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Texas Basketball 2023-24


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2 minutes ago, MotownHorn said:

You don't watch much basketball these days if you don't think a 6'6" guy who defends hard and shoots 40% from 3 has no shot at the NBA.

Cunningham is an undersized 4 in the college game. He can't guard NBA athletes on the wing, and he'd get killed in the paint. If Cunningham really thought he had a shot at the NBA, he'd wouldn't be returning for his 6th season. He'd be what, 25 in his rookie season next year. There isn't a team in the NBA that is going to give him minutes. He's a great college glue guy that can defend in the post in stretches and is absolutely a great program guy that the other guys on the ream respect.

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3 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

I don't think he's a 3/wing. I like him as a stretch 4 in college. I just don't see the fit with Shedrick, Disu, Onyema, and Cunningham playing the 4/5 minutes. I'd rather roll out with 3 guards at all times. Our most explosive offense last year was with Hunter, Carr, and Rice on the floor together.

Probably right offensively but Kaluma can definitely guard 3s/wings and he's a damn good defender too. 

I'm just thinking back to the Miami game and 6'7 Miller killing us with his size on the wing. We needed somebody like Kaluma in that one on the perimeter. 

 

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1 minute ago, HtownHorn said:

Cunningham is an undersized 4 in the college game. He can't guard NBA athletes on the wing, and he'd get killed in the paint. If Cunningham really thought he had a shot at the NBA, he'd wouldn't be returning for his 6th season. He'd be what, 25 in his rookie season next year. There isn't a team in the NBA that is going to give him minutes. He's a great college glue guy that can defend in the post in stretches and is absolutely a great program guy that the other guys on the ream respect.

We'll see

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if we do sign love he cannot be the same player for us as he has been for UNC if this team expects to maximize its potential. we already have a great back court. i'd we're going to add another guard it cannot be a guy who thinks he's going to continue to play 35 minutes a game while taking 14 shots every night at 36% from the field and under 30% from three. a lesser player who knows his role could be much more valuable than caleb love. this is reminding me of teams adding russell westbrook and kyrie irving and expecting to get better simply because those guys are big names. i do not see how he fits, or why we want him. 

again, signing him for the player who he is makes no sense; signing him and asking/expecting him to suddenly become a more efficient, more role-player like guy who doesn't dominate the ball also doesn't make sense. this is shaka smart all over again if we sign him. just sign the most highly ranked players, regardless of style or fit. no thank you.  do not want. 

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6 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

believing that this current Texas roster could compete for the league title next year is completely irrational.

First, betting on anyone except the Jayhawks in ANY year would be a bad bet given how dominant they have been. I'm not saying we will win the conference, but I am saying we will compete for it.  Last year was the toughest the conference has ever been and we finished 2nd and won the Big-12 Tourney.  I think we could be similarly competitive this year, even if we don't add any additional pieces.

I think this year’s roster stacks up VERY well vs. the roster last year:

  • PG – Hunter (’23) vs. Hunter (’24) – Moderate upgrade. Hunter will be a year older and was also injured a good bit of last year. He should be improved in all facets.
  • SG – Carr (’23) vs. Aẞmas (’24) – Slight upgrade.  Both are great players, but I give the edge to Aẞmas.  Carr is a better defender, but Aẞmas is a better scorer and is extremely efficient given his usage.  Aẞmas has Big 12 Conference PoY potential (and has already been NCAA All-Region, something Carr never did).
  • SF – Allen (’23) vs. Cunningham (’23) – Slight downgrade, but you all know I’m team Cunningham.  Honestly the team played better last year when Allen was hurt and Cunningham got more minutes.  Allen is the better player, but I’m not sure he is a better winner.
  • PF – Disu (’23) vs. Disu (’24) – Moderate upgrade. I’m assuming we get March Disu for a whole year, when he was playing like a 1st team All-American and setting Texas tournament scoring records
  • PF/C – Mitchell (’23) vs. Shedrick (’24) – Big upgrade. Shedrick was already better than Mitchell last year and gets another year to improve.  Shedrick will be a better interior defender, better shooter (79% vs 40% FT!) and better all around player

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Bench – Rice (’23) vs. Weaver (’24) – Big downgrade.  Rice was the man. Weaver looks like he will be very good, but Rice was a proven, mature former conference PoY.  This is the big missing piece in 2024.
  • Bench  – Bishop (’23) vs. Onyema (’24) – Moderate downgrade.  Bishop brought maturity, poise and toughness.  Onyema will be a senior and bring some of that as well, but I don’t think he will be as impactful as Bishop
  • Bench – Morris (’23) vs. Anamekwe (’24) – Big downgrade.  Morris was young and inconsistent, but he still provided an occasional spark or big moment.  Anamekwe is still probably a year from contributing more than garbage time.
  • Bench – Cunningham (’23) vs. ????? (’24) – Big downgrade, for now.

