“If I’m lucky, I’ll be associated with The Dude for the rest of my life…” said Jeff Bridges as he thanked the Coen Brothers during his Cecil B. deMille Award acceptance speech at the Golden Globes.
This week, in adventures of Willie my ferocious 12-pound shih tzu, our journey takes readers to Nordstrom at The Domain. Willie, dressed in his matching blue guayabera shirt selected by my wife, was picked and participated in the Bark Happy Dog Fashion Show. He received many compliments on his attire, behavior, and performance while his owner was voted as having best runway walk. Okay, one of those is made up.
Sorry for the poor angle. There is a video, but I can’t link it. And yes, Nordstrom marked off a section throughout the store for the dogs to walk, and yes, there was a poodle that had its own, real Gucci bag and a bulldog with a Louis Vuitton backpack.
Let’s get to the writing you care about…
1) Development
Is there one word that will be associated more with the big three major sports? Heck, Texas Athletics in general is currently in the midst of a much-needed physical development period with so many projects ongoing across major sports.
For Tom Herman and his football program, development will be a factor in a few ways. First, how many competing programs will negatively recruit Texas because of its lack of recent NFL Draft success? Herman should be able to combat this fairly easily by pointing back to what he and his staff did at Houston, some of the players during his first season at Texas, and also how many young players are currently filling the two-deep of his roster.
Young players, especially elite recruits, want to play early, and want to go to the NFL. Herman can point to many young players already making an impact, but he’ll likely have to wait until the 2021 draft for a large draft class because there aren’t many draft-eligible NFL prospects next season, although Collin Johnson and Brandon Jones likely being selected very early will help Texas. And programs will probably try to use that against him because, well, the recruiting game isn’t played straight up.
On the field next season, the development of the second offensive line, linebackers, and backup quarterback will likely determine if Texas has a good season or a great season assuming the influx of young talent performs as expected. Texas’s ability to develop members of its loaded 2018 and 2019 classes will determine whether the NFL production at Texas is something that begins to sell itself or remains something competing programs will try to use against it.
Overall, Herman is right on schedule in developing Texas back into an elite program. Recent history shows highly successful coaches at programs like Texas often break through in year three with some year two or year four exceptions. The next step for Texas this season is better handling being a favorite against inferior teams. Another Maryland game simply can’t happen. And Texas must get back to the Big 12 Championship Game because the conference landscape is very inviting in 2019. Plus, it's where Texas should be consistently.
If there is a player that will best represent Texas’s ability to develop, a case could be made for Brennan Eagles. A receiver with elite physical tools and very high upside, Eagles arrived at Texas with a gap between current production ability and skill and upside. Now, he’s poised to possibly play a key role this season, and as a receiver, Herman and his offensive staff will have an opportunity to utilize him and get the most out of him.
2) Development in basketball…
Unlike Tom Herman, Shaka Smart is still searching for a breakthrough season at Texas when the program clearly takes an unquestioned, nationally-recognized step forward. If that is going to happen, development must occur throughout the program.
For Smart, he, his staff, and his team must be better in close basketball games, in late-game situations and against inferior opponents. Texas can’t lose games at home to teams like Radford. Life in the Big 12 is brutal, but it can be made easier by avoiding letdowns in good situations for success, like last year’s game at Oklahoma State and also by holding onto leads instead of letting them slip away, like the contest at Baylor. Late-game execution was a big focus last offseason, and Texas needs more results from that the upcoming season.
What will aid Texas is skill development. Specifically, are those returning players that are three or four-year types of prospects improved players next season? No one will better represent progress or lack of improvement than junior-to-be Matt Coleman. The point guard was recruited for years by Smart as the hand-picked future floor general and leader Smart wanted. While Coleman’s impact on the game often goes beyond the box score and he’s an underrated defender, he didn’t have the sophomore season Texas needed and wasn’t consistent enough.
The Texas program goes as Coleman and Courtney Ramey go next season, and the Longhorns need players like Jase Febres, Kamaka Hepa, and Jericho Sims to have an offseason of skill development and personal growth as well.
3) Development in baseball…
During their first two seasons, David Pierce and his staff did a good job maximizing what they had to work with, and developing players. The examples aren’t hard to look back at. Parker Joe Robinson dropped his arm-slot, and became one of the team’s best relievers last season; Andy McGuire made the team again as a reliever, and ended up being drafted; Bret Boswell’s confidence returned in 2017, and his talent began to show; the addition of a slider helped Morgan Cooper become a second-round pick, and Nick Kennedy went from a pitcher unable to throw strikes to a fourth-round pick; David Hamilton hit .218/.305/.292 in 2017 and .291/.404/.445 in 2018.
