Ketch's 10 Thoughts From The Weekend: Judging spring practice, Rodney Terry, UT baseball & movie fights)
- Thread starter Ketchum
- Start date
The bus scene in NobodyJust a week ago, I asked 20 questions about this spring. Although it's only been a week, we've already learned some answers to the questions. Not all of them, but definitely some of them.
Let's go through them.
What is the running back pecking order after CJ Baxter and Jaydon Blue?
True freshman Christian Clark is already getting run with the second-team offense and thrived in the role on Saturday. Jerrick Gibson is behind him and the other backs on campus can likely be safely listed as behind the two freshmen.
What will the pecking order at wide receiver look like beyond Cook and Bond?
Deandre Moore has been the No. 1 guy in the slot in every practice, while Bond has been rotating between the first- and second-team He'll be more than okay. In the meantime, the apparent importance of Moore to the offense right now is like a flashing neon billboard.
Just how good are Cam Williams and Trevor Goosby?
Pretty damn good. Goosby continues to turn heads in the best ways. At worst, the Longhorns might go into this season feeling like they have three tackles they can play and count on.
Are any of the offensive linemen from the Class of 2023 (outside of Goosby) going to push for a spot on the two-deep?
Andre Cojoe is getting a lot of work as the second-team right tackle.
Is Ethan Burke going to get reps at Jack?
You betcha. He's emerging as the most important defensive lineman on the team.
Is there more to Justice Finkley and J'Mond Tapp going into their third season?
Maybe, Finkley looks like he's got a little more juice in terms of explosiveness and Tapp’s body is leaner. Stay tuned.
Is Jahdae Barron going to play outside of the slot?
Slot.
Which of the true freshmen are ready to play right away?
Christian Clark, Ryan Wingo, Aaron Butler, Alex January, Colin Simmons, Zina Umeozulu, Kobe Black, Xavier Filsaime and Wardell Mack are smart bets at this point.
No. 2 - More spring football stuff ...
* It is no surprise to me that Christian Clark is making waves in camp. He was always undervalued as a prospect (I personally rated him as a super blue-chip) and I thought it was obvious on his film. He doesn't have good feet ... he has GREAT feet.
* As a guy that owns a lot of Ryan Niblett stock, it looks like I didn't buy enough DeAndre Moore stock. We should have known something was up when they gave him jersey number "Zero".
* Kobe Black is already opening eyes. E-x-c-e-l-l-e-n-t.
* Just offer Indiana defensive tackle Philip Blidi. He makes the team immediately better upon arrival. We're talking about a guy with an 82-inch wingspan, 10-inch hands and athleticism that ensures that he hasn't come close to maxing out as a player.
* Sydir Mitchell getting passes by Alex January three practices into camp is not a good sign for Mitchell. He's an out-of-state kid that is slightly slipping on the depth chart when he needs to be rising.
* Former Wake Forest transfer Gavin Holmes has to be asking some questions about his role this season. This is a guy that wants to show off his skills to NFL scouts and he's probably closer to the third team than the first team.
* Can we just admit that together as a collective that Michael Taaffe is a plus-player. He might not be a second-day NFL guy, which is the minimum level you're hoping for, but he's a good player.
* It's never getting better than right now for Savion Red and that's not a good thing if you're him.
* If the coaches could find more room, I'd give serious consideration to finding one more linebacker depth piece.
* Forgive me Zina Umeozulu, I should have rated you higher.
* So far, so good for Trey Moore. I find that to be seriously encouraging.
* For all of the athleticism that Jaray Bledsoe brings to the table, we all have to remember that he's making the adjustment from playing at Marlin High School. It's probably going to require a little more patience.
No. 3 - Rodney Terry's first season is over and it was ... ok?
In the end, the Texas basketball season ended about where it probably should have.
Short of the Sweet 16. Short of any measure of success that will be remembered in future years. For most of the season, the Longhorns have been in scramble mode as they resided somewhere on the Tournament bubble with a conference record that hovered around .500.
In no real shape, form or fashion was the 2023-24 season a real success. Of course, it wasn't an out-and-out failure, either. The team made the Tournament and won a game before bowing out against a better outfit coached by the best Texas basketball coach in the program's history, who is no longer in Austin because he had seven consecutive seasons that looked just like the one Terry put together.
Ironic, huh?
In reality, all you need to know about how successful this season was is this:
a. Terry wouldn't have gotten the head job last year if these had been the results with last year's Chris Beard-built team.
b. Terry will eventually lose his job if he doesn't produce more.
There's no real time to worry about what did or didn't happen with this season because the Portal is open and the building of next year's team must take place right now. The biggest area of concern with the hire of Terry was that he had zero real experience of building an ultra-successful team as a head coach. Being able to put this concern to bed will be the thing that defines his career in Austin.
At the very least, Dylan Disu, Max Abmas and Brock Cunningham are gone. Who knows what will happen with sophomore Dillon Mitchell, whose development fell off a cliff in such a way that he better resembles Humpty Dumpty than a future lottery pick. Outside of junior Chendall Weaver, senior yo-yo guard Tyrese Hunter and super senior Kadin Shedrick, there's not much returning from this year's team that instills much confidence for the future. Those three, along with super freshman Tre Johnson feel like the foundation of next year's team.
