It’s tough to know where to even begin after Gonzaga manhandled Texas in Phoenix on Saturday, winning by a score of 87-77. The game was much more one-sided than the final margin indicated, as the Zags failed to score in the final 5:32 of play, while the Texas backups hit seemingly every three pointer they took. But for a majority of the other 35 minutes of play, Gonzaga absolutely embarrassed the Longhorns in front of ESPN’s national audience.

Justin Mason and Dexter Pittman provided the few bright spots for Texas on an otherwise dark day. And we’ll give them their due coverage later on. But for now, let’s get all of the negative crap out of the way.

You may be shocked to learn this, but a 2-3 zone is not impossible to beat. In fact, most teams can do it. But for the Texas Longhorns, their attempts certainly seemed like a pre-schooler trying to break down Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. The main “tactic” employed by the Horns involved dribbling around the three-point line, maybe passing it around the arc, and then jacking up a three-pointer. Somehow, this failed to work.

I didn’t have overly high hopes coming in to the game. In fact, I’d mentally conceded the game and hoped to just keep it within ten points. But to see a team struggle so mightily with a freakin 2-3 zone just blows my mind. Dribble penetrate. Get quick ball movement. It’s really not rocket science.

For a brief stretch in the second half, Kevin Durant seemed to get it. He called for the ball and penetrated the zone. Because Durant is a genetic freak amongst mere mortals, he didn’t even need to find the open man once the penetration caused the zone to collapse. He was able to finish shots and draw fouls. But apart from the few minutes where KD’s light bulb flicked on, there was no joy in Mudville on Saturday.

D.J. Augustin had an absolutely abysmal day. And when you can’t seem to break down the zone, having a struggling point guard certainly doesn’t help the situation. Augustin had many more turnovers than usual, giving the ball to the Zags four times, and made stupid fouls that seemed to be a result of frustration. Hopefully he’ll get things straightened out a bit before Sunday’s tilt with LSU.

Perhaps even more frustrating than the stagnant offense, though, was the defense’s inability to contain Derek Raivio. Readers of this column may have even remembered a little nugget of wisdom I shared Saturday morning:

If Gonzaga gets good ball movement or successfully draws defenders into the lane before kicking it out, Raivio should get his share of decent looks from behind the arc. For Texas, it seems that Heytvelt’s success is inevitable. The key is to make sure that they don’t also allow Raivio to go off on them as they are trying to completely shut down Heytvelt.

Please, don’t start calling me a prophet. It might go to my head. But here’s the thing. If Raivio’s outside threat was painfully obvious to someone as dumb as me, why wasn’t the team prepared for it?

The Horns did a pretty good job shutting down Heytvelt. He got some points and rebounds, as was to be expected. But Raivio was able to knock down seven three-pointers in the midst of a 27-point night, shooting 50% from behind the arc.

“We weren’t aware of where he was sometimes,” Durant said after the game. “They just made an extra pass, and he was wide open.” And that’s how you get your ass handed to you by a guy who looks like he idolizes Eminem.

A.J. Abrams had one of his toughest games as a Longhorn, and certainly his worst of the season. Gonzaga, although playing in a zone defense, was aware of his threat and compensated, shading towards him. He was unable to get clean, open looks, but that didn’t stop him from shooting. A.J. finished 1-for-11 from behind the arc, and 3-for-17 overall.

I said in my pre-game post that if Abrams went cold, it’d be a long day. But now we have to wonder if A.J.’s scoring is going to be key to every game. Much like the Raivio-Heytvelt combo of Gonzaga, I feel that teams will not be able to shut down both Abrams and Durant. Perhaps Gonzaga has shown that it’s best for teams to take their lumps with Durant and key on A.J.

The rebounding was not nearly as one-sided as I’d anticipated. The Zags only outrebounded the Horns by a 38-34 margin. And most importantly for Texas, they limited Gonzaga to very few second-chance points. I can’t find the exact stat anywhere on the web, but near the end of the game I believe that the scoreboard in the U.S. Airways Center said Gonzaga had only eight second-chance points.

