SB Nation User Blog: txtwstr7

'Horns Stars Shine Bright in 103-90 Victory over Heels

txtwstr7 — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:23:48 -0000

In one of the more entertaining basketball games of the past few years, 39,000 fans watched the Texas Longhorns run away from the talented UNC Tar Heels in a 103-90 victory at JerryWorld. While this recap is technically supposed to analyze this game by itself, I'd prefer to look at this game in the larger picture of the overall season. We've talked a lot about how the ultimate goal is to get this talented roster playing to its potential by the end of the season. While today's game wasn't a total virtuoso performance--especially on the defensive end--Texas demonstrated a lot of the qualities that made this team a preseason favorite to reach the Final Four. With the exception of Jordan Hamilton, our best players shined under the spotlight of today's match-up and showcased the strengths of their respective talent sets. Negating another potential concern, Texas didn't show any stage fright and took it to the Heels from the tip-off until the final whistle. This didnt look like the team that sleepwalked their way through the the first half of games against some cupcakes. Not at all.

Along those same lines, one of the more fascinating parts of today's victory represents its validation of the significant steps taken forward by J'Covan Brown and Avery Bradley. The calm, cool, and collected performances from the two freshmen stand in stark contrast to their out-of-control (Brown) and tepid (Bradley) offensive performances from earlier in the season. Brown and Bradley each poured in over 20 points today, and both of them could have easily gone for 25 apiece. Unfortunately, as we'll discuss in detail below, Jordan Hamilton had perhaps his worst game of the season and represents the current enigma on the roster.

After the jump, we provide a quick recap of the game before breaking down some of the individual efforts...this was a lot of fun.

Game Recap: Despite coming out of the gate with a lot of gusto, Texas started off cold from the field and fell into an early 8-4 hole at the first TV timeout. Starting off 2-9 from the field, Texas--and especially Avery Bradley--missed some open looks, leading some fans to immediately speculate that the potential depth perception issues might cause problems today for the 'Horns. Buoyed by a spark from J'Covan Brown off the bench, Texas corrected its shooting woes and started killing the Tar Heels on the offensive glass, which continued for the rest of the game. In one of the more remarkable stats from today's game, Texas had TWENTY-SIX offensive rebounds that led to 27 second-chance points. Leading into the final TV timeout, the first half turned into an up-tempo, see-saw battle between two highly-talented teams. I got several text-messages during the game admiring the talent of both teams, and the athleticism, length, and (insert Jay Bilas made-up adjective here) for both rosters was pretty remarkable.

With 2:43 left in the first half, the Horns were up 41-37, but then ran away from UNC during one of their best stretches of basketball of this season. During a 13-4 run to close the first half--since when does THAT happen--Texas grabbed five offensive rebounds, forced three turnovers, and got an unexpected line-drive 3-pointer from Gary Johnson. In one of the more memorable plays of the season, Avery Bradley stole an inbounds pass with 2 seconds left and laid it in right before the final buzzer. Despite facing the formidable frontcourt of UNC, Texas outscored the Tar Heels 32-20 in the paint and appeared poised to blow the game wide open.

At the start of the second half, it appeared that was exactly what was going to happen. After a few quick baskets, Texas pushed its lead out to 65-48 and looked to be in complete control of the game. Despite making some headway into the big lead, UNC couldnt get within closer than 8 points, as Texas always was able to respond. Then, after Rick Barnes took out Damion James and Dexter Pittman, UNC went on a quick 5-0 run to cut the lead down to 6. The two seniors were immediately inserted back into the game. After another UNC basket, Texas was only up 82-78 and appeared to be holding on for dear life with 7:00 to go. During the middle stretch of the second half, Texas gave up a ton of easy looks to the Tar Heels, who shot nearly 60% in the second half to keep the game close. I would love to see one of GOBR's patented columns over the defensive breakdowns in the second half.

Faced with true adversity against a top-flight opponent for the first time this season, the veteran leadership of Texas helped salt the game away. Over the next three minutes, Pittman and James scored 9 of our next 11 points to put us up 93-82. The defense was bailed out by several silly UNC turnovers, but, when it mattered most, they were able to hold UNC to 7 points from the 7:00 mark until the 2:00 mark. Closing the game in style, Texas got a final rim-rocking dunk from Sexy Dexy to push the final margin to 103-90.

The outcome was: invigorating. Win or lose, that was a fun game to watch. Both teams were incredibly talented, played hard, and pushed the tempo to an incredible pace. Players for both teams often resorted to putting their hands on their knees in trying to catch a breather during the natural breaks in the game. But, regardless of the aesthetic value of the game, this was a true statement from the Texas Longhorns to the college basketball world. Four years ago, in their first true test of the season, second-ranked Texas was humiliated by the Duke Blue Devils in the infamous "black jersey" game. Regardless of how much this team can still improve--and it's quite a bit--they passed their first true test with flying colors.

Additionally, what a difference a year makes. We just threw down 103 points on North Carolina and have scored over 100 points in three of our last four games. And, as we'll discuss below, Texas *still* hasnt gotten consistent outside shooting. This team is piling up incredible amounts of points and has been able to use their incredible depth and rapid substitution rates to make the necessary adjustments. After today, is anyone still pontificating over our offensive woes from last year?

Stat of the Game: TWENTY SIX offensive rebounds: Despite facing a UNC team chockful of 6-10 robots, Texas grabbed a staggering 26 offensive rebounds during the game. In only 26 minutes, Dexter Pittman grabbed 12 offensive rebounds (15 total) to complement--and largely fuel--his 23 point night. Since I'm going to shortchange him in the next section, I want to highlight Sexy Dexy's line. Against his best competition of the season, Sexy Dex went 23-15 today, along with 2 highlight reel blocks. Pittman's 12 offensive boards were three more than UNC's entire team put together. But Dexy wasn't the only Longhorn who assisted on the offensive glass. Texas got offensive rebounds from EIGHT different players tonight, which is simply a staggering number and accurately reflects the effort from the team today.