Bottom line, for me we have a better starting 5 than we had last year when we were a few bad calls from playing in a Final Four and possibly cutting down the nets.  We have two legit All-American candidates in Aẞmas and Disu.  We finally have an enforcer big man and he can actually shoot free throws.  We have one of the best backcourts in the country.

The big difference is in our bench.  Rice, Morris and Bishop were way better than Weaver and Onyema.  That said, all of our starters have played 30+ minutes in their career.  And Weaver can play starter minutes.  We don’t NEED a super deep bench. In fact, I think our bench hurt us a little last year because it kept players from getting in a rhythm.  Morris and Mitchell both would have been better if they had gotten more minutes.

And things are only going to get better from here.  We will add 1-2 more players who could range from role player to borderline superstar.  If that happens, Cunningham moves to the bench and we could end up with a considerably better starting 5 and only a slightly worse bench. 

I need to take a long look at KU and see how well their pieces fit together. 

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2 hours ago, MotownHorn said:

Personally I think there's a chance that Brock has a longer and more successful NBA career than Dillon Mitchell

 

2 hours ago, MotownHorn said:

You don't watch much basketball these days if you don't think a 6'6" guy who defends hard and shoots 40% from 3 has no shot at the NBA.

 

Brock is way too slow to guard an NBA 3, and he's way too small to guard an NBA 4.  And he ain't shooting 40% on contested threes in the NBA.  I like him as much as the next guy, but I expect he's on the radar of exactly zero NBA teams, unless they just want a white boy to sell a few D League tickets in Des Moines or something.

 

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Looking at former Big-12 Tourney MVPs and Disu is in some solid-ass company.  Man what a collection of great players. 

Disu is one of the very few who have come back for another year.  Here are all of them in the 25+ years of the Big 12::

  • Devonte Graham - Came back to KU and made an All-Region team and was a Wooden Finalist
  • Georges Niang - Came back to ISU and made an All-Region team and won the Karl Malone award
  • Mario Chalmers - Came back to KU, won a National Title and Tourney MoP
  • Hollis Price - Came back to OU and won Tourney MVP again the next year along with a 2nd team All-American award
  • Jeff Boschee - Won as a freshman at KU. Came back to start over 100 more games 
  • Paul Pierce - Came back to KU and won Tourney MVP again the next year along with a 1st team All-American award

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect a tremendous year from Disu next year. He was playing like an absolute monster to finish the year including being the first NCAA player in 20+ years to get  28 points, 10 boards, 2 steals without a turnover in a tourney game.

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41 minutes ago, HookEm said:

First, betting on anyone except the Jayhawks in ANY year would be a bad bet given how dominant they have been. I'm not saying we will win the conference, but I am saying we will compete for it.  Last year was the toughest the conference has ever been and we finished 2nd and won the Big-12 Tourney.  I think we could be similarly competitive this year, even if we don't add any additional pieces.

I think this year’s roster stacks up VERY well vs. the roster last year:

  • PG – Hunter (’23) vs. Hunter (’24) – Moderate upgrade. Hunter will be a year older and was also injured a good bit of last year. He should be improved in all facets.
  • SG – Carr (’23) vs. Aẞmas (’24) – Slight upgrade.  Both are great players, but I give the edge to Aẞmas.  Carr is a better defender, but Aẞmas is a better scorer and is extremely efficient given his usage.  Aẞmas has Big 12 Conference PoY potential (and has already been NCAA All-Region, something Carr never did).
  • SF – Allen (’23) vs. Cunningham (’23) – Slight downgrade, but you all know I’m team Cunningham.  Honestly the team played better last year when Allen was hurt and Cunningham got more minutes.  Allen is the better player, but I’m not sure he is a better winner.
  • PF – Disu (’23) vs. Disu (’24) – Moderate upgrade. I’m assuming we get March Disu for a whole year, when he was playing like a 1st team All-American and setting Texas tournament scoring records
  • PF/C – Mitchell (’23) vs. Shedrick (’24) – Big upgrade. Shedrick was already better than Mitchell last year and gets another year to improve.  Shedrick will be a better interior defender, better shooter (79% vs 40% FT!) and better all around player

