Yes, The Dube abides. Special thanks to WYLD GALLERY for sponsoring the column throughout football season and into February. I had the pleasure of meeting Ray and his lovely wife, seeing the gallery, and I can’t recommend it enough. The art is incredible, but the stories accompanying each piece were just as interesting.
Interested in sponsoring? Dustin@orangebloods.com
Alright, the writing…
This week’s column, which is going to be a bit shorter than normal (edit: I wrote this sentence before I actually started writing and now the damn thing is over 3,000 words) since National Signing Day 2 is already underway:
1) Texas Athletics Town Hall…
If you missed the five-page thread pinned on the board, I spent Tuesday evening on the UT campus at LBJ Auditorium to take in the second-annual Texas Athletics Town Hall meeting hosted by Athletics Director Chris Del Conte. A few thoughts from last night:
--- There wasn’t a lot of football news, but Del Conte didn’t shy away from labeling a new indoor practice facility as something that tops his wish list of future projects that aren’t currently ongoing. Plus, the new style of LED lights being used at some NFL stadiums and programs like Alabama are expected to make their debut at DKR next fall.
The top compliant from UT’s fan surveys focused on the videoboard and music. Texas is working on changes in those areas. Season ticket prices will not increase for the upcoming season. Del Conte cited legislation a couple years ago that eliminated 80% of donations for season tickets being a tax write-off as one of the reasons why, and Texas is working diligently at building its Longhorn Foundation membership.
--- A new basketball practice facility is a go and will be positioned next to the new hoops arena. Del Conte said they weren’t able to continue using Cooley Pavilion because of what construction would do in that area. As for the new arena, the initial plan is to have a 2,000-person student section positioned on the floor; Del Conte is not a fan of the current student sections in the Erwin Center. Maybe it’s a good idea to do something – anything! – to attempt an improvement at game day atmosphere in the Erwin Center while it’s still being used? It was a topic of multiple audience questions.
Oh, get ready for traffic to be horrific around the hoops arena construction area. If you think it was bad after football games last year, prepare yourself.
--- Speaking of the fans, there were a couple of moments when Del Conte was a tad flustered, especially for his standards. In particular, a young female student asked why students can’t purchase single-game student tickets and are limited to the Big Ticket. Del Conte replied it’s a $200 price for 175 live events, and then tried to compare it to a Starbucks a day, or a bottled water a day, which the student rejected like Dikembe Mutombo in a State Farm commercial because she brings a water bottle around campus and doesn’t drink coffee. She actually purchases the Big Ticket, but she was thinking of other students.
It wasn’t his finest moment and showed a lack of empathy, especially considering he often responded to fans’ questions about basketball by pointing out how hard they’re working and trying to succeed.
--- In a mild upset, Del Conte’s David and Goliath comparison for Texas was mentioned more frequently than the top 10 standard for every Texas program. Yes, we all know how the story ends, but Del Conte’s point was he believes everyone – chiefly coaches and student-athletes – must embrace the Goliath aspect of Texas because the Longhorns are never going to be viewed as the little guy without a chance, and many programs they play can tap into that.
Even when Del Conte was asked about his label of wanting “grinders” as coaches and what he looks for when making those hires, he again referenced the Goliath description and finding coaches who know they must outwork the competition because Texas is viewed as the giant often competing against the little guys.
The thing I agreed with most Del Conte said was Texas taking care of Texas. When asked about the Big 12 conference, Del Conte cited the College Football Playoff appearances, basketball conference rankings and more and ended with the focus needing to be on Texas taking care of Texas and everything else will take care of itself. I think that’s something the entire athletic department could benefit from top to bottom – take care of what’s inside the walls, and keep the focus on what makes Texas the best.
2) Del Conte on the basketball program…
Once Del Conte started the Q and A session with fans in attendance, the basketball questions dominated the conversation. Some were innocent like missed free throws, and fan and band participation at the Erwin Center. A fan had a shirt printed with the numbers “1,591” on it and the word “dedicated” referencing he was one of the fans at the first NIT game and that was the attendance. He actually raised some very good points about the lack of hoops atmosphere because fans and the band don't know what to do at times.
When it came time for Del Conte to answer more direct questions about the lack of basketball success, he deflected and spoke around the subject instead of addressing it head-on. At one point, he referenced the overwhelmingly positive response when Texas hired Smart, and the Texas head coach being an “unbelievable” person who has encountered some bad luck along the way (he specifically mentioned Andrew Jones’s cancer diagnosis the year Texas had Mohamed Bamba).
