2018-19 Texas Longhorns thread

[Cameltoe 114]

Ok fine. I guess evolution can be defined as any change. I hope Texas Basketball does some evolution this year.

[Radical Larry 28528]

 

[Red Five 40650]

From that limited look, Long to me looks like our third best guard. Should be interesting who we put in the lineup besides the obvious four.

We suddenly have a loaded frontcourt. Hamm and Hayes look legit. Cunningham looks like a guy that we curse at on other teams for four years.

[Cameltoe 114]

I thought Cunningham was a redshirt this year?

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

Assuming Baker chooses us then getting McDaniels means someone else other than Sims isn't coming back next year. My guess is it's Liddell or Cunningham. Previously I would've included Hamm as a possibility, but I'm not so sure about that anymore.

[Goo Punch 4275]

Cunningham would be my guess. He's got a long way to go before he has a role at Texas. 

[Machinator 32097]

Hamm being a player intrigues me. Let's see what happens in a real game.

[Goo Punch 4275]

43 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Hamm being a player intrigues me. Let's see what happens in a real game.

yeah, this. i want to see him to do it in the games, even if it's against directional state u. but i must say that it was his aggressiveness, his assertive nature, his pj tucker-like presence on the floor that gives me more optomism than any facet of his actual game. i've seen guys put up some plays in practices/scrimmages and then do jack shit for an entire season, but hamm was playing like he belonged out there. he played like he thought he was the best player out there. if he can bring that same energy and attitude to the actual season then that's an unforseen bonus. 

[Machinator 32097]

 

[Cameltoe 114]

A 3 guard lineup of Coleman, Roach, and AJ would be ridiculous this year. Fuck cancer. And don't push yourself too hard, AJ.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Cameltoe

[Bitterwhiteguy 153]

12 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

If we don't employ the press at least we 25% of the time or more I'm going to be pissed. Especially when/if Jones gets back to 80% or more. 

Prepare to be pissed. They will press more than last year, but less in conference play due to quality of opposing guards. There will never be 'HAVOC' at Texas, the Big 12 is too good.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Bitterwhiteguy

[Machinator 32097]

 

[Halohal 498]

 

[texasstrong12 4668]

I'm hoping Ramey is primarily getting minutes at the 2 and Long is the back up point guard based on what I've seen. 

Ramey has more length and is a better shooter so he's a better fit at the 2. 

Long is also really crafty on the ball. Long will get teammates open shots in the PnR game at point guard. I was initially thinking Ramey would be the 2nd option at PG but not so sure now. Think Ramey is a better fit at the 2 with Long getting most of his minutes as the back up point guard. 

Edited October 18, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Goo Punch 4275]

wow, i was at gregory for shaka's first orange/white scrimmage and the place was overflowing with people, with hundreds of people in the "standing room only" areas. and all they did that year was a scrimmage- no women's team, no 3-point contest, no dunk contest, just the scrimmage. this really shows how fan interest has died down since his arrival. this is a fickle, fair weather fan base, and shaka needs to win back the casual fans that he's lost. this would certainly seem to be his best opportunity to do so, although i'm still not convinced that this 2018/19 team will be any better than his first team at texas. which, in year four, if it's not...

 

all of that being said, looking ahead to the future things do look bright. this is assuming that we land/hold onto everyone who we expect to, but think about a team where Coleman, Hamm, and Sims are seniors, Hayes, Hepa, and Ramey are juniors, and Kai Jones, Donovan Williams, and Will Baker (and McDaniels maybe?!?) are sophomores. whoever is coaching that team would be looking at anything less than 25 wins and a deep tourney run as a failure. shaka has crushed it in recruiting, i'll give him that.

[Goo Punch 4275]

lol, even febres noticing the lack of fans...