Boosting that foundation with high-level transfer pieces from the Portal is paramount. If Terry can pull it off, the program has a chance to take a step forward. Without it, a season similar to this one could be in the cards.
It's all on Terry. This is what the job asks for. A year ago, he did enough to make this team pretty good, but rarely was it better than that. More is expected at Texas.
Just ask Barnes.
No. - 4 - A few more Texas Hoops scattershots ...
* With the season on the line, Terry seemed to have determined months ago that he was going to have Abmas come off a screen to shoot a three, no matter the circumstances. No matter how poorly Abmas was shooting (he was giving the ball up to Brock Cunningham at times in the second half). No matter how well-covered it was. No matter how off-balance the shot was. No matter how difficult of a shot it might be. That was Rodney Terry's "season-on-the-line" move.
* I really enjoyed Abmas for most of the season, but it feels like he was exposed for his flaws in the final games of the season, especially against Tennessee. He'll finish his career as a great college player, but the reasons for him still being a college player in 2024 were revealed in “tough-to-accept" ways. He's an easy guy to root for (and boy was I), but he blinked when Texas couldn't afford him to do so.
* Tip of the cap to former Orangebloods athlete Dylan Disu. It sucks that his college career ended with a subpar night, but he turned himself into one of the best players in the Big 12 this year.
* I think you'd love to have Chendall Weaver coming off the bench next year as one of the best 6th men in the SEC. He comes across to me like one of those guys that does well watching the game unfold for a few minutes before coming in and once he comes in, he changes the entire mood on the court with his relentlessness.
* How in the hell did Weaver's 3-point percentage fall from 40.2% as a freshman at UTA on 2.6 attempts per night to 23.7% this season on 1.1 attempts per game?
* At the beginning of February, Dillon Mitchell was sitting on 7 double-doubles on the season. In his final 11 games of the season, he had none. Hell, he had double-digit rebounds in only one of his final 11 games. Double-digits in points only in 3 of his final 10 games. His game just doesn't seem to have developed at all and he's simply not a plus-player at the highest college levels as this season concludes.
* The move from Iowa State just hasn't worked out like Tyrese Hunter thought that it would.
No. 5 – Too much for Bama to handle...
It never felt like Texas was really under any threat from Alabama on Sunday afternoon because the Tide couldn't seize control of UT's kryptonite, which is the three--point shot. When Texas struggles in games, it's usually because the other team is bombing away from downtown, while the Longhorns only nibble on the shots from outside.
The Tide tried to create double-penetration that led to wide-open outside shots in the corner, but they simply couldn't make them. You aren't likely going to beat Texas without a big advantage in outside shooting.
Meanwhile, the Longhorns have to shoot better in the next round another night, making only 40% from the field and 20% from downtown will prove to be its undoing, if there is an undoing.
No. 6 - One step backward, two steps forward...
The more you watch the Texas Baseball team, the more it feels like you're watching the Texas men's basketball team.
It's definitely not the greatest team in the world and it has limitations. But, the team has guts.
After dropping the series opener to Baylor on Friday in extra innings, largely because they couldn't get enough runs across home plate with multiple bases loaded, no out situations, the Longhorns came out and dominated to the tune of a combined 21-3 scoreline over the final two games.
Whatever Texas is or isn't, the Longhorns are only a game back in the loss column in the Big 12 standings behind Kansas State coming out of the weekend. It feels like a four-team league with KSU (5-1), Texas (4-2), Oklahoma (7-2) and West Virginia (4-2). Every game that Texas has against those three teams is in front of it.
Texas has won 5 of its last 6 games. With a road trip to Manhattan scheduled for next week, I'm willing to withhold judgments to see if this team can keep taking steps forward.
Don't judge me.
No. 7 - Here come the okies ...
As you can see, the Texas softball team has it cooking. Ranked second in the nation, we're talking about one of the nation's very best.
Yet, the next two weekends are going to define this season entering the post-season.
Up first, the Longhorns travel to Stillwater next weekend to take on No. 4 Oklahoma State in a three-game set. Following that little trial of tribulations, the Longhorns host No. 1 Oklahoma in a three-game set
Buckle up, Longhorns. The season begins in earnest in four days.
No. 8 – BUY or SELL …
(Buy) Terry isn't going anywhere, so this ultimately comes down to whether we think Piece is going to do enough to keep his job. It's probably a limb to climb out on, but I'll say he keeps his job for another season.
(Buy) There's been a talent upgrade. It matters. A lot.
(Buy) I don't know what anyone is going to start, but upgrading the two-deep with young bad-ass talent is always a win.
(Sell) Unless there's an injury, I don't think 20% will happen.
(Sell) You can't give the guy a season and bail on him.
(Buy) Yeah, if you set the over/under at 0.5, I'll take the over.
(Buy) That seems about right, but the out number will be more like 6.
(Quadruple sell) Cook could end up having a bigger year than Bond and the same is true about Williams vs. Muhammad, but I favor the other two at the moment. I think we might still be a year away from a large number of OL leaving. As for Randle, I just don't really see it.
