2018-19 Texas Longhorns thread

[HookEm 2463]

I'm sure our defense will slip, but I don't think it will be the end of the world.  We weren't horrible without Bamba this year.  Let's look at the games where he didn't play:

Okie State - Bamba played 15 min.  We held them to 64 pts, well under their season average of 77 ppg.

Kansas - Bamba out.  Playing only 7 players in Lawrence, we held Kansas to a point under their season average.

West Virginia - Bamba out. Again playing only 7 players we held West Virginia to a point under their season average as well.

Iowa State - Bamba out.  Held Iowa State to 8 points under their average.

Texas Tech - Bamba only played 5 min. Held Texas Tech to 2 points below their average.

Now factor in that everyone will be a year older and hopefully better conditioned, I can see the team defense improving over what they were without Bamba this year.  We may not be GREAT, but I can see us being pretty solid.

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

I'm guessing we'll play a lot more zone next year. Not only because we'll lack a rim protector, but to prevent Sims from getting in foul trouble. As Derka (the real one) has mentioned Sims is an atrocious man defender. Also without Jones to at least start the year and with Long getting more time than previous backup guards, we'll also be lacking defensively in the back court. I love that halfcourt 1-2-2 or 1-3-1 (or whatever it is) with Sims at the top. That shit looks intimidating. 

Edited April 2, 2018 by Catdaddyhorn

[Revolution512 1487]

Concerns in order....

1) Shooting - 316th at the stripe and BTA

2) Rebounding 

3) Forcing turnovers

Plant Osetkowski on the block and tell him can’t leave. He’s not a stretch 4. He does have value but not the way we play him

of the three concerns I listed, I don’t see roster additions helping with any of that. So now I’m left wishing/hoping everyone has a great summer. Yikes.

[Machinator 32099]

If you count Long as an addition, he helps with the shooting.

[txhorns 2409]

1 hour ago, Revolution512 said:

Concerns in order....

1) Shooting - 316th at the stripe and BTA

2) Rebounding 

3) Forcing turnovers

Plant Osetkowski on the block and tell him can’t leave. He’s not a stretch 4. He does have value but not the way we play him

of the three concerns I listed, I don’t see roster additions helping with any of that. So now I’m left wishing/hoping everyone has a great summer. Yikes.

Long should help with both shooting and turnovers but won't be a real difference making.  Coleman, Roach and Febres getting a year older should help with turnovers.

If you count Jones as an addition that would help with shooting.  Unless Hepa is a good shooter from day one then Long and Jones are your only help shooting.

I think rebounding will improve actually.  With Bamba out Sims became a force on the glass.  The subtraction of Bamba could actually help here.  On defense he was often out of position for rebounds from going for the block.  On offense he was BTA too much.  Sims will have to be in the paint on both ends.  All of our freshman are also big guys.  We have to get some minutes(and rebounding) out of a couple of them.

[Revolution512 1487]

While I’m hopeful Hayes can block some shots, he could tread water in a garden hose. He’s gonna be shoved all over the floor on both ends. Texas needs a grad transfer badly

[texasstrong12 4668]

We're in contact with Albany grad transfer Joe Cremo. 

There will be a really long line for this one but damn this would be a hell of an addition. 

 

Edited April 2, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Goo Punch 4275]

He can really shoot; we need that.

[texasstrong12 4668]

This roster is far from complete. Pretty obvious Shaka is after a grad transfer or two. 

[texasstrong12 4668]

8 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

He can really shoot; we need that.

.458 from 3 this year. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

Also a career .848 shooter from the line. Would be a big get.

[texasstrong12 4668]

I really have no clue how this guy does his rankings but this is still a pretty good list of all the transfers available. 

http://barttorvik.com/playerstat.php?link=y&cvalue=trans&year=2018&minmin=0&top=351&start=20171101&end=20180501

[RockyMountainHighHorn 890]

Albany to Austin. Not a bad setting change. 

[Guest Camel]

7 hours ago, texasstrong12 said:

.458 from 3 this year. 