This season, though, the development and wins are harder to find for a multitude of reasons. Bryce Elder has blossomed into a Friday night starter. Some veterans, like Ryan Reynolds and Blair Henley, have been better players while expected key contributors like Duke Ellis haven’t. Ellis wasn’t even in the listed starting lineup last night. Zach Zubia hasn’t progressed. Austin Todd has been a poor hitter throughout Big 12 play. Some of the young pitchers have either regressed or been the same all season.
Obviously, Texas needs to develop more hitting in the future, but I believe that’s more of a talent issue than development issue, although the latter is certainly part of the equation. The largest concentration of talent on the 2019 roster is in the pitching staff, and that’s where the most development needs to occur. Many of UT’s freshmen or redshirt freshmen arrived highly touted, and identified by scouts as having a MLB Draft future.
Perhaps no player better represents an opportunity for growth than freshman righthander Coy Cobb. Cobb went from a Sunday starter, although his strong starts are hard to find, to reliever/Tuesday starter that couldn’t throw strikes his last outing at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Obviously, Texas thought highly enough of Cobb to give him first crack at Sunday starter ahead of Ty Madden, who I still believe will leave Texas with a signing bonus of at least one-million dollars, and others.
Cobb’s changeup can be a plus, swing and miss weapon, but he also will need a tweak of mechanics. Specifically, Cobb pronates his wrist/hand too much at times when he finishes pitches because it can generate more changeup movement. Unfortunately, that negatively impacts ability to throw a breaking ball – Cobb’s has never been better than average all season – while also impacting fastball command, spin, and velocity, and his delivery would benefit from being quieter with less head movement.
These aren’t easy things to fix in the middle of the season when Texas needs any available arm it has, and at 6-4 with long limbs, it’s not that much of a surprise Cobb struggles to throw strikes because young pitchers harnessing that size and length can take time. Like Madden, many scouts believe Cobb, who has been up to 95 MPH multiple times at Texas, could be one of the best pitchers in the Big 12, and a top draft pick when he leaves Austin. Can Texas get the most out of him?
4) Development of facilities…
Speaking of development in baseball, no matter how many times I write or say this it still seems somewhat unbelievable: the Texas Baseball program doesn’t currently have an indoor facility to use. Yes, I know it’s on the way, and is scheduled to be completed around the end of summer or early fall. But it’s still an inexcusable lack of forethought by Texas’s past leaders.
This past weekend, Texas held a ceremony to mark the beginning of construction on the new South End Zone project. Chris Del Conte and Texas have now held one of those types of events for the three major sports – baseball’s new indoor facility, basketball’s upcoming new arena, and football’s South End Zone. While the progress and future of facilities at Texas is exciting and promising for Longhorns and their fans, it’s also a reminder of how far Texas fell behind. In college athletics’ constant arms race, Texas slipped from superpower to middle-tier.
New, state of the art facilities help many things including, of course, development, and the development of facilities on campus ensures Texas and its coaches will be given the tools they need to succeed.
5) Texas Baseball…
David Pierce has mentioned key injuries exposing Texas in areas, and has tried to keep from using those injuries as excuses. However, there are times when it’s clear he feels those two injuries significantly impacted the 2019 season, and fairly so. When David Hamilton suffered a season-ending Achilles injury, I thought he was the one person Texas absolutely couldn’t lose. Hamilton was poised to push for All-American status and become one of college baseball’s best all-around infielders capable of changing a game offensively, defensively, and on the bases.
But the loss of DJ Petrinsky has proven to make more of a negative impact. I was slightly surprised at how many people I’ve talked to that immediately label Petrinsky’s loss as bigger than Hamilton’s when asked the question. In the fall, a case could have been made Petrinsky looked like UT’s best pure hitter, but where Texas misses him most is behind the plate.
Michael McCann has done his best to fill a very difficult role, and has taken a physical beating all season. Heck, he survived an injury at Stanford that no man ever wants to experience in a lifetime. But as a receiver, McCann struggles too often to handle lively stuff; it’s not for lack of effort, but catching plus velocity and breaking stuff isn’t easy. Catching is scarce in the big leagues, even more scarce in the minor leagues, and even more scarce in college. And the importance of receiving is becoming larger as baseball can begin to quantify how much it’s worth. Meanwhile, pitchers are seemingly throwing harder and with more movement than ever.
In the case of Texas, too often this season strikes have been lost because of receiving, which could be the difference in winning a game. It can add up each game, and definitely adds up over a season. Plus, confidence of young pitchers can be negatively impacted as they’re trying to find their footing in big-time college baseball for the first time and lose strike calls or try to be too fine with breaking stuff. Again, McCann was assigned a nearly impossible task, and has done his best while taking the beating of a lifetime. But the loss of Petrinsky has proven to hit Texas harder than Hamilton’s injury.