 

 

[realgreggym 832]

Newsflash, little guy. There were games that we would have killed  to have that kind of attendance. This isn't a shaka problem. Its a student problem long before you were born

[Goo Punch 4275]

yeah, thanks for the breaking news gramps. no shit texas basketball fan attendance is historically poor. go ahead and refer to the very post you're replying to and note where i poinjt our that we have a fickle, fair weather fan base...anfd yet it's a fan base that averaged 13,000 fans per game when Texas was at its peak, and more to the point a fan base that overflowed gregory gym three years ago when shaka first arrived. there's no way to spin the fact that we added attractions to the event and yet lost a substantial amount of fans. and no matter how badly you and ts12 want to rage against every valid criticism of our current head coach, his 50-50 record speaks for itself, and undoubtedly is to blame for the drop in fan attendance to our orange/white scrimmage. 

Edited October 19, 2018 by Goo Punch

[texasstrong12 4668]

Attendance average by year since '10

'18 (10,601), '17 (10,490), '16 (12, 828), '15 (11, 249), '14 (10, 186), '13 (10, 945), '12 (11,950), '11 (13,669), '10 (14, 629). 

We haven't finished top 20 in attendance since 2010 when we finished 14th in attendance. We saw a slight spike in attendance in '16 which you would expect with a new coach. Even then the increase wasn't significant. Texas basketball attendance has been shit for years long before Shaka was the coach. 

I expect more of the same this year with the average attendance being in the 10,500 to 13,000 range. 

Hell, go see the student sections at football games. Winning helps but it's a new era of sports where students just aren't as engaged as they were. Especially at Texas. 

Just another idiotic Derka hot take. It is funny that Derka is neg repping me in every thread I post in. 

 

Edited October 19, 2018 by texasstrong12

[texasstrong12 4668]

If you want further proof of it being a "student engagement problem" just see the average women's attendance. That's a winning team that makes the Sweet 16 every year. 

'18 (19th in the country in avg attendance), '17 (25th in avg attendance), '16 (28th in avg attendance), '15 (31st in avg attendance). 

Slightly better numbers than the men relative to other schools but still shit. Texas fans (especially students) don't show up to basketball games. Even with a team that makes the Sweet 16 year after year. 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2018 by texasstrong12

[realgreggym 832]

52 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

yeah, thanks for the breaking news gramps. no shit texas basketball fan attendance is historically poor. go ahead and refer to the very post you're replying to and note where i poinjt our that we have a fickle, fair weather fan base...anfd yet it's a fan base that averaged 13,000 fans per game when Texas was at its peak, and more to the point a fan base that overflowed gregory gym three years ago when shaka first arrived. there's no way to spin the fact that we added attractions to the event and yet lost a substantial amount of fans. and no matter how badly you and ts12 want to rage against every valid criticism of our current head coach, his 50-50 record speaks for itself, and undoubtedly is to blame for the drop in fan attendance to our orange/white scrimmage. 

This is probably beyond your comprehension but the fact that Greg Gym overflowed 3 years ago had more to do with Coach Smart being new. Its like a new toy gets lots of attention in the beginning and then it gets ignored. I remember when the Drum first opened and you had sellouts for the most of the games. What you did was nothing more than take a cheap shot at Coach Smart like you try to do whenever possible. It was a freaking scrimmage on a Wednesday night not the NCAA finals..

[Goo Punch 4275]

oh my god. you are the absolute worst. dude, who are you talking to! it's like i'm in the twilight zone. i spend my entire shaggy existence getting shit on for relentlessly dissing our weak ass student attendance, and now i'm getting lectured on said ooor attendance by the obsessive boy wonder here. DUDE. no shit we have weak attendance. what news are you going to break next? you gonna post five pages worth of stats and anecdotes trying to convince me that kevin durant was good during his year at texas? jesus christ your need to fight my every post is a beating. 

