Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend (Is this the GOAT UT hoops team?)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
Off the top of my head Maybe 3rd or 4th but I’d have to look at some stats
Thomas
JT
Bo
JMike
That's probably fair, but Finley had a wildly weird career. Incredible highs. Some really brutal lows.
Yes. Also softball last year upsetting Ok St twice in a day to make the national championship
I NEVER had the reaction I did to a movie, when I was a 13 year old kid growing up in Rio Rancho, NM after seeing the original Rocky. We had one of those 1 screen movie theatres at that was one of the only things to do for entertainment. We walked about a mile and a half with a few friends to the movie and I was SO exhilarated coming out of it, I literally ran (and I was a pretty chubby italian kid) all the way home. Sore for the next 4 days 
THAT was the ultimate "pump up" movie (later accompanied by Top Gun).
THAT was the ultimate "pump up" movie (later accompanied by Top Gun).
That's awesome.I NEVER had the reaction I did to a movie, when I was a 13 year old kid growing up in Rio Rancho, NM after seeing the original Rocky. We had one of those 1 screen movie theatres at that was one of the only things to do for entertainment. We walked about a mile and a half with a few friends to the movie and I was SO exhilarated coming out of it, I literally ran (and I was a pretty chubby italian kid) all the way home. Sore for the next 4 days
Hot take: Jalen Ramsey is overrated. If he wasn't overrated, he wouldn't have been traded for a 3rd rounder. Just my opinion.
Is this the best Texas basketball team of our lifetimes?
Is it the second best?
Third best?
I'll admit that it's not a question that I have entertained until the last week or so, yet in the aftermath of Texas beating a little team named Kansas (ever heard of them?) by a combined 36 points in the span of two games in a week, while winning the Big 12 Tournament in process and locking down a No. 2 seed in the Tournament ... well ... here we are.
Let's start by establishing the obvious, which is to say that it is absolutely in the conversation.
Did you know that only one Texas team has ever finished the season ranked inside the top 5 in the final AP Poll? Yup, that's the 2002-03 team, which is also the only Texas team to be seeded No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament and make a Final Four run.
That team is the bar that every other team is measured against. In order to claim the top spot, the 2022-23 Longhorns will need to make it to the Final Four. Period. To surpass the T.J. Ford-led 2003 squad, it'll probably need to play in the national championship game.
Beyond that, this is a Texas program that has produced only a No. 2 seed twice and had only four teams ranked in the final AP Poll top 10 going into this season. Those teams were ...
2005-06 - No. 2 seed, Elite 8, 30-7 overall record, tied for 1st in the Big 12, Conference Tournament runner-up and No. 9 final AP ranking.
2007-08 - No. 2 seed, Elite 8, 31-7 overall record, tied for 1st in the Big 12, Conference Tournament runner-up and No. 7 final AP ranking.
2010-11 - No. 4 seed, Round of 32, 28-8 overall record, 2nd in the Big 12, Conference Tournament runner-up and No. 8 final AP ranking.
2020-21 - No. 3 seed, Round of 64, 19-8 overall record, 3rd in the Big 12, Conference Tournament champions and No. 9 final AP ranking.
We probably should give a special shout out to the 1989-90 team, which went to the Elite 8 as a 10-seed, but wasn't ranked in the final AP Poll. It probably squeezes into the top 5 of all-time Texas teams because it's one that is still celebrated as one of the best because of its postseason run. When only four teams in the history of the program's modern age have made it as far as the 1989-90 team did in the Tournament, special considerations must be made.
It feels like this team is entering the Tournament in the No. 4 spot of all-time teams when you consider that it earned a No. 2 seed, won the Big 12 Tournament and will likely finish with the second-highest final AP ranking in school history.
A spot in the Elite 8 will mean a very strong case for the No. 2 spot on a list of all-time great Texas men's basketball teams.
A spot in the Final Four will mean it's in the conversation with the 2002-03 team as the best ever.
All of this discussion kind of reminds me of a line from the movie Major League.
No. 2 - Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Tournament Scattershots ...
... Other than the screwball the committee threw at Texas by giving it the strongest No. 7 seed in the Tournament (by possibly a lot), the Longhorns are in a very doable bracket. In fact, I've got Texas in the Final Four.
... The possible A&M match-up in the second round might be the toughest game until the Elite 8.
... Yes, both Texas and Texas A&M got screwed by CBS's effort to create a tasty TV match-up.
... Colgate lost by 27 to Auburn in its only game against a ranked team this season. Its only loss in 2023 was a road game at American on February 4.
... Houston as the No. 1 seed in UT's region is a win for the Longhorns. No offense to the Cougars, but you'd rather see them than the other teams outside of possibly Purdue.
... I'm not sure anything was more exciting in the Big 12 Tournament for the Longhorns as a team preparing to enter the Tournament than seeing Dylan Disu playing his best basketball of the season and earning Tournament MVP honors.
... It's kind of amazing that Texas won the Big 12 Tournament with Sir’Jabari Rice shooting 1 of 15 from behind the 3-point line in Kansas City, while Marcus Carr was 3 of 11. It is in the team's best interests (to say the least) that the pair shoot better than a collective 4 of 26 in the coming weeks.
… Auburn as a No. 9 seed getting to play in Birmingham is some BS.
No. 3 - About those previous Elite 8 appearances ...
Of those four Elite 8 appearances that the Longhorns have made in the last 50 years, the Longhorns have won once as a higher seed, lost once as a higher seed and lost twice as the lower seed.
All four games stand out in my mind for various reasons.