On 74 made 3's on the season. That's big time 3-pt shooting.

[UDontKnow 10439]

I'm not sure where to put this. But it gave me a good laugh.

 

[Revolution512 1487]

A top PG paired with a couple shooters.....been a while on the 40

[Guest Camel]

8 hours ago, Revolution512 said:

A top PG paired with a couple shooters.....been a while on the 40

Unfortunately the addition of Long gives us 2 point guards and no shooting guards. Long can shoot it, but he's only 6' and is PG all the way.

[txhorns 2409]

54 minutes ago, Guest Camel said:

Unfortunately the addition of Long gives us 2 point guards and no shooting guards. Long can shoot it, but he's only 6' and is PG all the way.

Coleman is a top pg

[Guest Camel]

7 minutes ago, txhorns said:

Coleman is a top pg

I agree. He had a stellar freshman year and he's prolly the only guy on the roster I have 100% confidence in. His outside shooting was clutch but overall he only shot 29% from out there on the season. So if we put him and Long out there at the same time it gives us a shooter in Long, but double PG's and Long is only 6 ft which hurts us some on D.

[pacman 7355]

Is it assumed Jones is back next year?

[Machinator 32099]

2 minutes ago, pacman said:

Is it assumed Jones is back next year?

In what capacity?

[texasstrong12 4668]

 

[txhorns 2409]

It's pretty obvious that we are chasing grad transfers pretty hard.  Hopefully we can land a a good shooter but I would be happy with at least a quality big man.

[usmc0331horn 953]

So is this Shaka's make or break year? What does he have to do to stay off the hot seat?

[txhorns 2409]

8 minutes ago, usmc0331horn said:

So is this Shaka's make or break year? What does he have to do to stay off the hot seat?

Yes it is.  Some will argue he is already on a hot seat but I'm not sure the decision makers have him there yet.  I think he needs to be in the top half of the Big 12 and make it past the first weekend of the NCAA tournament next year to guarantee he sticks around.

[Machinator 32099]

3 minutes ago, usmc0331horn said:

So is this Shaka's make or break year? What does he have to do to stay off the hot seat?

Unless someone here is secretly Chris Del Conte, we can't really answer those questions with any kind of certainty.

For me, a good season would entail a top 3 finish in the conference and at least one win in the NCAA tournament, preferably two.

A repeat of this season or worse is easy grounds for moving on.

[texasstrong12 4668]

37 minutes ago, txhorns said:

Some will argue he is already on a hot seat but I'm not sure the decision makers have him there yet. 

They don't. Just hear CDC talk about Shaka. 

Shaka is likely getting at least 2 more years based on the contract. Barring a disastrous season or something NCAA related. 

[Machinator 32099]

4 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

They don't. Just hear CDC talk about Shaka. 

Shaka is likely getting at least 2 more years based on the contract. Barring a disastrous season or something NCAA related. 

CDC, like any professional AD, isn't going to make outward-facing comments about Shaka that would undermine his ability to do his job.

It's quite possible that Shaka gets more than one year because of that big buyout and booster apathy, but I wouldn't read too much into what Del Conte says publicly.

[Machinator 32099]

From closetojumping's post on the football board:

Quote

"There are almost 500 people working within the AD. TCU was winning across numerous fronts with 100 employees. Something like 130-150 of these employees are part of the Erwin Center operation and will go with, or be removed due to, the new basketball arena and the private operator. So you're looking at 350-ish versus 100. Say because Texas is bigger and the audience is larger, UT needs 50% more folks. That's 150. Say entrenched entitlement keeps another 50 around. That still leaves 150 employees that can be shown the door, and many of them are well-titled, highly paid middle to upper middle managers. Taking out that headcount, when accounting for support and burden costs, comes in at $166,667/employee if the targeted cost savings of $25million are met. That's pretty achievable and the savings could be higher. You've got that, Erwin Center, EC employees, getting Mack Brown off the books, and sweet Chuck off the books, will lead to annual savings for the org of something like $40million. 