i'm not talking about ut basketball attendance in general (as if i didn't spend my entire fucking childhood/adolescence sitting in a 16,755 seat FEC with 5,000 people in it), i'm comparing the orange/white scrimmage from shaka's first year to his year. his first year, when texas basketball fans were flying high off the hiring of the "best young coach in college basketball", the guy who spurned ucla but chose texas, we had multiple lines stretching from gregory to the football stadium, and the standing room only crowd was packed in like sardines. three completely underwhelming years later and the place is half full. this isn't a coincidence, and it isn't because texas fans suck in general, it's because the enthusiasm level for tecas basketball has dropped significantly in the last three years. fact. obvious fact. stop fighting every single post i make, jesus christ. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

7 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

This is probably beyond your comprehension but the fact that Greg Gym overflowed 3 years ago had more to do with Coach Smart being new. Its like a new toy gets lots of attention in the beginning and then it gets ignored. I remember when the Drum first opened and you had sellouts for the most of the games. What you did was nothing more than take a cheap shot at Coach Smart like you try to do whenever possible. It was a freaking scrimmage on a Wednesday night not the NCAA finals..

so it's your contention that the gym would have been half empty had texas gone 85-15 the last three years with a conference title and a sweet 16 appearance or two? you believe that this drop off in excitement was inevitable regardless of how well the program was doing? or do you acknowledge the obvious, that the lack of a competent/successful team has taken its toll on fan interest for a sport where texas fans are notoriously fair weather to begin with. which is it?

Edited October 19, 2018 by Goo Punch

[realgreggym 832]

2 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

so it's your contention that the gym would have been half empty had texas gone 85-15 the last three years with a conference title and a sweet 16 appearance or two? you believe that this drop off in excitement was inevitable regardless of how well the program was doing? or do you acknowledge the obvious, that the lack of a competent/successful team has taken its toll on fan interest for a sport where tecas fans aren't notoriously fair weather. which is it?

I have been on conference championship teams when there were attendance problems. This isn't about attendance. This nothing more than your taking a cheap shot at Coach Smart because you don't like him and you think that you deserve better. Seriously, you're arguing about attendance for a Wednesday night event. Seriously?

[texasstrong12 4668]

22 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

when texas basketball fans were flying high off the hiring of the "best young coach in college basketball"

 Breaking news: Fans were more engaged with a first year head coach. It's called a shiny new car that fans wanted to see. 

Thanks for the great insight. 

Fan attendance has been shit across the board in most sports at Texas for years. Whether it's spring games, football games, basketball games, scrimmages or whatever. But again thanks for the breaking news that fans were excited to see a new head coach at his first "event" with Texas.

The drop off in attendance had less to do with W/L and more to do with coming back to average fan turnout for Texas when there isn't a shiny new car to see. Texas doesn't keep track of attendance numbers for the Spring game but I bet there was a similar impact with Herman from year 1 to year 2. 

 

 

Edited October 19, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Goo Punch 4275]

8 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

I have been on conference championship teams when there were attendance problems. This isn't about attendance. This nothing more than your taking a cheap shot at Coach Smart because you don't like him and you think that you deserve better. Seriously, you're arguing about attendance for a Wednesday night event. Seriously?

it's gregory freaking gym. we're talking about a program that 1)resides in a city with a million+ people, 2)currently has probably the second best roster of NBA alums, and 3)has 50,000 undergrads on campus, and we can't even get gregory freaking gym close to full for the orange/white scrimmage, featuring three point and dunk contests. as someone who cares a whole lot about texas basketball you're damn right i'm disappointed in that. is this what you envisioned when rick barnes was fired/shaka was hired? a .500 overall record (23-31 in conference), and a decided drop in fan attendance/enthusiasm? this doesn't disappoint or upset you? okie dokie bill in sinton.

 

jesus, why am i even engaging you two? that's my bad. the only difference between myself and ts12/greggym is that i'm self aware enough to realize that i have a penchant for arguing about petty, meaningless shit like it fucking matters. shaka has been terrible and fan attendance and enthusiasm has dropped because of this. keep arguing this obvious fact until you're both blue in the face. i'm out. 

