Longhorns Basketball

After a dud freshmen year Jordan Hamilton is putting up Durant like numbers.

 

pshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

A verrrry mediocre Rice team is beating UT-Austin branch at the half. In Austin. I'm not impressed by the horns at all.

 

I don't know what's going on with the UT athletic program, but it doesn't look good. Texas just barely beat Rice, and Rice has already lost to teams like Santa Clara and North Texas, so you know their not very good.

 

Every dog has its day -- the season's still young, and it's ludicrous to expect a young team to continually post double digit victories. Rice brought their A-game... as Phil Jackson said, "give them some f***ing credit." Texas is #20 in the country and already beat Big 10 favorite Illinois and lost a nail-biter to a top-5 Pitt team, so they've already exceeded the expectations of many. Most major publications didn't project them to even contend in the conference, or even have an impact on the national stage.

Football's an entirely different issue. They had an abysmal year, no doubt, but every program struggles at some point. They're only the NCAA's 2nd all-time most successful program and had posted an absurd string of consecutive 10-win season, so a "slip-up" was inevitable. There's nothing "going on with the UT athletic program." The football team simply had a bad year, but I guess fans expect continual dominance from an athletic program that has earned more than 40 national titles and put up 88 Olympic medals. Texas IS the gold standard for collegiate sports, and the undisputed cash cow of the NCAA... the football team will return with a vengeance, and the basketball team's ahead of schedule. All is well in Austin.

 

Less than a year ago, the basketball team was #1, and the football team was # 2 and big 12 champions. Hardly a program in turmoil.

The basketball team is young and has flaws (can they please get some FT shooters) , but all considered has looked good in all but the Rice game.

This football season was an unmitigated disaster, but as bad as it was, it was just one season.

 

Does anyone know if Jackson Jeffcoat will play basketball now that the football season is over with?

 

We could use a backup SF

 

The Horns are getting whupped by USC. They're not looking good right now.

 

Hamilton, Joseph, & Thompson need to pick up the pace and rack up buckets. USC's notorious for slamming on the brakes and working the ball inside-out... O'Neal prefers to eat away at the clock and grind out games.

Lucas and Hill are surprisingly getting a significant amount of PT... Hill matches up well with SC's versatile big, and Lucas is locking down their cat-quick PG.

 

Looks like they're gonna end up losing this one.

 

Vuecevic & Stepheson ate Texas alive.

Thompson was really exposed as an interior defender -- he doesn't have the base to battle with physical bigs. He's more of a helpside shotblocker/versatile post that has the ability to match-up outside of the paint, and SC pounded the ball in to the paint and just out-manned TT. Barnes was forced to play Matt Hill for an extended period of time.

Gary Johnson struggled at PF, as he was forced to defend a 6'10'' banger. Gary's physicality is typically a plus, but he was bullied on the block by the SC forward. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, and just seemed lost/out of sync the entire game.

J'Covan Brown was definitely a bright spot.

 

Why is Balbay starting; and Lucas even playing?

Why is UT not able to recruit top-level talent in TX? Is it Barnes? What is the difference between football and basketball recruiting?

 

Players not disciplined on defense, poor defensive rotations and matchups, few box-outs throughout the game, and an offense that depends on one-on-one plays. IMO, Texas is settling for mediocrity with Barnes and his staff.

I am not convinced Barnes is the coach or recruiter to lead TX to the NC.

 

Texas doesn't produce top-level talent in basketball year after year like we do in football. Also, Barnes is an excellent recruiter, period. He's done an unbelievable job in getting kids to come down to Texas when schools like Duke, NC, etc...are offering.

LaMarcus Aldridge (#4 C)
Daniel Gibson (#8 SG)
Mike Williams (#5 PF)
D.J. Augustin (#6 PG)
Damion James (#7 SF)
Kevin Durant (#2 ranked player in the nation)
Avery Bradley (#1 PG)
Jordan Hamilton (#1 SF)
Cory Joseph (#4 PG)
Tristan Thompson (#6 PF)
Myck Kabongo (#5 PG)

The biggest problem with the program right now is the lack of continuity. We have a ton of talent but we're only getting them for one or two years, hard to build a good team game that way.

 

He recruits athletes now, and not basketball players. You need players that are gonna stay at least 2 or 3 years with the one and done's mixed in.

 

Texas up 15 early in the 2nd half @ Michigan State. Hamilton, Thompson, and Joseph are a legitimate Big 3 -- Hamilton's stroking the 3-ball, Joseph's pushing the tempo and finding the open man, and Thompson's been an absolute menace in the paint. Thompson's going to be very scary once he expands his low-post arsenal and consistently hits FTs...

 

They're playing the best game of basketball I've seen this season by any team. They're dominating a Michigan State team that returned most of their already very impressive team. Tristian Thompson and Jordan Hamilton are looking to become a very scary duo.

 

Hamilton: 19 and 8.
Thompson: 17 and 13.

Ferocious block by J-Ham to end the game... excellent team basketball by the Horns. If Barnes and Co. keep this up, they're going to be a force to be reckoned with in March.

Also, when Izzo approached Barnes to shake hands at the end of the game, you could read his lips, "we just got our asses beat."