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Texas Basketball 2023-24


MuellerHorn

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If Morris was upset over his minutes at Texas he better hope he's improved because he was already going to be a borderline starter before McCullar returning. I don't think Morris will even start at Kansas now. 

Harris, Timberlake, and McCullar will probably start in the backcourt. Then there's no guarantee that Morris will even be ahead of Elmarko Jackson off the bench. 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Rickylovesweed said:

If Morris was upset over his minutes at Texas he better hope he's improved because he was already going to be a borderline starter before McCullar returning. I don't think Morris will even start at Kansas now. 

Harris, Timberlake, and McCullar will probably start in the backcourt. Then there's no guarantee that Morris will even be ahead of Elmarko Jackson off the bench. 

 

 

Kansas may have one of their better teams next year. It’s conceivable that Morris could make a big jump from year one to two, but if he doesn’t, he will have to play school a lot longer than he had intended. 

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2 hours ago, HookEm said:

I suppose even I will admit that KU has a better roster than us now, and probably the best team in the nation. 

Guessing they go with a starting lineup of:

  • PG - Dajuan Harris
  • SG - Nicolas Timberlake
  • SF - Kevin McCullar
  • PF - KJ Adams
  • C - Hunter Dickinson

Off the bench then you would have Arterio Morris, Elmarko Jackson and Parker Braun (plus all the other freshmen).  They are going to be a handful. 

They still have a pretty young bench.  It will be interesting to see how the minutes get distributed. Arterio Morris could have been a starter getting 32 mpg and been a key piece for us.  Now, he is going to be fighting with freshmen for PT.  

I am interested to see how their floor spacing works with Timberlake suffers a regression due to the step up in competition. Harris is a decent shooter on a low volume while McCullar and Admas are awful outside the paint.

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Morris is the kind of athlete that makes it hard for the average Joe like me to evaluate.  His burst was just phenomenal, and I wanted to see more of it, more minutes.  Ultimately I had to accept the fact that he wasn't really contributing much, but I'll be damned if he doesn't have a legitimate star upside.  I guess we'll see.

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10 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Morris is the kind of athlete that makes it hard for the average Joe like me to evaluate.  His burst was just phenomenal, and I wanted to see more of it, more minutes.  Ultimately I had to accept the fact that he wasn't really contributing much, but I'll be damned if he doesn't have a legitimate star upside.  I guess we'll see.

He and Mitchell were our twitchiest players.  

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So to summarize, we are looking heavily at the following

  • Caleb Love - SR - G - 6'4, 195 - All Tourney Team ('22)
  • Cam Spencer - 5th SR - G - 6'4, 205 - 1st team Patriot League ('22)
  • Julian Phillips - SO - F - 6'8, 198 - SEC All-Freshman
  • Arthur Kaluma - JR - F - 6'7, 220 - Big East All Freshman ('22)

Personally I would rank them in the order listed, with a strong preference for Love or Spencer over the forwards.  I think we can find another big guy in the portal as needed.  Getting another elite guard would let us play small and make us a much tougher out IMO. 

Love has been playing basketball against the highest levels of competition his whole life and he has already shown tourney success. His efficiency isn't great, but has improved every year.  His 2P% has gone from 34.8% -> 38.0% -> 45.5%.  His turnovers have dropped from 3.1 -> 2.7 -> 2.4.  I would expect him to show continued improvement with another year and a change of scenery.  

Here is how both Love and Spencer compare to Abmas and Weaver... and Carr and Rice in the year before coming to UT