Edited October 19, 2018 by Goo Punch

[realgreggym 832]

No, the main difference in us is that you don't know nearly as much as you believe you do and when everyone tells you that you're wrong either you keep thinking that everyone is wrong but you or all of a sudden you change your tune as if you always felt that way. You said that Jericho would be a JAG because of his freshman stats. You're the king of taking cheap shots at the kids. End of discussion.

I knew Coach Barnes a lot better than you but sometimes it best for both sides to follow other opportunities.

And I care far more about the kids than any of the meaningless nonsense you fret over.

[HookEm 2444]

Not sure what kind of turnout anybody can expect at 4:00 on a Wednesday. People work.

[Goo Punch 4275]

4 minutes ago, HookEm said:

Not sure what kind of turnout anybody can expect at 4:00 on a Wednesday. People work.

except that the event didn't start until 6:30 and the scrimmage didn't start until around 7:30...on a college campus with 50,000 undergrads...in a city with a metro population of over 2 million...for an event that three years ago brought a giant crowd that had multiple lines stretching for blocks, filling gregory gym beyond capacity. 

you people start these dumbass arguments compulsively, you start from a losing position, you don't even bother to get your facts right, and then you get all upset at me for some reason. stop trying to act like you don't know exactly why tiny ass gregory gym was about half full for the scrimmage/dunk contest and let's move on with the thread. 

[Machinator 32097]

 

[kingkoopa6 8314]

cant wait to see roach yam on folks

[Machinator 32097]

Pretty good preview from bitterwhiteguy on the offense and shooting: https://www.barkingcarnival.com/2018/10/19/17911868/less-clang-more-bang-a-look-at-texas-longhorns-shooting

[Dbeasy 14966]

I actually agree with Derka on the topic of attendance at the event. Texas has always had major attendance problems in basketball but that was even worse than I expected. I get it. They haven’t had very good years lately but I would have thought there would be more hardcore fans at that event. It was not good and was a little depressing.

[Horns RD Standard 62]

53 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

I actually agree with Derka on the topic of attendance at the event. Texas has always had major attendance problems in basketball but that was even worse than I expected. I get it. They haven’t had very good years lately but I would have thought there would be more hardcore fans at that event. It was not good and was a little depressing.

Maybe they could start by putting more effort into marketing these events better. I'd consider myself a fairly engaged fan and I didn't even realize it was going on cause I never saw it advertised anywhere.

[texasstrong12 4668]

41 minutes ago, Horns RD Standard said:

Maybe they could start by putting more effort into marketing these events better. I'd consider myself a fairly engaged fan and I didn't even realize it was going on cause I never saw it advertised anywhere.

The Texas women’s team has put a lot of effort into marketing games and it’s had some impact but not much. They spent a good bit of effort marketing this event too. 

Bottom line is Texas fans just aren’t engaged when it comes to basketball. They sure as hell aren’t engaged when it comes to these type events (see Spring game football crowds). If people think the “tip-off” crowd was bad compare our Spring game attendance to others across the country. Not to mention the Spring game is normally on a Saturday so it should attract more fans, 

The first tip-off event with Shaka was nothing more than fans wanting to see the shiny new car. It’s not surprising at all that the fan turnout has decreased year by year and come back to the average fan turnout for these type events. 

Edited October 19, 2018 by texasstrong12

[HookEm 2444]

The fact that I thought it started at 4:00 kind of speaks to the lack of marketing.

[Goo Punch 4275]

i almost forgot to set my dvr for the damn thing but happened to catch an ad for it a few hours before it started. normally cdc is on top of things like this, but this event did seem hastily put together, which is pretty strange for an annual event. hell, just advertise the dunk contest for a solid couple weeks and filling greg should be no problem.

[texasstrong12 4668]

15 minutes ago, HookEm said:

The fact that I thought it started at 4:00 kind of speaks to the lack of marketing.

True but I think this event is specifically designed for the students. 

