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Hindsight is 20/20- The 2019-20 Texas Longhorns thread


Goo Punch

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1 hour ago, Goo Punch said:

i thought that TTU and UVA both ran versions of the pack line defense, but I don't really know any specifics other than that.

I thought the same, but I also thought Michigan ran something similar over the past few years which is incorrect. So I was just hedging a little given my record on identifying defenses. 

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9 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

i thought that TTU and UVA both ran versions of the pack line defense, but I don't really know any specifics other than that.

Tech's defensive system is somewhat unique and a frankenstein's monster of various college and NBA defensive philosophies put together by Beard and Adams. You wouldn't really find an analogue anywhere else, at least last season. I imagine there will be a number of copycats this season.

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30 minutes ago, Brian Fantana said:

Tech's defensive system is somewhat unique and a frankenstein's monster of various college and NBA defensive philosophies put together by Beard and Adams. You wouldn't really find an analogue anywhere else, at least last season. I imagine there will be a number of copycats this season.

Agreed on both counts.

Virginia's pack-line defense is more about limiting penetration overall than it is about pushing everything to the outer thirds of the floor. It also has some tinges of a zone in that the four players not on the ball are playing gaps more than just their man. Tech's defense has some similarities but is more aggressive about help defense and swarming the ballhandler when they drive.

EDIT: This is as good a time as any to recommend subscribing to Jordan Sperber's newsletter & Youtube channel (username hoopvision68), he's one of the best guys to follow for breaking down various college & pro teams.

Edited by Bitterwhiteguy
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On 9/25/2019 at 6:28 PM, LTtxfan said:

^^^This is F'n Stupid...

It's no dumber than offensive linemen holding hands.

20140801__0802dlsmovie3.jpg?w=620

 

Stupid things seem twice as stupid, though, when they are followed by, you know... losing. Being bad at what you do.

They can slap the floor all fucking game long, for all I care, provided they stop blowing 2nd half leads, play decent perimeter defense, don't turn the fucking ball over, and block somebody (anybody) out when a shot is in the air. Don't do any of those things, and they'll look stupid no matter what they do.

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Good idea to remind the football crowd that we have a basketball team...

 

The 2019-20 Texas Basketball seasons are only a few weeks away. This Saturday, both the men's and women's teams take over Bevo Blvd. presented by H-E-B for a one-of-a-kind Texas Basketball experience prior to Texas Football's game with Kansas at 6 p.m. (presented by Equipment Depot).

Fans can look forward to meeting the Men's and Women's Basketball teams while participating in interactive games, including Big Shot Basketball, Revolution Hoops, Vertical Jump, Perfect Pass, and Measure Up with Hook 'Em! Fans can also take photos at the Texas Basketball GIF station that will be sent directly to their phones.

The 'All For Texas Basketball Experience,' located in front of the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center along San Jacinto Blvd, begins at 1 p.m. The Men's Basketball team is scheduled to arrive at 3 p.m., and Women's Basketball is set to join the party at 3:45 p.m.

This is your first opportunity to get the official 2019-20 Texas Basketball posters. Athletes from both teams will distribute player trading cards while supplies last. 'All For Texas' scratch-off game cards are also available for fans to win great Texas Basketball prizes including season tickets, mini plans, and more!

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Absent a newcomer being college-ready and very good, or one of our returning players making a huge improvement, I'm expecting this year to be one where we are at about 16 wins with a handful of games left trying to fight for a 8-11 seed in the NCAA tournament.  Mediocrity.  I really do hope the NIT last year was a sign of development rather than just a few loose games after shitting the NCAA bed. 

I am hopeful Liddell and Hamm build off the good stuff they showed in very limited minutes.  It would be nice if Cunningham turms out to be a scrappy perimeter defender and a good shooter.  It would be great if Baker turns out to be confident and aggressive and a presence in the paint.  I am hopeful Hepa has improved his lateral movement and is out of the tall, slow, 2 guard mindset.

If we have to rely solely on Coleman, Ramey and Febres to be consistent and carry the scoring load, we'll be looking about 15 - 17 wins max.

With growth and familiarity with the "system" we should have a NCAA tourney bound team on paper, but we haven't had a functional system most of the time since Shaka has been here.

The play of guys like Coleman, Simms, and Febres (all of whom have gotten meaningful minutes for multiple years) will tell us early where we stand.  Those are the guys are younger, greener  players will look towards and rely on when the going gets rough.  If they look out of control, deflated, and/or lost more often than not, we are in for another fight for middle of the pack in conference.

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I think 4th in conference is a pretty generous projection unless everyone is assuming Jones is healthy again.  If he is healthy and can play like he did before cancer then we might be good.  

 

I don't keep up with the other teams all that much.  Can anyone tell me what the other teams in conference lost or gained during the offseason?  Obviously Kansas and Tech will be really good again this year.  Baylor was young last year and should improve a lot.  What about the other teams?  Are we projected 4th just because the rest of the conference is utter dogshit?

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6 minutes ago, txhorns said:

I think 4th in conference is a pretty generous projection unless everyone is assuming Jones is healthy again.  If he is healthy and can play like he did before cancer then we might be good.  