During a short breakout session with the handful of media in attendance, Del Conte was asked how closely he’s monitoring the on-court success of the basketball program, and if there is a bar the team needs to clear in order for the season to be a success.
“I think anytime that you have a passionate fan base, whatever it may be, there's a fan talking about Eddie and his salary. I love that because… basketball and football are big focal points. [That’s] why put that screenshot of last year is everyone talked about football, basketball and baseball, and we yet we finished fourth in the [Director’s] Cup. So, we have a totality of our entire athletic program, but their fan questions don't go unnoticed. We listen to them, and we understand that they're passionate. We understand they want us to be successful, but there's also saying that those kids are working hard. Shaka is working his tail off, and we also got to do everything we can to support them… but the noise around them is real and I have to acknowledge that.”
The question about Eddie Reese’s salary Del Conte referred to was given an answer about his top compensation relative to market value, and basketball and football being the revenue-generating sports. As much as Del Conte fairly championed the total success of the athletic program, he also made it obvious what programs make the money. We all know what matters most at Texas.
If you want to be outraged about the AD’s comments, you’re better served directing that energy elsewhere. While his reluctance to address the topic directly, despite multiple questions, does represent the problem being very real and won’t go over well, especially with what some might define as excuses ready to support the lack of success, with his fan base, Del Conte wasn’t going to deliver any sort of pointed statements about the lack of hoops success in this setting or any public setting for that matter.
Del Conte’s true feelings and thoughts on the topic stay between his ears. As much as he despises the Erwin Center, its atmosphere and its effect on the program and fan base, he knows the possibility of a head coaching change after this season is unavoidable, and he hears the voices even if he doesn’t want to actually answer them. I think in some ways the lack of actual answer speaks more strongly towards the possibility of change than the opposite.
3) Texas Basketball…
What an awesome way to lead into Texas Hoops discussion, right? We know the Longhorns are who they are. Only one team among 352 division one teams attempts fewer free throws per field goal attempt. Beyond Matt Coleman, the guard play is up-and-down, and the shooting comes and goes. They limit assists and three-point attempts at a very strong rate on defense, but are the worst defensive rebounding percentage team in the Big 12.
The Longhorns will likely find themselves in a lot of close games the rest of the way, and those contests will basically come down to whether they can get enough playmaking and shot-making from their guards.
4) So, you’re saying there’s a chance…
According to BartTorvik.com, the Longhorns have a 9.1% chance of making the NCAA Tournament, and are projected to finish the regular season 18-13 (8-10). Right now, Texas is 2-7 in Q1 games, and 2-1 in Q2 games. Fortunately for the Longhorns, they avoided any Q3 or Q4 losses, and the only team remaining on the schedule that would currently fall in the Q3 category is a home game against Oklahoma State.
Adding Q1 wins is crucial for NCAA resume purposes, and Texas, right now, has three-straight matchups that fall into the Q1 category – Texas Tech, Baylor, and at Iowa State. Texas Tech and Iowa State are projected to be decided by two points or less, and, obviously, Baylor is a little more beatable in Austin than it was in Waco.
5) Tulo’s impact…
Austin Todd, who said he’s up to 192 pounds after playing at around 184 pounds last season, looked noticeably bigger and more confident in the batter’s box. Following last Saturday’s Alumni Game, Todd summarized the impact of new hitting coach Troy Tulowitzki as well as I’ve heard so far.
“Honestly, he's helped me out tremendously,” responded Todd when asked about the impact Tulowitzki has made on him thus far. “I've always been a guy that I feel like I've had a pretty good mentality in the box; like nobody's going to beat me. But I think with him making a few adjustments, little tweaks I think that's really, really helped me go in the right direction I need to go.”
Mentality is a great word when describing Tulowitzki and trying to project his impact on the upcoming season. If Texas players aren’t going to consistently compete in the batter’s box, carry themselves with confidence, and put in extra work, they’re probably not going to make it under the new assistant coach. From what I’ve heard, Tulo has blended well with the coaching staff, and is unafraid to make his respected voice heard.
6) Texas Baseball…
I knew once I arrived at UFCU Disch-Falk Field Saturday following UT’s basketball game the posts about hitting on Orangebloods.com were going to dominate game discussion. Texas hit .250/.356/.350 last season and scored 5.3 runs per game. In conference play, those numbers were .242/.336/.331 and 4.6, respectively. As you can see, when the downward spiral began, it started to show in all the numbers, including offense.