The offensive MVP was: J'Covan Brown. Some of you may quibble with this decision, and I admit that it's a bit of a stretch. Unlike some of Texas' previous games where tons of players scored in double-digits, today's game was largely our best players putting the team on their back. Brown, James, Pittman, and Avery Bradley each went over 20 points tonight, while no one else scored more than 5 points. James and Pittman did exactly what we've come to expect them to do, as the two seniors dominated the paint, threw down 13 combined dunks and layups, and combined to make 14 free throws. That's exactly what we want/need them to do. Bradley struggled a bit with his shot, but still finished with 20 points and his usual assortment of rebounds, steals, and assists--he's a keeper.

The reason I'm giving this to J'Covan is because he filled a great void for the team today. With Balbay struggling, Ward injured, and Lucas only being allowed to dip his toes in the water today, Brown stepped up with his best perfomance of the season. J'Covan did a little bit of everything today. J'Covan nailed 3 three-pointers (with his bunny hop release), grabbed 5 rebounds, and delivered some beautiful passes to streaking teammates. Most importantly, he only turned the ball over twice today, which demonstrates his tremendous growth over the first month of the season. When he plays like he did today, he renders the deficiencies of Balbay and Lucas pretty much irrelevant. Here's to hoping he keeps it up.

The defensive MVP was: Our rebounding effort. This might also be a controversial decision, but I cant find myself to give this award to any of the individual players. Texas' overall dominance on the glass limited UNC to only 11 second-chance points and only 8 fast break points. By getting second and third opportunities on the offensive end--while gobbling up the UNC misses--Texas was able to prevent the UNC racehorses from dominating the game in transition. While I keep bringing it up, it was really, really impressive to watch this team outwork UNC on the glass.

The Curious Case of Jordan Hamilton: Currently the most enigmatic player on the roster, Jordan Hamilton laid a complete egg today. I think the best way to summarize his game today compared to Bradley's came from PB in the game thread.

Jordan...is a truly elite talent. Avery Bradley is a rarely special basketball player.

Jordan had several facepalm moments today, including several ill-advised drives to the basket. Overall, in only 17 minutes, he went 2-10 from the field and turned the ball over twice. I'm starting to think that developing Hamilton is going to become Rick Barnes' biggest challenge for the rest of the season. Without Hamilton being able to lock down the SF spot, we have to start juggling three-guard lineups, mixing in Gary Johnson, or sliding Damion James down to the spot. I drank the Jordan Hamilton kool-aid during the off-season, and I've been very disappointed with his performance so far.

A Method to the Dexy Substitution Madness?: Everyone has been wondering whether or not Dexy's stamina would hold up in big games. A cursory glance at the box score would only show that he played 27 minutes. What the box score doesnt show is that Dexter played the last 7:41 of today's game. In taking a closer look at Barnes' substitutions today, it appears that the strategy for Dexter involves using TV timeouts to give Dexter extra rest at selected moments.

Check out his substitutions today:

First Half	Second Half
17:41 Out	17:54 Out
15:47 In	16:29 In
13:01 Out	13:21 Out
11:43 In	10:52 In
10:06 Out	9:19 Out
9:26 In	7:41 In
8:01 Out
7:51 In
4:39 Out
2:40 In
2:19 Out

As you can see, Dexter was subbed in immediately after most of the automatic TV timeouts. Dexter was visibly winded at several points in the game today, but I think his substitution pattern allowed him to play the final 7:41. Kudos to Barnes for making this work.

Mason Watch: I gotta give PB some props here. While I was freaking out over Mason being a starter and getting huge minutes in early season games, he has maintained the "wait-and-see" approach. Today proved the prudence of his patience. Mason got a season-low 7 minutes today, which was--by far--his lowest total of the season.

Final Thoughts:Today was a statement game for a team on the rise. While it helps validate the early season ranking and optimism from the team, it must only be analyzed for what it encompasses--one game. Texas has no time to celebrate this big win, as they must immediately prepare for Tuesday Night's showdown against the Michigan State Spartans. I cannot, cannot, cannot give a higher endorsement for the game against Michigan State. If you are a student, do whatever it takes to attend the game. If you want, come find me in the North O-Zone.

We'll know more about this team in 72 hours, but, right now, you have to feel pretty damn good about this basketball team. They may not get the campus hype until we get done with our business in Pasadena, but, after today's win, they officially deserve it.

Hook 'Em!

Basketball in Football Stadiums?

txtwstr7 — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 22:20:01 -0000

As this has been a soul-crushing week of work for most of us, BON has been largely silent over the upcoming UNC-UT tilt at JerryWorld tomorrow. While I'll leave the chalktalk to Wiggo, I did want to briefly comment on the location of the game.

I've gotten a lot of texts, e-mails, etc, asking if I'm going to the game tomorrow. Even though I'll be in Dallas with my family, I just couldnt bring myself to drop the money for the tickets. Apparently, I'm not alone. In discussing the game with several friends, most of us were more excited about attending the Erwin Center tilt with Michigan State, especially after our Houston Regional experience at Reliant Stadium. Additionally, after my sister and I have spent $600 (!!!) for football season tickets, OU tickets, and our Stampede passes, it was a little too much to spend another $150 for two tickets to this game. It might have been different if there were student tickets available for this game, but, as that probably would have required people to do some work, that was a lost cause.

There has been a lot of discussion on the interwebs about the future of college basketball involving big games played in football stadiums. The attractions--and detractions--of these games are rather obvious, and it's not my intent to simply rehash the points over depth perception, safety, money, or the awful viewpoints for the fans. I really just wanted to briefly mention the lowlight of my Reliant Stadium experience when we played Memphis--the noise level. That was perhaps the most pumped I've ever been to attend a basketball game. My friends all talked about how our crowd would help take the team to another level. Within 2 minutes, it was clear that wasnt going to happen, and it wasnt entirely because of a lack of effort. The setup, including the lack of locational unity for the fans, wasn't conducive to generating (or sustaining) a lot of noise. It felt like watching basetball in a vacuum. I'd be curious to hear if anyone else had a different opinion over that game and venue.

