Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (I promise I will not be a damn good Kool-Aid supplier ...)
- Thread starter Ketchum
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And I would contend he is. It's weird what disconnect exists in the defining of "damn good".
I like his chances to be proven one a helluva lot sooner than Shaka's. Three seasons at Texas, and Smart is exactly 50-50 overall and a pathetic 23-31 in B12 play. And the WORST part is, heading into year FOUR, there is still no rhyme or reason with his program and what it's about.
He's made mistakes. They might cost him his job. If he departs, I like his chances of reestablishing himself in his next job.
As long as it's a lower level job either conference-wise or team-wise in a Power 5. Right now he's simply in over his head and just not sure he's cut out for this level at any school.
agree to disagree for now. I think he'll leave here having earned some lessons about coaching in a major power five program.
I think TCU was just a better team. Best defense in the Big 12 vs Texas' anemic offense and enough of a running game to put 24 points on the board against a pretty decent defensive effort.
But...but...he can get better....can't he?
.Won't he be better {with a better supporting cast now}?I admit I was kind of a Shane homie for awhile, but based on the evidence thus far, its getting harder & harder to be optimistic he's "the one." If not him this year, sure hope Sam can be good this year. Damn, I miss Colt & Vince and am tired of re-living the "good ole days."
I don’t think I we’re really going to know we are until after OU.
If the game can ever slow down for him, I think he still has a high ceiling.But...but...he can get better....can't he?
I admit I was kind of a Shane homie for awhile, but based on the evidence thus far, its getting harder & harder to be optimistic he's "the one." If not him this year, sure hope Sam can be good this year. Damn, I miss Colt & Vince and am tired of re-living the "good ole days."
The meat of the schedule if in the first six games. USC,at KSU and TCU will let us know what kind of team this is going into OU.
Gary Pattersin would meet that definition for me. Not elite but knocking on the door.
folkNo. 10 – And Finally …
We're going to file this under the category of "Some Things Aren't Meant to Happen."
On Friday night, the Liverpool Supporters of Austin held a special event at B.D. Riley's with Liverpool legend Steve Nicol as the guest of honor. With it being the first event I had attended, I didn't know anyone at an event where everyone seemed to know everyone.
As a byproduct of the situation, I slipped into a little bit of my natural anti-social behavior. My wife implored me to go introduce myself to Nicol, but I just didn't want to be one of 100 people who were trying to get his attention for pictures and stories while he was having a moment for himself before he had to speak at the event. To my wife's credit, Nicol was more than engaging, but as someone who does speak in front of crowds at events like this, I didn't want to invade his space.
Plus, there was a silent auction at the event with a prize that would allow four winners to have lunch with Nicol the next day, a prize I planned to win with a fairly high top bid in comparison to those that had also issued bids. Honestly, I just felt like I would get more out of a meeting over lunch than by walking up to him and introducing myself in the crowd, so I left the event Friday night without so much as saying hello.
Six hours later, my daughter Haven needed her daddy to take her to an emergency after-hours clinic because she had picked up a chest cold that had made it very hard for to breathe. The good news is that she's fine. Some steroids mixed with a few nebulizer treatments had her feeling mostly like her normal self.
While at the doctor's office, I received notice that I had won the silent auction to have lunch with Nicol at Top Golf, except with a sick daughter, I wasn't able to peel away for lunch. Therefore, I paid for my auction item and chalked up the disappointment to the life of a dad. Stuff happens. Last week, it was the wife that was sick and this week it was the daughter.
The bottom line is that I should have listened to my wife. Always listen to the wife.
Wish i knew you were going ahead of time. Lots if guys i play soccer with went and are huge Liverpool fans. Including Steve Wilson who is in the picture.
Boban Marjanovic, Adrian Dantley, and Charles Barkley averaged more points per shot and I wouldn't put them in the top five all-time offensive players, either. James Harden isn't even # 1 in PPS on his own team right now, but I wouldn't put Clint Capela in the top five all-time offensive players. Also, free throws are not factored into points per shot. Harden is a great free throw shooter who is at the top of the league every year in free throws attempted. He gets 9 points per game from free throws since he has averaged 10 free throws per game over the last six seasons. The "free" points from those free throws are a big part of that points her shot. If Kevin Durant or Steph Curry or Russell Westbrook took as many free throw shots each game as Harden, they would be better than he is in PPS. Curry, for example, has averaged 4 free throw attempts per game for his entire career. Take away free throws from the pps stat and you'd see much different results.