I would be surprised if the offensive isn’t better in 2020 for a few reasons:
--- Gone from the lineup are Tate Shaw (.232/.351/.326), Masen Hibbeler (.239/.323/.307) and Michael McCann (.212/.314/.311). The trio combined for 446 at-bats or 25.8% of the team’s total. With Zubia’s move to first base the production at that position should be better than Shaw’s, which will also improve the production at designated hitter. It’s almost impossible for the catching production to be worse than it was last season, especially considering Caston Peter’s offensive numbers were actually worse than McCann’s. Trey Faltine is going to have an up-and-down season as most freshmen do, but he’s much more talented than Hibbeler.
--- UT’s bench last season was extremely limited. Now, a player like Lance Ford, a starter for a significant part of last season, projects to be a bench bat or spot starter; Douglas Hodo III is a talented outfielder capable of competing for starts; assuming Andre Duplantier II returns to full strength, he gives Texas another talented hitting option, which could impact what happens with Cam Williams and Murphy Stehly as well with the latter being the likely starting third baseman currently.
--- I’ve long been a believer in Todd’s hitting ability, which hasn’t truly showed over a full season since a solid freshman campaign. A big reason for that is he’s encountered so many injuries. As stated above, Todd is noticeably stronger, and is carrying himself with more confidence right now to go along with different hand positioning in the box. I have a hard time seeing both he and Zubia failing to improve their numbers at least slightly this season.
--- Sean Allen is one of the best assistant coaches in the country and has recently been a top candidate for both Rice and Sam Houston State head coaching positions. That said, I think Tulowitzki brings a breath of fresh air and unique perspective into the program that will influence hitting and competitiveness the most.
--- While you shouldn’t expect the 2010 Longhorns to show up and set a bunch of offensive records, it’s probably reasonable to expect something like .265/.370/.390 this season with around 5.5 runs per game, which, if UT’s pitching is as good as I think it could be, would be enough to compete for a Big 12 title.
7) Scanning the rest of the sports globe…
--- It finally happened. The Red Sox traded Mookie Betts and David Price (and cash to cover around half his salary) to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a three-team deal with the Minnesota Twins. Minnesota received Kenta Maeda from the Dodgers and sent top prospect Brusdar Graterol to the Red Sox.
If you take one thing away from this, let it be this: the Dodgers are able to acquire Betts, and take on a significant portion of Price’s contract, because they are arguably the best scouting and development organization in baseball. Along with being able to fill their roster with young, cheap, controllable players far exceeding their market value, the Dodgers also remained very disciplined and committed to avoiding gigantic contracts. Prior to adding Price, whose salary is cut in half or more, and Betts, the Dodgers had just one player, according to the Competitive Balance Tax AAV, making over $16 million – Clayton Kershaw.
The funny – or disgustingly sad if you’re a Red Sox fan like myself – about this deal is Betts is the best homegrown Red Sox player since Roger Clemens.
The Red Sox will tell us they couldn’t re-sign, which is true in theory. They reportedly offered him a long, lucrative extension he turned down. Who truly knows if Betts would have re-signed in Boston if it offered market value? National reporters like Ken Rosenthal swear Betts was set to test free agency no matter what, and as much as some national pundits and fans will ignore this, it might be the single biggest factor in all of this mess. The reality is Red Sox ownership chose saving around $90-100 million in luxury tax over paying - or trying to pay - Betts what he wanted, and what the open market will probably give him. Boston could have afforded Betts.
The organization is valued at $3.2 billion after being purchased for $380 million in 2002. And according to Forbes the Red Sox made $516 million in revenue. If an ownership group wants to say they aim to be financially smarter and more flexible, fine. But don’t cry poor… especially if you’re the Red Sox… and you hired Dave Dombrowski years ago to strip the farm system and spend money… and you then fired Dombrowski for winning a World Series at the cost of this mess… and don’t say you’re competing in 2020 because you just traded away about nine wins in value.
Let this sink in: the Red Sox drafted Betts, developed Betts, won a World Series with Betts, watched him win a MVP and just traded him during the peak of what will likely be a Hall of Fame career. The Boston Red Sox did this. You know, the biggest of big spenders. They dumped salary with a historically great player; this wasn’t Carl Crawford, Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett and the gang being pushed onto a sucker.
The Red Sox want their fans, who have played a starring role in all that money in ownership’s pockets, to pay the price – see what I did there? – for their poor moves and judgment. Now, they want to be what they fired Ben Cherington for doing. Funny how that works.