That said, I'm still jealous of the BON'ers going to the game. I'll be very interested to hear the feedback on watching the game at the stadium, which has become as big a story as the game itself, and I hope several of you provide recaps. Hopefully, by this time tomorrow, the story will be solely focused on our convincing victory over the Tar Heels.

Hook 'Em!

Horns Crush Bobcats to Remain Undefeated

txtwstr7 — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 01:49:18 -0000

Last season, Texas State had an obnoxiously loud cheering section in the south O-Zone as they pushed Texas to the limit. This afternoon, their cheering section stayed up in the mezzanine and witnessed a thorough beating. Unlike last season, Texas used an early 16-0 run to bury the Bobcats and had the game well in hand before the second TV timeout. In some of its best basketball of the season, Texas jumped out to a massive 35-12 lead with 5:00 left in the first half. While I'd love to simply pat the team on the back for laying a woodshed beating on Texas State, there are definitely some interesting things to take from today's game. By "interesting," I mean things that will cause Rick Barnes to yell at the youngsters during chalk talk.

While the game against Long Beach State seemed to represent a significant step forward for the Horns--especially some of the freshmen--this game largely represents a step sideways. This win is definitely better than the ho-hum second-half blowouts in our first few games, but this team absolutely has the ability to do better. While some of the early season wins were 20-point wins that felt a lot closer, this game was a 30-point win that felt like it should have been by 50. To be honest, I'm not entirely sure the team didnt just get bored at some points of the game today.

As I'm also smack dab in the middle of law school finals--a common theme for BON authors--I'll offer some truncated remarks and highlights after the jump.

Let's use bullet points to break this down:

Before the game, Terrence Rencher was honored. He's currently an assistant coach for Texas State and got a really nice ovation. Good stuff.
Yes, there were a ton of football recruits at the game. They roped off a large portion of the North O-Zone for all the recruits, but they mostly looked like football recruits. I decided against walking up to them, stalking them, or trying to make a complete list of everyone there and what they were doing. Not really my thing. In any case, they were only there for about 10 minutes of the game, left at halftime, and didnt come back during the second half.
Damion James is a BAD, BAD man: Today's game was Damion James at his best. In only 23 minutes, he scored 21 points on 80% shooting, grabbed 16 boards, defused a nuclear bomb, married the prom queen, then stole the Heisman trophy from Mark Ingram. He was that good today. Damion got a ton of his points on put-backs and by being a stud on the glass. Texas State simply had no answer for Damion, who played one of his best games as a Longhorn. Outside of his incredible production today, Damion continued demonstrating that he's the leader of this team, which was a role I wasn't sure he could truly encompass. I dont think he's getting enough credit from the fans for what he's doing this season. He's not TJ, KD, or DJ, but he's become much more efficient with his shooting and is truly embracing his strengths as a basketball player.
Justin Mason is BAD, man: With Ward out for the season, Lucas still not eligible, and Brown going down today with an ankle injury, we were subjected to 22 minutes from Justin Mason. I know he's become a punching bag, but his game today was truly awful. He scored 2 points, grabbed 1 board, dished 2 assists, and turned the ball over 6 (!!!!!!) times. And I think that kinda speaks for itself.
Avery Bradley plays his best half of the season: As we'll discuss in a second, it's not entirely fair to lump them together, but the aggressiveness on offense by Bradley and Hamilton might be THE story from this game that doesnt involve Damion James being a bad, bad man. Bradley and Hamilton combined to shoot 12-29, which was a little less than half our shots for the game. While many of us (and even Rick Barnes) chided Avery Bradley to be more aggressive in seeking his own shot, he has taken that advice to heart the last few games. Playing a season-high 32 minutes, Bradley scored 15 points today on 6-13 shooting, but he did almost all his damage in the first half. With six minutes left in the first half, Avery had scored ten points, which was as many as the entire Texas State team. In the second half, Bradley scored 3 points on 1-5 shooting and had a few turnovers. I didnt think too many of his shots were forced--quite the opposite actually--but he's definitely started looking to shoot when he gets the ball in certain areas of the court.
Jordan Hamilton continues to be the most frustrating player on the roster: Perhaps more than past few games, Jordan Hamilton was looking to "get his" today. He took 16 shots from the field, making only 6, and drew several patented headshakes from the bench for some of his decisions. Some of the most egregious decisions came when he decided to unleash from behind the arc, where he only went 1-6. Despite some questionable shots, Rick gave Hamilton a fairly lengthy leash and let him play over 25 minutes for the second straight game. He knows how important Hamilton is to this team moving forward. Some of Hamilton's baskets are simply gorgeous, but he's going to have to start using better discretion with his shots. On the plus side, he did grab 7 rebounds.
The Pittman Effect: For the second straight game, Texas scored a ton of points without having Dexter Pittman play a major role on offense. The Texas State defenders were collapsing on Dexter to an almost comical extent, and they basically quit guarding Justin Mason and/or Dogus Balbay when they were off-the-ball. At one point, there wasn't a defender within 8-10 feet of Balbay when he was on the wing. The team has played at a pretty quick tempo the past two games, and, as long as teams want to keep trying to outrun Texas, then Dexter's role is probably going to be diminished. All that said, Dexter still had 9 points and 9 boards in 17 minutes, which is pretty sexy.
Number 50 is Cursed: J'Covan Brown went down with an ankle injury today, and we'll have to wait for the official word over the extent of his injury. I think #50 should be retired for this season.
Texas State is really, really bad: As I mentioned earlier, Texas barnstormed out to a 35-12 lead in the first 15 minutes. After that, it seemed like the team got a little bored and let their foot off the gas, especially at the end of the first half. While I'd love to simply wax poetically over our defense, I have to acknowledge that a portion of their success was due to the utter awfulness of Texas State. The Bobcats shot 26% from the field and just looked hopeless at certain points in the game. That said, there were some VICIOUS blocks by Texas defenders in the game and *six* different Longhorns had at least one block today.
We are struggling from behind the arc: Coming into today's game, Texas was shooting a little over 30% from behind the arc and that number is going to fall a little further after today's game. Texas went 5-21 from three-point range today, and, if you take out Avery Bradley's 3-6 effort, the team went 2-15. We've talked a lot about the improved outside shooting by all our newcomers, but, as of now, we're still waiting to reap the benefits. Hopefully, Jai Lucas--and his 43% rate from downtown--can help add some consistency to our outside shooting.
One more cupcake before the UNC/MSU stretch: Texas gets one more cupcake before they hit the heart of their non-conference schedule. Barring a meltdown against UT Pan-Am, Texas will be 9-0 heading into their showdown with UNC. Hook 'Em!