1990 vs #4 seed Arkansas (L 88-85) - After pulling upsets against No. 7 Georgia, No. 2 Purdue (maybe my favorite Texas basketball game of all-time) and No. 6 Xavier, the Longhorns ran into Arkansas for the third time of the season, after having lost 109-100 in Fayetteville and 103-96 in overtime at home in one of the most famous home games (The Strollin' Nolan game) in the history of the program. The Razorbacks were a legit great team with Lee Mayberry, Todd Day and Lenzie Howell, as this proved to be the sixth straight win over Texas in a span of two years, but the Longhorns hung around by making 9 of 17 three-point shots. Trailing for most of the game, the Longhorns ultimately couldn't quite get over the hump, as Lance Blanks, Travis Mays and Joey Wright combined to shoot 6 of 25 from inside the three-point line. Frankly, it sucked to see the Razorbacks take UT's cake time and time again. The Razorbacks were always just a little bit better.
2003 vs. #7 seed Michigan State (W 85-75) - If I remember correctly, I watched this game in person at the Alamodome with @Suchomel and a few of our friends. The Longhorns weren't great in this game, but they were just better than Tom Izzo's club, especially in front of a huge burnt orange crowd. T.J. Ford didn't shoot the ball well from the floor (4 of 12), but he knocked down 12 free throws, while finishing with a game-high 19 points and 10 assists, Outside of Ford's free throw shooting late in the game, Brian Boddicker and Sydmill Harris came off the bench and combined to hit 5 of 10 3-point shots on a day when UT's five starters combined to hit 1 of 4 from long-distance. Those two combining to score 27 points was really the difference.
2006 vs. #4 seed LSU (L 70-60 OT) - This is easily one of the most bitter losses in the history of the program, as Texas shot 30.4% from the floor for the game and was down seven points in overtime before it was able to get off a single shot. After a Daniel Gibson three-pointer with 32 seconds to go in regulation sent the game to overtime, Glen "Big Baby" Davis knocked down a 3-point shot (his only made 3-pointer in the entire Tournament) to put Texas down 59-52 and the Longhorns were never able to get closer than six points the rest of the way. Future NBA star Lamarcus Aldridge went 2 of 14 from the floor and never got to the free throw line, while future lottery bust Tyrus Thomas scored 21 points on 10 of 14 shooting. Just brutal.
2008 vs. #1 seed Memphis (L 85-67) - Damnit, why did Derrick Rose have to be so good? In a highly touted point guard battle between Rose and Texas All-American D.J. Augustin, Rose scored 21 points on 7 of 10 shooting, while dishing out 9 rebounds and grabbing six assists. Meanwhile, Augustin struggled shooting the ball, as made only 4 of 18 shots in the game, while dishing out only three assists. At the end of the day, the Tigers proved to be too much for the Longhorns and just had better players.
No. 4 - About Rodney Terry ...
Just for the record, I am not a cold-hearted bastard with regard to Terry and his possible place as the program's next full-time head coach.
He's done a great job of helping stabilize things since Chris Beard cut off his nose to spite his career. I've said all year that he's earned a grade of an "A" this year and that grade might very well turn into an "A+" when the dust settles.
His players clearly love him.
Please, don't think that ...
a. I can't see those things.
b. I don't recognize them.
c. I'm not happy for the guy.
We're watching the professional highlight of his career right now and I hope he wins five or six more games along the way, which would certainly lock down the job for him in all probability.
That being said, if we don't look at this situation in a vacuum and look at it from 30,000 feet up in the air, I find myself asking a few questions.
a. How would this team have fared if it had been Chris Ogden that had been given the keys to the car instead of Terry?
b. If Terry was the full-time coach, how would I rank him within the Big 12?
c. Should we ignore his previous decade as a head coach?
Frankly, I'm not sure how different this season would look if Ogden, who is a former head coach at UT-Arlington, was in charge of things. This is probably the most experienced team in the history of Texas basketball and it's full of really good players. It was ranked in the top 10 all season and before blowing the Illinois game before Beard was ousted, there was talk that this might be the best team in the country. It was the No. 7 team in the nation when Beard was arrested.
Beard hired an A+ staff when he put his program together and the collective staff did really good work together, regardless of who became the No. 1 guy in replacement of Beard. In taking over this team, Terry, Ogden and Co. led this team to exactly the type of season this group was supposed to have. It's hard for me to believe that this super-experienced team would have done much worse with Ogden.
From my perspective, this team's floor was finishing fourth in the Big 12. The fifth-best team in the conference was TCU at 9-9 and it's hard for me to believe that this team would have lost more than three games with a different coach when you consider that it mostly won the games it should have won (home games) and lost games (at 1st place KU, T-3rd place Baylor, T-5th place TCU, T-5th place TCU, No.9 Texas Tech and in non-conference to Tennessee) that you would guess were possible losses.
It doesn't get mentioned at all, but Terry's best win on the road this season was at T-3rd place Kansas State (which was a hell of a win), but the only other road wins were against No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 7 West Virginia and tied for last Oklahoma.
Away from home this season, the Longhorns were not good under Terry in true road games. His coaching did not elevate this team on the road. That's not my subjective opinion. That's what happened.
As far as ranking him among Big 12 coaches, here's how I would rank the other eight (Texas Tech's job is vacant) ...
1. Bill Self (Kansas)
2. Scott Drew (Baylor)
3. Porter Moser (Oklahoma)
4. Jerome Tang (Kansas State)
5. Bob Huggins (West Virginia)
6. T. J. Otzelberger (Iowa State)
7. Jamie Dixon (TCU)
8. Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State)
It's hard to rate Terry high on this list when you look at all of the resumes involved. I'll put him above Boynton (who hasn't been good at Oklahoma State) and maybe Dixon (it's 12 years since he was truly hot stuff at Pittsburgh), but even Dixon has achieved more when comparing relative success over the last decade as head coaches.
Everyone else would have to be ranked above Terry at this point. Does anyone think the rest of that list couldn't coach this team to the season it just had?
If I'm Texas, I'd want to have someone running the program that I can safely say ranks No. 3 at worst.
No, I don't think you can close your eyes to his resume. Not winning in a non-power 5 conference as a head coach isn't something you can just ignore. It's not something that Porter Moses couldn't overcome. Hell, Otzelberge won two conference titles, made the NCAA Tournament twice and won nearly 70-percent of his games at South Dakota State.
