Texas basketball 2020-21: Not even Shaka can fuck this up...right?

[Goo Punch 4,275]

I'll say it right now: Roy Williams would win 25-30 games and go to the EE or Final Four with this roster. It's built for speed, and we may honestly have the most athletic lineup in America. Hamm, Sims, Kai Jones, Donovan Williams, and GB III is as athletic a fivesome as any team in country has, and that's not even considering that Andrew Jones was once a pretty damn athlete before cancer and chemo ravaged his body, so let's not count him all the way out of this list either. Shaka is an absolute moron if he doesn't run up and down like every game is a track meet with this team, and the days of Texas being painfully slow and low scoring *should* be a thing of the past, if only for one year. This is by far the best team Shaka Smart has ever coached. Anything less than a summarily satisfying season should result in his immediate termination. Good luck Shaka- you seriously shouldn't need it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Braff Zacklin 13,555]

Repped for thread title.

 

But, yes, yes he can.

[Somnio 751]

WWRBD?

[Js1 85,295]

Only 3 things can derail that roster: Shaka, catastrophic injury or coronavirus. 

[Goodman 3,273]

[Wulaw Horn 19,068]

Cake is baked. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Wulaw Horn

[OU Sucks 8,797]

2 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Shaka is an absolute moron if he doesn't run up and down like every game is a track meet with this team, and the days of Texas being painfully slow and low scoring *should* be a thing of the past, if only for one year.

Shaka: What's that?  Have everyone stand at the 3 point line and pass the ball around until someone has an open shot?  Excellent, that was my plan.

[MotownHorn 1,760]

Wrong

[MotownHorn 1,760]

Also I'd put it at less than 50% that the season even gets played, unfortunately.

[realgreggym 835]

6 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

 

I'll say it right now: Roy Williams would win 25-30 games and go to the EE or Final Four with this roster. It's built for speed, and we may honestly have the most athletic lineup in America. Hamm, Sims, Kai Jones, Donovan Williams, and GB III is as athletic a fivesome as any team in country has, and that's not even considering that Andrew Jones was once a pretty damn athlete before cancer and chemo ravaged his body, so let's not count him all the way out of this list either. Shaka is an absolute moron if he doesn't run up and down like every game is a track meet with this team, and the days of Texas being painfully slow and low scoring *should* be a thing of the past, if only for one year. This is by far the best team Shaka Smart has ever coached. Anything less than a summarily satisfying season should result in his immediate termination. Good luck Shaka- you seriously shouldn't need it.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Maybe Roy should try reaching .500 with his squad before coaching ours.

[Tommy Shelby 188]

The Big 12 in general looks like it will be stacked next year. 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

17 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

Maybe Roy should try reaching .500 with his squad before coaching ours.

lol. Roy has a down year (with one of his least talented teams ever- at least when Anthony was out) and suddenly Shaka > Roy. I specifically chose Roy (and not Self, or Izzo, or Few, or Bennett, or Beard) because this is the exact type of roster that Roy Williams would take and score 83 PPG, and go 27-5 with in the regular season, and would make a real run at the Final Four with. Point being, this roster will seriously be talented enough to go to the Final Four with a coach who really knows how to optimize its strengths and mitigate its weaknesses. I am very interested to see what Shaka Smart does with it, because for the first time during his tenure at Texas he is stacked; loaded; he has the upper hand; he has a top 15-20 roster talent-wise;  I know what a coach like Roy would do with this team. I'm extremely curious to see what Shaka will do with a team that absolutely should expect to be very successful. 

Edited April 25, 2020 by Goo Punch

[realgreggym 835]

25 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

lol. Roy has a down year (with one of his least talented teams ever- at least when Anthony was out) and suddenly Shaka > Roy. I specifically chose Roy (and not Self, or Izzo, or Few, or Bennett, or Beard) because this is the exact type of roster that Roy Williams would take and score 83 PPG, and go 27-5 with in the regular season, and would make a real run at the Final Four with. Point being, this roster will seriously be talented enough to go to the Final Four with a coach who really knows how to optimize its strengths and mitigate its weaknesses. I am very interested to see what Shaka Smart does with it, because for the first time during his tenure at Texas he is stacked; loaded; he has the upper hand; he has a top 15-20 roster talent-wise;  I know what a coach like Roy would do with this team. I'm extremely curious to see what Shaka will do with a team that absolutely should expect to be very successful. 

