I just wanted to share a couple things that stood out to me from last night’s unbelievable performance against Xavier:
1. The defensive effort, especially in the first half, was as ridiculously tenacious as any I’ve ever seen from a Texas team. You could tangibly feel the exasperation from the Xavier players due to their inability to create separation or get an open look. Sean Miller had a look on his face that said, “I don’t know what the f$&k to do.” Every pass, shot and cut was contested aggressively and physically. And, the crazy thing is, not only was there no drop off when we would go to the bench, but the intensity actually ramped up when guys like Arterio and Brock were on the floor. Simply unbelievable defensive effort and intensity.
2. The veteran experience of this team was on full display offensively last night. For all that Kunkel can do offensively (and the kid is definitely a baller and was Xavier’s one consistent offensive threat), the poor kid couldn’t stay in front of any of our guards one-on-one. When Xavier came out in man-to-man, it was clear that the direction from RT was for whoever was being guarded by Kunkel to go right at him and get to the rack.
So, Xavier did what any well-coached team would do and switched into a zone. Under Shaka, you would’ve seen the team panic and start jacking up threes over top of the zone for multiple possessions in a row. Last night, without a timeout needing to be called, the team calmly spread the floor, worked the ball in to Timmy in the high post, and then he would do one of two things depending on the defense’s reaction:
- If they collapsed from the wings, he would kick out to a wide-open shooter; or,
- If the wing defenders stayed home, he would run screen-and-roll with Bishop for a wide-open lob dunk.
It was an absolute master class in offensive versatility and execution, and Xavier simply had no answer for it. Especially considering the stage and the stakes, it is one of the most impressive performances I can remember in my more than 30 years as a Longhorns’ fan (damn I’m old).
1. The defensive effort, especially in the first half, was as ridiculously tenacious as any I’ve ever seen from a Texas team. You could tangibly feel the exasperation from the Xavier players due to their inability to create separation or get an open look. Sean Miller had a look on his face that said, “I don’t know what the f$&k to do.” Every pass, shot and cut was contested aggressively and physically. And, the crazy thing is, not only was there no drop off when we would go to the bench, but the intensity actually ramped up when guys like Arterio and Brock were on the floor. Simply unbelievable defensive effort and intensity.
2. The veteran experience of this team was on full display offensively last night. For all that Kunkel can do offensively (and the kid is definitely a baller and was Xavier’s one consistent offensive threat), the poor kid couldn’t stay in front of any of our guards one-on-one. When Xavier came out in man-to-man, it was clear that the direction from RT was for whoever was being guarded by Kunkel to go right at him and get to the rack.
So, Xavier did what any well-coached team would do and switched into a zone. Under Shaka, you would’ve seen the team panic and start jacking up threes over top of the zone for multiple possessions in a row. Last night, without a timeout needing to be called, the team calmly spread the floor, worked the ball in to Timmy in the high post, and then he would do one of two things depending on the defense’s reaction:
- If they collapsed from the wings, he would kick out to a wide-open shooter; or,
- If the wing defenders stayed home, he would run screen-and-roll with Bishop for a wide-open lob dunk.
It was an absolute master class in offensive versatility and execution, and Xavier simply had no answer for it. Especially considering the stage and the stakes, it is one of the most impressive performances I can remember in my more than 30 years as a Longhorns’ fan (damn I’m old).