 

I don't keep up with the other teams all that much.  Can anyone tell me what the other teams in conference lost or gained during the offseason?  Obviously Kansas and Tech will be really good again this year.  Baylor was young last year and should improve a lot.  What about the other teams?  Are we projected 4th just because the rest of the conference is utter dogshit?

Cliff's Notes of the conference preview I'm posting in a couple weeks:

Kansas is Final Four-level loaded this year; Baylor has a good chance at being 2nd; Tech may take a fall due to turnover (they lost to UTEP in a scrimmage a week ago, UTEP went 3-15 in CUSA last year); Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Texas, Kansas State, and West Virginia have high variability in outcomes; Oklahoma seems dependent on De'Vion Harmon to do much this year, and TCU is a mystery bag everybody is pegging to be last. Overall the conference will still probably send 7 teams to the dance.

Edited by Bitterwhiteguy
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36 minutes ago, Henry Hill said:

What is our ceiling? Back-to-back NIT champs a la Tom Emanski? Juice boxes and orange slices to kick off March sadness? Just missing out on Greg Brown? I’m giddy with excitement.

Our ceiling is pretty damn high, probably an Elite Eight.  Our floor is pretty damn low.  

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why am I picturing Smart and Orlando sharing lunch together today, mumbling about how unfair things are here at UT.  

$100,000 hits each of their bank accounts every other week.  

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2 hours ago, txhorns said:

Our ceiling is pretty damn high, probably an Elite Eight.  Our floor is pretty damn low.  

I have heard a source who has visited practices around the conference describe Texas as a sweet sixteen level team. It's only one source so the normal caveat applies, but there's a buzz this year that I do not recall hearing the last couple of seasons.

EDIT: Fuck, I almost went full Rothstein there. I am ashamed of myself, and will log off to contemplate my sins.

Edited by Bitterwhiteguy
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5 minutes ago, Bitterwhiteguy said:

I have heard a source who has visited practices around the conference describe Texas as a sweet sixteen level team. It's only one source so the normal caveat applies, but there's a buzz this year that I do not recall hearing the last couple of seasons.

EDIT: Fuck, I almost went full Rothstein there. I am ashamed of myself, and will log off to contemplate my sins.

There's a whole lot of "ifs" for this team and if they all came true this is a damn good team.  Individually those "ifs" are probably pretty realistic.  As a whole there's little chance under Shaka that all or even most of them come true.

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we have one player who made the preseason  All Conference Tam (Matt Coleman- Honorable Mention), our best player hasn't played (for real) in a year and a half and is returning from cancer, and our front court is severely lacking. this team's ceiling is that of a top 25 team, and that's only because of our assistant hires (Hudy, Berry, Yaklich), and only if we shoot the ball well with at least above average volume and are able to pick up on Yaklich's D. 

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Texas hoops roster 2019-20

 

Guards-

 

Andrew Jones 

Courtney Ramey

Matt Coleman

Jase Febres

Donovan Williams

 

Forwards-

 

Royce Hamm

Gerald Liddell

Kamaka Hepa

Kai Jones

Brock Cunningham

 

Centers-

 

Jericho Sims

Will Baker

 

Position grades:

 

Guards: B+, assuming AJ is healthy 

Forwards: D

Centers: C-

 

Our guards look nice (again, assuming AJ is or above 90%), but the rest of it is bad. Real bad. Our coaches have their work cut out for them. 

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1 hour ago, MirrOlure said:

I just stopped by to add:

OOC Schedule: F- - - - -

What a steaming pile of dogshit. And how fitting.

The home slate is maybe the worst I've seen in 20 years (the LSU game is the only saving grace) but the neutral/road games are solid. Purdue, Providence, Georgetown, and potentially Duke are all decent-to-good opponents.

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17 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Texas hoops roster 2019-20

 

Guards-

 

Andrew Jones 

Courtney Ramey

Matt Coleman

Jase Febres

Donovan Williams

 

Forwards-

 

Royce Hamm

Gerald Liddell

Kamaka Hepa

Kai Jones

Brock Cunningham

 

Centers-

 

Jericho Sims

Will Baker

 

Position grades:

 

Guards: B+, assuming AJ is healthy 

Forwards: D

Centers: C-

 

Our guards look nice (again, assuming AJ is or above 90%), but the rest of it is bad. Real bad. Our coaches have their work cut out for them. 

While this is probably accurate the one saving grace in all this is the diminishing importance of bigs in today's game.  If our bigs can improve upon last year's rebounding #s, and by some sort of miracle mitigate the loss of 2 good free throw shooting bigs (Osetkowski & Hayes) then their relatively lackluster offensive potential will be easier to stomach.  

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On 10/21/2019 at 4:37 PM, Goo Punch said:

we have one player who made the preseason  All Conference Tam (Matt Coleman- Honorable Mention), our best player hasn't played (for real) in a year and a half and is returning from cancer, and our front court is severely lacking. this team's ceiling is that of a top 25 team, and that's only because of our assistant hires (Hudy, Berry, Yaklich), and only if we shoot the ball well with at least above average volume and are able to pick up on Yaklich's D. 