I think the idea is most of the students are finishing up classes at about that time so they could just head over to Gregory. When I played basketball in Gregory as a student that's about the time the gym started to get packed. The 3-5 time slot. 

Karen Aston has been doing a lot of things to try and get the students engaged but it's not really working. I think a new gym would at least create a better environment to attract some fans/students. 

 

[texasstrong12 4668]

Texas #16 in Kenpom to start the season. 

https://kenpom.com/

Edited October 20, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Rockethorn1978 6061]

I’m ready for the real season to start so we can bitch about on court play rather than a inter squad scrimmage attendance.

I used to get pumped about having super athletes but it hasn’t yielded much success, in college I’d rather have super fundamental kids that can shoot the lights out than a kid that can touch the top of the backboard. Loyola Chicago has a undersized pudgy true freshman post that will never sniff the nba and he could shoot and played inside out and help lead a team of non super athletes to a final 4. I’ll be excited when I see Texas hit wide open threes consistently again. Damn I miss AJ Abrams.

[Red Five 40650]

Big 12 has four of the top 16 and 6 of the top 26. 

[Goo Punch 4275]

16 in Kenpom- wow. that seems a little high with AJ still being a question mark, but it's certainly possible that we could earn that mark by the end of the season. that said, until i actually *see* a Texas team that looks like a sweet 16 squad i'm not going to be ranking us as one of the 16 best teams in the country. 

and let's be clear- this ain't anout the players- it never has been. we've obviously witnessed some subpar coaching from shaka and his staff(s). teams performing below their talent level, blowing leads late in games, and ranging from poor to inept offensively have unfortunately been our calling card, along with playing good defense. Shaka came to this conference and abandoned the style of play which had earned him his reputation and his chance at a top flight job. we now need a top flight season from our coaches. these players are his guys. we have experience, we have size, we have athleticism, we have leadership, everybody likes one another- it's time. 

this team will not feature a cam ridley, a prince ibeh, a jarrett allen, or a mo bamba. so while i still expect us to be salty defensively, it is more important than ever that we can run an effective offense and shoot the ball well. in my mind that's literally all that's standing between this team being another disjointed disappointment and a legitimate sweet 16 group. the upside is there. roach needs to shine this year, DO *has* to be better, we add Eli Long, we hopefully get AJ back at some point, we have depth in both the front court and the back court, Ramey, Hepa, Hayes, and Lidell all seem to have something to offer- we can be a really really good and fun-to-watch team, and it will all come down to the offensive side of the ball. can we consistently run successful offensive sets and knock down open shots? the answer to this determines our season, and ultimately shaka's fate at Texas. 

[TexOx 110]

On 10/19/2018 at 12:52 AM, texasstrong12 said:

If you want further proof of it being a "student engagement problem" just see the average women's attendance. That's a winning team that makes the Sweet 16 every year. 

'18 (19th in the country in avg attendance), '17 (25th in avg attendance), '16 (28th in avg attendance), '15 (31st in avg attendance). 

Slightly better numbers than the men relative to other schools but still shit. Texas fans (especially students) don't show up to basketball games. Even with a team that makes the Sweet 16 year after year. 

 

 

Women’s attendance is a non sequitur. If I wanted to see a bunch of jump shots I’d go watch a middle school game. 

[texasstrong12 4668]

5 minutes ago, TexOx said:

If I wanted to see a bunch of jump shots

Ummm do you watch the men's game? 

Edited October 20, 2018 by texasstrong12

[realgreggym 832]

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 12:38 PM, Dbeasy said:

I actually agree with Derka on the topic of attendance at the event. Texas has always had major attendance problems in basketball but that was even worse than I expected. I get it. They haven’t had very good years lately but I would have thought there would be more hardcore fans at that event. It was not good and was a little depressing.

I'm not being rude to you but let me tell you what depressing really is. Its winning the conference the last game of the season, getting back to campus around midnight and the tower wasn't even lit. A couple of parents were so upset that they called DKR at home and demanded that the tower be lit orange. About 20 minutes later it was. That's depressing. Not some exhibition on a Wednesday when most students are focused on the football team having the season thats developing.

