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Ketch's 10 Thoughts From the Weekend (Augie would have loved this weekend ...)

Good stuff.

I'm glad you are stepping out on the Super Regional. Truth be told, I was really nervous going into the Regional. Aggy was dangerous, but Kody and Nolan went in with an attitude that was infectious. They didn't combine to just beat Aggy, but they literally knocked the soul out of them. They looked pathetic starting off against IU. If we get that in Oxford, we will win game one. You have to win three games to come away successful from the Regional. Only takes two for the Super. If we get the same intensity out of K and N going in, I'm feeling really good about this.

Man, I'm going to be bummed when the CWS is over. A long time between then and September 1st.
Not that long. It flies by.
 
Maybe the rankings are not accurate.

TEXAS hasn't lost Leal yet.

Green < T. Johnson

I'll take Catalon over Williams

No getting around missing out on Wilson.

Dylan Wright very well could be the best WR in state other than Wilson.
 
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@Ketchum did you get a chance to speak with your Rivals counterparts at ‘Bama and FSU about what they’re doing as far as summer workouts right now like you said in the podcast? Just curious if I should temper the Koolaid chugging this summer.
I'm going to follow up with more people on that this week. Both of those schools have started player-led 7 on 7 workouts and are doing them 3-4 times per week.
 
No excuse not to have some sort of recruiting presence in the DFW area. Depending on out-of-state talent is risky. OU is concerning as they are loading up on Texas kids; hell of a WR haul.

My gut tells me some of the A&M commitments are not solid.
That's history more than your gut IMO.
 
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@Ketchum

Is Steph still merely the desert of the Warriors’ attack?

KD had an awesome game last night, but quietly or not so quietly, other than a good 4th quarter in game 7, KD had NOT really been playing all that great (by his standards) the last 5 games or so - since game 3 of the Rockets series in fact.

I’m not a KD hater whatsoever, I just vehemently disagree with your assertion that KD is the meat and potatoes and Steph merely the desert of the Warriors offensive attack. That’s simply not true. If you want to say both make up the meat and potatoes of the Warriors’ offensive attack, then that’s far more accurate.

I say all of this as a neutral observer, because I root for the Spurs, so I’ve no dog in this fight.
KD is their best player and can carry them against anyone.

Steph has a match-up dream against the Cavs and is taking advantage of it.
 
My two thoughts from the baseball weekend that you ddnt already mention.

1. Thought it was very cool that both Texas and Cal st Fullerton made the super regional the same year Augie passed away.

2. Kody's super-regional clinching game winning RBI double could be his last ever at bat at Disch-Falk field. I dont know what his draft prospects look like or his likelihood to return to Austin next year, but if that is his last at bat ever in Austin, what a cool and fitting way to go out.
nice additions of thought!
 
Yes... the aggs just care about being away from Texas. The SEC could care less about them and there are just too many mouths to feed when it comes to splitting up the TV revenue. The Aggs will be happy being mediocre in the the Southeast. They may give Texas headaches recruiting but time is on Texas’s side. Kids just don’t want a mediocre program. Jimbo who?

People seem to forget that Jimbo was a heck of a coordinator before becoming a heck of a good head coach. If anyone can move the ags from mediocrity, it's him. But that, of course, is a big if.

Hook 'em!!!
 
Maybe the rankings are not accurate.

TEXAS hasn't lost Leal yet.

Green < T. Johnson

I'll take Catalon over Williams

No getting around missing out on Wilson.

Dylan Wright very well could be the best WR in state other than Wilson.
The rankings are forever fluid until the end. I believe 16 or 17 of the names match the ones on the 247 composite top 20.

I have a hard time saying Johnson is better than Williams, although he one day might be.
 
What do you think the issues are?
Texas has a very weak presence in the Metroplex. It's a staff without much of a successful history in that part of the state and the guy they hired to represent that piece of the puzzle (Beck) hasn't been as impactful as he was at Ohio State.

In Houston, A&M's uptick with a new coach has made the water very muddy, whereas a year ago Texas pretty much rolled through the area, getting nearly everyone it wanted.

