HookEm

Abmas is an even better closer than Rice IMO. He shot ~92% FTs on volume last year (vs. 86% Rice). He should fill that role exceptionally well. Also I want to reiterate how great a hire Frank Haith was. I mean really really great hire. He is going to have a tangible impact on the offense this year. That was a coaching upgrade.

Seriously? OK. Why not. We had a tremendous off season. We picked up: Max Abmas - All-Region PG/SG from Oral Roberts who took them to the Sweet 16. One of the best 3-point scorers in NCAA history. Could be All-Big 12 or better. Kadin Shdrick - Big guy form Virginia. Multi year starter. Should be a significant upgrade on defense. Also 80% FT shooter. He may be the missing piece we have been needing on both ends. Ithiel Hunter - Multi year starting combo guard from UCF. Another decent range scorer and FT shooter. Chendall Weaver - All-Freshman player from UTA. Yet another solid range scorer and defender. Will be a big piece of the puzzle NEXT year. This year will probably get <15 mpg. Ze'Rik Onyema - Big guy from UTEP who Terry originally recruited. Muscular enforcer type player who will regulate off the bench Those are the big pieces. Dillon Mitchell withdrew from the NBA draft and should be a nightmare for teams at the 3/4. We also return Tyrese Hunter who will likely be the team leader at PG. He has All-Big 12 or better upside as well. Finally we return Dylan Disu who was playing at an All-American level when he went down in March. We will likely get him back in December. Oh and Brock Cunningham returns as well. The best glue guy in the country. That's all I got from memory.

Agree 100%. I always felt bad about not liking him being on the floor because he seemed like a great dude. And his stats were decent. But I thought the team played much better with Brock getting his minutes.

I really think this team has the potential to be better than last year’s team. It is better constructed IMO. The bigs should be a significant upgrade if Disu can come back healthy. And the guards can all score and play defense. The wildcard will be Mitchell. He was basically a non factor last year. This year he could be an absolute monster. I actually love him playing the 3. He is moving around extremely well and will be a matchup problem at either the 3 or the 4.

That offensive rebound and subsequent 3 is textbook Brock. That is why I love him getting 20 mpg.

If Cleveland and Miami were in the West, everyone would think very differently about LeBron. His first Finals wouldn't have come until 2012 in Miami. And he would likely only have another 2 or 3 in his whole career. 2007 - Cleveland would have been a West 6 seed (instead of East 2 seed). Early out. 2008 - Cleveland wouldn't have made the playoffs (instead of East 4 seed) 2009 - Cleveland would have been eliminated by LA in the conference finals 2010 - Cleveland would have been eliminated by LA in the conference finals 2011 - Miami would have been a West 4 seed and eliminated by the Mavs 2012 - Miami would have been a West 3 seed, but still probably win the title 2013 - Miami would have been the overall 1 seed regardless 2014 - Miami would have been eliminated by the Spurs in the conference finals 2015 - Cleveland would have been eliminated by Golden State in the conference finals 2016 - Cleveland would have been a West 3 seed and go through Spurs and Warriors 2017 - Cleveland would have been eliminated by Golden State in the conference finals 2018 - Cleveland would have been eliminated by Golden State in the conference finals Put Durant in the East all those years and maybe he doesn't win any more titles than LeBron, but he sure as hell would have made a lot of Finals.

I applaud this thread.

Shedrick should also help unlock Abmas. He hasn't done much from 3 in his career, but he is 79% FT and 67% 2P%. I will be surprised if he doesn't have a decent midrange game. He only shot seven 3s in his three years at Virginia, and I recall that being part of the reason he left.

Here were the stats from last night if anyone is interested: Onyema is fine for providing some interior toughness off the bench, but he shouldn't be getting more than 10-12 minutes once Shedrick and Disu are back. Replacing his 52% FT with Disu and Shedrick (both ~80%) will be big. They are also much better defenders and MUCH bigger threats both inside and outside. Abmas may take some time to get going, but he is one of the best volume distance shooters in the history of college basketball. There will be days when he goes 2 of 8. And then there will be days when he goes 7 of 12. He has hit 5+ 3s in 20 games over the last two years. He is also going to murder teams at the line. It isn't uncommon for him to go 10/10. In one game last year he went 15/17 at the line. I also don't hate Brock starting. I want to see him getting 20+ mpg. I'm a consistent Brock stan and feel like he is a criminally underrated winner, even by our own fanbase. I also think Hunter has the potential to be a 1st team All-Big 12 type player - and he played like it last night. I really think he was banged up a lot more than was communicated last year. Mitchell looked like an animal as the game progressed. HIs athleticism can't be denied. He has the chance to be the type of long, athletic small forward that we haven't had at UT since Jordan Hamilton (who we forget was a 2nd team All-American, but that is a different topic). I can't wait to watch his development.