I don't care who you chose. Carolina was under .500 this year. Blue blood Carolina. A few years ago, Calipari was preseason 1, had the number 1 recruiting class, the first 2 picks in the NBA draft and if I remember correctly, didn't make the playoffs. You have no idea what any other coach would do. This is all about your talking trash because you still haven't gotten over the fact that Coach Barnes isn't here. Take your nonsense to someone that believes your hot air.

[Goo Punch 4,275]

right, because there's totally no reason to think that Shaka Smart is going to underperform with the talent he has. 🙄 

[Chad 1,728]

4 hours ago, Tommy Shelby said:

The Big 12 in general looks like it will be stacked next year. 

Yes it will be. KU and Baylor are Top 10 teams, WVU is going to be good, Texas should open the season in the Top 20 and Okie St is bringing in a loaded recruiting class.

[dogbreath 434]

Have they hired a new defensive coach?

[orangecat92 306]

I am pretty confident he can f this up by utilizing last years offense.  He tells gb he needs to work on his threes for the next level, and keeps him out there on the three point line through end of January.   He also has Baker and gb split time starting through end of February.  March arrives and by then shaka has gb in a mind melt, not knowing his capabilities.  Team finishes 10 and 8 in conference, gets on a roll postseason, makes it to round of 32, and CDC gives Shaka a 3 year extension. congratulations team, you won a tournament game.  

[Revolution512 1,487]

I wish we were a little more athletic at the guard spot, we aren’t great at beating people off the dribble. But at the 3,4,5.....holy shit. 

[Js1 85,295]

 

[Brian Fantana 6,681]

On 4/25/2020 at 4:45 AM, Chad said:

Yes it will be. KU and Baylor are Top 10 teams, WVU is going to be good, Texas should open the season in the Top 20 and Okie St is bringing in a loaded recruiting class.

Yep. Baylor, KU, and Tech will likely all be preseason top 10, with Tech maybe slightly outside at 11 or 12. WVU and Texas will be top 20 with the opportunity to play close to the top 10 or into it during pre-conference games. OSU probably just slightly outside the top 25 with OU maybe being top 35 or 40.

Lots saying it may be a 7-team bid year for the conference but I'm sticking with 6 with OU missing out due to replacing too many pieces.

[orangecat92 306]

On 4/26/2020 at 9:57 AM, Js1 said:

 

I will play the forecast game.  losses....8 in conference, 1 in Maui, losses to Villanova and Gonzaga, one in SEC challenge.....total losses 12.  That leaves the team with 19 wins?  

 

That is before the conference tourney.  Then 2 wins in the tourney and the team is a 12 seed in the big dance.  Win one for sure.  Progress?  yes, enough to merit a long-term extension, I don't think so.  

[Guest Lobo]

Pretty accurate and I think we get better (finally) by mid-season instead of our usual Shaka-led regress.  But that Maui Invitational is very early on (obviously) with an even tougher field than usual:  Alabama, Davidson, Indiana, North Carolina, Providence, Stanford, and UNLV.  Not even a Chaminade.  We're gonna be lucky to not go 0-3 there.  Between that field (obviously bracket makes all the difference) and Gonzaga and Villanova...we're gonna be lucky to go 9-4 in non-conf. play.  Plus Shaka has an uncanny ability to lose to a team each late Autumn that I'm pretty sure isn't even housed at a real college.  Big XII is gonna be rough next year for us.  As stated above, we'll be lucky to go 20-13 before the Dance Card is filled out.

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

On 4/24/2020 at 11:59 PM, realgreggym said:

Maybe Roy should try reaching .500 with his squad before coaching ours.

Maybe he went 26-5 In 2018 and has won a NC in the last four years. Remind me what Shaka has accomplished in that same time frame?

On 4/25/2020 at 12:47 AM, realgreggym said:

I don't care who you chose. Carolina was under .500 this year. Blue blood Carolina. A few years ago, Calipari was preseason 1, had the number 1 recruiting class, the first 2 picks in the NBA draft and if I remember correctly, didn't make the playoffs. You have no idea what any other coach would do. This is all about your talking trash because you still haven't gotten over the fact that Coach Barnes isn't here. Take your nonsense to someone that believes your hot air.