I think very quietly the story of the year in Houston is the increased presence of Oklahoma.
 
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KD is their best player and can carry them against anyone.

Steph has a match-up dream against the Cavs and is taking advantage of it.
That’s not much of a counter argument.

KD might be their best player, but Steph is the key to everything they do. Steph is the catalyst for that offensive attack when they’re firing on all cylinders, as they were last night.

Furthermore, KD did not carry GS against Houston. That’s the point I’m trying to make that you’re ignoring. Honestly, nobody really played great for the Warriors in the latter part of that Houston series, but their third quarter flurries were sparked by Curry and Thompson moreso than KD. They won because of Paul’s injury and Houston’s inability to make three point shots, but that’s not the Warriors’ fault.

KD was head and shoulders the best player for the first three games of the Houston series but was up and down after game three. Last night was his first truly great game in the last 5 playoff games.
 
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That’s not much of a counter argument.

KD might be their best player, but Steph is the key to everything they do. Steph is the catalyst for that offensive attack when they’re firing on all cylinders, as they were last night.

Furthermore, KD did not carry against Houston. That’s the point I’m trying to make that you’re ignoring. Honestly, nobody really played great for the Warriors in the latter part of that Houston series, but on their third quarter flurries were sparked by Curry and Thompson moreso than KD. They won because of Paul’s injury and Houston’s inability to make three point shots, but that’s not the Warriors’ fault.

KD was head and shoulders the best player for the first theee games of the Houston series but was up and down after game three. Last night was his first truly great game in the last 5 playoff games.
a. I think KD is held to fantastically high standards. He can go 35-5-5 and nobody blinks.

b. Steph is the thing that truly makes Golden State nuclear. Nuclear Steph doesn't show up every night. It helps in this series that he isn't facing any kind of touch defense, but instead the likes of Kevin Love and Larry nance Jr.
 

Augie-Garrido-2-aug-11.jpg


Augie would have loved last night.

Before the Longhorns clinched a 10th trip to an NCAA Super Regional with that final fourth out in the bottom of the ninth inning, it was hard to look at the scene at the Disch and not think about the Texas legend that left us earlier in the year.

On one side of the field, you had a Texas team trying to regain a piece of its history, but it wasn't going to come easily. There was going to be a bases-loaded situation to escape. A lucky ground-rule double to survive. A potential mental hurdle of thinking you had the game won, only to need to flip the mental switch back on.

On the other side of the field was an opponent that seemed to embody exactly the type of mindset that Garrido would have loved, a team capable of handling adversity and owning the instincts of a fighter that might lose by a decision, but never a knock-out.

At the same time, there would both be exhilaration and devastation. That's baseball and that's life.

Garrido was the master of turning a small moment in a single game and making it about so much more and in the final innings of the Austin Regional, those small moments were in abundance.

And when the final out was "officially" recorded, all of those varying emotions exploded in front of us and I found it impossible to not think about him, if there was a baseball heaven out there where he was able to hang out with his old baseball buddies, drink a glass of wine and smile while watching the program that he loved so dearly find itself after having its will tested to the brink.

This was an Augie kind of weekend.

No. 2 - About David Pierce ...

It's easy to take winning for granted around here when it comes to baseball success. After all, we're talking about a program that legitimately believes that the site of the College World Series is its second home.

Yet, one of the things that really stands out to me from the aftermath of Texas clinching the regional win was the elation from its skipper.

While David Pierce has seen success at the highest levels as an assistant coach, this is the first time as a head coach to experience this level of success and you could see what it meant to him. If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the sight of his smile as he hugged anyone and everyone he could get his hands on was worth a million.

For a guy that once upon a time played his college ball at Wharton Junior College and began his coaching career at Pasadena Dobie High School, this represented a monumental moment for him on a professional level.

Getting this program to this spot is what he was hired to do, but he hadn't actually ever done it before. It's worth taking the time to acknowledge the value of the moment for him every bit as much as the players.

No. 3 - Kody Clemens is about that action...


I'm not going to get into the debate that I started two weeks ago about how the youngest Clemens has put together the type of all-American season that his incredibly famous old man was never quite able to produce because Kody Clemens could hit 100 home runs and his old man would still be Roger Freaking Clemens.

