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HookEm

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Everything posted by HookEm

  1. I'm starting to feel like we are a little underrated. Coaches - #22 with several 3-loss teams ahead of us AP - #19 Katz - #28 Athletic - Not in top-35 CBS - Not in the top-26 FoxSports - Not in the top-25 BracketMatrix - Consensus 8-9 seed We played top-5 UConn very tough without both of our big men in a virtual road game. And we lost on the road against a fringe top-5 Marquette team in a F-you game from Shaka Smart. Other than that we have taken care of business against admittedly a pretty weak schedule. This is a team that hasn't played a lot of minutes together - and we have been without our best player. I think we are going to look a lot better over the coming two weeks now that Disu is working into the lineup. We are a lot closer to a top-15 team than a 9 seed in my view.
  2. I believe my friend still has his block of tickets. If you need 10+ together he might take $600 each at this point for the block of them. That would at least get you lower level. PM me if interested.
  3. If you are just now making logistical plans to go to this game, then you are likely screwed. New Year's Eve would have been an expensive hotel room in a normal year, much less with the CFP going on the next day. And air travel into New Orleans from ANYWHERE has been gone for weeks. Totally gone. (Although I hear that Delta is about to open 3 more flights). All of the above is why I think prices are going to come down dramatically over the next couple of weeks. Anyone who already has the logistical side wrapped up probably already has tickets. So you have a lot of tickets that need a home (~8,000 from what I can tell), without people that can get there to use them. And there isn't going to be a lot of local demand. Just my humble opinion.
  4. Not sure why you think that. Abmas, Brock, Disu (and to a degree Shedrick) can all shoot from outside. That is the kind of lineup Beard used to trot out at Tech. All forwards and maybe one guy to bring it up the court.
  5. Finally caught up and watched the LSU game. Pretty good game overall. Disu is going to have a very positive trickle down effect. It isn't just that Disu is better than Shedrick (he is by a lot), it is that Shedrick is a TON better than Onyema. That gives us a lot more flexibility. You can start with Disu and bring Shedrick off the bench or you can start both of them. The bottom line is that Disu is going to virtually eliminate Onyema's minutes. It also means that Mitchell can get more minutes at the 3 and eat into Horton's minutes. As far as that goes, I would play him the bare minimum at this point. He brings nothing to the table that you can't also get from Cunningham. And Weaver has infinitely more upside, so you may as well get him some reps. I might also give Chris Johnson all of his reps since he will also play some defense (and doesn't just hoist up bad shots constantly). I would allocate the minutes something like this (with the orange as my starters / closers): And y'all may disagree, but I would also like to see a "big" lineup for a few minutes just to try it out. Something like: Abmas + Brock + Mitchell + Disu + Shedrick. We can run a motion offense so Brock won't have to handle the ball - and a lot of the positions are interchangeable. And Brock can guard 3-4 different positions effectively.
  6. The difference is that with all the past additions, they have been accretive to the revenue pie. Adding teams made more money for the existing conference members. OU and Texas are better than average SEC teams and bring additional eyeballs. All the west coast teams brought the Big 10 eyes in some huge markets. There isn't a lot left. The ONLY team left for the SEC that wouldn't be dilutive would be Notre Dame or maybe UNC. They already have flagships in all the states with remaining decent programs. The Big 10 can add a bunch of schools like FSU, Virginia, etc. where they currently have no presence. I see us ending up with 3 major conferences: SEC, Big 10 and Big 12. The fact that there are still some good assets in the ACC will ironically seal its doom. FSU, UNC, Virginia and either Miami or Clemson will get divided up between the SEC and Big 10. The remaining good assets will get gobbled up by the Big 12 - and will fit perfectly. Virginia Tech, Pitt, Duke, either Clemson or Miami, maybe NC State, maybe Louisville. The rest will join has bens like Oregon State and Stanford and wind up in rag tag conferences that are regional. I think the 3 main conferences will contractually get a lions share of the playoff spots. SEC and Big 10 probably get 3 each. Big 12 gets 2. Leaving 4 at-large. Maybe one spot gets reserved for the pool of also-rans as long as they are in the top-25 or something (and a conference champ).