Horns Show Flaws in Win Against Rice

txtwstr7 — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:21:43 -0000

Game Recap: In each of the first four games of the season, Texas followed a clear pattern. The Horns would get an early lead, lose it before the end of the half, then methodically overwhelm their opponents over the final twenty minutes. Today, the script got flipped, as the Longhorns struggled early and got outplayed during several parts of the second half. Despite the big win, in watching the game, the victory raised more questions about this team than it answered. During portions of the second half, Texas showed some flaws that future opponents will definitely try to exploit before they were able to pull away in the final minutes.

Unlike previous games, Texas started slowly and shot poorly from the field. At the second TV timeout, Texas was only up 10-6 and looked sloppy on offense. Things didnt immediately get any better. Out of the break, Texas remained ice cold from the field and made some careless turnovers. Continuing another disturbing trend, the Longhorns missed their first 7 three-pointers. I'd be fascinated to see the full Gameflow analysis from the first 13 minutes, as the Longhorns once again unveiled the lineup including Balbay and Mason at the same time. As you might expect, this lineup didnt work very well on the offensive end.

After the slow start, Texas eventually turned on the jets and showed why this team can be so beautiful to watch. Starting with a powerful alley-oop slam by Avery Bradley with 5:47 left, Texas went on a 15-6 run over a 3:30 span to go up 33-18. During the run, Hamilton nailed back-to-back threes and five different players scored for Texas. It was an impressive run, and a reminder of what this team can do when clicking on all cylinders. Unfortunately, right after this run, Texas failed to finish the half strong and let Rice close to within 33-23. Incredibly, Rice scored 18 of their 23 first half points on either dunks or lay-ups and didnt score a single point from outside the paint. Several defensive lapses by Texas led to easy baskets, and it's scary to think about how dominant this defense can be once they become more comfortable with their roles and responsibilities.

In the second half, Texas immediately started pumping the ball inside to Sexy Dex to great success. Dexter scored seven quick points in the first three minutes of the half and additionally made a beautiful assist to Avery Bradley when the inevitable swarm of defenders came his way. Similar to the first half run, Texas scored eleven points in under 3:00 and looked unstoppable on the offensive end. Texas looked well on their way to running Rice out of the gym, but Rice's switch to a zone defense showed the warts that all the Texas nay-sayers have been pointing out. After this initial scoring burst, Texas shot poorly, failed to keep getting the ball inside, couldnt shoot free throws to save their life, and made some egregious decisions on the offensive end. Additionally, the team made some facepalm level turnovers that will lead to several expletives being uttered when the team watches the film from this game. From the 17:00 mark until the 6:00 mark, Texas made a total of three baskets from the field and only one from inside the arc. Outside of Jordan Hamilton's 3-6 shooting, Texas went 1-11 from behind the arc.

Despite the lopsided final score, Texas was in a dogfight until the final minutes. With 7:00 to go, Texas was only up 61-54 and appeared to be on their heels. Fortunately, the defense stepped up, and J'Covan Brown poured in eight points in the final minutes to put the game out of reach. Texas held Rice without a field goal over the last 6:21, only allowing three free throws. The disjointed nature of this game saw Texas still struggling to put everything together at the same time.

The outcome was: Fascinatingly Frustrating. The team should be expected to struggle, but it's the nature of today's struggles that give credence to the idea that Texas is overrated. The sloppy basketball, poor decisions, and poor free throw shooting show exactly how far they need to come over the next few weeks. It's not that they *cant* or *wont* get there (because they will), but it's just a reminder that this team is currently operating at a level below the sum of its parts. Rice gave teams a blueprint for how to slow down the Longhorns, and the team better be prepared to "win ugly" over the next few weeks. All that said, watching this team operate--when things are clicking--is a thing of beauty.

Stat of the game: 33 fouls for Rice. As part of their strategy against Texas, Rice was not afraid to commit a slew of fouls. In fact, of their ten players who got into the game, seven of them had at least four fouls. While the whistles were a little tight, the strategy helped slow down the game and forced Texas to make their shots at the free throw line. Even though Texas shot 67.4% from the line, that number is inflated by the Longhorns hitting their last seven shots from the line. Before that string of makes, Texas was barely over 60% from the game. I wouldnt be surprised to see several other teams force Texas to beat them from the foul line.

The Offensive MVP was: Dexter Pittman. Dexter scored 21 points tonight on 7-8 shooting. Additionally, Dex grabbed 5 offensive rebounds and remains an absolute force in the paint. Dexter had too many turnovers, but he also made some really nice passes, especially the deft one to Bradley that led to a lay-up. While the blowouts have allowed Barnes to limit Dex's minutes, he played a season-high 26 minutes tonight. The team made a point to go to Dexter to start the second half, and, when they can find him in the post, good things generally happen.