Justin Mason had a breakout game offensively on Saturday. We’ve all known that he is a quality defender, and he continues to provide for Texas in that role. But against Gonzaga, Justin played almost the entire game (35 minutes) and scored 17 points, taking advantage of his speed by cutting to the hoop for easy baskets. He also was hot from behind the arc, hitting 3-of-5.

Dexter Pittman did not see much action, but looked good while he was in the game. He grabbed two rebounds and scored four points in only four minutes of play. Unfortunately, he wasn’t really cut out for the game that Barnes knew Gonzaga was going to give them, and it limited Big Dex’s time. Gonzaga likes to run the floor, and the Horns tried to match that speed for most of the first half. With the intense workout regimen Pittman is on, coupled with the fact that he’s still a big, big guy, he won’t be able to play very long in these up-and-down type contests. I do think, however, that he will be useful against teams like A&M who tend to slow things down and make it a physical battle inside.

The great thing to keep in mind is that it’s a long season and this is a young team. In fact, that’s why I’m so excited about the journey I’m undertaking this year. Without a doubt, the team that we saw against Michigan State is going to be miles away from the team we see in Oklahoma City for the Big 12 tournament. Hell, the team we saw against Michigan State was even different from the team we saw against Gonzaga. And while some things were exploited by Gonzaga, there were other aspects of our game that have improved, and players that have stepped up in the two weeks since New York City.

It’s going to be a frustrating season. But I still feel this is a tournament-caliber team and we’ll have to see how the cards fall come March. In the meantime, the team just needs to try to earn a few important non-conference wins this month, and then move on to Big 12 play. And as fans, we just need to have a little patience.

Texas (5-1) cruised through their final tune-up before the Gonzaga game, crushing the Texas Southern Tigers (1-5) by a 90-50 margin on Tuesday night. Coach Barnes utilized the entire bench, not only using the chance to give our reserves more playing time, but also keeping the core group of players fresh for this weekend’s contest.

At this point, it’s a given that A.J. Abrams and Kevin Durant are going to provide a lot of points for the Horns. And that’s especially true when playing ITT Tech, University of Phoenix Online, DeVry Institute, or Texas Southern. The pair combined for 42 points, with Abrams knocking down four three-pointers. He came out shooting hot, but ended up missing seven threes on the night. I wonder if the increased time on the bench could have possibly thrown off his rhythm. Durant also hit four threes — on only six attempts — and made all six of his free throws.

The team forced a lot of turnovers, and in turn the tempo. Abrams had five steals alone, while the team had sixteen. The Longhorns converted those TOs into a clicking transition offense, and logged 39 points off of them.

I promised I’d keep an eye on Harrison Smith, and it was difficult as he only had six minutes on the floor. But I distinctly remember one great play the kid had where he crashed the glass on the offensive end, slipping between the big men and tipping it back in for two. The stat sheet shows Smith with three rebounds, which surprises me considering the other mental note I made on him was how much smaller he looked than the rest of the guys on the floor. With his minutes still so limited in this game, I’m convinced we will see very little of Harrison all year, and will not get a good feel for him until later in his (four-year) Texas career.

The story of the game in my book was Dexter Pittman. Big Dex looked a lot more comfortable out there on the floor, and while it’s tough to say if that’s a result of playing Texas Southern or of beginning to adjust to his lighter body, it’s great to see. It seemed like he gobbled up every rebound that came within reach, and his touch inside was great. I remember a few plays in the first half where he’d get position inside and call for the ball, only something was different from previous games — the guards actually managed to get him the ball. Pittman took advantage and finished the night with 10 points, six boards, and two blocks in his eleven minutes of play.

Justin Mason is quickly becoming a favorite player of mine. He earns his minutes (and the starting job) with great effort on the defensive end, and he’s not a liability on offense. Tuesday night he got on the stat sheet early, cutting to the rack on two sweet layups. He was a huge part of the Horns’ first-half surge, and he finished with nine points.