I'm not a rotten bastard, I'm promise you. I've just thought A LOT about this.
No. 5 - The cold-hard truth ...
There are two types of basketball teams in the women’s college game ... those that pretty much destroy everyone (which there are just a few) and everyone else.
The Texas Longhorns are one of those teams in the "everyone else" pile, which is why it's hard not to focus on the positives in a Big 12 championship in the regular season. That's one hell of an accomplishment.
Yet, in a 61-51 loss in the Big 12 Tournament championship game, the team was kind of exposed for what it is, which is one of the better "everyone else" teams that exists, but a group that can lose to another pretty good team on any given day if it doesn't play well.
What it likely means going into the NCAA Tournament is that any win beyond the Round of 32 is an accomplishment and that a truly deep Tournament beyond the Sweet 16 run feels unlikely, although not impossible. It'll go as far as Rori Harmon can take it, which feels very Sweet 16-ish.
No. 6 - Things that stand out after three days of spring workouts ...
... The babies from the Class of 2023 came to play. Arch Manning is running second team. So is C.J. Baxter. So are Payton Kirkland and Anthony Hill. Hell, no one can seem to contain their excitement about Johntay Cook and they've only practiced three times. Of those five names, four were super blue chip prospects upon their arrival in Austin a few weeks ago. It matters.
... Steve Sarkisian said this about his wide receiver unit on Friday: “I think, one, we've got three returners that are good players, obviously, in Xavier (Worthy), Jordan (Whittington), and Casey (Cain). I thought Casey really came on there, especially had a nice bowl game for us. But all of a sudden, AD (Mitchell) has shown up and has played a lot of football at a high level at Georgia. Johntay (Cook) has been exposed to a lot of good football obviously at DeSoto and he's worked his craft to get there. DeAndre (Moore Jr.), a very good player. Now, we're all excited to get Isaiah Neyor back [he is still limited]. The competition in that room I think is going to be very good, but in the end, we've touched on that, there was a real point of emphasis of ours that our passing game needs to improve for us to be the team that we want to be. So, rolling those guys in and getting them exposed to playing right now, I'm really comfortable with where they're at.”
Sophomore Jaden Alexis is the only receiver currently on campus that wasn't mentioned in those 168 words. When Brenen Thompson returns to the team following track season, he'll have some work to do.
... Speaking of Cook, I just want to mention that Rivals was the only service that ranked him as a 5-star, while there was one service (On3) that didn't have him ranked among the top 10 prospects in the state of Texas. It's still early, but in a re-ranking of the kids that Texas signed, no one is making a bigger early impression than Cook.
... I'm not quite sure how I feel about Kirkland being the back-up to Kelvin Banks. Maybe I'll have a better feeling about how advanced he is by the end of the spring, but at the moment Banks has never felt more valuable than right now. He feels like the most irreplaceable player on the roster.
... It's kind of flown under the radar, but the return of Christian Jones and its importance to this team can't be overstated.
... Sark's message to his team going into spring break probably sounded like this: "Do not become Ja Morant." It's as simple as that.
No. 7 - The importance of getting Lamont Rogers on campus ...
The Longhorns hosted 2025 super recruit Lamont Rogers on Friday for an unofficial visit. As far as I can tell, it's either the first or one of the first visits that Rogers has made during the early stages of his recruitment.
Considering I think he'll be the best offensive line prospect from the Lone Star State in a three-year window (2023-2025), you can't stress enough the importance of Texas being the first team he wants to inspect in person this spring. There's a long way to go in his recruitment and the Longhorns will probably try to get him on campus another 7-10 times before his recruitment is over.
For those that haven't seen him on film yet, take less than two minutes to watch this.
What stands out to me about Rogers?
1. He's just scratching the surface of his athleticism, but he's got good quick feet. His playing basketball and being a good hoopster and not just a big slug playing because he's tall really helps. He's just a nimble dude for his size.
He's got a chance to be an elite left tackle prospect and one of those once every 20-25 year freaks if he keeps developing. I've seen a few clips of him as a left tackle where he recognizes a twist and is able to hand his guy off inside and then still have the quickness and athletic ability to recover against the outside rush coming from the twist really well. That IS NOT usual for young players.
2. Despite being such a tall player, he plays with very good pad level and leverage for a 6-8ish kid. He's a real powerhouse when he gets his body on kids, but he's not just leaning into them. He's getting underneath them and driving them back.
3. Yes, he's a good player that can get to the second level and play in space.
4. He hasn't even scratched the surface of how good he can be. He's a basketball kid during the off-season, which means that he's not yet adding a lot of mass to his frame, which can be good and bad.
5. He's got some nastiness to him. He doesn't play like a basketball player. Honestly, if you just watched his hoops film, you'd never think he'd be the brute force that he shows himself capable of. He's comfortable bringing the ball up court and just moves really well.
Watch him block this shot in this quick clip. He's not an athlete that is going to play above the rim, but his feet are top shelf.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy and Buy) I think you could probably already justify the hire of Terry, even if it's not the best possible hire that could be made. Yes, there will be bitching, no matter what. It's the Internet.
(Buy) I think this is the point of no return if you're Chris Del Conte, an AD that loves being loved. I'm not sure that he's wired to go against the grain of popular thinking.
(Sell) Over The Lion King? Bambi? Beauty and the Beast? Snow White? The Fox and the Hound? I just can't.
(Double Buy) If Sanders truly builds off of last season in terms of production, I think you'd have to say that he's the new No. 1 over David Thomas, Bo Scaife or anyone else you want to throw in the mix. Yes, I believe Sarkisian knows what he has on his hands and will make Sanders an even more important piece of the offense in 2023.
(Sell) I'm not buying Lefau as a game one starter.
(Sell) I'm not sure that he's going to get the targets at the volume that will be needed. CJ Baxter might be the better bet.
