HookEm

Waaaat? A Barnes team regressed toward the end of the year? No wai.

I personally would start Cunningham at the 3 and then bring Weaver off the bench for any of Hunter, Abmas or Cunningham depending on how the game is unfolding at the time. Agree that we need another guard though. I would look to bring in someone wit upside who we could develop for a few years. If Mitchell wants to come back, I don't see why you would take any of those other guys over him. By all accounts Mitchell had a good attitude last year and we all know how much upside he has. With literally every other player, there is culture risk. These are all players who are leaving another program for one reason or another. A large percentage of them are upset about something. Maybe they will fit in to the culture RT is building. Maybe they won't. But there is more risk with every single one of them. So for me to take that risk, the upside has to be higher than Mitchell, and that seems like a tall order. Moreover, I think it is a bad look as a program that if a player tests the NBA draft waters and doesn't enter the portal, we tell them "Nope playa, it is time to go. Enjoy the G-League". I don't think if that got out it would benefit us on the recruiting trail.

Yeah no shit. We have all read all of those quotes over the last month. No need to dredge them up to read them again. All you did was ensure more slap fights instead of actual productive conversation.

Thank you for posting all of those quotes. Really adds to the discussion.

F it. Just bring back Dillon Mitchell and let's roll.

I feel like if we can have a thread title wondering whether Kevin Durant is a Longhorn, it is probably safe to have a thread title calling Chris Beard a piece of shit.

Meh... Perryman averaged 3.5 mpg last year. Figure he will also get about that many mop-up minutes this year. And he only played in 11 games.

Looking at lineups, if we add Caleb Love, the minutes allocation could look something like this: How great would it be to always have two of Hunter, Abmas and Love on the court at any given time... and often all three of them. Then you have a guy like Weaver off the bench who can also play any of the three guard spots. Given that Cunningham has played all of the 3, 4 or even 5 spots, I'm not sure we need to add more bigs except for maybe a development project who is content with 10 minutes. But honestly I would rather give the minutes to Onyema, Disu and Shedrick. Even if you get into foul trouble with the bigs, a lineup with Hunter + Abmas + Love + Cunningham + Disu / Shedrick could be very good.

Agree. I like the fact that the staff is being honest with recruits about what will be expected of them. Seems like the best way to avoid a lot of drama and infighting about roles and such once they get here. Derka - are you warming to the Caleb Love idea now that Spencer is out? Or would you rather take one of the forwards? Or just allocate more minutes to who we have?

Here are some comments from Roy Williams during his freshman year: "Defensively, I think he could be one of the best defensive guards I've ever coached. Playing his position, he has strength, he has speed, he has jumping ability, he has great feet. He's been shooting it well in practice. He's been really working at it, I mean you saw after one of our games, he was still here at midnight working on his shot. He's working at it and jut a tremendous young man." Here are some draft notes: Love is an aggressive scoring guard with a downhill style of play. He attacks the defense and has both power and quickness on his drives to the hoop. He doesn’t shy away from contact and he’s a guy who can finish above the rim. His step-back game is promising but can be inconsistent and he’s streaky from outside. He’s a good competitor who’s energy and hustle rubs off on his teammates, especially when he’s hitting shots. With an impressive 6-9 wingspan (measured at Nike Skills Academy) and broad shoulders he’s clearly got the size and frame for the NBA level and fits where the NBA is going with versatile guards who can score. He’s not necessarily a pass-first player but he does a good job of pressuring and collapsing the defense with his scoring ability, which can get open shots for teammates. Love can get a bit careless with the ball and over dribble at times but that’s what happens when you’re the best player on the court (and his decision making will improve with age). And some other draft notes: A proven winner, Love has the tools to raise the ceiling of any team. Even at the NBA level, there’s a clear pathway to him being a key piece of the rotation on a championship team one day. Love enters year four at the college level as a decorated college prospect. During North Carolina’s championship run in 2022, he scored more than any player in the tournament. Furthermore, he knocked down countless clutch buckets which proved he’s able to step up in the biggest moments. He’s the ultimate competitor that can do a bit of everything. The upside as an isolation scorer with a ton of athleticism and speed is intriguing. He’s a strong driver with a quick first step and a dynamic package of dribble moves. Defensively, Love is also able to make plays. He’s generated over a steal per game over the course of his career, leveraging his quick hands and ability to jump passing lanes. At 6-foot-4 and nearly 200 pounds, Love has the frame to be physical when defending opposing guards. All of this seems like he could be a great primary option off the ball at the college level. I love having competitive guys on the roster. Out of all the intangibles, that is the attribute that I most want to be a common thread through every player.

Wat

This is why we can’t have nice things

Would the Spurs be crazy to target Draymond Green in free agency? He still averaged 9 PTS, 7 REB, 7 AST last year and played 73 games at 31.5 mpg. Pop isn't getting any younger, so I think they should immediately shift into "win now" mode. Draymond could help establish a winning culture and was still 2nd team All-Defense this year. His passing and style of play would also fit well with the Spurs. He could also be a good mentor for Jeremy Sochan, who may someday have a comparable game.