D.J. Augustin had his assist-to-turnover ratio marred by unprepared teammates against Texas Southern. He notched six assists, but had four turnovers, two or three of which weren’t even his fault. It still seems like D.J. sees plays and passes that others don’t, and that leads to guys not being ready for his passes. Tuesday night one zipped past Matt Hill and into the North O-Zone, while another bounced off our hands and ended up going the other way. It’s really exciting to think about D.J. playing many years here with other members of this recruiting class, and just “knowing” by the third or fourth year where everybody will be and when the passes will come.

Damion James is still struggling, and it’s tough to watch. The guy has so much skill and athleticism wrapped up in that package, and you know that something’s just a little off either mentally or physically. I’m leaning towards the mental side of things, considering he seemed perfectly healthy on a sick dunk that just about brought down the basket supports. Hopefully that play will serve as some sort of emotional release and get him over this funk. We will desperately need his early-season form to return in time for these next two games.

Matt Hill didn’t do much on Tuesday night, and was definitely overshadowed by Pittman. Hill did still play more minutes than both Connor Atchley and Pittman, but did less than both of them. I’m convinced that we need Matt to get aggressive inside and force his way to the line. He’s a good free throw shooter — he made both of his attempts again on Tuesday — and in addition to the easy points, we need our bigger opponents to get in foul trouble to neutralize their advantage inside.

Atchley looked better, but again I have to wonder about the quality of opponent tainting the stats. His best game last year came against Louisiana-Monroe, but just a month and a half later he was still laying eggs in big games. We’ll see over the next week and a half whether or not Connor has actually improved, when he has to play against the likes of Gonzaga’s Josh Heytvelt and LSU’s Glen Davis. For those interested, Atchley scored two points and pulled down five rebounds.

One of the best moments of the game came in the final minutes. Fan-favorite Ian Mooney had played many much more than usual, even coming into the game in the first half. But after spending most of his time setting picks for the guards, he was fouled on a layup attempt with time winding down. Mooney swished his first free throw attempt and the few thousand fans still left in the Erwin Center went nuts.

I will say that when Ian is on the court, I am actually impressed by the screens he sets. He’s not going to even see the floor in many games after Centenary, but if he’s needed in some sort of emergency situation he at least still provides some sort of value.

Of course, the first big test of the year looms on Saturday. Texas takes on Gonzaga in Phoenix at 2 PM central time, airing on ESPN. I’ll take a look at the Zags and some key storylines after arriving in Arizona on Friday night.

Forgive the tardiness with this breakdown, but the post-New York school catch-up, combined with the holiday family socializing and twenty hours of work in the span of twenty-seven real ones….well, it’s enough to make somebody have a Tom Penders sport-coat-throwing hissy fit. And if this post-game makes little sense — or none at all — I must apologize again, as my blood is probably about 90% tryptophan right now. Mmmmm, mmmm good.

Texas (4-1) had absolutely no problems with Nicholls State (0-6) on Tuesday night, running away with a 91-60 victory. Fortunately for the Horns, Nicholls State was without their two (best) big men, giving them a look reminiscent of last year’s Villanova squad. Of course, the Colonels also have only a fraction of Nova’s talent. Stefan Blaszczynski told me before the game that he had “strained” his foot, while forward James Dixon was just “hurt” according to teammate Eddie Crockett.

With the lack of big men inside for Nicholls State, the Horns absolutely abused their visitors on the glass. Texas finished with a 57-29 rebounding advantage, with Damion James pulling down nine boards. Kevin Durant grabbed twelve en route to another double-double; he also scored 21 points in his 27 minutes of play.

Tuesday’s contest saw more man-to-man defense from the Horns, most noticeably while the bench was being emptied. It was very odd to see Dexter Pittman following his man to the three point line, so those defensive sets stick out in my mind. Pittman played twelve minutes off the bench, scoring eight and logging six rebounds. He looks very good inside — although the talent level of the opponent should be revisited here to temper excitement — but what I think was most important was the fact that he did not pick up a single foul in his increased time.