  • Caleb Love - UNC, 22-23, 35.7 MP, 3.5/7.7 45.5 2P%, 2.2/7.4 29.9 3P%, 3.1/4.0 76.5 FT%, 16.7 PTS, 2.8 AST, 3.7 TRB, 1.1 STL, 2.4 TO, 2.8 WS, 14.5 PER
  • Cam Spencer - RUT - 22-23, 31.5 MP, 2.3/5.1 45.3 2P%, 2.1/4.9 43.4 3P%, 2.2/2.5 89.4 FT%, 13.2 PTS, 3.1 AST, 3.8 TRB, 2.0 STL, 1.4 TO, 5.5 WS, 21.4 PER
  • Max Abmas - ORU - 22-23, 36.0 MP, 3.4/6.3 53.0 2P%, 3.5/9.4 37.3 3P%, 4.6/5.1 91.1 FT%, 21.9 PTS, 4.0 AST, 4.4 TRB, 1.1 STL, 2.0 TO, 6.7 WS, 24.7 PER
  • C. Weaver - UTA - 22-23, 29.5 MP, 2.1/4.5 46.5 2P%, 1.0/2.6 40.2 3P%, 2.2/3.2 70.3 FT%, 9.5 PTS, 2.0 AST, 4.6 TRB, 0.9 STL, 1.2 TO, 3.2 WS, 15.4 PER
  • Marcus Carr - MIN, 20-21, 35.8 MP, 3.9/9.1 43.3 2P%, 2.1/6.5 31.7 3P%, 5.3/6.7 79.9 FT%, 19.4 PTS, 4.9 AST, 4.0 TRB, 1.3 STL, 2.3 TO, 3.8 WS, 20.7 PER
  • Jabari Rice - NMS - 21-22, 32.3 MP, 1.9/4.2 39.1 2P%, 1.8/5.2 34.1 3P%, 2.8/3.5 77.9 FT%, 11.9 PTS, 3.1 AST, 5.1 TRB, 0.6 STL, 2.5 TO, 3.4 WS, 14.3 PER

Holy hell, Abmas is putting up some numbers.  A step above the other guys in almost ever way.  Great efficiency on really big volume. He is going to be awesome.  Love has pretty similar stats to Carr's last year at Minnesota (where Carr was actually a year older since he had to sit out a year after transferring from Pitt). 

Since whoever we recruit is likely to play on the wing, I would rather have someone who can attack and get to the line.  I think Love fits the bill better than Spencer, who seems to be more of a long range sniper.

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1 hour ago, VinyVango said:

If Love can be more selective with his shots, play inspired defense, and play team ball I’m fine with adding his experience and reassured by the fact Mark Few appears to believe that.

Here are some comments from Roy Williams during his freshman year:

"Defensively, I think he could be one of the best defensive guards I've ever coached. Playing his position, he has strength, he has speed, he has jumping ability, he has great feet. He's been shooting it well in practice. He's been really working at it, I mean you saw after one of our games, he was still here at midnight working on his shot. He's working at it and jut a tremendous young man."

Here are some draft notes:

Love is an aggressive scoring guard with a downhill style of play. He attacks the defense and has both power and quickness on his drives to the hoop. He doesn’t shy away from contact and he’s a guy who can finish above the rim. His step-back game is promising but can be inconsistent and he’s streaky from outside.  He’s a good competitor who’s energy and hustle rubs off on his teammates, especially when he’s hitting shots.  With an impressive 6-9 wingspan (measured at Nike Skills Academy) and broad shoulders he’s clearly got the size and frame for the NBA level and fits where the NBA is going with versatile guards who can score. He’s not necessarily a pass-first player but he does a good job of pressuring and collapsing the defense with his scoring ability, which can get open shots for teammates.  Love can get a bit careless with the ball and over dribble at times but that’s what happens when you’re the best player on the court (and his decision making will improve with age).

And some other draft notes:

A proven winner, Love has the tools to raise the ceiling of any team. Even at the NBA level, there’s a clear pathway to him being a key piece of the rotation on a championship team one day.  Love enters year four at the college level as a decorated college prospect. During North Carolina’s championship run in 2022, he scored more than any player in the tournament. Furthermore, he knocked down countless clutch buckets which proved he’s able to step up in the biggest moments.  He’s the ultimate competitor that can do a bit of everything.  The upside as an isolation scorer with a ton of athleticism and speed is intriguing. He’s a strong driver with a quick first step and a dynamic package of dribble moves.  Defensively, Love is also able to make plays. He’s generated over a steal per game over the course of his career, leveraging his quick hands and ability to jump passing lanes. At 6-foot-4 and nearly 200 pounds, Love has the frame to be physical when defending opposing guards.

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All of this seems like he could be a great primary option off the ball at the college level.  I love having competitive guys on the roster.  Out of all the intangibles, that is the attribute that I most want to be a common thread through every player.