The Defensive MVP was: Our perimeter defense. As mentioned earlier, Rice did not score a single point from outside the paint during the first half. The Texas guards were all over the court tonight, and, while the team only had 6 steals, they made several deflections and harrassed their Rice counterparts during the entire game. Rice shot 1-10 from behind the arc, and I would love to see their shooting percentage minus all their dunks and layups. Rice's starting guards shot 4-23 from the field, including an 0-10 effort from Connor Frizelle. Balbay and Bradley are simply going to terrorize opponents during the entire season.

J'Covan Brown Update: Brown played a pretty interesting game tonight. He's got to cut down the silly turnovers--another five tonight--but he also demonstrated the playmaking ability that we heard about during the entire off-season. His alley-oop to Bradley was perfect, and he had a pretty sweet line of 15-5-4, in addition to nailing all of his free throws. Despite the turnovers, Barnes let him play 31 minutes tonight, which led the team. In March, we might have to ride or die with J'Covan, so it's nice to see him get some crunch-time minutes tonight.

Additionally, he got fouled HARD during a breakaway by a Rice defender and jumped up looking like he was ready to rumble. Before he could do anything, he was thrown into a bearhug by Damion James and cooled off. For everyone concerned about J'Covan losing his head, he seemingly passed the first test. He did get upset after a foul call, but, as of now, his emotions are still in check.

Finally, J'Covan Brown wearing #50 to honor Varez Ward is kinda bizarre. It's not like Varez died, and I didnt see Dan Buckner changing his number to honor the memory of DJ Grant.

Conclusion: This game--largely forgettable by itself--will be remembered for what it means for this team moving forward. Texas showed some warts today, and it's a near-certainty that other teams will try to emulate some of the looks and strategies that worked against us. This team remains supremely talented, but we're going to have to wait another game to see if Texas can put it all together.

Hook 'Em!

Game #3: No. 3 Texas vs. Iowa Preview & Game Thread

txtwstr7 — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:07:52 -0000

Game #3: Iowa Hawkeyes (1-2) vs No. 3 Texas Longhorns (2-0)

8:45 p.m. * Sprint Center * Kansas City, MO

TV: ESPN2 / Radio: 98.1 FM

While it might have slipped your minds (VINCE! HOUSTON! OILERS!), the UT Basketball team will be playing the Iowa Hawkeyes tonight in Kansas City. The game is part of the CBE Classic, and the winner will face the winner of Pittsburgh/Wichita State in the "championship game" tomorrow night.

As you know, Texas is being massive hyped as a Final Four contender. As you might not know, Iowa is expected to finish near the bottom of the Big Ten standings and has already lost to Duquesne and UTSA. Iowa is currently scoring 56 points/game and is ranked 326th out of 346 teams in Offensive Efficiency. That's bad, but it could get even worse, considering that Texas is currently ranked 1st out of the same 346 teams in Defensive Efficiency. Resistable force meeting the immovable object, if you will.

Tip-off is at 9 PM, and the game will be on ESPN2...at a bare minimum, you should flip over and watch this team during commercials of the football game. If you haven't had a chance to watch the 'Horns, this is your chance. I think you're going to like what you see.

Note: If you havent read the excellent "Gameflow" segments for the first two games from goingforthecorner, make sure you check out them out here and here.

Awiggo's Keys to the Game after the jump.

1. Play through James and Pittman: As hyped and as talented as the freshman are, seniors Dexter Pittman and Damion James provide the backbone for this year's club. When Texas is at its best, the ball will pass through at least one of them on each offensive possession. This is especially important tonight as Texas should expect Iowa to try to slow down the tempo and play solid half-court zone defense in an effort to limit overall possessions and post touches by the Texas bigs.

2. Protect the Ball: Freshman point guard J'Covan Brown has a tremendous ceiling but has been a bit sloppy in his first two college games. I'm not worried and you shouldn't be either; however, turnovers could keep Iowa in the game, at least for a little while.

3. Defend the Arc: Iowa is not a deep team nor do they have good interior size. In addition to capitalizing on Texas turnovers, the three pointer is the other way Iowa hangs with the 'Horns. So, far this season, the Hawkeyes have been abysmal from behind the arc, 29%, though.

Prediction: Texas 76, Iowa 51

UT Basketball Primer

txtwstr7 — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:41:18 -0000

And.....it's go time.

After a long off-season following the heartbreaking--yet not soulcrushing--loss to Duke in Greensboro, it is finally time for the Longhorns to get back on the court. We've been beating the drum for the past few months, but this is going to be a special team and a special season. Today will be our first look at the 'Horns as they start their murderous schedule against the not-so-murderous Anteaters of UC-Irvine. Ryan Clarke of Longhorn Roadtrip--AKA "The Man"--has written an excellent preview for the game.

After the jump, I've catalogued a list of links and articles from the off-season for your perusement. If you dont read anything else, make sure you read the extensive Roundball Roundtable...

1) Greensboro Trip Recap: This was my recap from the Greensboro Regional. It might help recalibrate your memories over our last glimpse at this team.

2) Big Roy's Scouting Profiles: Everything you need to know about Avery Bradley (Part Two), Jordan Hamilton, Jai Lucas, and Shawn Williams. These are really, really good.

3) Hyperizers and UT Basketball: I unveil the "Hyperizers" comparison involving the new players on the roster.

4) "Confession": An explanation of why you should be more excited over basketball instead of football.

5) Player Haters (Basket)Ball: An analysis--and attempted refutation--of the potential stumbling blocks for the basketball team this season.

6) BON Roundball Roundtable: This is the absolute must-read. Four BON authors take their turns answering the key questions about this team moving forward.

7) Re-examining last year's losses: In this post, I looked at each of UT's losses last season and explained how AJ Abrams had a really large effect on last year's team, especially in the close wins and losses.

8) Starting Lineup Roundtable: PB smacks me down after I start raising questions over the news over Justin Mason rejoining the starting lineup.

I wanted to end by reposting our answers to the final question in the Roundball Roundtable. I couldnt think of a better way to get everyone fired up for the season. To this day, Wiggo's answer still gives me chills.