Little too early to be so negative Goo...

If this crew can play better defense and reduce the number of stupid turnovers per game, they might have an outside shot to make it to the 2nd weekend of the NCAA Tourney...

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35 minutes ago, LTtxfan said:

Little too early to be so negative Goo...

If this crew can play better defense and reduce the number of stupid turnovers per game, they might have an outside shot to make it to the 2nd weekend of the NCAA Tourney...

While I think I know what you're referring to as far as late game turnovers, our overall TO% was pretty low last year at 36th best in the nation. TO% is probably the one area where Shaka's teams have performed relatively well throughout his tenure. On the other side of the spectrum, rebounding is a specific area where his teams have under performed woefully based on our talent. I think our rebounding % and 3pt% will be the telltale sign of whether we're worth a damn or not this year. We all know we're going to chuck up a lot of 3s so hopefully we drain them at healthy percentage to make it worth our while. With Yaklich I look for our defense to potentially enter into the elite category because he has a history of doing exactly that with his time at Michigan with arguably inferior defensive talent. Saying all this, I've learned to temper my hopes because the last 4 years have shown that's the best course of action. 

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12 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

While I think I know what you're referring to as far as late game turnovers, our overall TO% was pretty low last year at 36th best in the nation. TO% is probably the one area where Shaka's teams have performed relatively well throughout his tenure. On the other side of the spectrum, rebounding is a specific area where his teams have under performed woefully based on our talent. I think our rebounding % and 3pt% will be the telltale sign of whether we're worth a damn or not this year. We all know we're going to chuck up a lot of 3s so hopefully we drain them at healthy percentage to make it worth our while. With Yaklich I look for our defense to potentially enter into the elite category because he has a history of doing exactly that with his time at Michigan with arguably inferior defensive talent. Saying all this, I've learned to temper my hopes because the last 4 years have shown that's the best course of action. 

Yaklich places a huge emphasis on defensive rebounding as well, so that side of the ball may improve. I don't think offensive rebounding is likely to make much improvement as I think both Shaka and Yaklich value getting back and setup on defense more than going after offensive boards.

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On 10/21/2019 at 4:37 PM, Goo Punch said:

we have one player who made the preseason  All Conference Tam (Matt Coleman- Honorable Mention), our best player hasn't played (for real) in a year and a half and is returning from cancer, and our front court is severely lacking. this team's ceiling is that of a top 25 team, and that's only because of our assistant hires (Hudy, Berry, Yaklich), and only if we shoot the ball well with at least above average volume and are able to pick up on Yaklich's D. 

I get the pessimism.  I'm feeling it too.  But, our front court is more question mark that grade-able at this point in time.  Shaka didn't really give any of the current forwards and centers other than Simms any real minutes in the front court last year.  He chose to play 4 guards (with disastrous results most of the time) rather than giving Hamm, Liddell, or Hepa any reasonable or meaningful playing time.  I'm more worried about our "experienced" guys forcing stuff.

I'm kind of looking forward to seeing a lot of rotation early in the season to see what everyone (including coaches) brings to the table.  I think Kai jones, Baker, Cunningham, Liddell, and Hamm will be better than anticipated.  I fear Sims, Coleman, Hepa, and Febres will be mirrors of themselves last year (very average).  Ramey is the guy most likely to step up.  Andrew Jones is dealers money.  I feel like we'll be scratching just to get a low seed bid to the NCAA Tournament. If Andrew Jones and one of our front court guys (and Ramey) play inspired,  situational savvy, consistent B+ basketball, and one or more of the Simms/Coleman/Febres decide to occasionally show up in crunch time, we could maybe get a win or two in the NCAA Tourney.

When the game is on the line this year, Shaka's going to rely on Coleman, Ramey, and Febres (and maybe A Jones if he is back to a semblance of his playing self).  The young guys are going to look to them too.  If Coleman and Febres look like they did at the end of last year or better, we might be pretty decent.  If they peaked last year, it will be another rough year.

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Quote

“Texas, they look and play like an NCAA Tournament team,” Davis said. “They were very well-coached. It was a competitive scrimmage. It was really good for us; I’m sure (Texas head coach) Shaka (Smart) would say the same thing.

Well, this is Kermit Davis saying this, so take it at face value.

 

Quote

But they didn’t shoot particularly well from three, while Texas found regular success from distance.

I just picture Kermit doing a standup routine here.  Prove me wrong Texas.  Prove me wrong Texas. 

tex-miss scrimmage

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5 minutes ago, Walden Ponderer said:

Not bad -- a tight win over a below average team from a mediocre conference. At this rate, we've got a decent chance of making the NIT again this year.

<confetti drop.gif>

Ole Miss had a pretty good year last year and returns a solid group of players.  They aren't a below average team.

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That is not below average.  Other things have them 7th, so an average or below-average SEC team, but definitely not a below average team overall.  They are projected as a tourney team, and the SEC is certainly not a below average conference.  Top 2 or 3 this year in rankings I've seen.  That said, it's not like a preseason scrimmage is grounds for celebration.

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