Justin Mason earned his first collegiate start, and the early lineup of Mason/Durant/James/ Augustin/Abrams came out in the 2-3 zone that Barnes likes to employ when Mason is on the court. I have not mentioned it over the past two weeks, being far too focused on my schoolgirl excitement over Damion James’ immense potential, but Mason is just as scrappy of a player. I love him on the defensive end, he hustles all over the damned place, and he’s not too shabby of a shooter either. Jay knocked down 6-of-10 on the night and finished with fifteen points.

A.J. Abrams once again made himself a huge part of the victory, shooting 7-of-12 from behind the arc and scoring 23 points. He also had a squeaky-clean game on the ballhandling side, with no turnovers and five assists. It’s great to have such a solid team leader who is only a sophomore. And it’s even a little funny to have it be such a tiny guy among the giant youngsters.

I think I came to a realization with Matt Hill during Tuesday night’s game, so I’ll keep my eye on it again next week. There’s no doubt that Hill is a tough player who gets after it. But while I was giving him on the benefit of the doubt on those “near-miss” rebounds, I think I was overlooking the problem. If Hill fought for a board and got a hand (or both) on the ball but ultimately lost it, I was giving him credit for being one of the few who seemed to crash the glass. But after seeing him mishandle a few passes on Tuesday night, I’m starting to think he just doesn’t have soft hands. It definitely explains all the fumbled passes, and it could account for those missed rebounds he gets a paw on, too. We’ll see what happens against Texas Southern next week.

Craig Winder is starting to convince me that he’s made some pretty big strides since last year. I’m hoping that he has his insane athleticism under control, and it’s looking like he might. During the long season, we need some quality minutes from guys other than our core seven players, and I have the most faith in Winder providing them.

Connor Atchley looked a bit better defensively, and even blocked two shots. But — as with Pittman — I think a lot of this had to do with the quality of opponents. Here’s to hoping that beating up on the little guys gives Connor some confidence and the needed quality minutes to improve. And you can chalk up another little victory for Atchley, as he grabbed six boards on the night and kept his foul total down to two.

As I mentioned earlier, Durant logged another double-double on the night. It’s just fun to watch this kid play. He manages to always have some sick blocks — in the Nicholls State game, he stuffed two — and the ridiculous wingspan makes my insides tingle. Kevin did turn the ball over a few times, including yet another gaffe on a crossover attempt. But I figure that when you’re automatically dropping 20 points, even on an off night, I’ll take a turnover or two in exchange.

Harrison Smith saw increased minutes but didn’t make much of an impact on the stat sheet, or my memories. Maybe I was distracted by the dancing cow behind me, or maybe I was snacking on those fine Erwin Center nachos. Either way, I can’t give any notes on the kid. But at least he played a lot more, even though I do kind of remember him being on the floor during most of the garbage minutes.

D.J. Augustin continues to be the little floor general, and was credited with eight assists on Tuesday. He still picks up more fouls than I’d like him to, but as with Durant’s occassional turnovers, I think it just comes with the package. I’m sure that the defensive-minded Barnes will work with D.J. on his foul problems during the season, so we may see improvement. But for now I’m quite happy with his court vision and his hidden scoring threat that we saw break out in New York City.

All told, it was a quality game that allowed us a chance to look at a few more players. And while Nicholls State’s decision to come to Austin was about as ill-conceived as Skittles electing to replace the red ones with strawberry pink ice cream flavor, we appreciate their willingness to walk into the inevitable mudholing.

We get another crappy team this coming Tuesday in Texas Southern. It’ll be your last chance to see the Horns at home until December 16th, so try to get out to the Drum and catch the action. In the meantime, I’ll try to get around to writing about the New York trip at some point this weekend.

The taste of foot in one’s mouth is never pleasant, but when it’s the alternative to having crow shoved down your throat, you’ll take it. St. John’s came within one shot of beating Texas on Friday night, ultimately falling to the Longhorns in a 77-76 thriller.

On Thursday, I blasted the Red Storm in this column, particularly their ineffective offense. In retrospect, I should’ve been lauding Maryland with a lot more praise and wringing my hands over this Texas team’s atypical lack of defense. With Rick Barnes at the helm, having some individuals unable to play even average man defense is surprising.