7) Ok, let's wrap this up...any random scattershots or comments you want to make about the team, season, etc?

Txtwstr7: I want to reiterate a point that's been made across the interwebs. We've been "one player away" for seemingly forever. The phrase "if only ______ would have come back" has haunted this fanbase for years. But not this year. Instead of focusing on what we lost, the narrative for this season is solely built around what we have. From my perspective, what we have is the most talented and complete team of the Rick Barnes era. This team has a legitimate chance at immortality, and I cannot wait for the season to start.

GhostofBigRoy: Hallelujah for putting to rest the "if only" talk for at least one season. First time in forever. First time for me, actually. How about another one? Hallelujah. One more for good measure. Hallelujah. Okay, I'm into the realm of digression here.

I haven't seen this team together on the court yet, but I know deep in my heart that I'm absolutely going to love this basketball team in a way that I've never loved a Longhorn basketball team before. Growing up as an Illini basketball fan, the team that I've loved more than any other, by far, was the 2004-05 team that lost to North Carolina in the championship game. Truly a team that was greater than the sum of their parts. As for this Texas team, if Rick Barnes can manage to mold them into more than the formidable sum of their parts, I have a feeling the season could end even better than it did for my beloved Illini.

Awiggo: On BON, we've talked about what it will take for the basketball team to move to the next level. The next level where the football program has lived, realistically or not, for a long time. The next level where good is not good enough and great is expected every season. Rick Barnes' arrival and subsequent recruiting successes have made this discussion possible. The alignment of young talent combined with the decisions of Dex and James to stick around or another season make this season the arrival of that level.

The season ticket holders may still stay home till conference season, the press may not pay attention until after Pasadena, and even most BON readers may not feel the passion, but this is the season. If moving to the next level means demanding and expecting a championship, then let me say that is what I expect. I know that March is crazy and anything can happen in a single elimination tournament. However, if this team is healthy in March, then I expect to cut down the nets in Indianapolis.

Hook 'Em!

Update Stampede = Up (Kinda)

txtwstr7 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:31:46 -0000

Update Stampede = Up (Kinda)

While it wasnt there last night, an option to purchase student season tickets magically appeared on texasboxoffice.com this morning. There hasnt been an announcement, and the e-mail to all students still hasnt gone out.

However, I encourage our student readers to get the headstart on everyone else by purchasing your tickets before they actually decide to announce this development. My tickets are bought, and the Watchmen are still being watched...

Watching the Watchmen: The Sad Story of UT Basketball

txtwstr7 — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 03:32:29 -0000

Two weeks from today, Texas will have vanquished an overmatched opponent in front of thousands of fans. And I'm not talking about Baylor. While it seems like only yesterday that BON'ers were saying "TOO SOON" about talking about UT Basketball, the reality is that tip-off is nearly upon us. In only two short weeks, Rick Barnes and company will have thoroughly and soundly defeated the Anteaters of UC-Irvine at the Erwin Center.

Despite promises and guarantees to the contrary, no Stampede tickets have been sold for the game. The e-mail was *supposed* to come out last Monday. But it didnt. The e-mail was supposed to come out on Tuesday. But it didnt. The e-mail was supposed to come out "by the end of the week." But it didnt. As I sit here and type this post tonight, I'm still unable to purchase a Stampede pass for my final year on the Forty Acres.

While some of you will merely repeat the often stated "Texas is a FOOTBALL school" line and shrug your shoulders about this, that's the exact type of attitude that allowed this inaction to occur in the first place. The idea that student season tickets for football would be unsold less than two weeks prior to kickoff is simply inconceivable. I feel the same way about this delay for the Stampede tickets. For those of you who contacted me about this--I feel your pain, and this isnt ok.

But this isnt just a post about the Stampede. It's a post about how the Stampede e-mail situation simply represents the latest step in an impotent offseason of marketing the upcoming basketball season. Once again, this isn't ok.

This e-mail, which I received on Friday, represents the entire UT Basketball off-season in a nutshell.

I keep hearing this is the "best recruiting class ever" and I said "where are you hearing these things?" because I really haven’t heard any news other than Jai Lucas and the J'Covan (however you spell it) kid. For those of us who don’t listen to sports radio all the time, there is NO news about the team anywhere! Stupid.

Some of my friends have been far less charitable over describing the lack of news over the team. Let me reiterate that, as of right now, students are unable to buy student season tickets for basketball. For a point of comparison, last year's Stampede e-mail went out on October 8th. And yet, here we are in November, and no one at the Box Office can give a straight answer over what's going on. A systemic breakdown has occurred, and, in the fourth year of the system, it shouldnt be this hard.

Less I be mistaken, I dont mean to suggest this offseason would have been all sunshine and puppy dogs if the Stampede e-mail would have been sent out four weeks ago. The delay over the e-mail this year has served as a catalyst to expose the fecklessness of the entire promotional scheme over UT Basketball. While the e-mail itself didnt make everything ok, the lack of an e-mail has spotlighted the fact that NOTHING has happened towards marketing this team to the campus. That key fact remains the central thrust of this post.

For the diehards, we'll be there regardless, but I've been polling students about their knowledge of basketball right now. As of now, the average UT student has absolutely no idea about two key items:

1) The season starts in two weeks

2) This will be THE storybook season for UT Basketball

That's not good. And even though Texas is a "football school," this doesnt mean that all efforts to drum up support for basketball during the Fall Semester should be abandoned.. Especially not this season. Just like the new $100 million dollar movie, "This Is It" for UT Basketball. And, if you were going to market this team, there is no shortage of possibilities:

1) Dexter is officially a "star" around campus. He's the biggest non-football star on campus, and he's probably the third most "recognizable" athlete on campus, behind only Colt and Shipley.

2) While not on the level of Dexter, Damion James and Justin Mason are longtime stalwarts of the program who are pretty well-known.

