Shaka Smart again met with the local media today, and the Texas head coach again reiterated a group of six players has separated from the rest during preseason.
“We're still kind of figuring out what makes the most sense for us in terms of starting lineup,” said Smart who joked about telling the opposing coach to start his best six so he could start his. “But Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey, Matt Coleman, that group of three guards, and then Jericho Sims, Kai Jones and Greg Brown. Those guys have played the best in practice. They’ve made the biggest impact on winning in practice. We've certainly had some other guys that have done some really good things but those are six guys that have had a very good six weeks to start practice.”
More importantly, Smart indirectly provided evidence about the season’s upcoming rotation plan. While the Texas head coach is excited, fairly so, about the team’s talented depth, he mentioned we might not even see some guys some nights despite their ability and their offseason improvement.
“The reality for our team is there's going to be guys on our team that have made progress and are making progress. And that may or may not be seen in a given game,” responded Smart as part of a long answer when asked about Will Baker’s development and where he is. “And if you think about it, the ideal if you have 13 guys on your team is that everyone is a better player than they were the game before or the year before. But you don't always have the opportunity to see that, because what you're trying to do when you go out there and on the floor is put the five guys in there that gives you the best chance to win in that moment.”
Last year, UT’s depth ended up being tested because of injury. This year, it could be injuries, COVID-19 or other reasons. So, Smart and his staff remain diligent in encouraging players to focus on growth because the guys we might not see much early in the season are probably going to be needed at some point.
“And so what our guys are going to need to do and we've talked about this a lot, is stay focused on growth and stay focused on improving and getting better on a regular basis because this year more than any other we're going to need everyone on our team. Everyone's going to get opportunities at different times,” the Texas head coach said. “It happened last year because of injuries. It’ll probably happen this year because of different reasons. A guy like Will, I'm proud of him because six weeks into practice he's markedly better than he was the first week of practice. And at the end of the day I mean if these guys can continue growing and improving over time while they're here, it's going to put them in a phenomenal position when they leave here. And that's what we're trying to do, in addition to being in the moment and taking advantage of the group that we have.”
In addition to saying Baker is noticeably better now than he was week one, Smart also said the sophomore big made “incredible progress” both on and off the court and is really proud of the growth he’s shown, including physically with being in better shape to handle college basketball.
But even with that said, Smart knows, at least right now, there are younger, very talented players who might not see the floor some nights. Kai Jones is a good example of how a rotation or roles can change. After appearing for just five minutes in last year’s season-opener, Jones didn’t appear the next three games. Then, his role increased and eventually so did his impact. Now, he’s viewed by Smart as a integral piece and starter – or good enough to start – and a guy who told his coach this offseason he wants to be one of the greatest of all-time.
A FEW ADDITIONAL NOTES…
--- Jase Febres is cleared for non-contact practice, but isn’t cleared for full practice with contact. Smart said he couldn’t really give a timetable on when he’d be able to return or would be fully cleared. Interestingly, Smart noted the initial projection was for Febres to be back before now, which surprised me because microfracture knee surgery is a difficult thing to quickly return from.
--- When Smart was asked about COVID-19 roster guidelines for being able to play, he said he believes a team must have six healthy, scholarship players. Smart’s response made it sound like the people voting on and making these decisions at the league level are almost doing it as they go.
Look around the country today and you’ll see Rick Barnes and Scott Drew are both COVID-19 positive and Duke, Arizona and other programs announced their season-openers are postponed. It’s become obvious decision-makers aren’t ready for college basketball, and some schools are better prepared for others. Fortunately for the Longhorns, they’ve been in that second group so far.
--- When asked if he has a role player right now beyond his top group of six, Smart mentioned redshirt sophomore Brock Cunningham. The Texas head coach noted Cunningham has been banged up at times during the preseason, but he’s probably always going to deal with some of that because of the way he plays.
“I think Brock is a great example of a guy that can be a heck of a role player for us,” responded Smart when asked if he has a role player behind the top group of six. “You know he's been a little bit banged up this preseason as, you know, he's probably always going to be just because of the way that he plays. He is cleared and practicing now so we're excited about the things he's doing. But he's a guy that can really play a heck of a role for us and he wants to. And I think there's other guys on our team that they understand that that's what this team needs from them, now a matter of going out and executing it during the game.”
--- Smart said offensive rebounding has been "a huge emphasis" since before players returned following the end of last season. As Smart pointed out, some teams just send all their players back after a shot goes up and essentially punt offensive rebounding. But he said that doesn't make sense with UT's personnel, and that it "makes all the sense in the world" for those frontcourt guys to attack the offensive glass.