There are fun tennis and baseball projects being worked up and almost fully funded. Then basketball and the SEZ in major capital efforts with a twist. Del Conte is not messing around. All coaches have been asked the old "What do you need from me to be successful" maneuver. That includes The Hermanist. Smart leaders ask that question of their subordinates and then ensure the subordinates get what they asked for, and then elite performance is expected. If the subordinates don't achieve elite performance in the aftermath, they only have themselves to blame when they're given a cardboard box for their belongings and then shown the door."

Notice how on point the info is compared to that article, with the exception of the house cleaning? It has nothing to do with me, I was passing on info. I'm highlighting that the article is nails for where CDC is going, but he's understating the headcount shift, and he absolutely should. It would do him no good to announce that he was going to slice through 120-150 roles over the next year. It will begin in the next few months with something like the announcement that some 40-60 positions will be merged with other positions. The news of the follow-on removals will be almost nonexistent because a lot of it will be attrition based. The change, when looking back, will be substantial, but as it occurs, will likely look softer.

Also for future reference regarding Shaka, but more importantly how feedback will be handled around pressure to fire a coach:

"I've touched on this a bit on the basketball board, but my view is that the buyout is too large and the interest in sending Smart off is too small. If you want someone to go, the question allegedly that will be asked back is how much you are willing to put into the buyout to make it happen. The important thing to think about at this point is that the wins matter now, in every sport. I think the softball coach is going to be fired after this season, and I've been resolute that Smart won't be, simply due to the sheer size of what's needed. 

That all said, the basketball capital project is going to be big, and if it is done in the specific way I've heard about it, then the pressure to win within that program will be enormous. That might be enough to spur starting with a clean slate ahead of the 18-19 academic year."

 

 

[texasstrong12 4668]

18 minutes ago, Machinator said:

CDC, like any professional AD, isn't going to make outward-facing comments about Shaka that would undermine his ability to do his job.

It's quite possible that Shaka gets more than one year because of that big buyout and booster apathy, but I wouldn't read too much into what Del Conte says publicly.

CDC has publicly defended Shaka while remaining silent on other coaches that were or are clearly on the hot seat like Mario Sategna and Connie Clark. 

CDC's tone in regards to Shaka doesn't come across to me as someone that's just "being a professional". CDC has gone out of his way to defend Shaka and not so much with other coaches. 

 

Edited April 4, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Goo Punch 4275]

Lunardi already did a bracketology for 2019. He has only five Bug XII teams in the tourney, with OSU as a potential 6th in a play-in game. Texas is unsurprisingly not included:

[Guest Camel]

Thanks for posting that giant graphic, I was really wondering what the all-knowing Joey Brackets thinks 330 days before the dance.

[Guest Camel]

Shaka's seat is getting a little hotter. This year was salvaged admirably given the loss of Jones, but we need better than first-round losses in the NCAA tournament, and need to get there by year 4 of his tenure, certainly year 5.

It would be nice to get Snoop back but some NBA draft projections have him as a 2nd rounder so it's not a certainty.

Losing Bamba is unfortunate but we were oddly not that much worse in the games without him this year, and not having him will eliminate the distractions of trying to center the team around his immense but very temporarily-here talent.

The Big12 should be a little worse next year and for that reason, I won't be happy with Shaka any more if he fails to put up a winning Big12 record in 2019.

[Horny Bull 2759]

 

[Machinator 32099]

Hoops Roster Update - Tim Beam (IT)

If you're ready for as many questions as you are answers, you've come to the right place.

Some things we know:

1. There are some certainties about next year's roster:

Matt Coleman (PG)

Eli Long (CG)

Jase Febres (G)

Brock Cunningham (W)

Gerald Liddell (W)

Dylan Osetkowski (F)

Kamaka Hepa (F)

Royce Hamm (F)

Jericho Sims (F)

Jaxson Hayes (F)

2. Those certainties paint a couple of different pictures. The backcourt is scarily thin, albeit quite talented. The forward spots are rife with versatility, albeit more than a little unproven.