3) In case you haven't heard, we have a pretty good recruiting class coming in.

In fact, considering that Texas is a football school, it would seem to be pretty important to build momentum for this storybook season before it starts, using any of the paint-by-numbers methods listed above. Instead, there has been NOTHING. Absolutely nothing. Nothing about Pittman. Nothing about the other seniors. Nothing about any of the recruits. There has been nothing. And that's not ok.

What's even more frustrating is the utter lack of creativity relating to any type of student promotions, prizes, giveaways, incentives, etc. I've previously criticized the Varsity Rewards Program, but the problems run even deeper. The idea that wristbands and Crocs will encourage students to go to games is laughable, but the more frustrating concepts relate to the ideas and promotions that arent even on the table.

For example, Texas has a major non-conference showdown against UNC on December 19th. I see tickets for this game advertised on ESPN.com nearly every single day. How hard would it be to slap together a promotion promising student tickets for that game--even for purchase--to all UT students who attend five non-conference basketball games during the Fall Semester? How hard would it be to put together a trip package for students who want to attend the game in Dallas?

Along those same lines, how hard would it be to milk the marquee games on the schedule for all they are worth? A commenter last week asked if I thought the Stampede pass would be "worth the money." I didnt get a chance to timely respond to the question, but the point should be hammered home to every student that the following teams will be coming to the Erwin Center--Michigan State, Kansas, Oklahoma. The KU-UT clash could be the biggest regular season home game in the last decade. The MSU game is probably in the top ten of the same list. I would pay $50 for a ticket to either game, and I suspect many of you would do the same. That means the Stampede pass pays for itself with only these two games. These marquee games should be milked for all they are worth by the marketing department, in both the Stampede and individual student ticket sense. And, by that, I dont mean they should be connected to attending a women's game against some directional school.

Some of you might say that putting together a program would cost money. That's not in dispute. But, when you consider that UT Athletics will sell 450 Stampede passes at $75 apiece, then suddenly a lot more options are put on the table. Simple math shows the Stampede program generates nearly $35,000 to pump back into the program. Besides receiving a t-shirt and being offered tons of stupid giveaways that I always refuse--I think I've turned down a straw hat each of the last six years--I have no idea where any this money is spent. I'm not asking for a refund, but I do think the money could be creatively used to generate more interest in the program. Based on this current offseason, I'm not holding my breath.

I could go on and on, but the point isn't what COULD happen as much as it is highlighting that NOTHING has happened. And, as I keep repeating, that's not ok.

Conclusion: I know many of you will simply write off this post as a tree falling in the forest when no one is looking. But I cannot sit idly by and pretend that this offseason of inaction and impotency is justifiable. There needs to be accountability, and I hope the BON community will continue providing it. Even if the e-mail goes out this morning, the delay ~~needs to~~ must be criticized and skewered.

It's a complete cop-out to simply say that Texas will never drum up sufficient interest for basketball. That might be true, but that doesn't mean that there shouldn't be efforts to generate excitement for the season. And that's exactly the type of attitude that has tacitly allowed this inaction to occur.

More stuff about actual basketball to follow later this week...

Hook 'Em!

Re-examining the 2008-9 Losses...

txtwstr7 — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:53:57 -0000

...since losses is plural, then you've probably already realized that this post will be about basketball. Last season, Texas went 23-12, which was their most losses since the 2001-2 season, when the team went 22-12. In fact, over Rick Barnes' eleven year career at Texas, the Longhorns have never lost more than 13 games in a season. By and large, last year's team was written off as a disappointment, especially considering the lofty preseason rankings and expectations.

After the jump, we take a closer look at the relative tightness of each of the Longhorns 12 losses last season, which includes some surprising numbers. More importantly, we look at the contributions of the two departing seniors in each of the "close" games from last season.

First off, I still dont have any news over the Stampede passes. It boggles my mind that we are 2.5 weeks away from the season, and the e-mail still hasnt gone out. I could--and perhaps should--write an entire column about the complete, utter, and entire lack of hype generated over this basketball season around campus. I really dont get it...

Second, I'm not going to analyze the contributions of Harrison Smith, since, well...it was Harrison Smith. With that in mind, let's get to work...

Due to a combination of factors--including poor shooting, decent defense, and occasionally miserable sets--Texas had the frustrating tendency to play up or down to its competition last season. This is reflected by looking at each of the twelve losses and close victories from last season. Here are the "high points" of each loss, which reflect the closest point at the latest portion of the game. I think you might be surprised by the closeness of some of the losses.

1) Notre Dame: Down 81-80 when time expired.

2) Michigan State: Down 65-63 with one second left

3) Arkansas: Down 65-62 with seven seconds left

4) OU: Down 54-50 with 10:00 to go-then got absolutely steamrolled

5) Kansas State: Down 83-81 with seven seconds left in OT

6) Missouri: Tied 65-65 with six seconds left

7) Nebraska: Down 58-55 when time expired

8) A&M: Down 71-64 with 2:15 left-then got absolutely steamrolled

9) OSU: Down 60-57 with 1:25 left

10) KU: Down 73-71 with 3:30 left-then got absolutely steamrolled

11) Baylor: Down 72-70 with 15 seconds left

12) Duke : Down 72-69 with 7 seconds left

If you take out the outliers against OU/A&M/KU, which were actually closer than I remembered, the tightness of Texas' other nine losses becomes crystal clear:

1) Notre Dame: Down 81-80 when time expired.

2) Michigan State: Down 65-63 with one second left

3) Arkansas: Down 65-62 with seven seconds left

4) Kansas State: Down 83-81 with seven seconds left in OT

5) Missouri: Tied 65-65 with six seconds left

6) Nebraska: Down 58-55 when time expired

7) OSU: Down 60-57 with 1:25 left

8) Baylor: Down 72-70 with 15 seconds left

9) Duke: Down 72-69 with 7 seconds left

Essentially:

1) In each of these nine losses, Texas was within three points of their opponent with less than 1:30 to go.