As I say, let's see Harden do it for 6-7 more years and then he might be in discussion for top 5 all-time offensive players. Part of "all-time," after all, is longevity. Were Harden to suddenly be unable to play anymore for some reason tomorrow, nobody would consider him one of the top five all time NBA players offensively.
Besides, offense is only half the game. Again: your original statement was that he is an all-time great. Greatness, to me at least, means playing defense, being an integral part of championships, being the best when the game is on the line, transcendent moments. He's a lazy defensive player and has done none of the other things by which greatness is determined.
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What is he? Elite? Great? Not sure I can give him more than dang good to this point. Maybe win some outright Big 12 championships.
"Damn good" is hardly chopped liver. You clearly erred when labeling Shaka as that. But not sure how many levels are higher than "damn good." Elite is and perhaps if you wish to differentiate slightly from "damn good" then "great" will suffice. But "damn good" is pretty high praise.
No. 4 - The elephant in the room ...
I don' think it's a question that anyone wants to truly entertain, but what if Sam Ehlinger is still a year away (a completely fair and realistic expectation) and Shane Buechele just isn't ever going to be the guy?
Actually, let's just move on. We can discuss this later in the year if we need to, even if it forever looms.
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If you really want to move on maybe consider eliminating this tired topic from the column every week. Or at least give it a new title. Or something.
I don' think it's a question that anyone wants to truly entertain, but what if Sam Ehlinger is still a year away (a completely fair and realistic expectation) and Shane Buechele just isn't ever going to be the guy?
Actually, let's just move on. We can discuss this later in the year if we need to, even if it forever looms.
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If you really want to move on maybe consider eliminating this tired topic from the column every week. Or at least give it a new title. Or something.
Slowly, but surely, this team has started to build something. As it heads to Norman next weekend to face the undefeated in Big 12 Oklahoma Sooners, this team has everything in front of it. It simply needs to maintain this consistency, while enhancing the top end of its game.
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I believe TCU beat OU yesterday.
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I believe TCU beat OU yesterday.
Good article this week Ketch.
I haven't gotten thru all 5 pages of comments yet but I fear this may be heading down the QB discussion rabbit hole: )
I think Sam needs to expand his playbook. He was either a run guy, or a sprint out and throw on the run guy. He needs to learn when to be a sit in the pocket and throw guy.
However, if he does get hurt, I think Shane could be a very capable QB behind a line that gives him time. And we might, might, might have a line that could MAYBE do that A LITTLE BIT this year.
He isn't ever going to be McCoy. But we haven't seen him with decent play-calling, decent coaching and decent line play in front of him yet. That's not to say we will have those three things this year, but if we do, I certainly believe Shane is capable.
I haven't gotten thru all 5 pages of comments yet but I fear this may be heading down the QB discussion rabbit hole: )
I think Sam needs to expand his playbook. He was either a run guy, or a sprint out and throw on the run guy. He needs to learn when to be a sit in the pocket and throw guy.
However, if he does get hurt, I think Shane could be a very capable QB behind a line that gives him time. And we might, might, might have a line that could MAYBE do that A LITTLE BIT this year.
He isn't ever going to be McCoy. But we haven't seen him with decent play-calling, decent coaching and decent line play in front of him yet. That's not to say we will have those three things this year, but if we do, I certainly believe Shane is capable.
Comparing apples to other apples is important when discussing apples.
If you need extended longevity to justify the label in question, that's fine, but there's a reason why you ignored the tweet about the historic nature of his last three seasons.
Everyone agrees that his play in the post-season must improve.
I didn't realize that the Saturday game was rained out, so when I checked the scores yesterday and saw Oklahoma had won, I thought it finished off the sweep. Nice catch.
Elite - Saban
Great - Mack
Dang Good - Patterson (knocking on door of great)
Good/Above Average - Herman
Average - Strong
Poor - Blake
Because it isn't true, as all the people who commented on the tweet point out? And wouldn't you say that, in considering all-time greatness, longevity is an important consideration? Or is it just based on a select sampling of seasons?
I'm drinking the koolaid in regards to the program, but I'm not sure it's going to be very good on the offensive side of the ball. You can't be that dogshit and suddenly be even average. I don't think you can get much more shitty on offense at an elite school than Texas was last season.
The defense will be stout though. Maybe we'll see something resembling offensive know how from the coaching staff this season.
The defense will be stout though. Maybe we'll see something resembling offensive know how from the coaching staff this season.