It's probably better that I don't watch. WTF

Sure wish I had a stream to this game right about now. Stupid youtubeTV.

Lighten up. It's an all-time great GIF.

Now I will start to pay the price for switching to YouTube TV, which has no LHN. PM me if anyone has a reliable way to stream it.

I personally think this year's team is just as talented as last year's. It is the 2nd or 3rd most experienced team in Texas' history. Our key players (Disu and Abmas) have All-American potential. The team is very well constructed with efficient scorers, defenders, 3 point shooters, etc. It will also be the best free throw shooting team in school history. So, I would say our ceiling is a 1 seed / Final Four. Our floor is maybe a 6-7 seed. I will be disappointed if they don't make the Sweet 16.

I went with my daughter to visit Arkansas earlier this week. Weather was absolutely perfect. Beautiful campus in a beautiful town. If your kid gets into Arkansas, they also get into the major of their choice. And if they decide to change majors, it is apparently easy to do. How novel and refreshing. She is looking at Supply Chain Management possibly double majored with Finance. They apparently have one of the best Supply Chain programs in the country. Makes sense given the close interaction with Walmart. I have a son at UT and honestly think her experience at Arkansas might be better all the way around.

The coldest I have ever been was stuck on a ski lift at Ski Santa Fe with 60 mph winds at -10 degrees F. The second coldest was 2000 OU wearing shorts and a tee shirt. Absolutely miserable.

Gametime kickoff temp is now forecast to be 70 degrees.

I'm not SURE I would rather have Dame than Jrue Holiday. Jrue is a 1st team all-defensive player and great teammate. He also only commands 25% usage vs. Lillard's 34%. Dude is underrated AF. But this tells Giannis you are serious about winning, regardless of how it turns out on the court.

Why not both? FSU may actually be in the SEC by then.

That's fair. Regardless, I'm not saying they will ever get the viewership of the SEC and BIG 10. But I think they are in a great spot relative to the ACC and (defunct) PAC 10. A lot of the viewership will depend on whether the champion is still in the mix or not. If by some chance Colorado runs the table next year all the way to the conference title game and they end up playing a 1 loss Big 12 school (ideally a Texas school), the game will pull huge numbers. Maybe even more than the SEC and Big 10 title games given the Deion hype.

I think the Big 12 will be fine long term. Yes, the SEC and Big 10 will be the premier conferences and will be overrepresented in the playoffs. But the Big 12 will survive because the fanbases care enough to make them survive. And because they don't have any remaining blue bloods, they will have stability while the ACC is on constant poach alert. Last year's Big 12 Title Game drew almost as many viewers as the Big 10 and SEC title games - and didn't feature UT or OU. Once the PAC 12 is gone, they will get a share a solid share of the corner school eyeballs as well. It is hard to predict who will be the dominant Big 12 team over the next 20 years. Colorado looks like a good choice, but who knows how long Prime stays there. Utah has had success in the Pac 10. It could be them. Tech seems committed to the NIL game and seems better positioned than the smaller private schools over the long term. And Kansas is on an up-swing and has the added stability of their basketball program. Honestly, if their football has a decade of success, they would be prime to get poached by the Big 10. It will be interesting to watch. In the meantime, I hope we mud hole every one of them on our F you tour.

Big 12 needs a new media manager if that tweet is the best they can do. Both confusing and stupid.

Ced could turn a 2 yard run into a 5 yard run with regularity. Dude gets criminally underrated as time passes. He was an absolute hoss. Plus he has at least a claim as the best high school player in Texas state history. If he wasn’t such an ass, he would have been a lot more celebrated.

I have Jamaal Charles as #2 on my list of best UT RBs that I have personally watched play. The list goes: Ricky Williams Jamaal Charles Cedric Benson Bijan Robinson Ramonce Taylor D'Onta Foreman