices from the time I could walk, and I maintain friendships with a ton of former players and coaches to this day. If you can't wrap your head around why a kid who grew up in my circumstances would be so fanatical about the program and it's best ever coach, you just don't want to.

Beyond that, my connection to the program and to Rick Barnes himself continued even after my dad left UT. During Rick's first year here Cooley Pavilion was under construction, so we had the team come practice at my school. I was there, at every practice during Rick's first year, playing one on one with his son Nick Barnes, talking to Gabe Muoneke, Chris Mihm, and Kris Clack on a daily basis. I knew the man from the first day he arrived in Austin, and proceeded to watch him take the thing that I loved the most in my life and make it 100x better, and I watched it from ground zero. I was there, day to day, a part of the program, happier than I'd ever been to be involved with UT basketball.

Then, when things went south, I had to endure years of people on the internet trashing and destroying this man who I had looked up to and considered a role model or an idol. Beyond that, during Rick's final five years or so Todd Wright's kids attended my school, where his wife was also a teacher. My mom taught both of his daughters and had them in her home room. His son was one of my kids for an entire year, and his entire family are basically the greatest people you'll ever meet. Truly wonderful people. Todd Wright is to this day my mentor, and his wife is one of my mom's best friends, and someone who I still talk to weekly. Our families will remain close regardless of geography, so this shit goes beyond normal fandom.

When our program started going south and the angry mob came out with torches and pitchforks, every single day we all had to live wondering if the coaches and their families were going to lose their jobs and have to move to a new city; and that's exactly what ended up happening. It was a tough time for the families of the coaching staff, and it was a tough time for me and my family as well, as this was much more than just some strangers who we rooted for- these were our long time friends and one time idols who were being destroyed online by our fans, who then got fired and forced to uproot their lives after spending 17+ years here in Austin. All of Coach Wright's kids were born and raised in Austin, Texas, until one day they were uprooted from everything they'd known and forced to move to Philly. So yeah, I took that hard.

Now Coach Wright is thriving in Philly and the 76ers are my NBA team. Now Coach Barnes and Coach Lanier and their families are in Knoxville where they are thriving and once again on top. You're goddamn right that makes me happy. You're goddamn right I'm rooting for them. But you've got me all the way fucked up with this "high school crush on Rick Barnes" shit, and this fantastical idea that I've been imploring everyone else to feel the same way, or that i'm losing my shit on people who don't root for him. That's a bunch of made up bullshit, invented by you because you're irritated that I still mention his name around here. Well you're gonna have to get over it, because I'm not going to stop rooting for him, and I'm not going to stop bringing his name up when it's relevant. And please, do not ever in your life again trivialize my feelings for people who I know personally and who I lived and worked with through the roughest time of their professional lives. You don't have to feel the same way as I do, but you will damn sure respect why I feel the way I do, and cut it out with this high school drama bullshit you're spewing. You can't handle it? Put me on ignore then. But don't trivialize my feelings as if I don't have a whole lot more invested in this situation than you do, or like I have no legit reasons to still support our former coaches and their families. Hell, I rung in the new year this year with Reggie Freeman (among others), and when someone was asking us about how we'd known each other so long despite the age and background difference, the answer was simple: "Not a lot of us around here really really fuck with Texas basketball like we do. There's only a few of us in Austin. It's a family." I take that to heart. Deal with it.

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