  7. As a guard, Doj was such a terrible free throw shooter that I just couldn't like him. His defense was just fantastic though. Could use him on this team.
  8. Given that Disu and Shedrick were't playing, we actually did pretty well against UCONN. That was a terrible matchup given our injuries and we were very much in it with a few minutes left to play. So this team is capable of playing with top-10 teams when they are healthy and clicking. Marquette was just so so bad. I was worried when Abmas came out and hit three straight 3s that we would settle for just jacking long shot. And we did. I still am hopeful that the team will improve as the competition improves. It is hard to take anything away from playing these terrible teams. LSU will be a good test. Hopefully we blow them out.
  9. I was really pimping this team in the offseason. And funny enough all the things you mentioned turned out to be true. Dillon Mitchell has made a leap. Shedrick is generally better than expected. Abmas is as efficient as ever. The team has some great athletes in Mitchell, Weaver and Hunter. But something is off. The chemistry is poor and the guards aren’t playing well. For this team to be good, Hunter has to be the lead guard and set the tone on offense and defense. He has majorly disappointed. And Horton has played even worse. So Abmas is having to carry the whole load. Or maybe the other guards are playing poorly because Abmas is hard to coexist with. Regardless it is ugly right now. Disu will help things, but it won’t matter if the guards aren’t better. Is that because of coaching? Maybe. Or maybe it is just poorly constructed. I just know I don’t enjoy what I’m watching much right now.
  10. I haven’t been able to watch yet (or read this thread) but I see Abmas had zero free throws. Does this staff realize they have one of the best free throw shooters in America and he IS NOT GETTING TO THE LINE!!! \Rant
  11. I don't know, his white guard ABSOLUTELY torched us last night.
  12. This is a terrible terrible loss. But ultimately it doesn’t matter.
  13. Yeah we have had so many incredible running backs. You even missed two of our best in Priest Holmes and Eric Metcalf. Here is the list of UT NFL running backs. I thought I would see where Ced stacked up. The list is sorted by career fantasy points... 1655.4 - Priest Holmes – 3x All Pro, 3x Pro Bowl 1644.9 - Ricky Williams – 1x All Pro, 1x Pro Bowl 1426.6 - Earl Campbell – 3x All Pro, 5x Pro Bowl, Hall of Fame 1367.6 - Jamaal Charles – 2x All Pro, 4x Pro Bowl 1067.7 - Eric Metcalf – 2x All Pro, 3x Pro Bowl 863.0 - Cedric Benson 474.6 - Roosevelt Leaks 360.2 - D’Onta Foreman (active) 258.8 - Malcolm Brown 158.4 - Chris Ogbonnaya 150.7 - Fozzy Whittaker 135.9 - Selvin Young 126.3 - Bijan Robinson (active) 68.1 - Ahmard Hall 42.1 - Roschon Johnson (active) 24.1 - Keaontay Ingram (active) And in the coming years we could also add Brooks, Baxter and Blue.
  14. Revised using the odds Bolverk's posted... Texas wins (88%) plus FSU loses (25.6%) - 100% we are in (.225) Michigan loses (10%) - 100% we are in (0.088) Bama wins (47.9%) - 50% chance we are in (0.211) Oregon wins (75.8%) - 5% chance we are in (0.033) The odds that at least ONE of the above of the above events happens is ~46%.
  15. I put our odds as follows: Texas wins (85%) plus FSU loses (40%) - 100% we are in (.340) Michigan loses (10%) - 100% we are in (0.085) Bama wins (35%) - 50% chance we are in (0.149) Oregon wins (75%) - 5% chance we are in (0.032) The odds that at least ONE of the above of the above events happens is ~45%. That is pretty close to our +130 Vegas odds for making the CFP.