Anyway, I like Alex Verdugo. A lot. He’s going to be a good, cheap player for a long time, and he helps keep the Red Sox relevant in the Wild Card race, at least on paper. Graterol has big-time stuff with the possibility to profile as a No. 3 starter or a top reliever. I’m forever a believer in getting value for players if they’re not going to re-sign.
But it’s impossible not to think of the Red Sox ownership forcing one of their greatest players ever to be traded because they don’t do the most important things in baseball as well as the team they just traded him to. The organization delivered a message across baseball - we screwed up so royally bad internally we had to trade arguably the second-best player in baseball that we drafted and developed.
Players of this caliber hardly ever get traded… ever. When’s the last time this type of player was traded with a full year or more left on his contract? And one of the game’s biggest spenders did it because they didn’t think they could keep him in the mix and wanted to avoid a “you screwed up with your management” tax. Meanwhile, the Yankees are laughing in the face of the tax while building a World Series favorite.
Yes, the Red Sox will likely spend big next offseason with Dustin Pedroia’s likely retirement clearing his money off the books too. Yes, it's hard to complain following four championships since 2003. Yes, it's possible Betts would have walked after the season. But what’s the guarantee the Red Sox won’t be forced to deal someone like Rafael Devers before free agency because they spent poorly? I suppose a better, smarter guy running the organization.
--- Make no mistake, the Dodgers are the overwhelming favorite in the National League, and probably the top World Series favorite now.
--- Later last night, my NBA team followed the lead of my MLB team and made a trade with luxury tax in mind. In a four-team deal, Robert Covington, a 3 and D wing known for defensive versatility, arrives in Houston as the Rockets make it abundantly clear: they’re riding smallball as far as it’ll take them. Because the price to acquire Covington, and get under the luxury tax, was Clint Capela, who went to Atlanta, and a first-round pick, which also helped land Jordan Bell from the Warriors and a future second-round pick.
Will it work? I have my doubts. The Rockets were already a below average rebounding team and just traded the player who ranked No. 4 in the NBA in total rebounding percentage. P.J. Tucker can only grab so many rebounds. In theory, the idea is to run a five-out offense, spread the floor for Russell Westbrook and James Harden, and surround them everywhere with shooters. And in theory, it makes sense. But playoff basketball isn’t played in theory.
Sure, Houston is probably better equipped now to defend teams like the Clippers, Mavs and Blazers because a good wing defender capable of defending all five positions can help with switching defense. But what about the giant frontcourt of the Lakers? Plus, as soft as Rudy Gobert is, Utah still features him in pick-and-roll and Denver does everything through Nikola Jokic.
This feels like the type of gamble capable of a front office and head coach positions looking different sooner than later. But hey, at least Tilman Fertitta saved some of that money he said he would spend.
--- I’m still trying to process how the 49ers went from totally in control of their style of game to watching Patrick Mahomes crush their souls. Mahomes looked worse than I’ve ever seen him play in a NFL game. It was so ugly I wondered if the moment made him crack. But San Francisco left the door open, as its style of play can do, especially with a QB not performing well, and Mahomes did Mahomes things.
I hope Kyle Shanahan eventually wins a ring because this Super Bowl coupled with the Falcons meltdown would forever sting if he can’t win the big one.
--- Recently, I completed the top 100 of my initial Fantasy Baseball overall player rankings. Take a look, if you’d like: CLICK
8) Anything and everything…
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I am all in on Hot Ones the game show.
--- A couple of hazy IPAs I recently tired and endorse: 8th Wonder’s Cloud 8 and Spindletap’s Houston Haze. At this point, I’ll probably try anything from either brewery because I enjoy most of everything they produce. Along with Electric Jellyfish, my favorite right now remains New Belgium’s Voodoo Ranger American Haze.
--- After introducing my wife to Bull Durham, I was reminded the scene at the pitcher’s mound about the engagement, first baseman’s cursed glove, and dad in the stands is one of my favorites in movie history. It’s so perfect, and so baseball at the same time.
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--- Willie was feeling very philanthropic, and donated his favorite chewy Milkbone treats to the local Summer Moon coffee shop he frequents. He left his picture, a note and everything. Swell little guy. I don’t recall if I shared this photo or not because my mind is running low on memory, but this always cracks me up:
9) The best thing I read this week… is from Texas Monthly: A Battle For the Soul of Marfa