6) Texas Baseball NCAA Tournament resume
“What are the chances of a guy like you and a girl like me... ending up together?” Lloyd Christmas asks Mary Swanson in Dumb and Dumber.
“Not good,” says Swanson.
“Not good like one in a hundred?”
“I'd say more like one in a million.”
“So you're telling me there's a chance?” remarks Christmas as the belief begins to rush through him and fill his face.
Yes, I’m telling you there is a chance. Heck, the Longhorns could control their own Big 12 Tournament destiny next weekend. They need Oklahoma State to beat Oklahoma in this weekend’s series. Preferably, Texas needs an OSU sweep, but even a series loss would give Texas the opportunity to sweep OU and finish ahead of its rival by percentage points.
Plus, there are scenarios that involve TCU, Kansas, and Kansas State somehow finishing behind Texas as well. No matter what, though, the Longhorns must win their final Big 12 series.
7) Scanning the rest of the sports globe
--- Is there a better representation in professional sports of team, filling a role, toughness, development, effort, and making winning plays than P.J. Tucker? At Texas, Tucker attempted just four three-pointers in his entire career. In the regular season this year, he shot 146-of-387 (37.7 percent) from beyond the arc. But Tucker makes his strongest impact by being able to defend anyone on the floor, never being outworked, never taking a play off, and by being one of the toughest dudes in the NBA, especially when it’s time to grab a rebound in the fourth quarter.
Without Tucker, there is zero chance the Rockets are even with the Warriors right now. He significantly impacted the fourth quarters of both games three and four.
--- I was surprised at how much switching the Warriors did against the Rockets and their reluctance to throw an occasional wrinkle in coverage at the opposing offense. It’s no secret Houston wanted to attack Steph Curry at every chance unless there was an opportunity to send Klay Thompson to the bench with foul trouble.
Kevin Durant is the best defensive option for Golden State on James Harden, and at times Durant tried to wave off the switch or play through the screen so much it wasn’t needed. But the Warriors stuck with their approach because that’s what the Hamptons Five lineup is designed to offer – defensive versatility and floor spacing. Surely, we'll see some wrinkles in game five, right?
--- What @Ketchum experienced yesterday when Liverpool erased a 3-0 deficit, and beat Barcelona 4-3 on aggregate to advance to the Champions League Final had to be similar to what I felt when the Boston Red Sox erased a 3-0 deficit to defeat the Yankees in game seven of the 2004 ALCS before winning the World Series.
For those of you that aren’t soccer fans, the scene and range of emotions yesterday’s match created are truly unique in sports, and I’m not even a Liverpool fan. Hopefully, Tottenham can make the UCL Final an all EPL event, but I’m not getting my hopes up. Anyway, what we saw yesterday was the global game being played at its absolute best as a one of the best teams in the world made the impossible reality in front of a home atmosphere that was truly as best as it gets.
--- After Padres pitcher, and former Cedar Park standout, Chris Paddack told Pete Alonso he was coming for him after Alonso’s Rookie of the Month award over Paddack, he responded with this:
Of the 10 heaters Paddack threw 97+ MPH, six were to Alonso, who Paddack blew away with two strikeouts in their first two meetings. And then there’s this:
Oh, and how could Texans not like a guy who shows up to the ballpark wearing this:
You can’t say I didn’t try to warn you about Paddack’s future dominance. Baseball is fun when young players like Paddack and Alonso create a little extra competition. Oh, by the way, Franmil Reyes hit his 10th homer of the season last night when he lined 98 MPH out the opposite way off Noah Syndergaard.
8) Anything and everything
--- My wife and I have entered the home-buying process for the first time. I knew Austin real estate moved quickly. I didn’t realize it moved at an insane pace. Some of these houses are barely on the market for more than one day before they’re pending. While looking at one house on Saturday, we were third in line behind two other groups. Luckily, we know what we want, and our checklist isn’t lengthy. Wish us luck. We’ll need it.
--- Despite living near it for years, it had been at least five years between trips to Polvo’s on South 1st street. Long ago, I was so turned off by being required to pay for salsa – it is good salsa, though – that my mind put the restaurant on my blocked list, and I forgot about it. Some people draw a line in the sand for certain things. Apparently, I do it for free chips and salsa.
Big mistake. The pastor fajitas were mouthwatering delicious and more than enough for two people. Plus, the vibe was nice, and the prices very reasonable.
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--- I'm sure there are other artists like this, but I'm not sure if there is one that surpasses Prince in this area: his songs sound different to an adult's ears than a younger crowd. Imagine listening to "Little Red Corvette" at 16 years old and then at 33 years old.
9) This week’s read… is from Bloomberg Businessweek: The Mystery of the Millionaire Hermit