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Bench – Rice (’23) vs. Weaver (’24) – Big downgrade.  Rice was the man. Weaver looks like he will be very good, but Rice was a proven, mature former conference PoY.  This is the big missing piece in 2024.
  • Bench  – Bishop (’23) vs. Onyema (’24) – Moderate downgrade.  Bishop brought maturity, poise and toughness.  Onyema will be a senior and bring some of that as well, but I don’t think he will be as impactful as Bishop
  • Bench – Morris (’23) vs. Anamekwe (’24) – Big downgrade.  Morris was young and inconsistent, but he still provided an occasional spark or big moment.  Anamekwe is still probably a year from contributing more than garbage time.
  • Bench – Cunningham (’23) vs. ????? (’24) – Big downgrade, for now.

Bottom line, for me we have a better starting 5 than we had last year when we were a few bad calls from playing in a Final Four and possibly cutting down the nets.  We have two legit All-American candidates in Aẞmas and Disu.  We finally have an enforcer big man and he can actually shoot free throws.  We have one of the best backcourts in the country.

The big difference is in our bench.  Rice, Morris and Bishop were way better than Weaver and Onyema.  That said, all of our starters have played 30+ minutes in their career.  And Weaver can play starter minutes.  We don’t NEED a super deep bench. In fact, I think our bench hurt us a little last year because it kept players from getting in a rhythm.  Morris and Mitchell both would have been better if they had gotten more minutes.

And things are only going to get better from here.  We will add 1-2 more players who could range from role player to borderline superstar.  If that happens, Cunningham moves to the bench and we could end up with a considerably better starting 5 and only a slightly worse bench. 

I need to take a long look at KU and see how well their pieces fit together. 

This. Nobody is saying we should be favored to win the Big 12, just that we should be competitive and in the conversation. That isn't "irrational sunshine pumping", it's a reasonable expectation that we should have every year going forward with this program. 

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1 hour ago, HookEm said:

First, betting on anyone except the Jayhawks in ANY year would be a bad bet given how dominant they have been. I'm not saying we will win the conference, but I am saying we will compete for it.  Last year was the toughest the conference has ever been and we finished 2nd and won the Big-12 Tourney.  I think we could be similarly competitive this year, even if we don't add any additional pieces.

I think this year’s roster stacks up VERY well vs. the roster last year:

  • PG – Hunter (’23) vs. Hunter (’24) – Moderate upgrade. Hunter will be a year older and was also injured a good bit of last year. He should be improved in all facets.
  • SG – Carr (’23) vs. Aẞmas (’24) – Slight upgrade.  Both are great players, but I give the edge to Aẞmas.  Carr is a better defender, but Aẞmas is a better scorer and is extremely efficient given his usage.  Aẞmas has Big 12 Conference PoY potential (and has already been NCAA All-Region, something Carr never did).
  • SF – Allen (’23) vs. Cunningham (’23) – Slight downgrade, but you all know I’m team Cunningham.  Honestly the team played better last year when Allen was hurt and Cunningham got more minutes.  Allen is the better player, but I’m not sure he is a better winner.
  • PF – Disu (’23) vs. Disu (’24) – Moderate upgrade. I’m assuming we get March Disu for a whole year, when he was playing like a 1st team All-American and setting Texas tournament scoring records
  • PF/C – Mitchell (’23) vs. Shedrick (’24) – Big upgrade. Shedrick was already better than Mitchell last year and gets another year to improve.  Shedrick will be a better interior defender, better shooter (79% vs 40% FT!) and better all around player

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  • Bench – Rice (’23) vs. Weaver (’24) – Big downgrade.  Rice was the man. Weaver looks like he will be very good, but Rice was a proven, mature former conference PoY.  This is the big missing piece in 2024.
  • Bench  – Bishop (’23) vs. Onyema (’24) – Moderate downgrade.  Bishop brought maturity, poise and toughness.  Onyema will be a senior and bring some of that as well, but I don’t think he will be as impactful as Bishop
  • Bench – Morris (’23) vs. Anamekwe (’24) – Big downgrade.  Morris was young and inconsistent, but he still provided an occasional spark or big moment.  Anamekwe is still probably a year from contributing more than garbage time.
  • Bench – Cunningham (’23) vs. ????? (’24) – Big downgrade, for now.

Bottom line, for me we have a better starting 5 than we had last year when we were a few bad calls from playing in a Final Four and possibly cutting down the nets.  We have two legit All-American candidates in Aẞmas and Disu.  We finally have an enforcer big man and he can actually shoot free throws.  We have one of the best backcourts in the country.