Granted, the Johnnies (2-2) shot lights out. And coming a night after they couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, it came as quite a shock. But Texas (3-1) didn’t help matters by being unable to react to good ball movement and having men get lost on simple high screens. In addition to rebounding, this is likely going to be a recurring theme for the team this season.

Once again, Kevin Durant carried the Longhorns. As St. John’s came running out of the gate — hitting their first five shots, including a trio three-pointers — Durant single-handedly kept Texas in the game. He opened the game a perfect 4-for-4 from behind the arc, and finished the night with 29 points and 10 boards.

Durant’s value to the team was made crystal clear in the second half. With roughly fifteen minutes left in the contest and Texas up by nine, he picked up his third foul and was sent to the bench. With Durant out of the game, St. John’s made up a huge chunk of the deficit, tying the game four minutes later. It’s apparent that Damion James is going to need to step up if Durant goes cold or gets into foul trouble later in the year.

D.J. Augustin continued to impress, reaching double digits again with seventeen points and dished out seven assists. This shift to more of a scoring mentality is certainly an added bonus. Texas hasn’t had a true point guard since T.J. Ford led the team to New Orleans and the Final Four in 2003. With Augustin, Barnes has another floor general who can run the show, attract extra defenders, and has an uncanny knack for finding passing lanes invisible to the average player.

I hate to make this the daily Connor Atchley bashing column, but the poor guy is really struggling. It’s clear as day that the scouting report is to attack Atchley, and every team seems to have gotten the memo. Just think back to the brutal three or four-minute stretch in January’s Villanova game for the most painful example of this.

Friday night, St. John’s did the same. Atchley came in at one point, guarding useless foul-magnet Aaron Spears. At the time, Spears had two personals and two points. Roughly twenty seconds later, they fed it to Spears, who isolated Atchley and quickly doubled his meager point total.

Fortunately, Atchley did not pick up the stupid fouls that had plagued him in Thursday’s Michigan State game. And while that helps the Horns in the team fouls department, his defense is still a huge liability. Out of all the players in what is amounting to a seven-man rotation, Atchley is by far the most worrisome. I’m still hoping his light-bulb moment is not far away.

Damion James had another frustrating night on the offensive end and saw his minutes decrease. After playing 31 minutes in the semifinal game against Michigan State, James played only 26 in Friday night’s contest. He scored six points, but did not have the same impact on the defensive end that he did against the Spartans.

The effects of having a short bench were apparent on Friday night, but Coach Barnes was ready to go a little further down the pine to spell his core seven players. J.D. Lewis saw early action to get A.J. Abrams some extra rest, and Dexter Pittman played earlier than usual in an effort to save energy for Matt Hill and Atchley. The two subs only provided six minutes, but the starters desperately needed the (short) early rest after the Michigan State contest.

Abrams only scored twelve points against St. John’s, but played 36 of the 40 minutes. His three-point shooting was a little off, as he finished 3-for-7 on the night. Abrams helped out on the defensive end, logging three steals in the contest.

Texas certainly saw its share of late-game scenarios in New York, and hopefully the added exposure will help by March. The team’s youth showed in the waning moments of Friday night’s game, as time ticked away with the shot clock turned off. St. John’s was at first unaware of the need to foul, but then scrambled as Texas shifted into its half-court set. Justin Mason received the ball on the wing and nearly shot a three-pointer with 14 seconds left and a one-point lead. Then, instead of quickly working the ball around in an effort to get it to Abrams, he held it and waited for the foul. Mason then missed the front end of a one-and-one, allowing St. John’s a final possession and shot for the win. Luckily for the Horns, it was one of the few shots that the Red Storm missed all night.

Thankfully the season is still young and there is more than enough time to work on rebounding and team defense. I just hope that in the meantime, the Horns can play some games that don’t come down to the final possession. At this rate, I’ll be dead from a heart attack before conference play even arrives.

Thursday night’s game at Madison Square Garden provided a good preview for what fans of the 2006-07 Longhorns will be going through this year — ulcers and antacids. Texas fell to Michigan State in a nervewracking Coaches vs. Cancer semifinal on a last second shot, 63-61.