(Sell) He's safe if he starts winning a few more games, but he doesn't have three more seasons if he can't at least get to nine wins at some point in the next two seasons.
(Sell) It's the best men's hoops win since 2021 when it also won the conference title. You could also easily pick any number of wins from the 2021 baseball season or either of the wins at ECU last year in the baseball Super Regional. I'd also take last year's Sweet 16 win over Ohio State that led the Texas women to the Elite 8.
(Sell) It probably comes down to how well he tests. If he runs in the 4.3s, he'll have a chance to sneak in at the back of round one.
(Sell) That feels like way to extreme of a way of painting the picture.
(Sell) It's close, but the current team does not have TJ Ford.
(Sell) It's possible, but it feels like the smart money would be on no.
(Buy) That would likely mean that Texas didn't play for a Big 12 title in 2023.
No. 9 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...
... Can Texas play Manhattan every weekend? Tougher challenges are in store for this team, but it was nice to win all three games this weekend, regardless of the competition.
... Texas softball is currently 21-3-1, but I can't say that I totally know what I think of this team because it's only lukewarm when facing top 20-level competition. Stay tuned.
... Scottie Scheffler boat-raced the entire field at The Players Championship. Watch out, folks, he's heating up as we get closer to Augusta.
... I liked the Chicago/Carolina trade for the No. 1 overall pick for both teams.
... Personally, I've got my popcorn ready for Aaron Rodgers in the New York media market.
... Very quietly, it feels like the Miami Dolphins have something cooking. Pairing Jalen Ramsey with Xavien Howard gives them one possibly the best corner duo in the league. If Tua can just stay healthy...
... Joel might not be averaging a triple double, but for the six assists he's not averaging while leading the league in scoring, he's changing at least that many shots on defense as a dominant two-way force.
... I just can't get into the World Baseball Classic. I just don't care.
... When umpires think they are bigger than the game...
... Austin FC won its first road game in eight months on Saturday in Salt Lake City. Maybe @Anwar Richardson is the good luck charm the club needed!
... Damnit, Liverpool. Come on!
No. 10 - The List: Rankings the Rocky universe movies ...
Got a chance to see Creed 3 this week and I'd give it a solid 2 1/2 stars. I enjoyed it. I'm glad I caught it in a movie theater. Jonathan Majors might have been better than anyone not named Apollo Creed, Ivan Drago and Clubber Lang.
Majors is so good, I kind of wanted to see the Dame Anderson-movie (Majors' character) more than the third-Adonis Creed movie.
It got me to thinking about how I would rank Creed 3 among the nine Rocky universe movies that exist.
Let's do it.
9.Rocky V
Most people just pretend this movie doesn't exist. It's pretty awful in every way, the least of which is that it kind of turns Rocky into someone we don't want to root for. Him giving Tommy Gunn all of his time at the expense of a son that was aching to be connected with him was shameful. The fact that Tommy Gunn wasn't even worthy of his time and got beaten in a street fight to a washed-up Rocky makes you wonder what the hell everyone was thinking.
8. Rocky Balboa
It's kind of embarrassing that a video game got a 59-year-old Stallone in the ring and then sold him giving a quality fight to the heavyweight champion in the ring. It's not a great movie, but I'd watch it right now if I saw it on cable, no questions asked. It's kind of remarkable how much distance there is between No. 9 and No. 8.
7. Creed II
Ultimately, this is the goodbye to Rocky Balboa, which kind of makes me ok with the fact that he's the star of the film, but the movie was called "Creed" and didn't do a lot for its star. It makes the champion a bit of a wallflower.
6. Creed III
There's a big space between No. 7 and No. 6 because I liked Creed III a lot more than Creed II for a bunch of reasons. There's more Creed. There's more Jonathan Majors. There's more character building in our new post-Rocky universe. It's just a better story.
5. Rocky II
Honestly, this movie really drags at times between Rocky getting married and Adrian's coma, but from the moment she says, "Win!" in the hospital, the movie becomes a banger. The feeling of validation for Rocky when he wins the belt is hard to replicate. It's a come out of your seat with glee moment.
4. Rocky III
View attachment 3971
The Apollo and Rocky training sessions are elite on their own. Throw in some Mr. T and you've got a movie that is forever re-watchable.
3. Creed
It's a borderline perfect movie. It brings back the Creed name/legacy. It's full of emotion. It's charming. The montages are great. It uses Stallone perfectly. You can make a case it deserves to be No. 2 on the list.
2. Rocky IV
View attachment 3972
I've seen it at least 100 times. I think I watched it every day when I was in the fifth grade and it came on HBO for the first time. Once I put it on VHS, it was watched again and again and again.
1. Rocky
It's arguably the GOAT sports movie, which is why it’s the GOAT Rocky-universe movie. Don't @ me.
3 teams in 7 years. Last contract was five years, $105 million. 19 career interceptions. He struggles with elite WR's, does well with second tier receivers. He's good, not great. Although he thinks he's the best. So, IMO, he's overrated.
@Ketchum I get your point about the new guys making an impact early in the Spring, but you probably should have mentioned that Arch and CJ are #2 on the depth chart because Malik, Keland, and Brooks are not practicing...
Is this the best Texas basketball team of our lifetimes?
Is it the second best?
Third best?
I'll admit that it's not a question that I have entertained until the last week or so, yet in the aftermath of Texas beating a little team named Kansas (ever heard of them?) by a combined 36 points in the span of two games in a week, while winning the Big 12 Tournament in process and locking down a No. 2 seed in the Tournament ... well ... here we are.
Let's start by establishing the obvious, which is to say that it is absolutely in the conversation.
Did you know that only one Texas team has ever finished the season ranked inside the top 5 in the final AP Poll? Yup, that's the 2002-03 team, which is also the only Texas team to be seeded No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament and make a Final Four run.
That team is the bar that every other team is measured against. In order to claim the top spot, the 2022-23 Longhorns will need to make it to the Final Four. Period. To surpass the T.J. Ford-led 2003 squad, it'll probably need to play in the national championship game.