  16. I agree if Georgia wins. There is no chance we get in over Oregon if it is a straight up decision. But if Bama wins, I think that changes the calculation. If we all win, they will have to decide whether to leave out the SEC, leave us out who beat Bama, or leave out the PAC 12. I think in that case Oregon COULD lose out. In that scenario, I put the odds of losing out at: Bama - 40% Texas - 35% Oregon - 25% Bama might jump us, but I don't think it is a certainty at all.
  17. If Oregon, Texas and Alabama all win it is going to get very interesting. Texas win over Alabama will look even better when Bama is #4-#5 after beating Georgia. Oregon's loss will look a lot worse when Washington drops to 12-1 and ~#8. We will still have the best win of the year. Bama's miracle win over Auburn could be the thing that keeps them out of the playoffs. I put the odds at 50/50 that we get in over Alabama and the SEC is left out - as crazy as that sounds.
  18. Agree 100%. It was possibly my all-time low as a sports fan... and on my birthday no less. Right up there with Chris Simms turning the ball over 100 times in the 2001 Big 12 Championship. And ACU beating us in the tourney. And Michael Crabtree's catch. But I think it trumps them all because we were so set up for long-term success. I have no doubt Beard would have won us a title eventually. I dare say FOR US, he was the top coach in the country given his age and fact he is an alumni. We could also use a shameless promoter like Beard (and he is the absolute best at that). There is literally no coach I would have rather had than him. And for Beard, there is nowhere else where he could win like he could at Texas WHILE living the life that he wants to live. He may eventually find his way to Kentucky or UNC - but his total life situation there will not be as good as it could have been here. I like Terry and still think we are set up for success. I think we could have a period of success comparable to Barnes best years where we make a string of Sweet 16/Elite 8 and maybe occasionally better. But his ceiling is lower than Beard. Then again, I suppose his floor is higher than Beard, who is one more F-up away from being out of basketball.
  19. Seems about right based on what I've seen. Potential to get up in the top 10 if Disu comes back and plays to his potential.
  20. Agree 100%. I just think with a guy like Abmas, you try to put him in a position to take BETTER shots, and help him find his rhythm. But I would ask him to shoot more, not less - and to work his ass off to get good shots. I will say it again, he needs to get to the line. That is the easiest way to lock in your shot during the game. I would tell him to attack the F out of the basket. He can finish - and if he doesn't he is going to get fouled a lot. Prior to today he was averaging less than a FT a game. That is horrid for a guy who can shoot 92%+. He needs to be averaging 5+ FT a game. I also haven't been THAT disappointed with his defense. It starts slow, but he seems to lock in as the game goes on. His defense at the end of the UCONN game was decent IMO. Not sure I can go that far, but I was thinking similarly today watching him run around grabbing key boards, blocking shots, stealing and disrupting all over the place. I would say Shedrick has been our best player. He has an 18.3 BPM. Next highest is Brock with 5.6. It would have completely and totally changed the UCONN game if he was out there. If we added Disu as well, I think we go from being out played down low to actually having the advantage.
  21. You could also make a case that he is our best player. He is leading the team in scoring (15.2 PPG) while shooting 41% 3PT%, 47 2P% and 88% FT%. He has a 2:1 AST-TO ratio. His usage is down ~30% vs. what he is used to at Oral Roberts and he is still just finding his place on the team. He will keep getting better as the year progresses - especially once Disu is back and teams HAVE to respect the P&R. We aren't used to seeing a gunner quite like Abmas. He needs to be a volume shooter - and he has been a winner doing so. It doesn't feel to me like he is forcing terrible shots - and his shooting percentages are all solid for a guy with his volume. When he is matched up against big guards, it may not be pretty but we will just have to adjust.
  22. Abmas can score. There is no doubt about that. I really like it so much better when he is attacking instead of just waiting to shoot 3s.
  23. Ha. And immediately Brock throws a bad pass turnover.
  24. Brock is the best passer on this team. Fight me.
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