I think we have to get to 8 conference wins to have a reasonable hope of making the tourney. I suppose it is possible with 7 wins, but I wouldn't count on it. We have some good wins already and will stack up some more before the year ends. And our losses aren't too bad. Here is how I see it shaking out at #28 Auburn - loss at #75 OU - win #92 South Carolina - win #86 Ole Miss - win at #69 Mizzou - win #46 LSU - win at #32 UGA - loss #16 Florida - loss at #41 Aggy - loss at #20 Arkansas - loss #75 OU - win That would put us at 9-9 in conference and comfortably in the tourney. I think there is a reasonable shot at beating 1-2 of Auburn, UGA, Aggy or Arky on the road. Also reasonable shot of beating Florida at home. So I would say we have upside of going 12-6. We could just as easily drop a couple that we should win and go 7-11.
Being from the panhandle, Leal's in Muleshoe has ruined me on most other Tex-Mex. Their enchiladas, chips, salsa and chili rellenos dunk on just about anything I eat locally in the Austin area.
I wonder how someone like 1992 David Robinson would do. Dude averaged 4.5 blocks and 2.3 steals for the season. Very mobile for a big. Obviously not quick enough to guard someone like Jordan very well, but also too big for Jordan to handle on the other end. And he would be a big problem for players like KD or Bird on both sides.
This could be an ok team next year: - Elite PG (portal) - Wilcher - Swain - Heide - Vok - Solid rotation big - Solid rotation guard - All our freshmen I really like the development I’m seeing by Vok. I think he will be a 4 year player and is going to be a real handful by year 4. Hope we keep Duru.
I'm not saying I would bet against Jordan, so just getting that out of the way up front. That said, Joe Dumars did well against Jordan with his physicality and he was 6'3 (albeit earlier in his career). Gary Payton also did pretty well against Jordan. Kawhi matches up better defensively in a 1v1 game than either of them (although not as well in a team game where you have to fight through screens and chase Jordan all over the court). Also Kawhi and Jordan may be close to the same height, but Kawhi plays much bigger especially if we are talking prime Jordan and not late career. Kawhi is 6'7, 225 with a 7'3 wingspan. Jordan was 6'6, 213 with 6'11 wingspan. That extra 4" of wingspan and 10+ pounds would come in handy 1v1. Jordan was obviously more explosive, but Kawhi is plenty athletic and the length would mitigate some of the athletic disadvantages. Prime Kawhi was also a significantly better shooter from 3 than Jordan. A lot of that is due to the modern focus, but if you dropped them both in their prime on a playground, Jordan would be at a disadvantage there. But in the end Jordan is a competitive psycho and my money would still be on him.
Larry would be talking shit to Bron to an embarrassing degree. He might make him cry. I think peak Kawhi Leonard would be a problem in a 1v1 tourney. He has extra size and length to guard some of the bigger players like Bird or Durant. He could effectively guard 4 positions in his prime. And on offense he could use his size to bully smaller guards including Jordan. He was a very strong and efficient isolation player that would translate well into 1v1. Great midrange game. Can create space with size and strength. Protects the ball well. Etc. The downside is that he wasn't a competitive maniac like some of the others.
"If you don't like it, you can play somewhere else" isn't a great threat to make to a senior. Sounds like something you would say to someone with more eligibility left, so I'm doubting it was Pope. My guess is that it was Codie. Or Wilcher.
Fair. This isn't a good take. Texas has been treating basketball seriously for 25+ years. We fired a coach who took us to a Final Four and multiple Elite 8s because we demanded more. Then we went out and hired the hottest young coach in the game in Shaka Smart. Yes, he turned out to be a fraud, but he was fresh off a Final Four and was an extremely hot commodity. We ultimately fired Shaka and hired an even hotter coach in Chris Beard, who was a season removed from taking freaking Texas Tech to the title game. We built arguably the best new basketball venue in the country in the Moody Center. Beard F'ed the program terribly. That is the problem. If Sean Miller doesn't perform well, he will get replaced in short order.