Other than your usual stance of saying no one can know what what will happen and refusing to actually say anything of susbtance, are you seriously not even able to admit that Roy Williams is a better coach than Shaka and would do better with this roster?
Not to mention your attempt to cherry pick individual seasons of accomplished coaches, like Williams and Cal compared to Shaka really shows what a novice you are at debate. 

[CurlyDumps 4,468]

On 4/26/2020 at 10:57 AM, Js1 said:

 

Look at that beautiful built-in excuse for being a 19-13 bubble team. Let's get that bad luck narrative started early, boys!

[jeevsie 3,733]

OP:

[realgreggym 835]

39 minutes ago, Burt Macklin said:

Maybe he went 26-5 In 2018 and has won a NC in the last four years. Remind me what Shaka has accomplished in that same time frame?

Other than your usual stance of saying no one can know what what will happen and refusing to actually say anything of susbtance, are you seriously not even able to admit that Roy Williams is a better coach than Shaka and would do better with this roster?
Not to mention your attempt to cherry pick individual seasons of accomplished coaches, like Williams and Cal compared to Shaka really shows what a novice you are at debate. 

Cherry pick? You're an idiot. It was the little t shirt guy who cherry picked. Why didn't he pick Danny Manning? Why didn't he pick 100s of other coaches. This post is typical gooey crap. Its  nothing but a weak cheap shot and nothing more. Just like his idiot post on why a true freshman didn't play early in his freshman season. There could be numerous reasons why he didn't get early playing time but the idiot just wanted to take another cheap shot.  

And I will stoop done to your idiot level for just a few seconds.  I could say the same thing. How do you know that Coach Smart wouldn't have had at least the same success with Roy's roster. You can't. Get off your high. horse  

[Goo Punch 4,275]

3 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

Cherry pick? You're an idiot. It was the little t shirt guy who cherry picked. Why didn't he pick Danny Manning? Why didn't he pick 100s of other coaches. 

Because unlike you I actually know what I'm talking about and I picked the coach who is best suited to succeed with this type of roster based on his style of play. I could have picked Bill Self, or Tom Izzo, or Tony Bennett, but it was Williams who I deemed the perfect fit to coach this type of roster: a long, athletic, speedy, deep, senior laden team with ample shooting, and the ability to run up and down the floor all day. That is why I said that Roy Williams (specifically) could take this roster to the Final Four, you belligerent, uninformed, self-important ass. 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

Mark Few would do well with this squad too (as would many coaches), but ultimately Roy's up-and-down style seems perfectly suited for this roster. I hope that Shaka agrees.

[Brian Fantana 6,681]

Speaking of Mark Few...

I'm curious as to what people think is Mark Few's issue (if there even is one) getting over the hump. He's been there a long time and while they always seem to be a contender, they can't ever seem to kick into that final gear. My buddy, who is a Zag fan, describes it as "forever being the Cinderella". It certainly isn't recruiting.

I actually perused their board after we beat them in the 2019 tourney and I was shocked at how just about every other post was lampooning us for seemingly having some sort of unfair advantage due to our "Power 5 athletes" (direct quote from at least a dozen posts, not kidding at all) so maybe it's a culture thing, it felt very aggy or UH-like. It was especially confusing after I went through their recruiting classes for the previous 4-5 years.

Edit: A little off topic for this thread, I know, it just popped into my head after Derka mentioned Few.

Edited May 1, 2020 by Brian Fantana

[Goo Punch 4,275]

It's just really, really hard to win the tournament, and Gonzaga's schedule does them zero favors in getting them prepared to win what usually amounts to one easy game followed by five really tough opponents in a row. To me it's that simple. There's nothing about Few that prevents him from winning it all, it's just super hard to actually do it. 

[Brian Fantana 6,681]

1 minute ago, Goo Punch said:

It's just really, really hard to win the tournament, and Gonzaga's schedule does them zero favors in getting them prepared to win what usually amounts to one easy game followed by five really tough opponents in a row. To me it's that simple. There's nothing about Few that prevents him from winning it all, it's just super hard to actually do it. 

That's fair, and probably correct if for no better reason than Occam's Razor is usually spot on.

[Guest Lobo]

1 hour ago, CurlyDumps said:

Look at that beautiful built-in excuse for being a 19-13 bubble team. Let's get that bad luck narrative started early, boys!