So to summarize, we are looking heavily at the following Caleb Love - SR - G - 6'4, 195 - All Tourney Team ('22) Cam Spencer - 5th SR - G - 6'4, 205 - 1st team Patriot League ('22) Julian Phillips - SO - F - 6'8, 198 - SEC All-Freshman Arthur Kaluma - JR - F - 6'7, 220 - Big East All Freshman ('22) Personally I would rank them in the order listed, with a strong preference for Love or Spencer over the forwards. I think we can find another big guy in the portal as needed. Getting another elite guard would let us play small and make us a much tougher out IMO. Love has been playing basketball against the highest levels of competition his whole life and he has already shown tourney success. His efficiency isn't great, but has improved every year. His 2P% has gone from 34.8% -> 38.0% -> 45.5%. His turnovers have dropped from 3.1 -> 2.7 -> 2.4. I would expect him to show continued improvement with another year and a change of scenery. Here is how both Love and Spencer compare to Abmas and Weaver... and Carr and Rice in the year before coming to UT Caleb Love - UNC, 22-23, 35.7 MP, 3.5/7.7 45.5 2P%, 2.2/7.4 29.9 3P%, 3.1/4.0 76.5 FT%, 16.7 PTS, 2.8 AST, 3.7 TRB, 1.1 STL, 2.4 TO, 2.8 WS, 14.5 PER Cam Spencer - RUT - 22-23, 31.5 MP, 2.3/5.1 45.3 2P%, 2.1/4.9 43.4 3P%, 2.2/2.5 89.4 FT%, 13.2 PTS, 3.1 AST, 3.8 TRB, 2.0 STL, 1.4 TO, 5.5 WS, 21.4 PER Max Abmas - ORU - 22-23, 36.0 MP, 3.4/6.3 53.0 2P%, 3.5/9.4 37.3 3P%, 4.6/5.1 91.1 FT%, 21.9 PTS, 4.0 AST, 4.4 TRB, 1.1 STL, 2.0 TO, 6.7 WS, 24.7 PER C. Weaver - UTA - 22-23, 29.5 MP, 2.1/4.5 46.5 2P%, 1.0/2.6 40.2 3P%, 2.2/3.2 70.3 FT%, 9.5 PTS, 2.0 AST, 4.6 TRB, 0.9 STL, 1.2 TO, 3.2 WS, 15.4 PER Marcus Carr - MIN, 20-21, 35.8 MP, 3.9/9.1 43.3 2P%, 2.1/6.5 31.7 3P%, 5.3/6.7 79.9 FT%, 19.4 PTS, 4.9 AST, 4.0 TRB, 1.3 STL, 2.3 TO, 3.8 WS, 20.7 PER Jabari Rice - NMS - 21-22, 32.3 MP, 1.9/4.2 39.1 2P%, 1.8/5.2 34.1 3P%, 2.8/3.5 77.9 FT%, 11.9 PTS, 3.1 AST, 5.1 TRB, 0.6 STL, 2.5 TO, 3.4 WS, 14.3 PER Holy hell, Abmas is putting up some numbers. A step above the other guys in almost ever way. Great efficiency on really big volume. He is going to be awesome. Love has pretty similar stats to Carr's last year at Minnesota (where Carr was actually a year older since he had to sit out a year after transferring from Pitt). Since whoever we recruit is likely to play on the wing, I would rather have someone who can attack and get to the line. I think Love fits the bill better than Spencer, who seems to be more of a long range sniper.

All of the guys we are looking at are more than just a warm body. It would be someone who could start at the 3 and move Cunningham or Weaver to the bench. It would be more of a talent upgrade than just a strategy for keeping people healthy. If we strike out on Love, Kaluma, Spencer or Phillips, then sure get a couple of solid glue guys who would be happy playing 10-15 mpg.

Y'all are all disgusting. Fried eggs is for combining with savory stuff, not sweet stuff. Hell, just put a fried egg on top of a cinnamon roll. Why not.

I suppose even I will admit that KU has a better roster than us now, and probably the best team in the nation. Guessing they go with a starting lineup of: PG - Dajuan Harris SG - Nicolas Timberlake SF - Kevin McCullar PF - KJ Adams C - Hunter Dickinson Off the bench then you would have Arterio Morris, Elmarko Jackson and Parker Braun (plus all the other freshmen). They are going to be a handful. They still have a pretty young bench. It will be interesting to see how the minutes get distributed. Arterio Morris could have been a starter getting 32 mpg and been a key piece for us. Now, he is going to be fighting with freshmen for PT.