Beyond that, this is a Texas program that has produced only a No. 2 seed twice and had only four teams ranked in the final AP Poll top 10 going into this season. Those teams were ...
2005-06 - No. 2 seed, Elite 8, 30-7 overall record, tied for 1st in the Big 12, Conference Tournament runner-up and No. 9 final AP ranking.
2007-08 - No. 2 seed, Elite 8, 31-7 overall record, tied for 1st in the Big 12, Conference Tournament runner-up and No. 7 final AP ranking.
2010-11 - No. 4 seed, Round of 32, 28-8 overall record, 2nd in the Big 12, Conference Tournament runner-up and No. 8 final AP ranking.
2020-21 - No. 3 seed, Round of 64, 19-8 overall record, 3rd in the Big 12, Conference Tournament champions and No. 9 final AP ranking.
We probably should give a special shout out to the 1989-90 team, which went to the Elite 8 as a 10-seed, but wasn't ranked in the final AP Poll. It probably squeezes into the top 5 of all-time Texas teams because it's one that is still celebrated as one of the best because of its postseason run. When only four teams in the history of the program's modern age have made it as far as the 1989-90 team did in the Tournament, special considerations must be made.
It feels like this team is entering the Tournament in the No. 4 spot of all-time teams when you consider that it earned a No. 2 seed, won the Big 12 Tournament and will likely finish with the second-highest final AP ranking in school history.
A spot in the Elite 8 will mean a very strong case for the No. 2 spot on a list of all-time great Texas men's basketball teams.
A spot in the Final Four will mean it's in the conversation with the 2002-03 team as the best ever.
All of this discussion kind of reminds me of a line from the movie Major League.
No. 2 - Big 12 Tournament and NCAA Tournament Scattershots ...
... Other than the screwball the committee threw at Texas by giving it the strongest No. 7 seed in the Tournament (by possibly a lot), the Longhorns are in a very doable bracket. In fact, I've got Texas in the Final Four.
... The possible A&M match-up in the second round might be the toughest game until the Elite 8.
... Yes, both Texas and Texas A&M got screwed by CBS's effort to create a tasty TV match-up.
... Colgate lost by 27 to Auburn in its only game against a ranked team this season. Its only loss in 2023 was a road game at American on February 4.
... Houston as the No. 1 seed in UT's region is a win for the Longhorns. No offense to the Cougars, but you'd rather see them than the other teams outside of possibly Purdue.
... I'm not sure anything was more exciting in the Big 12 Tournament for the Longhorns as a team preparing to enter the Tournament than seeing Dylan Disu playing his best basketball of the season and earning Tournament MVP honors.
... It's kind of amazing that Texas won the Big 12 Tournament with Sir’Jabari Rice shooting 1 of 15 from behind the 3-point line in Kansas City, while Marcus Carr was 3 of 11. It is in the team's best interests (to say the least) that the pair shoot better than a collective 4 of 26 in the coming weeks.
… Auburn as a No. 9 seed getting to play in Birmingham is some BS.
No. 3 - About those previous Elite 8 appearances ...
Of those four Elite 8 appearances that the Longhorns have made in the last 50 years, the Longhorns have won once as a higher seed, lost once as a higher seed and lost twice as the lower seed.
All four games stand out in my mind for various reasons.
1990 vs #4 seed Arkansas (L 88-85) - After pulling upsets against No. 7 Georgia, No. 2 Purdue (maybe my favorite Texas basketball game of all-time) and No. 6 Xavier, the Longhorns ran into Arkansas for the third time of the season, after having lost 109-100 in Fayetteville and 103-96 in overtime at home in one of the most famous home games (The Strollin' Nolan game) in the history of the program. The Razorbacks were a legit great team with Lee Mayberry, Todd Day and Lenzie Howell, as this proved to be the sixth straight win over Texas in a span of two years, but the Longhorns hung around by making 9 of 17 three-point shots. Trailing for most of the game, the Longhorns ultimately couldn't quite get over the hump, as Lance Blanks, Travis Mays and Joey Wright combined to shoot 6 of 25 from inside the three-point line. Frankly, it sucked to see the Razorbacks take UT's cake time and time again. The Razorbacks were always just a little bit better.
2003 vs. #7 seed Michigan State (W 85-75) - If I remember correctly, I watched this game in person at the Alamodome with @Suchomel and a few of our friends. The Longhorns weren't great in this game, but they were just better than Tom Izzo's club, especially in front of a huge burnt orange crowd. T.J. Ford didn't shoot the ball well from the floor (4 of 12), but he knocked down 12 free throws, while finishing with a game-high 19 points and 10 assists, Outside of Ford's free throw shooting late in the game, Brian Boddicker and Sydmill Harris came off the bench and combined to hit 5 of 10 3-point shots on a day when UT's five starters combined to hit 1 of 4 from long-distance. Those two combining to score 27 points was really the difference.
2006 vs. #4 seed LSU (L 70-60 OT) - This is easily one of the most bitter losses in the history of the program, as Texas shot 30.4% from the floor for the game and was down seven points in overtime before it was able to get off a single shot. After a Daniel Gibson three-pointer with 32 seconds to go in regulation sent the game to overtime, Glen "Big Baby" Davis knocked down a 3-point shot (his only made 3-pointer in the entire Tournament) to put Texas down 59-52 and the Longhorns were never able to get closer than six points the rest of the way. Future NBA star Lamarcus Aldridge went 2 of 14 from the floor and never got to the free throw line, while future lottery bust Tyrus Thomas scored 21 points on 10 of 14 shooting. Just brutal.
2008 vs. #1 seed Memphis (L 85-67) - Damnit, why did Derrick Rose have to be so good? In a highly touted point guard battle between Rose and Texas All-American D.J. Augustin, Rose scored 21 points on 7 of 10 shooting, while dishing out 9 rebounds and grabbing six assists. Meanwhile, Augustin struggled shooting the ball, as made only 4 of 18 shots in the game, while dishing out only three assists. At the end of the day, the Tigers proved to be too much for the Longhorns and just had better players.
