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Hoops Instant Analysis: It's not how you start, it's how you finish

Jalenb

Well-Known Member
Silver Member
Feb 8, 2024
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What you missed: Texas squeaks by to improve to 5-1 and winning the UKG Legends Classic Championship in the Barclays Center, 67 – 58

The participants: St. Joseph Hawks (5-2) VS Texas Longhorns (Barclays Center) (5-1)

Hardwood MVP: Although it was a rough night in Brooklyn, I do want to shine light on a player who is starting to come into his role and be a key contributor off the bench. With that being said Julian Larry is your MVP of the night. The Redshirt Senior posted a quiet yet important, 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists while knocking down all 12 of those points in the second half, while reaching the 1k career points club congratulations to the Indiana State transfer!



Board man gets paid: The story of this game will be stressed and emphasized in one word, rebounding and second half execution down the stretch. Texas met a team for the first time this year who matched them up size wise, and we saw the first of hopefully not so many struggles, in the paint. And while this was a dogfight to the end, I was very impressed with the second half execution of offense and defense from Tre Johnson and Julian Larry as it seemed one sparked a light off the bench while the other ended their opponent’s light sharply.

The Supporting Cast: We were hoping for the Texas depth to come through in the season and I can say with a bump of confidence, they’re arriving with the likes of Larry pouring in 10 points, Kaluma with 14, Shedrick with 10, and to no surprise, Tre Johnson with 17.



There’s might be a BIG problem:
Against Ohio State, earlier this year we saw a near perfect shooting performance beyond the arc, and took it with a grain of salt since performances like those in College basketball are not as common as one would think. However, Texas got outclassed plain and simple in the paint which will need to be cleaned up with an opponent like UCONN in the near future, as well as the SEC conference play. With all that said flowers should be given for how well and sound this team executed in a dog fight down the stretch.

Taste of their own medicine: Heading into this matchup Texas was outscoring opponents 198 – 106 inside the paint through four competitions. Against St. Joseph, they were outdone in the paint in the first half but ending the game outscoring them 32 - 28. On paper this looks like another successful night, which can be said, but as a fan I would monitor on if this creeps into being a pattern that grows in the negative direction based off what we mentioned earlier as far as the concern for interior defense.

Chasing the sniper: As of right now Tre Johnson is on par with the likes of KD for points. As of right now, here are their point totals through their first six games of the season:

Tre Johnson: 127

Kevin Durant: 134


 
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