2) In eight of these nine losses, Texas was within three points with less than sixteen seconds to go.

3) In seven of these nine losses, Texas was within three points with less than ten seconds to go.

I can already hear everyone explaining how this doesn’t take into account how many close games Texas WON last season, so I've also compiled a list of those wins as well. To be generous, I included every victory in which a UT opponent got within six points in the last two minutes of the game. This list is actually a little bit longer than I remembered:

1) UCLA: Up 65-61 with 2:00 left-UCLA doesn't score again

2) Wisconsin: Up 70-69 with 30 seconds left-Wisconsin doesn't score again

3) Baylor: Up 74-72 with 49 seconds left-Baylor doesn't score again

4) Colorado: UT wins 85-76 in OT

5) OU: Up 69-68 with 20 seconds left -OU doesn't score again

6) Tech: Up 85-81 with 30 seconds left-Tech doesn't score again

7) KSU: Up 61-58 when time expired

None of Texas’ other 16 wins broke this threshold, and the UCLA and Tech games barely made it. If we used tighter criteria, then Texas had only four victories—out of 23—where their opponents were within three points in the final 30 seconds.

However, the main point of this post isn’t to magnify how Texas could or should have won more games last season. Instead, I wanted to analyze the performances of AJ Abrams and Connor Atchley in each of our losses and "close" victories in order to see if they played a major factor in the outcome.

Let's go to a chart of all the losses and close wins:

Opponent	AJ Abrams	Connor Atchley
Notre Dame (L)	23 points (8/27 shooting)	7 points and 7 rebounds
Michigan State (L)	*8 points (3/10 shooting)*	8 points and 5 rebounds
Arkansas (L)	7 points (3/16 shooting)	DNP
OU (L)	*22 points (8/27 shooting)*	4 points and 4 rebounds
Kansas State (L)	15 points (5-21 shooting)	1 point and 3 rebounds
Mizzou (L)	11 points (4-9 shooting)	2 points and 5 rebounds
Nebraska (L)	16 points (6/15 shooting)	3 points and 3 rebounds
A&M (L)	*7 points (3/12 shooting)*	*3 points and 1 rebound*
OSU (L)	*9 points (3/15 shooting)*	*0 points and 5 rebounds*
Kansas (L)	*10 points (2/11 shooting)*	*2 points and 2 rebounds*
Baylor (L)	20 points (8/17 shooting)	5 points and 3 rebounds
Duke (L)	17 points (5/13 shooting)	0 points and 1 rebound
UCLA (W)	31 points (9/18 shooting)	6 points and 4 rebounds
Wisconsin (W)	21 points (8/21 shooting)	7 points and 2 rebounds
Baylor (W)	19 points (7/12 shooting)	4 points and 2 rebounds
Colorado (W)	29 points (11/19 shooting)	2 points and 3 rebounds
OU (W)	23 points (8/17 shooting)	5 points and 2 rebounds
Tech (W)	24 points (6/13 shooting)	5 points and 2 rebounds
Kansas State (W)	6 points (2/4 shooting)	0 points and 1 rebound

While this simplistic chart doesnt take into account other factors such as defense and passing, I think it points out a few interesting things.

1) In many of its seven close wins last season, Texas rode the backs of its two seniors on the offensive end. With the exception of the KSU and Baylor games, Abrams and Atchley combined to score at least 28 points in each of the other five victories. And, in the Baylor game, they combined to score a third of our points.

2) Conversely, in many of the close losses, a lot of the blame can be squarely pointed at AJ Abrams. In our twelve losses, AJ was a disaster in eight of them. I dont think this breaks a ton of new ground, but it shows that AJ didnt "keep us in" a lot of the games we lost last season. In fact, you can only make the case that he helped keep it close for only 3 (NU, BU, Duke) of our 12 losses last season.

3) Ultimately, I think it is very interesting that Abrams' performance--good or bad--directly correlated to the outcome in 14 of the 19 games reflected in the chart. While we've already shown that he didnt help "keep it close" in most of our losses, the converse point is that the team also struggled to win close games when he was playing poorly. In fact, the only close victory following a poor performance by Abrams was the game in the Big 12 Tournament against Kansas State.

Conclusion: I think fans have forgotten the tightness of most of our losses last season and the centrality of the role of AJ Abrams in the outcome of many games. The most important thing that I gleaned from re-examining last season was how close Texas was to becoming an elite team. It's amazing that, in 10 of their 12 losses, Texas was within three points of their opponent coming out of the last TV timeout. The 23-12 record could have easily flipped to 26-9 (or better) if J'Covan Brown would have made it to campus. The roster this season will have no such shortage of shooters. However, any mention of the wouldacouldashoulda games from last season must also acknowledge that AJ Abrams was the reason we won several of our close games.

Hook 'Em!

Stampede E-mail = Tomorrow

txtwstr7 — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 18:26:38 -0000

Stampede E-mail = Tomorrow

I've been told that the Stampede e-mail will go out tomorrow. If you are a UT Student and want to buy a Stampede pass, then make sure you act quickly, since there are only 450 spots available. The price looks to have been moved up to $75. Last year, the online purchasing system got shut down by traffic, so I ran over to Belmont to pay in person. If it happens again, I would suggest that you do the same.

SB Nation User Blog: txtwstr7

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Game #3: No. 3 Texas vs. Iowa Preview & Game Thread

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8:45 p.m. * Sprint Center * Kansas City, MO

TV: ESPN2 / Radio: 98.1 FM

UT Basketball Primer

*Update* Stampede = Up (Kinda)

*Update* Stampede = Up (Kinda)

Watching the Watchmen: The Sad Story of UT Basketball

Re-examining the 2008-9 Losses...

Stampede E-mail = Tomorrow

Stampede E-mail = Tomorrow

Update Stampede = Up (Kinda)

Update Stampede = Up (Kinda)