No. 4 - About Rodney Terry ...
Just for the record, I am not a cold-hearted bastard with regard to Terry and his possible place as the program's next full-time head coach.
He's done a great job of helping stabilize things since Chris Beard cut off his nose to spite his career. I've said all year that he's earned a grade of an "A" this year and that grade might very well turn into an "A+" when the dust settles.
His players clearly love him.
Please, don't think that ...
a. I can't see those things.
b. I don't recognize them.
c. I'm not happy for the guy.
We're watching the professional highlight of his career right now and I hope he wins five or six more games along the way, which would certainly lock down the job for him in all probability.
That being said, if we don't look at this situation in a vacuum and look at it from 30,000 feet up in the air, I find myself asking a few questions.
a. How would this team have fared if it had been Chris Ogden that had been given the keys to the car instead of Terry?
b. If Terry was the full-time coach, how would I rank him within the Big 12?
c. Should we ignore his previous decade as a head coach?
Frankly, I'm not sure how different this season would look if Ogden, who is a former head coach at UT-Arlington, was in charge of things. This is probably the most experienced team in the history of Texas basketball and it's full of really good players. It was ranked in the top 10 all season and before blowing the Illinois game before Beard was ousted, there was talk that this might be the best team in the country. It was the No. 7 team in the nation when Beard was arrested.
Beard hired an A+ staff when he put his program together and the collective staff did really good work together, regardless of who became the No. 1 guy in replacement of Beard. In taking over this team, Terry, Ogden and Co. led this team to exactly the type of season this group was supposed to have. It's hard for me to believe that this super-experienced team would have done much worse with Ogden.
From my perspective, this team's floor was finishing fourth in the Big 12. The fifth-best team in the conference was TCU at 9-9 and it's hard for me to believe that this team would have lost more than three games with a different coach when you consider that it mostly won the games it should have won (home games) and lost games (at 1st place KU, T-3rd place Baylor, T-5th place TCU, T-5th place TCU, No.9 Texas Tech and in non-conference to Tennessee) that you would guess were possible losses.
It doesn't get mentioned at all, but Terry's best win on the road this season was at T-3rd place Kansas State (which was a hell of a win), but the only other road wins were against No. 6 Oklahoma State, No. 7 West Virginia and tied for last Oklahoma.
Away from home this season, the Longhorns were not good under Terry in true road games. His coaching did not elevate this team on the road. That's not my subjective opinion. That's what happened.
As far as ranking him among Big 12 coaches, here's how I would rank the other eight (Texas Tech's job is vacant) ...
1. Bill Self (Kansas)
2. Scott Drew (Baylor)
3. Porter Moser (Oklahoma)
4. Jerome Tang (Kansas State)
5. Bob Huggins (West Virginia)
6. T. J. Otzelberger (Iowa State)
7. Jamie Dixon (TCU)
8. Mike Boynton (Oklahoma State)
It's hard to rate Terry high on this list when you look at all of the resumes involved. I'll put him above Boynton (who hasn't been good at Oklahoma State) and maybe Dixon (it's 12 years since he was truly hot stuff at Pittsburgh), but even Dixon has achieved more when comparing relative success over the last decade as head coaches.
Everyone else would have to be ranked above Terry at this point. Does anyone think the rest of that list couldn't coach this team to the season it just had?
If I'm Texas, I'd want to have someone running the program that I can safely say ranks No. 3 at worst.
No, I don't think you can close your eyes to his resume. Not winning in a non-power 5 conference as a head coach isn't something you can just ignore. It's not something that Porter Moses couldn't overcome. Hell, Otzelberge won two conference titles, made the NCAA Tournament twice and won nearly 70-percent of his games at South Dakota State.
I'm not a rotten bastard, I'm promise you. I've just thought A LOT about this.
No. 5 - The cold-hard truth ...
There are two types of basketball teams in the women’s college game ... those that pretty much destroy everyone (which there are just a few) and everyone else.
The Texas Longhorns are one of those teams in the "everyone else" pile, which is why it's hard not to focus on the positives in a Big 12 championship in the regular season. That's one hell of an accomplishment.
Yet, in a 61-51 loss in the Big 12 Tournament championship game, the team was kind of exposed for what it is, which is one of the better "everyone else" teams that exists, but a group that can lose to another pretty good team on any given day if it doesn't play well.
What it likely means going into the NCAA Tournament is that any win beyond the Round of 32 is an accomplishment and that a truly deep Tournament beyond the Sweet 16 run feels unlikely, although not impossible. It'll go as far as Rori Harmon can take it, which feels very Sweet 16-ish.
No. 6 - Things that stand out after three days of spring workouts ...
... The babies from the Class of 2023 came to play. Arch Manning is running second team. So is C.J. Baxter. So are Payton Kirkland and Anthony Hill. Hell, no one can seem to contain their excitement about Johntay Cook and they've only practiced three times. Of those five names, four were super blue chip prospects upon their arrival in Austin a few weeks ago. It matters.
... Steve Sarkisian said this about his wide receiver unit on Friday: “I think, one, we've got three returners that are good players, obviously, in Xavier (Worthy), Jordan (Whittington), and Casey (Cain). I thought Casey really came on there, especially had a nice bowl game for us. But all of a sudden, AD (Mitchell) has shown up and has played a lot of football at a high level at Georgia. Johntay (Cook) has been exposed to a lot of good football obviously at DeSoto and he's worked his craft to get there. DeAndre (Moore Jr.), a very good player. Now, we're all excited to get Isaiah Neyor back [he is still limited]. The competition in that room I think is going to be very good, but in the end, we've touched on that, there was a real point of emphasis of ours that our passing game needs to improve for us to be the team that we want to be. So, rolling those guys in and getting them exposed to playing right now, I'm really comfortable with where they're at.”