Back to the SEC talk, I agree it isn't a good cultural fit for UT (even though a lot of people in our state share the deep souf culture). UT and Austin are much more culturally similar to some of the big liberal schools around the country like Washington, Colorado, UNC, etc. That said, we are a better academic fit with Florida, Georgia, Aggy and Vanderbilt than any schools in the old Big 12. Using US News rankings, the SEC is actually a good bit better academic conference than the Big 12, which isn't saying much. Moving Texas - 38 Oklahoma - 127 SEC - Avg 112 Vanderbilt - 13 Florida - 29 Georgia - 49 Texas A&M - 67 Auburn - 97 South Carolina - 115 Tennessee - 115 Missouri - 121 Alabama - 137 Kentucky - 137 Ole Miss - 151 LSU - 176 Arkansas - 176 Mississippi State - 194 Big 12 - 147.8 (with new schools) / 151.9 (old excluding UT & OU) Baylor - 77 TCU - 89 BYU - 89 (new) Kansas - 121 Iowa State - 127 Central Florida - 137 (new) Cincinnati - 151 (new) K-State - 166 Oklahoma State - 182 Houston - 182 (new) Texas Tech - 219 West Virginia - 234 I think ultimately we will find that we are a bitter fit with a lot of the new SEC schools than we were with West Virginia, Iowa State, K-State, OSU. PAC-10 was probably the best cultural fit, especially if we could have made a Southwest pod with Arizona, ASU, Colorado, and OU.

I've enjoyed being in the Big 12 for hoops, but it has just gotten to be a complete bloodbath since some of the weaker schools have gotten good. Used to be you could count on TCU sucking. Now they are winning 20+ games and winning their first game in the tourney. In recent years there hasn't been an easy game on the schedule. Check that... there hasn't been a non-brutal game on the schedule. The SEC should be fun with a good mix of solid schools and relatively weaker schools where we can relax (a little). Kentucky will be a good substitute for KU. We will have good rivalry games with Arkansas, OU and Aggy. We will have interesting games against former coaches in Tennessee and Ole Miss. And out of the rest a few will be elite (Alabama, Florida, Auburn, etc.) - and a few will suck (Souf Carolina, Georgia).

Obligatory

Who knows how it will turn out with Caleb Love. The guy has definitely been an inefficient high-usage player so far in his career. Generally I can't stand that type of player, especially at the PG position. I don't mind it nearly as much from the wings where you need a player who can get buckets. My main source of optimism is that Frank Haith is at his best with guard heavy lineups. His best year at Mizzou (2012) they were 30-5 with Marcus Denmon 6'3 (35 mpg), Kim English 6'6 (34 mpg), Phil Pressey 5'10 (32 mpg), Michael Dixon 6'1 (27 mpg), and Matt Pressey 6'2 (25 mpg) all getting big minutes. Kim English was about like Caleb Love prior to Haith taking over (36% FG). He went on to be 1st team All-Big 12 and Big 12 Tourney MVP. Michael Dixon also saw a big efficiency improvement. Honestly it is hard to know exactly how to feel about various recruits when we don't really know what our style is going to be.

I can't decide whether we should release him or not. Nothing forced him to sign a LOI. He knew RT was going to be the coach. Nothing has changed except that we have recruited a few more guys. Part of me likes taking a stand and forcing him to go to the G-league if he doesn't want to be at Texas. I appreciate that it may hurt us recruiting 5-star players in the future, but it may also help when players (and their handlers) are trying to renegotiate NIL deals if we set a precedent that we don't play that BS.

I don't think the fact that Self is the best in the game is lost on anyone. That is why KU is ranked in the top-5 despite only returning two players and not having a recruiting class loaded with top-10 recruits. As it stands, KU is likely to start one freshman (fringe top-10 recruit) and need at least a couple more to step up big-time. They may win the conference again with that formula, but I wouldn't be betting on them cutting the nets down. Here are the significant freshmen on the last three years of Final Four teams. Bold players are starters. Only 4 teams had freshmen providing more than 10-12 mpg. And the majority of the freshmen contributors were higher ranked than anyone coming in for KU. 2023 • UConn – Karaban 29 mpg (~top-100 recruit) • San Diego State – No significant freshman • Florida Atlantic – No significant freshman • Miami – No significant freshman 2022 • Kansas – No significant freshman • North Carolina – No significant freshman • Duke – Banchero 33 mpg (#2 recruit), Keels 30 mpg (#19 recruit), Griffin 24 mpg (#18 recruit) • Villanova – No significant freshman 2021 • Baylor – No significant freshman • Gonzaga – Suggs 28 mpg (#7 recruit) • Houston – Mark 20 mpg (#75 recruit) • UCLA – No significant freshman

I don't see how this is "shit talk". Damn we have some sensitive people on this board. Aggy likes to beat their chest based on recruiting rankings or playing close games. This is simply acknowledging that we have been competitive as recently as last year. And again, I have never said we are going to win the conference next year. I said we are going to COMPETE for it, just like we did last year. Here is CBS ranking us at #19 without adding anyone else. I welcome anyone who thinks KU is completely head and shoulders above us to compare rosters as I have. I'm certainly open to some rational discussion. My view is that a lot of the rating services are vastly over-valuing incoming freshmen and under-valuing experience and the portal. If the roster we have assembled ends up outside the top-25, we are going to surprise a lot of people.

Scoreboard is scoreboard. F 'em.