Posted by Fran Fraschilla
I just had a discussion with a writer in Austin, Texas, about what makes Rick Barnes such a good coach in light of the Longhorns' win at UCLA. I was with Barnes (as an assistant) when he was a young head coach at Providence College, back when the Big East was a nine-team cage match. We were fighting for survival every night against teams that were more talented than we were, and Barnes was intense and, at times, hard to play for. He controlled every possession from the sideline, and that takes a lot out of a coach.
His transformation as a coach, I believe, took place when T.J. Ford arrived at Texas. Barnes gave him near total trust to run the Longhorns, and Ford led them to the Final Four in 2003. Since this newfound "freedom of expression," the Longhorns have produced three lottery picks, including Ford, LaMarcus Aldridge and Kevin Durant. There's a fourth on the way in sophomore D.J. Augustin.
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