After last evening’s loss to the Baylor Bears at the Frank Erwin Center, the 2011-2012 Texas Longhorns basketball team is now on the bubble.
Texas has only one-true marquee win to its credit this season, a mid-December home victory over the 22nd-ranked Temple Owls, placing the Longhorns in a must-win scenario throughout the remainder of Big XII conference play and the Big XII Tournament.
It’s easy to imagine if Texas loses even one more game at any point prior to Selection Sunday they could be on the outside-looking-in at the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the 14-year tenure of head coach Rick Barnes.
Those who follow the Longhorn program have posited several different theories about the team’s struggles, the most common being the relative youth of this year’s squad. Texas plays six freshmen substantial minutes and requires these six freshmen to play with consistency and poise each evening for the Longhorns to have success. This youth has led to many exciting moments, but just as often has been a detriment as poor decisions have been made with repetition at the worst possible times.
Sure, it’s easy to blame a young team’s struggles on the one factor they cannot control, their own youth. However, Texas’ average age isn’t a crutch to stand on, there are other issues present here.
The Longhorns lack the mental toughness necessary to close games in the final 10 minutes of action and have surrendered late-game leads time and again both in non-conference and conference play this season. Mental toughness is mutually exclusive from youth– one does not depend on the other.
Mental toughness is a close cousin of control. A team that isn’t mentally tough– regardless of their physical shape– will make poor decisions when solid decisions need to be made. As an example, see J’Covan Brown’s horrible pass into traffic in the final minutes of last night’s game.
While coaches cannot make plays for their players, they can train their players to have the greatest degree of mental toughness possible so when the tough times come, the tough get going. This is where blame can be lied at the feet of Rick Barnes.
This team has not shown the same heart indicative of past teams. At times there have been flashes of the swagger and desire which made recent teams successful, but it has not been sustained.
It’s an absolute that Texas will need to find a way to channel both a new mental toughness and overall confidence to win out and have a last-ditch shot at the NCAA Tournament this season.
Youth is a factor in Texas’ struggles, but it’s far from the only factor.
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