There were some definite bright spots for the Longhorns, most notably the coming out party of freshman point guard D.J. Augustin. But when a team shoots 20.6% from the field in the second half, things are going to get tough.

The young Texas players showed poise, refusing to panic when down ten to the Spartans midway through the first half. The Longhorns fought back and managed to take a four point lead to the locker room. But once the horn sounded for the final twenty minutes of play, the shots stopped falling.

Augustin changed his modus operandi a bit in the contest, finishing more of his drives to the basket with smooth layups. He still utilized the penetrate-and-dish style that we had seen from him last week, most notably on a play near the end of the first half where he passed up an open layup to drop it off to Jay Mason for the basket and the foul.

One great exchange came when a Spartan player embarrassed our defense for a nifty reverse layup. Seconds later, Augustin went to the rack on the other end of the court and one-upped him with a sick layup of his own. For a brief thirty-second span, Madison Square Garden felt like the site of an And-1 Mix Tape exhibition.

A.J. Abrams and Kevin Durant provided their usual offensive sparks for Texas, combining for 43 points — even with Durant shooting only 1-for-9 in a rough second half. Abrams struggled a little to get it started and finished only six-of-thirteen from behind the arc, putting him at a .566 three-point percentage for the young season.

Besides his four blocks — some coming from behind the play — Durant looked a bit sluggish on the defensive end. But with a coach as defensive-minded as Rick Barnes, one can only assume that he will improve noticeably in that department throughout the year.

Michigan State exploited our man-to-man defense early in the first half for easy buckets on back-door cuts. But a few personnel changes and a switch to a 2-3 zone seemed to steady the ship. The intensity went up on the defensive end, and Michigan State’s offense became stagnant.

An interesting note on the 2-3 zone is the make-up of its back line when the Horns run a small lineup. With Augustin and Abrams assigned to the top of the key, the back line consisted of Durant, James, and Jay Mason on the wing. Looking at the height difference across the court was almost as funny as an episode of Freddie. But not quite.

Damion James struggled offensively, missing a ton of point blank looks. It became very apparent from his expression just how frustrated he was. But the great thing about this kid is that he insists upon staying in the game, and he manages to influence the game in other ways. He officially blocked three shots, but also managed to disrupt the flow of the Michigan State offense time and again just by sticking a big paw in the passing lane or the face of a shooter.

Connor Atchley — God bless the kid — struggled like a deaf-mute at open mic night. He picked up quick fouls and it appeared to get into his head. His usually smooth three-point stroke was off, and the foul trouble seemed to lead to tentative defensive play. Of course, once beaten while playing tentatively, he would typically then pick up another foul trying to make up for his mistake on the play. Fortunately, the season is young and Connor is naturally going to take a little while to adjust to his increased role on this team. I have faith in the guy.

Shot selection in the transition game left a lot to be desired. The Horns would go on a break, only to jack up a quick three-pointer with no one in position underneath. I’m glad that we have forced so many turnovers and are going to push the ball. Now we just need to know when to pull it out and run the half-court set.

As predicted, the rebounding was a big part of the team’s downfall last night. With the shots not falling, the lack of second-chance opportunities really hurt, especially when Michigan State managed to get so many down the stretch. There were even a few times where the shooter himself managed to go unaccounted for and snag his own board.

Most surprising to me, however, was that Drew Naymick turned out to be huge for the Spartans in the final minutes. He was a machine on the offensive glass and got MSU the extra shots they needed to stay in the game and win it. The Spartans outrebounded the Horns 26-18 in the second half.

As for the Neitzel layup that ended the game, I’m barely going to touch it. A player slipped, and after that the team seemed unaware of what good help defense is. If you saw it, you know what happened, and if you didn’t, you don’t want to. We shouldn’t have even allowed Michigan State to be in that position, so I’m not going to dwell on a single play.

Texas will now play in the consolation game against St. John’s tonight at 6 P.M. central, televised on ESPN2. Preview is on the way.