That's true, Shaka had two self-crafted disasters of non-conf. schedules the last 5 years.  Two seasons littered with just absolute non-conf. garbage aside from those mandated by the league's deal with the SEC (and even then).  And he managed to fail spectacularly.  His one good year, he actually did rise to the occasion with the preseason slate, so I'm optimistic.  I think we hit 20 wins given 1 or 2 in the league tourney.  But he'll flame out, having gone 6 seasons with 5 1st round draft picks +Isaiah Taylor going straight to the league undrafted (assuming Brown goes next year in the first round and I think that's a pretty damn safe assumption) and zero NCAA tourney wins.  I cannot fathom any other level of such dismal performance.  

[Burt Macklin 19,020]

44 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

Cherry pick? You're an idiot. It was the little t shirt guy who cherry picked. Why didn't he pick Danny Manning? Why didn't he pick 100s of other coaches. This post is typical gooey crap. Its  nothing but a weak cheap shot and nothing more. Just like his idiot post on why a true freshman didn't play early in his freshman season. There could be numerous reasons why he didn't get early playing time but the idiot just wanted to take another cheap shot.  

And I will stoop done to your idiot level for just a few seconds.  I could say the same thing. How do you know that Coach Smart wouldn't have had at least the same success with Roy's roster. You can't. Get off your high. horse  

This is a special level of stupid. Shaka is a terrible coach. Roy Williams is an all-time great coach. Everyone knows Roy Williams is a better coach than Shaka. If you can’t figure that out, then you don’t possess even a fraction of the basketball knowledge you incessantly claim to have on this board. 
 

[aggie08 21,492]

1 hour ago, realgreggym said:

How do you know that Coach Smart wouldn't have had at least the same success with Roy's roster.

Other than years and years of data, I guess nothing.

Edited May 1, 2020 by aggie08

[Underdog 28,584]

2 hours ago, Brian Fantana said:

Speaking of Mark Few...

I'm curious as to what people think is Mark Few's issue (if there even is one) getting over the hump. He's been there a long time and while they always seem to be a contender, they can't ever seem to kick into that final gear. My buddy, who is a Zag fan, describes it as "forever being the Cinderella". It certainly isn't recruiting.

I actually perused their board after we beat them in the 2019 tourney and I was shocked at how just about every other post was lampooning us for seemingly having some sort of unfair advantage due to our "Power 5 athletes" (direct quote from at least a dozen posts, not kidding at all) so maybe it's a culture thing, it felt very aggy or UH-like. It was especially confusing after I went through their recruiting classes for the previous 4-5 years.

Edit: A little off topic for this thread, I know, it just popped into my head after Derka mentioned Few.

Zags would've been one of my FF teams.  They're always a fun team to watch.  

[Goo Punch 4,275]

question for greggym- how many of your coaches spoke to you the way you speak to everyone around here? 

[Beau Vine 54,208]

On 4/24/2020 at 6:56 PM, Js1 said:

Only 3 things can derail that roster: Shaka, catastrophic injury or coronavirus. 

So, injury and two incurable diseases?

[hobbes2702 13,029]

23 hours ago, realgreggym said:

Cherry pick? You're an idiot. It was the little t shirt guy who cherry picked. Why didn't he pick Danny Manning? Why didn't he pick 100s of other coaches. This post is typical gooey crap. Its  nothing but a weak cheap shot and nothing more. Just like his idiot post on why a true freshman didn't play early in his freshman season. There could be numerous reasons why he didn't get early playing time but the idiot just wanted to take another cheap shot.  

And I will stoop done to your idiot level for just a few seconds.  I could say the same thing. How do you know that Coach Smart wouldn't have had at least the same success with Roy's roster. You can't. Get off your high. horse  

This is a special level of stupid. Other than years of evidence showing that Roy Williams can win basketball games and Shaka, we have no way to know...

[LTtxfan 49,145]

In response to thread title... yes Shaka could still screw this season up!!

 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

"You know Coach is telling me this is my last dance." LMAO, of course he is. Jesus Christ this guy is a joke.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Goo Punch

[Catdaddyhorn 3,444]

Dude, you find the most trivial shit to get upset about.

[Goo Punch 4,275]

11 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Dude, you find the most trivial shit to get upset about.

