Men’s Hoops: Do you care?
- Thread starter Oldmanastro
- Start date
Well, I turned the game on with Texas leading 27-20, only to watch them give up a 12-3 run and Shaka the lead away by halftime. Off to find something else to do...
On the contrary, I've watched more Texas basketball under Shaka than any well-adjusted, non-self-loathing person should.
Whatever is analogous to PTSD for a college sports fan, I have it when it comes to Shaka's teams. I'm mostly just done with it, at least when it comes to watching live. The DVR is running, so if they win, I'll enjoy the rest of it after the fact. If not, I'll be a lot less pissed off this way.
And judging by the espn.com game tracker, I've made the right call so far.
Whatever is analogous to PTSD for a college sports fan, I have it when it comes to Shaka's teams. I'm mostly just done with it, at least when it comes to watching live. The DVR is running, so if they win, I'll enjoy the rest of it after the fact. If not, I'll be a lot less pissed off this way.
And judging by the espn.com game tracker, I've made the right call so far.
Last edited:
Genius move by Smart to not make a defense/offense change there. Let us leave Ramey out there on D with 4 fouls.
I mean damn. Take him out while Kai is on the line. You know you're going to foul...then sub him back in. Just, wtf?
How many games on the schedule this year? 25? I think 15-10 is likely, with some luck 16-9. Should be enough for a 1st round exit in the tourney!
27 plus the conference tournament. 22 left. 4 more non conference games 3 of which would be easy wins. If you just gave them those 3 wins plus 9 conference wins that would be 16-10. I think we will be slightly better than that. I’ll say 18-8 going in to the conference tournament. That’s of course not knowing who will play and not play from day to day.
I missed the game, but I am looking at the box score. By the score it looked like a good defensive ball game. Very evenly as far as stats go, except the box score has one outlier:
Nova: Texas:
FG%. 24/56=42.9%. 27/60=45%
3pt%. 6/19=31.6%. 7/22=31.8%
FT%. 14/19=73.7%. 3/6 =50%
Well, actually two outliers: 1) Nova went to the line 19 times and Texas 6 times. 2) Nova was 73.7% with free throws and Texas was 50%.
This is more of the same with Shaka's teams. They keep the game on the perimeter and never drive in or take it to the paint and force the opposing team to foul.
Nova: Texas:
FG%. 24/56=42.9%. 27/60=45%
3pt%. 6/19=31.6%. 7/22=31.8%
FT%. 14/19=73.7%. 3/6 =50%
Well, actually two outliers: 1) Nova went to the line 19 times and Texas 6 times. 2) Nova was 73.7% with free throws and Texas was 50%.
This is more of the same with Shaka's teams. They keep the game on the perimeter and never drive in or take it to the paint and force the opposing team to foul.
Last edited:
This ⬆️! Also as much as I’m wanting AJ to do good....Kai has to start and play more minutes than him!
Yeah I think you are going to see Kai start to take more mins from Simms. Simms just isn’t aggressive enough in the post. He should be getting a double/double every time out, and getting to the line 5-7 times a game. He’s good enough and he gets plenty of opportunities
The best lineup for this team:
PG Coleman
SG Ramey
SF Brown
PF Kai Jones
C Simms
This group defensively is virtually positionless. They can switch all of the pick and rolls plus they all have the footspeed to guard anyone on the perimeter. The length and athleticism of this lineup is ridiculous. Simms is the anchor in the middle protecting the rim. He really doesn't have to do anything offensively. We just need him to defend the paint and rebound like a fothermucker. Jones and Brown both need to develop some playmaking ability. Both of them are below average passers. Coleman and Cunningham can't be the only playmakers on the team. Championship teams always have multiple playmakers on the floor at the same time. That means Jones and Brown need to start driving relentlessly into the paint and kicking it out to an open shooter if the defense collapses into the paint. The shooters need to knock down shots consistently. If all of these things are all clicking at once, we can beat anyone in the country. It's all going to come down to coaching. So far, Shaka has Brown playing out of position and Kai is being used as an energy guy off the bench to go against the opposing team bench players. That won't get it done in the Big 12 and NCAA tournament where the rotations tighten up and only 6-7 players get to play all the meaningful minutes. He's playing an 8-9 player rotation currently. That's a big adjustment for the players who play all season with one consistent rotation then have to adjust with a brand new rotation come tournament time. He needs to start playing a consistent lineup and rotation now with his best players at each position on the floor to start the game.
PG Coleman
SG Ramey
SF Brown
PF Kai Jones
C Simms
This group defensively is virtually positionless. They can switch all of the pick and rolls plus they all have the footspeed to guard anyone on the perimeter. The length and athleticism of this lineup is ridiculous. Simms is the anchor in the middle protecting the rim. He really doesn't have to do anything offensively. We just need him to defend the paint and rebound like a fothermucker. Jones and Brown both need to develop some playmaking ability. Both of them are below average passers. Coleman and Cunningham can't be the only playmakers on the team. Championship teams always have multiple playmakers on the floor at the same time. That means Jones and Brown need to start driving relentlessly into the paint and kicking it out to an open shooter if the defense collapses into the paint. The shooters need to knock down shots consistently. If all of these things are all clicking at once, we can beat anyone in the country. It's all going to come down to coaching. So far, Shaka has Brown playing out of position and Kai is being used as an energy guy off the bench to go against the opposing team bench players. That won't get it done in the Big 12 and NCAA tournament where the rotations tighten up and only 6-7 players get to play all the meaningful minutes. He's playing an 8-9 player rotation currently. That's a big adjustment for the players who play all season with one consistent rotation then have to adjust with a brand new rotation come tournament time. He needs to start playing a consistent lineup and rotation now with his best players at each position on the floor to start the game.
I like that. Andrew Jones coming off the bench has a scorer. He was great on that role last year. Brown looked like he figured out how to play college basketball late in the game today.
Texas up 62-45 with 5 mins to go on Texas State. Not the prettiest game on the world but several teams around the country have struggled in these games the last couple weeks, so good to see them handle their business
Yep 10 dunks tonight. That’s what this team should be able to do against a team like Texas state. Credit Texas state. Though they play tough.
Ok. I was gonna say if was Baylor I’d be skeptical seems like Covid pops up when Baylor has a tough game, but scratch that since it was Gonzaga