Yanno ... the guy whose number is retired on the outfield wall where Kody does most of his mashing.

Instead, I just want to focus on the fact that after carrying the team on his shoulders to a Big 12 regular season championship down the homestretch of this season, he went out and topped it with his performance in the regional.

His performance against the Aggies on Saturday, which included him staring down the A&M dugout after crushing a ball to give the Longhorns a 3-0 lead, is the stuff of legends in the making. Adding the regional-clinching RBI double in the seventh inning on Sunday night was just the cherry on top of a tasty desert of a weekend performance.

The kid has become must-see-stuff at this stage of the season. We're watching one of the best seasons of the last quarter-century of any player the school has seen.

No. 4 - Talking Jake Smith ...

DezjOkwWAAEdQWL.jpg


The Longhorns out-of-state recruiting machine picked up even more steam over the weekend with the commitment of Arizona prep star Jake Smith.

In a year when the Longhorns are struggling to reel in the best receiver prospects in the state of Texas, being able to secure the commitment of a player that would rank as a top five player in the state of Texas in this class is a massive coup.

At times, you see a little Reggie Bush in the kid. Sometimes you see a little Christian McCaffrey. Ironically, there are times when I see a little bit of Christian Kirk, the last Arizona prep star to rush and receive for 1,000 yards in the same season in the state of Arizona.

This is the type of commitment that is truly worthy of the celebration we make of verbal pledges. The only downside is that he can't play for the Longhorns this season.

No. 5 - The state of the state of Texas ...

A few thoughts following the commitment of five-star offensive line prospect Kenyon Green to Texas A&M this weekend.

a. It's a huge win for the Aggies. Barring injuries, off-field issues or him not caring about football enough to maximize his upside as a player, I think we're talking about a young man that will have a chance to play on Sundays before it's all said and done.

b. Texas is taking some punches to the chin in the state of Texas right now. Oklahoma is a handful in the Metroplex and A&M is a handful in Houston. It's as simple as that.

c. The number of available top-shelf blue chip prospects in the state of Texas is dwindling quickly. Of the top 20 in-state prospects, here is who remains uncommitted.

#5 Richmond Bush CB Erick Young
#7 Houston St. Pius X DB Jalen Curry
#8 Cedar Hill Trinity Christian DB Lewis Cine
#9 Houston St. Pius X QB Grant Gunnell
#15 Houston Mayde Creek DE Marcus Stripling
#19 Fort Worth Eaton WR Titus Swen
#20 Fort Bend Ridge Point DE Nelson Ceasar

Sixty-five percent of the top 20 players in the state are already committed. Two are Longhorns. Texas will likely land another name or two from the list of names above, but I'm not telling you something you don't already know when I tell you that the in-state recruiting success of 2019 isn't the same as that of 2018.

It's a good thing the out of state recruiting is at an elite level because it would be a problem if it wasn't.

No. 6 - Spotlighting the regions around the state of Texas...

I thought a quick snapshot of the rankings through the two most critical regions (most years would include East Texas) of the state of Texas - DFW and Houston - would be interesting to look at.

DFW

1. Allen WR Theo Wease (Committed to Oklahoma)
2. Bishop Dunne DB Brian Williams (Committed to Texas A&M)
3. Cedar Hill Trinity Christian WR Lewis Cine (Uncommitted)
4. Bishop Dunne LB Marquez Beason (Committed to Illinois)
5. Carrollton Hebron WR Trejan Bridges (Committed to Oklahoma)
6. Waxahachie DB Demani Richardson (Committed to Texas A&M)
7. Plano Prestonwood TE Austin Stonger (Committed to Oklahoma)
8. Forth Worth Nolan DE Nana Osafo-Mensah (Committed to Notre Dame)
9. Colleyville Heritage WR Kam Brown (Committed to Texas A&M)
10. Fort Worth Eaton WR Titus Swen (Uncommitted)

