VinyVango

very beautiful game... sadly, it gets repetitious and forgettable about 50% of the way in.

We haven't really run in transition since Shaka got here... last year (every year) our guards were pretty bad about pounding the ball without moving it around... I fear GBrown is going to be encouraged by Shaka to work on his 3-point game, rather than using and further developing his potential as a player who can elevate and get to the basket. If there is a time to change things up and get the hell away from the lame offense we saw for the 1st 2/3rds of last season, it's now. Coleman, AJ/Ramey, Cunningham, GBrown, and Simms would be my choice for starters unless one of them total drops off in what they have show to date. Bring in Kai, Hamm and Williams if any of those guys quickly are out of sync. Hepa, Febres/Lidell would be my last guys off the bench, but I'd let them stay in for extended time if they were playing strong. Baker is an enigma. Test him in the early games to see if a year of college workouts has helped. If he's still horrific on defense and wants to only shoot James Harden bombs, sit him next to the scrubs at the end of the bench.

I know he's a skilled player, but how is his personality?... Is he a quiet, polite type or an alpha dog who will bark at the other players when they drag their tails or fuck up? If it's the later, I think an alpha personality could actually buffer some of Shaka's ineffective motivation stuff and soft responsibility BS and maybe bring up the energy and "fight" of the other guys who have it in them but display it about 50% of the time. If he's the former, he'll be much better off going the G-League route.

I'm of the school where I think it can be very beneficial analyzing and discussing an opposing player's tendencies, preferences, strengths, and weakness... The whole "Fuck that guy... I'm doing what I do" answers cited the article above, IF TRUE, is pretty stupid... it's weak sauce if it's meant to build confident or team unity... even if you are Lebron James' level and can dominate most players with minimal prep time.

He was the one guy who showed a little fire, looked capable of in-game coaching, and seemed to have his head "in the game" on the sideline and the defense was better this year (generally)...

Next year could be a strange and possibly rage-worthy deja vu with the entire roster and coaching staff returning, especially if Shaka sticks with the same substitution preferences/patterns and loose reigns over shot selection and lax player effort and focus when things get tough. I hope the non-conference slate has more than a french bakery of cream puffs on it. The shit early schedule this year allowed for the players and coaches to hide behind a good W-L record for 1/3 of the season. I cannot say I am remotely excited about reliving another season with the same cast of characters... It'll take more than a buzzer beater over McNeese State to get fans interested in coming back into the drum.

It's basically the exact same team next year... 1 scholarship available and no graduating seniors. I suspect a VERY soft non-conference schedule will be in the works again next year to pad the record. ... still hoping that a team like Boston College, Clemson, or Wake Forest decide they want Shaka so that transition out as gracefully as possible for all sides... and maybe take a couple of his players who are more prone to flight than fight with him.

It was a very good entertaining watch overall. The Mexico and Italy story lines were solid and well cast. The American siblings were probably the weakest link of the series, though they weren't horrible... the actors just felt odd in their roles at times. I never really felt any sympathy or like for the son... He was mainly annoying. The daughter reminded me of Megan Rapinoe pretending to be Al Pacino in the Godfather series and never came across as a person who had ever spent more than a weekend in Louisiana. I think both of the American siblings could have been cast better. The flipping around in time got a bit irritating and ineffective for me after the first episode. The good outweighed the nitpicks I had.

Great show. On a side note, did anyone notice the actor playing Hank to be a little bit off in recapturing the character? I can't put my finger on it exactly, but it seems his remake of Hank is a bit looser/sloppier, less serious, less hardened, etc... than the Hank in Breaking Bad, for some reason. It's not a huge deal by any means, but seems all the other revisited characters have been spot on.

At home... playing for a tournament bid ... and trying to save a coaches job and that’s the product placed on the court ... poorly motivated ... poorly prepared .., and decided only to shoot threes the instant they fell down by 7 points ... piss ass poor Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Aside from the main event and women's championship fight the remainder of that card is early prelim worthy.

Even if this season ended with a crazy run into week 2 of the NCAA tournament, Shaka seems to have that everyone wants us to fail, us-against-the-fans negative vibe that Mack Brown had in his later years. I am not sure he can get over the heavy/deserved criticism the people who actually watched Texas games dished out this year. He doesn't really come across as loving the University of Texas. It may be best for all parties involved if he gets out on a "high" note and heads to G Tech, Clemson, or Wake. He gets a fresh start and has a few years to grow rather than being a dead-man-walking. He can take Febres, Liddell, and his choice of Hepa/Hamm/Sims/Coleman with him to make the transition cuddly. That'll give the new coach a chance to bring in 2 or three guys (PG and PF/C would be ideal) I could be wrong. Maybe he's become a die-hard longhorn and feels responsible for the very inconsistent play of his team. Maybe he's on to something finally and has this thing pointed in the right direction. (I'm skeptical)

18-20 wins was a reasonable ceiling expectation for this team after what it lost to graduation and early departure last year. If that had been accomplished with some non-stagnant offensive sets, common-sense rotations, situational substitutions, more use and development of Hamm/Cunningham/Hepa as the 2nd big on court, less 4 guard ball, and some tougher love when guys like Ramey, AJ, and Febres were trying to emulate James Hardin, it would feel a lot better making the NCAA tournament. As others have indicated, Shaka's team got better when his line-up and strategy options were drastically reduced by injuries. He will get a pass for the year by the brass. I REALLY hope the final 1/4 of this year was a learning experience for him and that he permanently dumps his love/tolerance for high volume, low % shooting beyond the NBA three point line and his preference for riding certain favorite players regardless of how hard they the are playing or how well they are performing (Febres, AJ and Ramey at times). I felt the same last year... hot finish to a disappointing season... signs of changes worthy of optimism... etc... only to see the same guys who made their run in the NIT looking like a junior high team at times. Is Jai Lucas that good of a recruiting presence?... would be nice if we could get some old geyser in that knows how to teach fundamentals in his place, cause Shaka will be back (unless he gets hired away). odd times....

Fuck OU and good night! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Karma! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It definitely added a surreal element to the already way bizarre scene of Norman OK Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Fucking stupid Ramey Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ugh Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

He’s no all American but he’s a guy with a role on this team nobody fills ... he might not be a starter if someone better comes along ...but he deserves minutes no doubt .. should got about 1/2 of febres’ this year Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Kinda reverting to only looking for the three and standing around too much ... need to regroup Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Jesus ... if that’s not a foul nothing is Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Shaka needs to lay into the refs ... this shit is ridiculous Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ramey forcing and playing stupid Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Sadly they got zero minutes in winnable games when the Shak went with a 4 guard lineup and took the L Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk