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Texas vowed things would be different Thursday against Baylor. This time was personal, as senior Damion James phrased it. It still didn’t matter. Baylor matched Texas’ intensity, showed the value of a dominant offensive backcourt and cruised past Texas, 86-67, in the quarterfinals of the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship. The Bears (25-6) advance to the semifinals today against Kansas State with a top-four NCAA Tournament seed as a distinct possibility. >MORE | PHOTOS

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My optimism fails me, stick a fork in the Horns

  • It doesn’t take much to get me (and other fans I know) energized and excited about watching the Horns.
  • I can easily forget the past two months worth of sloppy, frustrating basketball. Just give me a reason and I’ll be right back there thinking a miracle is possible.
  • The Longhorns gave me that reason Wednesday night in the form of a win over Iowa State. It wasn’t even a convincing blow-out, but it was enough for me. I thought I saw a glimpse of organization and enthusiasm that’s been lacking since January.
  • I was wrong. Very wrong.
  • Last night’s disgusting display of “must-win” basketball was almost embarrassing. I’m not sure if I ever saw Texas run an official offensive play, it was just dribble until you can get a contested shot off. In other words, standard Longhorn basketball from mid-January to present.
  • Now, I’m not one of those fans that thinks the heat under Rick Barnes’ chair needs to be bumped up a few notches. I think he’s a great recruiter and I also think it’s a lot harder to have NCAA tournament success than we fans sometimes want to believe. Having said that, he needs to take the blame for this season. This team looks like it hasn’t been coached to do anything. There’s no chemistry, organization or strategy apparent in any of their games.
  • Barnes needs to sit down with the media after they lose in the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament and say, “It’s all my fault. I didn’t do X, Y and Z and that is why we struggled so badly this year. I will fix it and we will be back next year.”
  • As a fan I think we just need an apology for such an atrocious season. Especially because the season had so much promise. I’m willing to put this season behind me and move on. I just need some closure from a coach who’s got a lot of explaining to do.

Today will set the tone for Horns’ near future

  • Texas beat the No. 11 seed in the Big 12 tournament. Not exactly news that signifies the Longhorns’ return to the college basketball elite. But look closely at Wednesday night’s game and there might be some things that make you think twice.
  • Dexter Pittman looked alive for the first time in a while and the defense played with intensity. Damion James played like a man possessed against Iowa State flying around grabbing one-handed rebounds like the best rebounder in Big 12 history that he is.
  • Despite the fact that Texas only won by seven, I think they showed signs of life against the Cyclones. This team looked like it came out knowing what people have been saying and ready to prove them wrong. That they can be that No. 1 team again. That they’re not a team that’s going to go quietly into the offseason.
  • The Horns have shown the ability to beat the bad teams in the Big 12. Now is the time to show they can play with the big boys. They’ll get their third shot at Baylor tonight. A win against the Bears could give this team some much needed confidence that they’ve been lacking since January.
  • I believe last night’s win showed that this team can still play. Tonight will be the true litmus test though. Beat Baylor and maybe, just maybe, Texas can make some magic this month. Lose, and this season will likely be over by no later than next Sunday.

Will we see the ‘Great Rebound’ or the ‘Great Demise’?

  • Tonight the Longhorns start the final chapter of the 2009-2010 season. I can’t recall another team that had so much promise and was thought to have been so good, fall so far.
  • We’ve all taken our shots. Dexter Pittman, Rick Barnes, J’Covan Brown, etc.. Nobody’s been safe. Every member of this year’s basketball team needs to share the blame for what has happened since January. From the freshmen to Rick Barnes, there has to be some blame for everyone.
  • This team does have talent though, right? They could be one of the best team’s in the country if they played/coached that way, right?
  • We’ve all written this season off, thinking that a Sweet Sixteen appearance if as far as this team could possibly go. But what if it’s not? What if the ‘Great Demise’ turned into the ‘Great Rebound’? What if this team played like it can and found ways to win?
  • While I’ll be the first to tell you this is extremely unlikely, it is possible. After all, the knock on the NCAA tournament is that it cheapens the regular season. It allows teams to mail it in for a while and still have a chance to win the title at the end of the season. Well folks, here we are. We’ve looked like garbage for a while, but none of that matters now. All that matters is the team on the other side of the court. Beat them and you get to keep playing. The first entry in this final chapter tips off tonight at 8:30 CT. If Texas can beat Iowa State and get some confidence, who know what could happen after that.

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