3. One name you don't see on that roster is Kerwin Roach II. Info has been coming in over the last week or so that Kerwin's return appears less and less likely. Nothing is set in stone, but suffice to say that things are being told to Kerwin that don't exactly jive with what Texas believes to be true for him.

Do note that NBA scouts and personnel have yet to give Kerwin feedback from his workouts. Take from that what you will.

At this point, I believe it's more likely that Kerwin is done as a Longhorn than it would be that he plays again.

4. Another name you don't see is Andrew Jones. If you've been following along on social media, you'd know that Andrew's health and recovery have been looking better and better over the last few months.

I'm actually moderately comfortable expressing that he's doing even better than perhaps most could've thought or even hoped for. So good that I might even go as far as saying there is optimism a return to Texas will happen.

Will that happen this year? Or after another year away?

Impossible to say. But, at this point, I believe an Andrew Jones return is better than 50/50 money, if perhaps not as soon as this season.

I'm not ruling it out, though.

5. The silly season of transfers/grad transfers is about to hit high gear and Texas is two for two in Shaka's two full offseasons in grabbing what they hope will be an impactful transfer (Osetkowski in year one and Long last year).

To date, while Texas has had some conversations with transfer options, there aren't any names that have generated much traction on the end of the Longhorns in terms of becoming priorities.

If a name surfaces, we'll let you know, but that name isn't there at this time.

6. Texas remains committed to recruiting St. Louis point guard Courtney Ramey for the 2018 class and is firmly entrenched in that recruitment.

Ramey and his family, for their parts, have consistently maintained a public persona of silence and nothing has changed with that.

Texas wants him and, should Kerwin's decision ultimately lead him away from Austin, you can assume Texas' pursuit of the top 40 national prospect will only become more purposeful.


As things progress over the following month or so, we'll continue to update how things are looking the closer we get to what will undoubtedly be a crucial summer for Shaka Smart and his tenure at Texas.

 

If what he's saying about Roach comes true, doesn't bode well.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Machinator

[Goo Punch 4275]

Quote

3. One name you don't see on that roster is Kerwin Roach II. Info has been coming in over the last week or so that Kerwin's return appears less and less likely. Nothing is set in stone, but suffice to say that things are being told to Kerwin that don't exactly jive with what Texas believes to be true for him.

 

First, it’s “jibe”, and second, they said the same shit about Jones and Davis last year. 

 

Edit- of course leaving for the G League is a thing now, and he just watched his pal Andrew Jones lose everything (physically), so who knows.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Goo Punch

[Machinator 32099]

19 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

 

First, it’s “jibe”, and second, they said the same shit about Jones and Davis last year. 

 

Edit- of course leaving for the G League is a thing now, and he just watched his pal Andrew Jones lose everything (physically), so who knows.

I think the implication is that Roach has some people in his inner circle who aren't giving him the best advice.

[Goo Punch 4275]

Roach was boys with Mack (its true), Young, Davis, and Jones- all gone, at least for now. I guess could see him deciding to bounce for the G League in today’s climate.

[txhorns 2409]

I'm curious as to how Shaka will deal with the scholarships for next year.  We are at 10 right now.  Roach would make 11 if he comes back to reality.  Jones if healthy makes 12.  That leaves 1 scholarship for Ramey, Cremo or someone else.

[texasstrong12 4668]

I mean the Roach news could be true but it's likely similar to Boyd and Omenihu. 

Everyone thinks they are going pro until they realize they aren't getting drafted. 

 

[BigOrange1 6432]

21 hours ago, Guest Camel said:

Thanks for posting that giant graphic, I was really wondering what the all-knowing Joey Brackets thinks 330 days before the dance.

i generally disagree with you, but i'm with you here.  a bracketology in april is fucking less than meaningless.

[txhorns 2409]

2 hours ago, BigOrange1 said:

i generally disagree with you, but i'm with you here.  a bracketology in april is fucking less than meaningless.