Sophomore Jaden Alexis is the only receiver currently on campus that wasn't mentioned in those 168 words. When Brenen Thompson returns to the team following track season, he'll have some work to do.
... Speaking of Cook, I just want to mention that Rivals was the only service that ranked him as a 5-star, while there was one service (On3) that didn't have him ranked among the top 10 prospects in the state of Texas. It's still early, but in a re-ranking of the kids that Texas signed, no one is making a bigger early impression than Cook.
... I'm not quite sure how I feel about Kirkland being the back-up to Kelvin Banks. Maybe I'll have a better feeling about how advanced he is by the end of the spring, but at the moment Banks has never felt more valuable than right now. He feels like the most irreplaceable player on the roster.
... It's kind of flown under the radar, but the return of Christian Jones and its importance to this team can't be overstated.
... Sark's message to his team going into spring break probably sounded like this: "Do not become Ja Morant." It's as simple as that.
No. 7 - The importance of getting Lamont Rogers on campus ...
The Longhorns hosted 2025 super recruit Lamont Rogers on Friday for an unofficial visit. As far as I can tell, it's either the first or one of the first visits that Rogers has made during the early stages of his recruitment.
Considering I think he'll be the best offensive line prospect from the Lone Star State in a three-year window (2023-2025), you can't stress enough the importance of Texas being the first team he wants to inspect in person this spring. There's a long way to go in his recruitment and the Longhorns will probably try to get him on campus another 7-10 times before his recruitment is over.
For those that haven't seen him on film yet, take less than two minutes to watch this.
What stands out to me about Rogers?
1. He's just scratching the surface of his athleticism, but he's got good quick feet. His playing basketball and being a good hoopster and not just a big slug playing because he's tall really helps. He's just a nimble dude for his size.
He's got a chance to be an elite left tackle prospect and one of those once every 20-25 year freaks if he keeps developing. I've seen a few clips of him as a left tackle where he recognizes a twist and is able to hand his guy off inside and then still have the quickness and athletic ability to recover against the outside rush coming from the twist really well. That IS NOT usual for young players.
2. Despite being such a tall player, he plays with very good pad level and leverage for a 6-8ish kid. He's a real powerhouse when he gets his body on kids, but he's not just leaning into them. He's getting underneath them and driving them back.
3. Yes, he's a good player that can get to the second level and play in space.
4. He hasn't even scratched the surface of how good he can be. He's a basketball kid during the off-season, which means that he's not yet adding a lot of mass to his frame, which can be good and bad.
5. He's got some nastiness to him. He doesn't play like a basketball player. Honestly, if you just watched his hoops film, you'd never think he'd be the brute force that he shows himself capable of. He's comfortable bringing the ball up court and just moves really well.
Watch him block this shot in this quick clip. He's not an athlete that is going to play above the rim, but his feet are top shelf.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy and Buy) I think you could probably already justify the hire of Terry, even if it's not the best possible hire that could be made. Yes, there will be bitching, no matter what. It's the Internet.
(Buy) I think this is the point of no return if you're Chris Del Conte, an AD that loves being loved. I'm not sure that he's wired to go against the grain of popular thinking.
(Sell) Over The Lion King? Bambi? Beauty and the Beast? Snow White? The Fox and the Hound? I just can't.
(Double Buy) If Sanders truly builds off of last season in terms of production, I think you'd have to say that he's the new No. 1 over David Thomas, Bo Scaife or anyone else you want to throw in the mix. Yes, I believe Sarkisian knows what he has on his hands and will make Sanders an even more important piece of the offense in 2023.
(Sell) I'm not buying Lefau as a game one starter.
(Sell) I'm not sure that he's going to get the targets at the volume that will be needed. CJ Baxter might be the better bet.
(Sell) He's safe if he starts winning a few more games, but he doesn't have three more seasons if he can't at least get to nine wins at some point in the next two seasons.
(Sell) It's the best men's hoops win since 2021 when it also won the conference title. You could also easily pick any number of wins from the 2021 baseball season or either of the wins at ECU last year in the baseball Super Regional. I'd also take last year's Sweet 16 win over Ohio State that led the Texas women to the Elite 8.
(Sell) It probably comes down to how well he tests. If he runs in the 4.3s, he'll have a chance to sneak in at the back of round one.
(Sell) That feels like way to extreme of a way of painting the picture.
(Sell) It's close, but the current team does not have TJ Ford.
(Sell) It's possible, but it feels like the smart money would be on no.
(Buy) That would likely mean that Texas didn't play for a Big 12 title in 2023.
No. 9 - Scattershooting on anything and everything ...
... Can Texas play Manhattan every weekend? Tougher challenges are in store for this team, but it was nice to win all three games this weekend, regardless of the competition.
... Texas softball is currently 21-3-1, but I can't say that I totally know what I think of this team because it's only lukewarm when facing top 20-level competition. Stay tuned.
... Scottie Scheffler boat-raced the entire field at The Players Championship. Watch out, folks, he's heating up as we get closer to Augusta.
... I liked the Chicago/Carolina trade for the No. 1 overall pick for both teams.
... Personally, I've got my popcorn ready for Aaron Rodgers in the New York media market.
... Very quietly, it feels like the Miami Dolphins have something cooking. Pairing Jalen Ramsey with Xavien Howard gives them one possibly the best corner duo in the league. If Tua can just stay healthy...
... Joel might not be averaging a triple double, but for the six assists he's not averaging while leading the league in scoring, he's changing at least that many shots on defense as a dominant two-way force.
... I just can't get into the World Baseball Classic. I just don't care.
... When umpires think they are bigger than the game...
... Austin FC won its first road game in eight months on Saturday in Salt Lake City. Maybe @Anwar Richardson is the good luck charm the club needed!
... Damnit, Liverpool. Come on!
No. 10 - The List: Rankings the Rocky universe movies ...