 

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From Gerry:

North Carolina transfer Caleb Love is scheduled to make visits to Arizona and then Texas (in that order) before deciding next week. Both schools are realistic possibilities. Love and family have continued to communicate with the Texas staff about their plans in the recruitment. Gonzaga is also making a push. 

Texas is out of the Cam Spencer recruitment. The 6-foot-4 Rutgers guard wants to be somewhere in his final season with ball in hand as a playmaker more than would be possible at Texas with Tyrese Hunter and Max Abmas in the fold. Texas and Spencer had a zoom call earlier in the week. That was Spencer’s decision after a truthful discussion about Texas’ plans for him during the zoom call. 

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Agree. I like the fact that the staff is being honest with recruits about what will be expected of them.  Seems like the best way to avoid a lot of drama and infighting about roles and such once they get here.  

Derka - are you warming to the Caleb Love idea now that Spencer is out?   Or would you rather take one of the forwards?  Or just allocate more minutes to who we have?

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8 minutes ago, HookEm said:

Agree. I like the fact that the staff is being honest with recruits about what will be expected of them.  Seems like the best way to avoid a lot of drama and infighting about roles and such once they get here.  

Derka - are you warming to the Caleb Love idea now that Spencer is out?   Or would you rather take one of the forwards?  Or just allocate more minutes to who we have?

i actually really like Kaluma and ideally would like to have him + a more role playing/less ball dominant guard. that said a part of me is cautiously excited about the prospect of adding Love because on paper that's one of the very best back courts in the country. i still think RT would have his work cut out for him having that many mouths to feed in the back court, however:

 

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Looking at lineups, if we add Caleb Love, the minutes allocation could look something like this:

image.png.8b58966211db1ca307f849a892735ae0.png

 

How great would it be to always have two of Hunter, Abmas and Love on the court at any given time... and often all three of them.  Then you have a guy like Weaver off the bench who can also play any of the three guard spots.  

Given that Cunningham has played all of the 3, 4 or even 5 spots, I'm not sure we need to add more bigs except for maybe a development project who is content with 10 minutes.  But honestly I would rather give the minutes to Onyema, Disu and Shedrick.  

Even if you get into foul trouble with the bigs, a lineup with Hunter + Abmas + Love + Cunningham + Disu / Shedrick could be very good. 

 

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14 minutes ago, HookEm said:

Meh... Perryman averaged 3.5 mpg last year. Figure he will also get about that many mop-up minutes this year.  And he only played in 11 games.

I understand what you are saying, but he averaged 3.5 minutes per game in 11 games played. He played 3 total minutes in conference play as we were dribbling out the clock in blowouts. When we are projecting minutes for this season, it needs to be with the understanding that we are projecting for a conference game against Kansas, not the Chris Beard classic against Arkansas Pine Bluff.

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49 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Brock jumping from 18 minutes to 22 minutes seems high, but given his experience and what we lost, maybe not.  Thanks for putting that together.

I doubt he plays more than last year; Texas is bringing in talented experienced players with what is likely a new offense with Haith.

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2 hours ago, HookEm said:

Looking at lineups, if we add Caleb Love, the minutes allocation could look something like this:

image.png.8b58966211db1ca307f849a892735ae0.png

 

How great would it be to always have two of Hunter, Abmas and Love on the court at any given time... and often all three of them.  Then you have a guy like Weaver off the bench who can also play any of the three guard spots.  

Given that Cunningham has played all of the 3, 4 or even 5 spots, I'm not sure we need to add more bigs except for maybe a development project who is content with 10 minutes.  But honestly I would rather give the minutes to Onyema, Disu and Shedrick.  

Even if you get into foul trouble with the bigs, a lineup with Hunter + Abmas + Love + Cunningham + Disu / Shedrick could be very good. 

 

I like this potential squad a whole lot. 5 potential NBA guys with Hunter, Abmas, Love, Disu, and Brock 😉 😘

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5 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

“I’m feeling Zona more with Love right now.” -Gerry

 

19 minutes ago, Rockethorn1978 said:

Well yeah Gerry that’s where he’s visiting currently.

Also, keep in mind this is Gerry, so “I’m feeling Zona more with Love right now” could have been an accidental copy paste of what he was sexting to someone named Zona.

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