Houston

1. Richmond Travis WR Arjei Henderson (Committed to Oklahoma)
2. Humble Atascocita OL Kenyon Green (Committed to Texas A&M)
3. Richmond Bush DB Erick Young (Uncommitted)
4. Houston St. Pius X WR Jalen Curry (Uncommitted)
5. Houston St. Pius X QB Grant Gunnell (Uncommitted)
6. Conroe Oak Ridge OL Tyler Johnson (Committed to Texas)
7. Houston Mayde Creek DE Marcus Stripling (Uncommitted)
8. Fort Bend Ridge Point DE Nelson Ceaser (Uncommitted)
9. Klein Collins RB Isaiah Spiller (Uncommitted)
10. Richmond Bush DB Jamal Morris (Committed to Oklahoma)

No. 7 – Buy or Sell …
BUY-SELL.gif


BUY or SELL: UT manages to win the Super regional and makes it to the CWS?

(Buy) I think Texas is going to knock off Ole Miss in Oxford.

BUY or SELL: Jake Smith takes the sting out of losing Garrett Wilson.

(Buy) I'd prefer Garrett Wilson, but if you're not going to get Garrett Wilson, getting a borderline five-star prospect at wide receiver makes for one hell of a consolation prize.

BUY or SELL: Herman and Texas firmly plant themselves (2-3 top 10 kids per year) in the Arizona FB recruiting landscape the next 5 years?

(Buy) It seems very possible, and perhaps likely, at this point.

BUY or SELL: Aggies care more about being in the SEC than winning?

(Buy) A&M views being in the SEC as winning. It's all they have.

BUY or SELL: Jimbo outworking Herman and staff. This is from the AY moderator:

"A sign of how Jimbo's staff outworks the others -
The aggies are on the verge of locking down 2020 OL Akinola Ogunbiyi and Smart Chibuzo. They've visited multiple times. Texas offered both quickly tonight.

A little desperation there, Tom?"


(Sell) I don't know if Texas is getting outworked. Texas is just getting beat, at least with a number of high-profile in-state 2019 prospects. That might be splitting hairs, but effort isn't the issue. I think the Texas staff is getting outperformed, rather than outworked.

BUY or SELL: Despite all their crowing, Texas ends up with a higher average point ranking than A&M and within 3 of Jimbo & Co. in the final rankings in 2019.

(Buy) Yeah, I can see that.

BUY or SELL: The current temperature in your house will remain below 80 for the next 24 hours?

(Sell) It depends on what part of the house you're in. The upstairs temps are in the low 70s. The downstairs temps are in the 80s. The temperature in the master bedroom could climb back into the 90s again today.

No. 8 - The most interesting things about this year's NBA Finals...

steph-curry-12-30-17.jpg


Who is going to win Finals MVP?

After game one, I might have leaned to LeBron James, even if his team is swept.

After game two, it might just be Steph Curry.

Very quietly, Kevin Durant is averaging 26.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists on 50-percent shooting in two games, which would allow him quite a case himself should he step up his game a notch on the road in Cleveland in games three and four.

The outcome of this series is decided as far as I'm concerned, but these three all-time players competing for the individual prize is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

No. 9 – Eternal Randomness of the Spotty Sports Mind …

... I think a case can be made that Steph Curry shooting a three-point shot is the most exciting play in sports right now.

... Curry was so good in game two that Kevin Durant's sensational night was completely overshadowed. I think he's going to have a moment before this series is complete.

... Why does LeBron keep wearing shorts with his tie and coat? Is he going to pull off making this a popular thing?

... I don't find myself thinking very much about the NFL right now.

... Hey Jake, tell us how you really feel...


... Speaking of Jake, he gets a spot in this weekend's Stat of the Weekend.


... Wait, Seattle is leading the American League West?

... Nine days and 22 hours until the start of the World Cup!

No. 10 – And Finally ...

Anyone seen Drake?

I feel like we might need to put him on the back of a milk carton pretty soon.
Thanks Ketch for leading off with Augie—great write & read.
 
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My two thoughts from the baseball weekend that you ddnt already mention.

1. Thought it was very cool that both Texas and Cal st Fullerton made the super regional the same year Augie passed away.