Got a chance to see Creed 3 this week and I'd give it a solid 2 1/2 stars. I enjoyed it. I'm glad I caught it in a movie theater. Jonathan Majors might have been better than anyone not named Apollo Creed, Ivan Drago and Clubber Lang.
Majors is so good, I kind of wanted to see the Dame Anderson-movie (Majors' character) more than the third-Adonis Creed movie.
It got me to thinking about how I would rank Creed 3 among the nine Rocky universe movies that exist.
Let's do it.
9.Rocky V
Most people just pretend this movie doesn't exist. It's pretty awful in every way, the least of which is that it kind of turns Rocky into someone we don't want to root for. Him giving Tommy Gunn all of his time at the expense of a son that was aching to be connected with him was shameful. The fact that Tommy Gunn wasn't even worthy of his time and got beaten in a street fight to a washed-up Rocky makes you wonder what the hell everyone was thinking.
8. Rocky Balboa
It's kind of embarrassing that a video game got a 59-year-old Stallone in the ring and then sold him giving a quality fight to the heavyweight champion in the ring. It's not a great movie, but I'd watch it right now if I saw it on cable, no questions asked. It's kind of remarkable how much distance there is between No. 9 and No. 8.
7. Creed II
Ultimately, this is the goodbye to Rocky Balboa, which kind of makes me ok with the fact that he's the star of the film, but the movie was called "Creed" and didn't do a lot for its star. It makes the champion a bit of a wallflower.
6. Creed III
There's a big space between No. 7 and No. 6 because I liked Creed III a lot more than Creed II for a bunch of reasons. There's more Creed. There's more Jonathan Majors. There's more character building in our new post-Rocky universe. It's just a better story.
5. Rocky II
Honestly, this movie really drags at times between Rocky getting married and Adrian's coma, but from the moment she says, "Win!" in the hospital, the movie becomes a banger. The feeling of validation for Rocky when he wins the belt is hard to replicate. It's a come out of your seat with glee moment.
4. Rocky III
View attachment 3971
The Apollo and Rocky training sessions are elite on their own. Throw in some Mr. T and you've got a movie that is forever re-watchable.
3. Creed
It's a borderline perfect movie. It brings back the Creed name/legacy. It's full of emotion. It's charming. The montages are great. It uses Stallone perfectly. You can make a case it deserves to be No. 2 on the list.
2. Rocky IV
View attachment 3972
I've seen it at least 100 times. I think I watched it every day when I was in the fifth grade and it came on HBO for the first time. Once I put it on VHS, it was watched again and again and again.
1. Rocky
It's arguably the GOAT sports movie, which is why it’s the GOAT Rocky-universe movie. Don't @ me.
He's a three-time first-team All-Pro corner and was the third highest graded CB in the game last year behind Sauce Gardner and Pat Surtain.
It doesn't get much better.
I suppose these conference tourneys at the end of the year must be profitable? Otherwise they don't seem to have much impact on anything. The attendance looks sparse. I guess they have enough TV money to continue to do them.
I would have more interest in a conference championship game like football.
''B/S: Big 12 Tournament win on Saturday was the best UT athletics victory since the 2019 Sugar Bowl."
Ketch, you said "Sell," but I disagree with your reasoning. I'd go with the Women's Tennis team winning back-to-back championships, including Peyton Stearns winning the individual title in 2022. (PS -- The team is loaded for 2023.)
Ketch, you said "Sell," but I disagree with your reasoning. I'd go with the Women's Tennis team winning back-to-back championships, including Peyton Stearns winning the individual title in 2022. (PS -- The team is loaded for 2023.)
No doubt. I think we've found that there are probably 10 different answers that fly in the face of it being the best since the Sugar Bowl.
It's almost impossible to do, because his sample size includes inheriting a Chris Beard Top 10 team, and 10 years of mediocrity (at best). Obviously, all coaches belong behind Self and Drew, but after that you have a lot of guys that really haven't done much, an aging Hall of Famer, and Jamie Dixon, who probably deserves more credit than he gets.
I think you have Porter Moses way too high on your list. I know he had some Cinderella teams, but his time at OU has been pretty pathetic. I also think you have Jerome Tang way too high on your list. Where as Rodney Terry had to toil away at Fresno State and UTEP after he left Texas, Jerome Tang got a MUCH better job out of the gates at Kansas State. Honestly, the Big 12 coaches don't impress me too much outside of the top heavy, ring wearing coaches.
Again, I completely agree with you that Rodney Terry has never proven to be a program builder. The only silver lining I see, is that he would be inheriting a program, vs building one. That could unravel quickly, however.
Tang didn't just get a better job, but he did a world-class year one performance to go with it.
Moses had MULTIPLE great years at a worse job than UTEP and Fresno.
Moser's agent is begging for an interview for the Notre Dame job. He desperately wants out of OU.
They also had a George McGinnis starter kit of power forward that was built like Adonis, and could jump like Dominique Wilkins
I thought we had decided LeFau is (currently) too small. Now all of the sudden people are asking if he's going to start as a freshman on Day 1?
So in other words it took Beard all of two years to build arguably our best roster ever at his alma mater. What a sad sad fall from grace. This team could have still been a 1 seed and won the reg season championship with him for all we know.
Ketch you're right on Terry but people are too caught up in emotions to see it that way. When this thing doesn't work out, everyone is gonna feel real stupid in hindsight and act like it was so obvious. We literally have all the data in front of us to know but emotions are running wild. I hope you remind everyone in a calender year about all of this and watch how fast those same people backing Terry will be off the ship if he is hired. Beard is already in the SEC not sure why we want to settle in a competitive conference.
Ketch you're right on Terry but people are too caught up in emotions to see it that way. When this thing doesn't work out, everyone is gonna feel real stupid in hindsight and act like it was so obvious. We literally have all the data in front of us to know but emotions are running wild. I hope you remind everyone in a calender year about all of this and watch how fast those same people backing Terry will be off the ship if he is hired. Beard is already in the SEC not sure why we want to settle in a competitive conference.
