In perhaps the most ingenious move any of the Longhorns coaches have made in a long time, Texas’ basketball coach, Rick Barnes, called out one of his star players on live radio after an embarrassing loss to Texas A&M.
And it worked to perfection. Barnes insinuated that Damion James might not play today against Baylor, and word quickly spread through the print and online media.
Well, James didn’t start against the Bears, but he was the most effective bench player Texas could’ve asked for.
James pulled Texas out of a huge hole early, and he ended the game with 34 minutes and put up a double-double – which is what he’s been doing all year up until recently – in the Longhorns’ 80-72 win.
He said all the right things after the game, too. He acknowledged his lack of defense in that horrible game against the Aggies.
He said he deserved not to start, which was the point. Barnes said after the game he told James that if benching him, if only for the first few minutes, was what it took to get James’ attention, then so be it.
Touché, Rick.
Interestingly, Barnes said he was disappointed in Connor Atchley’s play recently, too, but Atchley started and played 27 minutes and scored 14 points with seven boards.
The fact he started says two things. First, Atchley is probably more aware of his sub-par play, which might’ve been why Barnes didn’t have to resort to benching him.
It also shows that Barnes expects more from James, which is why he would risk letting Dexter Pittman start in his place and let the Longhorns get so far down. Barnes knew that, if his strategy worked, he could get awesome production out of James that is worth the potential risks.
Risks like that are what make Rick Barnes so good at his job.
For more on James, see “Playing Through.”
This article appears in February 1 • 2008.