Role play leads Chapman to career showing
Feb. 5, 2012
Natalie England, TexasSports.com AUSTIN, Texas – Kenny Chapman has criss-crossed the globe fighting forest fires, but on this Saturday night, he was at the Frank Erwin Center, watching his son play a basketball game. Clint Chapman, of course, is a senior post for the Texas Longhorns, and with his family in the stands, he produced a career night as UT rolled to a 74-57 victory against Texas Tech. Chapman finished with a career-high 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including a pair of throwdown dunks in the second half that provoked postgame inquires about how Chapman would fare in a contest against Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin. “Obviously, that’s one that doesn’t need to be answered,” Chapman remarked. And Chapman had his father to illustrate why. It was after each one of his career-high eight made free throws (on eight attempts) that Chapman looked out into the arena to find Kenny caught up in wild fist pumps. “He was more excited about those than any other play. He knows exactly just how important that is,” Chapman said. “That’s my job. If I’m not going to finish at the rim, making those free throws is just as important. I take a lot of pride in shooting and making free throws.” The Longhorns coupled offensive execution with defensive intensity in the opening minutes Saturday against Tech, and they hit 6 of their first 7 shots from the field while building a 16-7 lead. However, as UT’s offensive pace slowed – the Longhorns hit just 4 of 22 shots the rest of the half – Chapman was perfect in his eight trips to the foul line to allow UT to maintain a 40-25 lead at halftime. “In my mind, if I’m 0 for 2 in that situation, it’s just like a turnover,” Chapman said. Likewise, Chapman doesn’t expect many atta-boys from his coaches or teammates for simply fulfilling his role. Chapman described his career night as merely a product of him living up to expectations. Six of his points were under-the-basket put backs, the result of four offensive rebounds. And both of Chapman’s emphatic slam dunks developed because he communicated with his teammates and was alert enough to grab passes and finish in rhythm.
“I just have to think about doing my job every night. When that happens, our guards will set me up with easy plays,” Chapman said. “It’s not a lot of face-up stuff, just me getting to where I need to be and finishing plays. My job is to catch the ball in stride and finish at the rim.” This marked Chapman’s fifth double-digit scoring game this season and his first since putting up 15 against Kansas in January. Ironically, Chapman said Tech runs a similar post offense to the Jayhawks, who try to seal post players high in the lane. Red Raiders post players Robert Lewandowski and Jaye Crockett were limited to just 13 combined points on 6-of-15 shooting. Chapman matched his career high with five blocks. “We knew we needed to push them out of the lane,” Chapman said. “I could stay down with my hands up, and I was able to make plays without even leaving my feet.” The Longhorns now travel to Texas A&M for UT’s second-straight ESPN “Big Monday” game. UT defeated the Aggies 61-51 on Jan. 11 in Austin, and Chapman contributed 11 points and seven rebounds in that victory. “There’s a lot of time left to play,” UT coach Rick Barnes said. “(Chapman) was effective (against Tech), but now he’s going to have to do it again. Texas A&M has more bodies. It’s going to be a very physical game, and that’s where he’s going to have to show that he can do it.” |
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