I'm not upset, i'm laughing at how hapless this clown is. he's literally invoking the most watched and talked about television show in America right now (*especially* among the basketball community) as a way to get through to his players, because the man is completely bereft of even a single original thought that he can share with his team. so OF COURSE his latest and greatest wisdom being imparted on his players is, "This is your Last Dance!" What a joke. 

also, you get upset at like every other criticism i make of shaka, so you're in no place to tell anyone else's that they get upset over trivial shit. 

Edited May 13, 2020 by Goo Punch

[Goo Punch 4,275]

also, many others have made a point of rolling their eyes at our HC's propensity to offer nothing more than empty platitudes, so it aint just me. The fact that he's invoking "The Last Dance" right now is just the cherry on top of his "I have no fucking idea what I'm doing" sundae, and should be mocked by everyone.

Edited May 13, 2020 by Goo Punch

[Chad 1,728]

On 5/1/2020 at 4:34 PM, Brian Fantana said:

Speaking of Mark Few...

I'm curious as to what people think is Mark Few's issue (if there even is one) getting over the hump. He's been there a long time and while they always seem to be a contender, they can't ever seem to kick into that final gear. My buddy, who is a Zag fan, describes it as "forever being the Cinderella". It certainly isn't recruiting.

I actually perused their board after we beat them in the 2019 tourney and I was shocked at how just about every other post was lampooning us for seemingly having some sort of unfair advantage due to our "Power 5 athletes" (direct quote from at least a dozen posts, not kidding at all) so maybe it's a culture thing, it felt very aggy or UH-like. It was especially confusing after I went through their recruiting classes for the previous 4-5 years.

Edit: A little off topic for this thread, I know, it just popped into my head after Derka mentioned Few.

What issue? He's coached for two decades and the worst he's done is 23-11 and 25-10, not a single losing season and only two seasons with double digit losses. If anything he got over the hump midway through the 2010's when he began making deep tourney runs consistently and even played for a championship. The most impressive part of his success is that it's primarily focused around player development. Outside of the last few years Gonzaga was never a big time recruiter, their classes wouldn't even crack the Top 100 some years and if they slipped into the Top 25 they never so much as sniffed the level of recruiting of KU, UNC, Kentucky or Duke.

Edited May 18, 2020 by Chad

[Brian Fantana 6,681]

3 hours ago, Chad said:

What issue? He's coached for two decades and the worst he's done is 23-11 and 25-10, not a single losing season and only two seasons with double digit losses. If anything he got over the hump midway through the 2010's when he began making deep tourney runs consistently and even played for a championship. The most impressive part of his success is that it's primarily focused around player development. Outside of the last few years Gonzaga was never a big time recruiter, their classes wouldn't even crack the Top 100 some years and if they slipped into the Top 25 they never so much as sniffed the level of recruiting of KU, UNC, Kentucky or Duke.

Bad wording on my part. Few is a great coach for sure, easily one of the best in the business. I think Derka's reply was probably the correct one, it's just really hard to go deep in the tourney and you need some luck along the way.

[Gucci_Suit 2,643]

Missing the days of J’Coven-14. 

[LTtxfan 49,145]

Texas #17

[LTtxfan 49,145]

     Moody Center      @moodycenteratx

12h

 

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@McConaughey , speaking about @moodycenteratx #moodycenteratx coming in 2022.

 

 

[JWinTX 53]

On 5/1/2020 at 3:40 PM, Goo Punch said:

It's just really, really hard to win the tournament, and Gonzaga's schedule does them zero favors in getting them prepared to win what usually amounts to one easy game followed by five really tough opponents in a row. To me it's that simple. There's nothing about Few that prevents him from winning it all, it's just super hard to actually do it. 

To back you up, since Wooden retired after 1975, there have been exactly 6 champions out of 45 that are from west of the Mississippi--Kansas twice, Arizona, UCLA, UNLV, and Arkansas. Its an Eastern Time Zone domination. Western and Midwestern teams just seem to have a hard time beating these teams in the EST for championships. Obviously, Duke, UNC, UK, Florida, and Villanova have dominated at times, but the reality is that the ACC and Big East tend to win this thing more times than not.

[Goo Punch 4,275]

wow. that's a very interesting stat. if you have me the o/u at 5.5 i'd think you were trying to trick me.