Especially done by a guy who tried his hardest to leave us out this year when it was obvious we were a lock.

Edited April 6, 2018 by txhorns

[Bort 9]

7 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Roach was boys with Mack (its true), Young, Davis, and Jones- all gone, at least for now. I guess could see him deciding to bounce for the G League in today’s climate.

Wasn't there a rumour that Mack punched Roach in the face after he showed up to a game with a black eye the day after Mack was suspended?

[Goo Punch 4275]

11 minutes ago, Bort said:

Wasn't there a rumour that Mack punched Roach in the face after he showed up to a game with a black eye the day after Mack was suspended?

Indeed. I don’t know whether or not that happened, but I do know that they are still on good terms to this day, and I tend to doubt that particular rumor based on that fact.

[Goo Punch 4275]

I can’t find a reason for Kerwin Roach not to go pro. He’s put in a lot of time at Texas and he’s looking at returning to a roster that’s not equipped to even make the Dance; meanwhile Holland, Yancy, Felix, et al are being paid to be full-time basketball players in the G League; so why shouldn’t Roach leave as well? If I were his friend or family member I would definitely advise him to leave.

[txhorns 2409]

13 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

I can’t find a reason for Kerwin Roach not to go pro. He’s put in a lot of time at Texas and he’s looking at returning to a roster that’s not equipped to even make the Dance; meanwhile Holland, Yancy, Felix, et al are being paid to be full-time basketball players in the G League; so why shouldn’t Roach leave as well? If I were his friend or family member I would definitely advise him to leave.

G League players make about $26k a year.  Just from that he is better off staying at Texas.  He also would have a chance to improve his draft stock pretty significantly next year if his shooting improves.  Next year's draft is supposed to be much weaker.  Texas is also probably a tournament team next year.

[Goo Punch 4275]

-G League players make about $26k a year.

Thats about $26k more than he’s making now and he’ll be doing nothing but training to be an NBA player. 

 

 -He also would have a chance to improve his draft stock pretty significantly next year if his shooting improves.  

His shooting will improve more as a full-time professional basketball than it will returning to Texas

 

-Texas is also probably a tournament team next year.

 

Unlikely. This will be Shaka’s third-best team at Texas.

[Goo Punch 4275]

I have no idea if that last post is even readable. The format on Surly doesn’t make it easy to parse the different points of a single post. Not on my phone anyway. 

[Guest Camel]

Pretty much everyone else is predicting Texas to me a tournament team, Goo Punch. Outside of I guess, Lunardi, whatever that means.

Even if Roach leaves, we're returning a core of 3 reliable players in Coleman, Osetkowski, and Sims. If Roach returns you've got a pretty good 4 man core. Febres had an ok freshman year and returns for his sophomore year. The rest is incoming recruits, of which we have a pretty good class: Liddel is 5-star or nearly 5-star, this Jaxson Hayes kid is apparently has great size, and I don't know much about the Westlake kid Cunningham but he seems to have size as well.

Tournament team? I guess it's pretty speculative right now, hard to say. Perhaps Roach returning would make it a tourney team. Even if not it's a team with possibilities for sure.

[Goo Punch 4275]

19 minutes ago, Guest Camel said:

Pretty much everyone else is predicting Texas to me a tournament team, Goo Punch. Outside of I guess, Lunardi, whatever that means.

Even if Roach leaves, we're returning a core of 3 reliable players in Coleman, Osetkowski, and Sims. If Roach returns you've got a pretty good 4 man core. Febres had an ok freshman year and returns for his sophomore year. The rest is incoming recruits, of which we have a pretty good class: Liddel is 5-star or nearly 5-star, this Jaxson Hayes kid is apparently has great size, and I don't know much about the Westlake kid Cunningham but he seems to have size as well.

Tournament team? I guess it's pretty speculative right now, hard to say. Perhaps Roach returning would make it a tourney team. Even if not it's a team with possibilities for sure.

The fact that you refuse to register so that you can’t get negged is both funny and sad.

Edited April 6, 2018 by Goo Punch