2. Kody's super-regional clinching game winning RBI double could be his last ever at bat at Disch-Falk field. I dont know what his draft prospects look like or his likelihood to return to Austin next year, but if that is his last at bat ever in Austin, what a cool and fitting way to go out.
+1
 
a. I think KD is held to fantastically high standards. He can go 35-5-5 and nobody blinks.

b. Steph is the thing that truly makes Golden State nuclear. Nuclear Steph doesn't show up every night. It helps in this series that he isn't facing any kind of touch defense, but instead the likes of Kevin Love and Larry nance Jr.
To a degree that’s true (Taking KD’s stats for granted), but I think you’ve overinflated KD’s worth at the expense of Steph’s, as it relates to the Warriors.

Both are top 3-5 players. No doubt about that, I’ve merely disagreed with how you’ve elevated KD’s stature ahead of Curry’s, because Curry is still - in my opinion - their most important player, even if KD is their best player

Curry makes that engine hum. They can get by with Durant scoring more for a game or two and the others not playing well and that’s why they’re so tough to beat, but Houston made Durant struggle after game three of that series. He didn’t shoot well nor did he take good shots. He forced a lot of contested shots against double teams and didn’t always pass the ball when he should’ve. Curry didn’t play at that great either, but his third quarters in games 6-7 were the difference imo.
 
- Every at-bat by Kody Clemens is a must watch.

- LeBron is losing in the fashion game and on the court.

- When was the last time Texas had to load up on out-of-state recruits?

- Drake entered the same witness protection program Meek Mill went into a few years ago. Each rapper took Ls, but Drake's is worse.
 
To a degree that’s true (Taking KD’s stats for granted), but I think you’ve overinflated KD’s worth at the expense of Steph’s, as it relates to the Warriors.

Both are top 3-5 players. No doubt about that, I’ve merely disagreed with how you’ve elevated KD’s stature ahead of Curry’s, because Curry is still - in my opinion - their most important player, even if KD is their best player
I think importance is subjective. One might point to Iggy right now and offer that in his own way, his level of importance to that team has been highlighted by his absence. On some nights, he's as important as any of them.
 
- Every at-bat by Kody Clemens is a must watch.

- LeBron is losing in the fashion game and on the court.

- When was the last time Texas had to load up on out-of-state recruits?

- Drake entered the same witness protection program Meek Mill went into a few years ago. Each rapper took Ls, but Drake's is worse.
a. Indeed.

b. Double Indeed. I wish Embiid would tweet about it.

c. Never.

d. I thought Drake would have responded by now. It's been a week, man...
 
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We've already seen GS win 72 games or whatever it was without KD. Curry is the key.
 
a. Indeed.

b. Double Indeed. I wish Embiid would tweet about it.

c. Never.

d. I thought Drake would have responded by now. It's been a week, man...
Remember when we said Meek Mill took too long? I hope Drake hired an FBI investigator to dig up some dirt or got karma in the worst way.
 
I think importance is subjective. One might point to Iggy right now and offer that in his own way, his level of importance to that team has been highlighted by his absence. On some nights, he's as important as any of them.
Fair point. Thompson would also qualify.

There’s no way the Warriors win game 6 vs OKC in 2016 without that incredible shooting performance Klay had that night - a game that arguably changed the landscape of the whole NBA, because KD and the Thunder go to the Finals and probably (emphasis on probably) win, likely resulting in KD staying with OKC.
 
Good stuff Ketch. As far as the NFL goes, I think a lot of people, including myself, aren't thinking about the NFL. It's obvious that the owners are more concerned about their pockets than they are doing the right thing where the National Anthem is concerned. The more people I talk to about it the more people I discover don't even watch them anymore. Time for them to wake up.
 
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Fair point. Thompson would also qualify.

There’s no way the Warriors win game 6 vs OKC in 2016 without that incredible shooting performance Klay had that night - a game that arguably changed the landscape of the whole NBA, because KD and the Thunder go to the Finals and probably (emphasis on probably) win, likely resulting in KD staying with OKC.
exactly. Great thing about that team is that it has 4 HOF players that can be the X-factor on any given night.
 
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