Reasoning? I understand everyone has their own opinion, but at least on paper you have to admit Texas has to be one of the favorites this year.
I don't know anything about any of these guys (except Balbay from last year). Are any of them distributors / guys who can penetrate? That's the key for Rick Barnes. He has no clue how to coach an offense without a quality point guard to manage the team. But when he has one (TJ Ford, DJ Augustin, and Gibson to a lessor extent), his teams are absolutely dynamic.
The problem with last year's team was Balbay's absolute inability to shoot. I think it's also extremely important for our PG be able to shoot along with distributing/penetrating. From what I've read, J'Covan Brown is very good scorer who can shoot and drive in. I haven't read a whole lot about him being a distributor so I'm kinda thinking he's more of a scoring type PG rather than traditional pass first. Jai Lucas from what I remember is more of a balanced PG who will look to pass first and also be able to shoot/penetrate.
One issue that UT has to address is the fact that they have 14 scholarship players when they're only allowed to have 13. Harrison Smith has already transferred. Jai Lucas can play starting the second half of the season becaues he only played in one exhibition game last year before announcing he would transfer. Rumors are that someone is going to renounce his scholarship and play as a walk on, most likely being Jai Lucas or Alexis Wangmene due to the fact that each are financially secure. My own personal speculation is that if anyone transfers, it will be Matt Hill. My reasoning for this is that Coach Barnes told him during the second half of last season that if Barnes were Hill, he'd would be upset because Hill was doing everything asked of him and still not getting playing time. This got Matt Hill in the game for maybe one or two games but then he was locked on the bench again. I think Justin Mason will still begin the season as a starter unless he is completely blown out during practice by Gary Johnson or Jordan Hamilton. Barnes, like Mack Brown, is very loyal to his program players. Dexter Pittman will be starting and playing at least 20 minutes a game. If he makes it up 30 minutes a game, expect him to be a lottery pick. We know he can score and that he's a beast. The only question has been his conditioning. Damion James must rise to expectations this season or see his name slip into the second round. J'Covan Brown video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZuSbuU1SFs
UT added two walk on: 6'4" Dean Melchionni - Forward (Fort Washington, PA) 6'2" Andrew Dick - Guard (Sherman, TX) http://www.statesman.com/blogs/cont...horns/entries/2009/09/02/barnes_adds_wal.html The following link is to a breakdown of UT's schedule: http://rushthecourt.net/2009/09/02/rtc-class-schedule-2009-10-texas-longhorns/
For those of you worried (which I think was just me), Texas has now resolved its problem with its excess of scholarship players. Jai Lucas is giving up his scholarship with his father John Lucas paying for school. http://www.statesman.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/longhorns/index.html Here's a good article about what to expect from J'Covan Brown. http://barkingcarnival.com/2009/08/18/jcovan-brown-where-he-fits-in/
Should I really be afraid of a team that has Andy Dick playing one of the guard positions. That Dexter Pittman does kind of remind me of Chris Farley in a very roundabout kind of way.
Harrison Smith transferred to a smaller school. Your starting 5 is right though. Look at that bench though behind the amazing starting 5. Varez Ward was awesome in the tournament, Balbay could be great if he can develop a jump shot, and Johnson obviously has potential. It will be nice to have Wangmene back as well.
yeah, J'Covan Brown is a great scorer, but most scouting reports start off his weaknesses with passing. Jai lucas is very much a balanced PG, but still a bit undersized. even though doge couldnt hit a shot to save his life last year, i still think his pass-first mentality and ability to penetrate will allow him to start above the other PGs. You need a distributer to run with the arsenal of firepower this squad has. i can see us even running alot of 3 guard sets on the court. im excited! hook'em
Nice win by the Horns against UNC. UT shot the ball poorly, but Pittman and James controlled the glass. UT almost had more offensive rebounds than UNC had defensive rebounds. James and Bradley forced a lot of turnovers. The Freshmen combined for 46 points. I think Bradley will be the goto man by the end of the season.
UT and Kansas... are the two best teams in the nation. I mean the depth of UT is just amazing.... If Pitman can play like he did today against UNC for the rest of the season.... it'll be tough for teams to beat the Longhorns. They have a legit shot at Kansas... It's going to be an interesting year and even though they've only had one challenge (which was today against UNC) I think they are the real deal. Should be a good game Tuesday against the Spartans.
Great game by the Horns. Dick Vitale for what it is worth picked UT over Kansas. UT just had too much for NC. NC has incredible big men, though none could handle Pittman. Overall NC had perhaps a better front line than UT, but UT had much the better of the perimeter play and defense. Bradley, Brown and Balbay were too much for NC. Dameon James showed his versatility on the boards and in the open court. Jordan Hamilton is still developing. Final Four, baby. The Horns only weakness is free throws, though J'Covan Brown is shooting something like 95%.
I'm going to start looking for tickets for the Feb 8 game against KU in Austin. It's going to be the best regular season game this year. I typically worry about UT in games such as today. They typically don't do that well against top competion early in the season. But the manhandled a very talented UNC team and should be able to do the same against Michigan St. After that, the next truly tough game won't be until a stretch where they play A&M, @ KSU, @ UCONN, and then home for Tech. They could be 23-0 going into the KU game.