“We're still kind of figuring out what makes the most sense for us in terms of starting lineup,” said Smart who joked about telling the opposing coach to start his best six so he could start his. “But Andrew Jones, Courtney Ramey, Matt Coleman, that group of three guards, and then Jericho Sims, Kai Jones and Greg Brown. Those guys have played the best in practice. They’ve made the biggest impact on winning in practice. We've certainly had some other guys that have done some really good things but those are six guys that have had a very good six weeks to start practice.”
More importantly, Smart indirectly provided evidence about the season’s upcoming rotation plan. While the Texas head coach is excited, fairly so, about the team’s talented depth, he mentioned we might not even see some guys some nights despite their ability and their offseason improvement.
“The reality for our team is there's going to be guys on our team that have made progress and are making progress. And that may or may not be seen in a given game,” responded Smart as part of a long answer when asked about Will Baker’s development and where he is. “And if you think about it, the ideal if you have 13 guys on your team is that everyone is a better player than they were the game before or the year before. But you don't always have the opportunity to see that, because what you're trying to do when you go out there and on the floor is put the five guys in there that gives you the best chance to win in that moment.”
Last year, UT’s depth ended up being tested because of injury. This year, it could be injuries, COVID-19 or other reasons. So, Smart and his staff remain diligent in encouraging players to focus on growth because the guys we might not see much early in the season are probably going to be needed at some point.
“And so what our guys are going to need to do and we've talked about this a lot, is stay focused on growth and stay focused on improving and getting better on a regular basis because this year more than any other we're going to need everyone on our team. Everyone's going to get opportunities at different times,” the Texas head coach said. “It happened last year because of injuries. It’ll probably happen this year because of different reasons. A guy like Will, I'm proud of him because six weeks into practice he's markedly better than he was the first week of practice. And at the end of the day I mean if these guys can continue growing and improving over time while they're here, it's going to put them in a phenomenal position when they leave here. And that's what we're trying to do, in addition to being in the moment and taking advantage of the group that we have.”
In addition to saying Baker is noticeably better now than he was week one, Smart also said the sophomore big made “incredible progress” both on and off the court and is really proud of the growth he’s shown, including physically with being in better shape to handle college basketball.
But even with that said, Smart knows, at least right now, there are younger, very talented players who might not see the floor some nights. Kai Jones is a good example of how a rotation or roles can change. After appearing for just five minutes in last year’s season-opener, Jones didn’t appear the next three games. Then, his role increased and eventually so did his impact. Now, he’s viewed by Smart as a integral piece and starter – or good enough to start – and a guy who told his coach this offseason he wants to be one of the greatest of all-time.
A FEW ADDITIONAL NOTES…
--- Jase Febres is cleared for non-contact practice, but isn’t cleared for full practice with contact. Smart said he couldn’t really give a timetable on when he’d be able to return or would be fully cleared. Interestingly, Smart noted the initial projection was for Febres to be back before now, which surprised me because microfracture knee surgery is a difficult thing to quickly return from.
--- When Smart was asked about COVID-19 roster guidelines for being able to play, he said he believes a team must have six healthy, scholarship players. Smart’s response made it sound like the people voting on and making these decisions at the league level are almost doing it as they go.
Look around the country today and you’ll see Rick Barnes and Scott Drew are both COVID-19 positive and Duke, Arizona and other programs announced their season-openers are postponed. It’s become obvious decision-makers aren’t ready for college basketball, and some schools are better prepared for others. Fortunately for the Longhorns, they’ve been in that second group so far.
--- When asked if he has a role player right now beyond his top group of six, Smart mentioned redshirt sophomore Brock Cunningham. The Texas head coach noted Cunningham has been banged up at times during the preseason, but he’s probably always going to deal with some of that because of the way he plays.
“I think Brock is a great example of a guy that can be a heck of a role player for us,” responded Smart when asked if he has a role player behind the top group of six. “You know he's been a little bit banged up this preseason as, you know, he's probably always going to be just because of the way that he plays. He is cleared and practicing now so we're excited about the things he's doing. But he's a guy that can really play a heck of a role for us and he wants to. And I think there's other guys on our team that they understand that that's what this team needs from them, now a matter of going out and executing it during the game.”
--- Smart said offensive rebounding has been "a huge emphasis" since before players returned following the end of last season. As Smart pointed out, some teams just send all their players back after a shot goes up and essentially punt offensive rebounding. But he said that doesn't make sense with UT's personnel, and that it "makes all the sense in the world" for those frontcourt guys to attack the offensive glass.