(Buy) Only hope and bias would tell you otherwise right now.
(Buy) I think the Texas passing game will get better due to the steps taken by Ewers, who still has plenty of room for growth coming into the year.
No. 9 – Scattershooting all over the place …
... Haters be damned, good for Shaka Smart making the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013. Now he's just a win over an 11-seed (NC State) away from the Elite 8.
... KU fans are starting to turn on Bill Self, who has missed the Sweet 16 in 4 of the last 5 seasons.
... Iowa State better bring its A-game in the next round because Illinois is not to be toyed with.
... What could the Washington Post have on Kim Mulkey that is worse than the stuff we've already seen with our own eyes? Shocker! She's a horrible person.
... 32 days until the NF Draft...
... I did not have Lincoln Riley taking Kirby Smart's cornbread in the state of Georgia in recruiting on my Bingo card.
... This is a multi-quarter suspension in UT's new league, right?
... Austin FC is dootie.
... The Houston Dynamo stealing all three points at the death was the highlight of the MLS weekend.
No. 10 - Top 10: Movie Fights ...
I don't want to say that I went into the new Road House (available on Amazon) remake with high hopes, but I went in with some hope. Push come to shove (no pun intended), I'd say that the remake lives up to a very small amount of hope.
Will it ever make us forget the original ... even for half a second? God, no. Conor McGregor made sure of that. The only thing that would have made his performance redeemable is if he had thrown Kim Mulkey through a table. Alas, she's not in the movie, which feels like a missed opportunity.
Still, I came away from the movie inspired to do this week's Top 10, which focuses on fights in movies.
Here are the rules: No guns. No boxing rings or MMA octagons or Tournaments. No Superheros. No wars. Everything else goes.
Let's get ready to rumble... it's tiiiiiiiime.
Honorable mention: Nada vs. Frank Armitage (They Live), Riggs vs. Joshua (Lethal Weapon), Dutch vs. The Predator (Predator), Brad Pitt vs. Elwin “Chopper” David (Snatch), John McClane vs. Karl (Die Hard), News Anchors vs News Anchors (Anchorman), The Bride vs. Elle Driver (Kill Bill: Volume 2) and Lee vs. O'Hara (Enter the Dragon)
10. The Bride vs The Crazy 88 (Kill Bill Volume I)
I feel like this one might be underrated, but it's the second best fight of the Kill Bill series, although I understand why some would have it ranked first.
9. Jason Bourne vs, Desh the Hitman (The Bourne Ultimatum)
The best of the Jason Bourne throw-downs. Don't bring a knife to a magazine fight.
8. Daniel Larusso vs. Chozen (The Karate Kid II)
Yes, Daniel vs. Johnny could have easily have been on the list, but it felt a little too much like the boxing/MMA competitions I was trying to avoid. Instead, "This not tournament, this for real," Mr. Miyagi says as Daniel prepares to enter combat for his life.
7. Indiana Jones vs. Nazi mechanic (Raiders of the Lost Arc)
It has to be somewhere on the list, right? Indy kicked him, bit him and threw sand in his face. It was a "by any means needed" affair.
6. Maximus vs. Tigris Of Gaul (Gladiator)
This could have easily have made the top 5. Easily.
5. The Bride vs. Gogo Yubari (Kill Bill: Volume 1)
Gogo had The Bride on the ropes as close as anyone... while wearing a school girl outfit.
4. Obi-Wan Kenobi/Qui-Gon Jinn vs. Darth Maul (Star Wars: Episode 1 - The Phantom Menace)
The best fight sequence in any of the Star Wars movies.
3. Dalton vs. Jimmy (Road House)
"I used to (****) guys like you in prison" is fantastic trash talk to throw out there exactly 57 seconds before your throat gets ripped out.
2. Bruce Leroy vs. Sho'Nuff (The Last Dragon)
I can't tell you how many times I've referenced this sight and the "glow." I won't hear a single negative word about it.
1. Philo Beddoe vs. Jack Wilson (Any Which Way You Can)
These two fought for so long that they took a halftime break to share a beer together. Hell, the fight is so long that I can't even find a clip on Youtube that covers the whole thing.
Just watched this last night. WAAAAY out of character for Bob Osdenkirk but he pulls it off!
Call me old school:
Reggie Hammond v. Jack Cates (48 Hrs.)
Robert McCall v. The Brothel Gang (The Equalizer)
Casey v. Marybeth (The Faculty)
Reggie Hammond v. Jack Cates (48 Hrs.)
Robert McCall v. The Brothel Gang (The Equalizer)
Casey v. Marybeth (The Faculty)
I saw the devil, and raid / raid 2 you need to see as well.
Don’t watch I saw the devil unless you’re ready for weird dreams again. Raid isnt disturbing just action.
I think it has to do with the fact that I'm sick and taking drugs to get to feeling better.
Whatever it was, it was on my brain all night.
here's the fight scene
while most people would agree Taylor was in better physical shape Borgnine was a large burly guy and would be hard to handle in a fight