It just isn’t a fun team to root for. There is no chemistry. They don’t seem to be having any fun and they aren’t fun to watch. I thought the construction of the roster was interesting in that we finally have some size. But they don’t play well together at all. Tramon Mark in particular is the most disappointing from a culture perspective. Just sulks around and seems unhappy all the time. And Pope flaps his gums after the Virginia loss about how things will change, but he personally hasn’t changed. And Swain is a ball hog. And Traore looks like a better rebounding Onyema. And Matas fouls 4 times in 90 seconds in some of the dumbest ways imaginable. Who are we supposed to root for? I liked Duru early and he is gone. Wilcher looks like he could be a piece with some development. But generally this is not a very likable bunch. I dare say this group of players might have a better record if RT was coaching them. I don’t think they would be worse.
There was a play yesterday where Swain and Mark were in a 2 on 1 fast break. Swain had the ball and Mark was slightly leading. With a well coached team, Swain kicks it to Mark who lobs it back for an alley-oop dunk over the opponent. It works every time, the players get excited and the crowd gets pumped. Instead Swain kept the ball and we didn’t score. I told myself… next time Mark gets the ball he won’t pass it either. Sure enough, Mark gets the ball next possession and forces a bad elbow jumper (miss) without even attempting to look at anyone. This is losing basketball. If I was the coach, I would have yanked Swain after the initial fast break and given him an earful. I don’t care if he has 30 points. Selfish basketball is a cancer, and this team is full of selfish players. I would lose by 50 before I would allow it on my team. Miller has done nothing to change it.
I have been invested to different degrees in all of the teams over that stretch. Another one that had a lot of potential was Shaka’s last team. We entered the tourney as hot as any team in the country, winning 6 in a row and 9 of the last 11. We had some great wins that year including THREE wins over KU with one being a blowout in Lawrence. We ended the regular season ranked #9 in the country. Plus that team had tons of multi year UT players. Seniors Matt Coleman, Andrew Jones, Jericho Sims, Jase Febres. Plus some very talented freshmen. All that to lose to ASU. Holy hell. I actually thought that team had Elite 8 potential or maybe even better. It definitely felt like a “Texas” team to me.
Kind of agree, but we did sprinkle in:
#160 Sam Houston
#186 Northern Colorado
#233 California Baptist
#273 San Jose State
San Jose State, the worst of that group, was beating teams like we are playing by 25 points.
I really think it teaches our players to not give a shit, and it is evident when you watch them. They know it is going to be a blowout, so they just half ass it the whole game.
This is the least I have ever cared about a UT basketball team. I don't really fault Miller, the team construction or even the result on the floor. MOST of my disinterest is due to the horrid schedule. It has been so bad that when an actual good team pops up (like UCONN), I don't even realize it because I have checked out the rest of the time. Look at this shit:
336 Lafayette
352 F Dickinson
328 Missouri KC
344 Rider
324 Le Moyne
351 MD E Shore
250 Sourthern U
FFS, I would be more interested if they played Leander high school. And the result might be more competitive.
The players don't get up for these games, the fans don't get up for them, and they do nothing to prepare us for the season. F everyone involved in this schedule.
Where are teams like:
107 UNT
123 Sam Houston St
132 SF Austin
139 UT Arlington
Probably right on the lineup, but Weaver + Mark + Duru + Codie + Traore might actually beat them in a scrimmage. That is both the positive and negative with this team. Lots of above average players but no really great players. I struggle to find an all conference player on this team, much less an all-American.
In hindsight, Texas should have let Tramon Mark walk. I had hope after his short tourney sample at PG, but we should have known better. He is really an undersized SF, which we don't need with Swain. But he wants to be a guard, so Miller should have known that this could only end badly and cut bait.
Pope will also never be a point guard. He is an undersized SG gunner who isn't even a very good shooter. His defense is poor. His passing is poor. His movement without the ball is poor. He probably has a spot on the team, but no more than 20 mpg max.
Weaver will also never be a point guard. He should be a 15 mpg change of pace, disruptor.
Bottom line, these 3 are all out of eligibility after this year, so it isn't even like they will get much development. I would have much rather gotten some upside freshman / sophomore true guards, even if it meant we only won 10 games this year but built for the future.