The big difference is in our bench.  Rice, Morris and Bishop were way better than Weaver and Onyema.  That said, all of our starters have played 30+ minutes in their career.  And Weaver can play starter minutes.  We don’t NEED a super deep bench. In fact, I think our bench hurt us a little last year because it kept players from getting in a rhythm.  Morris and Mitchell both would have been better if they had gotten more minutes.

And things are only going to get better from here.  We will add 1-2 more players who could range from role player to borderline superstar.  If that happens, Cunningham moves to the bench and we could end up with a considerably better starting 5 and only a slightly worse bench. 

I need to take a long look at KU and see how well their pieces fit together. 

Ok I’m sold.  If we add a Rice clone, that pushes Weaver into replacing Morris and Anamekwe into replacing 2023 Cunningham. We are one player away from being a legit contender and are a Sweet 16 contender as-is.

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1 hour ago, TexArcher said:

 

 

Brock is way too slow to guard an NBA 3, and he's way too small to guard an NBA 4.  And he ain't shooting 40% on contested threes in the NBA.  I like him as much as the next guy, but I expect he's on the radar of exactly zero NBA teams, unless they just want a white boy to sell a few D League tickets in Des Moines or something.

 

Is PJ Tucker a lot faster than Brock? Because he’s an inch shorter and has made a long, lucrative career with his defense, rebounding, hustle, and ability to hit open 3s

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I like Brock as a player but his pro ceiling is probably a couple years in the developmental league or oversees someplace in the euro league

He’s kinda stuck in the no man’s land between guard and forward, which is a non issue on college but would be exposed in the nba

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46 minutes ago, MotownHorn said:

Is PJ Tucker a lot faster than Brock? Because he’s an inch shorter and has made a long, lucrative career with his defense, rebounding, hustle, and ability to hit open 3s

Yeah, and PJ was signficantly better at all of those things, not least of all because he probably benches double what Brock does.

In what world do you see Brock Cunningham blocking out NBA power forwards for a rebound and it working, or Brock d-ing them up and not getting abused over and over?

I can't do this anymore.  I like Brock.  He's not an NBA player.  I'll buy you his Nikes when they come out if I'm wrong.

 

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2 hours ago, ztejas said:

Yeah why would Brock want to play in the NBA anyway. He'll go into commercial real estate and get a wakeboard boat and crush puss. 

He’s already doing 2 of 3 these days 

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3 hours ago, MotownHorn said:

Is PJ Tucker a lot faster than Brock? Because he’s an inch shorter and has made a long, lucrative career with his defense, rebounding, hustle, and ability to hit open 3s

Tom Brady and I are both awkward white guys who crush hot Brazilian ass, why shouldn't I make it in the league?

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9 hours ago, MotownHorn said:

Agreed 100%

Personally I think there's a chance that Brock has a longer and more successful NBA career than Dillon Mitchell

 

5 hours ago, MotownHorn said:

Is PJ Tucker a lot faster than Brock? Because he’s an inch shorter and has made a long, lucrative career with his defense, rebounding, hustle, and ability to hit open 3s

DetroitHorn coming in with the room temperature IQ takes again, I see. 

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11 hours ago, VinyVango said:

I like Brock as a player but his pro ceiling is probably a couple years in the developmental league or oversees someplace in the euro league

He’s kinda stuck in the no man’s land between guard and forward, which is a non issue on college but would be exposed in the nba

I’d get into coaching if I were him

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Some interesting quotes in this article. Sounds like Kaluma might be returning to college. Also, it sure sounds like Dillon Mitchell thinks we recruited over him in the portal if I'm interpreting these quotes correctly. 

"Just seeing what their roster looks like. We’ll see how this process goes, but if not, we’ll see how they will use me. Obviously, there are different ways. Expecting different ways. Looking at their roster and seeing where I’d fit in. They’ve picked up some good guys, I know that for sure.” 

https://247sports.com/longformarticle/nba-combine-notebook-kentucky-stars-speak-out-latest-on-top-unco-210460601/#2170394

 

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2 hours ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Some interesting quotes in this article. Sounds like Kaluma might be returning to college. Also, it sure sounds like Dillon Mitchell thinks we recruited over him in the portal if I'm interpreting these quotes correctly. 

"Just seeing what their roster looks like. We’ll see how this process goes, but if not, we’ll see how they will use me. Obviously, there are different ways. Expecting different ways. Looking at their roster and seeing where I’d fit in. They’ve picked up some good guys, I know that for sure.” 

https://247sports.com/longformarticle/nba-combine-notebook-kentucky-stars-speak-out-latest-on-top-unco-210460601/#2170394

 

Mitchell has very little fit with the current roster. If he had a consistent jumper, they could play him on the wing, but he's 4/5, and Texas has those minutes covered for next season.

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2 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Mitchell has very little fit with the current roster. If he had a consistent jumper, they could play him on the wing, but he's 4/5, and Texas has those minutes covered for next season.

Yeah and this is even more true if they add Kaluma who can give you minutes at the 3 or 4. 

I'm kind of surprised Mitchell didn't enter the portal but maybe his intention was never to return to college. 

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Just now, Rickylovesweed said:

Yeah and this is even more true if they add Kaluma who can give you minutes at the 3 or 4. 

I'm kind of surprised Mitchell didn't enter the portal but maybe his intention was never to return to college. 

Kaluma has just enough offense flexibility to play the wing with Disu and Shedrick. I'd still prefer a big guard that shoots in the 38%+ range.

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2 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Kaluma has just enough offense flexibility to play the wing with Disu and Shedrick. I'd still prefer a big guard that shoots in the 38%+ range.

Various justifications for all options. 

Spencer is the best shooter out of all the options. Love is the most athletic and probably best option for another ball handler. Kaluma is the best defender and probably the best all-around player out of the 3 but he's a tweener between the 3/4. 

I think we have a lot of offensive options already. Out of the 3, I think I prefer Kaluma if you believe he can legitimately play at the 3/wing. Also, Kaluma has plenty of offensive game too. 

 

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16 minutes ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Various justifications for all options. 

Spencer is the best shooter out of all the options. Love is the most athletic and probably best option for another ball handler. Kaluma is the best defender and probably the best all-around player out of the 3 but he's a tweener between the 3/4. 

I think we have a lot of offensive options already. Out of the 3, I think I prefer Kaluma if you believe he can legitimately play at the 3/wing. Also, Kaluma has plenty of offensive game too. 

Lawrence is still there as well. I'd go Spencer, Lawrence, Love, and Kaluma.

 

Nevermind on Lawrence, apparently he's staying in the draft.

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4 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

From Gerry today.

Texas has Zoom calls set up with Love and Spencer next week. Would take both if they could, and likely shut it down. Kaluma and Spencer have real interest in Texas.

Feels like we should take Kaluma with one of the guards don't you think? But I guess just take whichever 2 want to come. 

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anyone in the "RT RT he's our man!!!" camp needs to pray that we don't sign love. because guess what- you don't get to vociferously champion RT and then bitch when his team underachieves because he signed a ball dominating guard who takes away from (arguably) our two best players. the fact that we're so interested in him when we already have two excellent guards is a pretty big red flag. 

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Yeah, I think a lot of people saw the Holland news as Texas not spending $. 

Or maybe Texas didn't think a FR was worth as much as Arkansas is paying? NIL allocation is an interesting topic. If you are comparing a player like Kaluma and Holland, I would hope we are prioritizing Kaluma. Not to get on this 5 star FR tangent again but that's just how I feel. 

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14 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

anyone in the "RT RT he's our man!!!" camp needs to pray that we don't sign love. because guess what- you don't get to vociferously champion RT and then bitch when his team underachieves because he signed a ball dominating guard who takes away from (arguably) our two best players. the fact that we're so interested in him when we already have two excellent guards is a pretty big red flag. 

I don't think it is a problem at all to sign Caleb Love.  The guy is a year removed from leading his team to the National Final game while earning All Tournament honors.  I have no doubt that Hunter, Love and Abmas could figure out how to coexist as a 3-guard lineup (probably the best one in the country).  Love has the size to play the 3 at the college level.  He wouldn't be a ball dominating guard in that case, but rather a primary scoring threat off the wing.  

He's probably not coming here anyway so it doesn't matter, but none of the UNC fans were shitting on him a year ago. Did he suddenly forget how to play basketball? 

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love's tourney performance is analogous to UNC's late season/tourney performance- an outlier among a much bigger, more reliable body of work. UNC came into last season ranked no.1 in america based off that tourney performance and in the end they were an epic failure that didn't even make the 2023 tourney. caleb love is the perfect representative/analog for that team. much like shaka's random/inexplicable tourney run, the entire rest of the body of work screams, "stay away." 

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