BTW, I just rechecked the email that the T Association had sent me an others and it said that only the first 3000 in line when the doors opened would be admitted on a first come basis. FWTW,

Edited October 20, 2018 by realgreggym

[Blotto 23432]

Out of about 350 teams, our 3PT% ranking the last 3 years under Shaka has clocked in at 316, 344, and 202. That's fucking embarrassingly bad. It was 189, 246, 317 the three years prior under Barnes, so not much better. College hoops is becoming increasingly dominated by teams that can shoot the ball well from deep. We have sucked ass in that department for years, and our results have followed suit. Get your shit together Shaka.

 

Edited October 20, 2018 by Blotto

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

8 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

16 in Kenpom- wow. that seems a little high with AJ still being a question mark, but it's certainly possible that we could earn that mark by the end of the season. that said, until i actually *see* a Texas team that looks like a sweet 16 squad i'm not going to be ranking us as one of the 16 best teams in the country. 

and let's be clear- this ain't anout the players- it never has been. we've obviously witnessed some subpar coaching from shaka and his staff(s). teams performing below their talent level, blowing leads late in games, and ranging from poor to inept offensively have unfortunately been our calling card, along with playing good defense. Shaka came to this conference and abandoned the style of play which had earned him his reputation and his chance at a top flight job. we now need a top flight season from our coaches. these players are his guys. we have experience, we have size, we have athleticism, we have leadership, everybody likes one another- it's time. 

this team will not feature a cam ridley, a prince ibeh, a jarrett allen, or a mo bamba. so while i still expect us to be salty defensively, it is more important than ever that we can run an effective offense and shoot the ball well. in my mind that's literally all that's standing between this team being another disjointed disappointment and a legitimate sweet 16 group. the upside is there. roach needs to shine this year, DO *has* to be better, we add Eli Long, we hopefully get AJ back at some point, we have depth in both the front court and the back court, Ramey, Hepa, Hayes, and Lidell all seem to have something to offer- we can be a really really good and fun-to-watch team, and it will all come down to the offensive side of the ball. can we consistently run successful offensive sets and knock down open shots? the answer to this determines our season, and ultimately shaka's fate at Texas. 

That's exactly what's happening. The algorithm is looking at AJ and E. Long as  3 year players to go along with two 4 year players in Dylan and Kerwin. And then it's evaluating this data without much context. Hopefully AJ will regain his full strength and skill set before the season is out, but Kenpom's computers are doing that for him right now. 

[texasstrong12 4668]

Kenpom ranks of teams Texas plays in nonconference

E. Illinois (#302) , Arkansas (#64),  ULM (#242),  Citadel (#260),  UNC (#3), Mich ST (#13) or UCLA (#47) , Radford (#161), VCU (#126), Purdue (#18), Grand Canyon (#155), Providence (#49), UTA (#229), Georgia (#101)

Think Arkansas/Grand Canyon are ranked too low and UNC/Purdue are ranked too high. 

 

Edited October 21, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Cameltoe 114]

Kenpom is a believer. #16 in the country! Bring on Eastern Illinois!

[Guest Lobo]

8 hours ago, texasstrong12 said:

Kenpom ranks of teams Texas plays in nonconference

E. Illinois (#302) , Arkansas (#64),  ULM (#242),  Citadel (#260),  UNC (#3), Mich ST (#13) or UCLA (#47) , Radford (#161), VCU (#126), Purdue (#18), Grand Canyon (#155), Providence (#49), UTA (#229), Georgia (#101)

Think Arkansas/Grand Canyon are ranked too low and UNC/Purdue are ranked too high. 

 

The consensus seems to be from all the sites that Michigan State is markedly better than UCLA, not by a lot.  But noticeably better.  I'd like to think we'll upset UNC out of the gate in Las Vegas, but for those of us planning around family and the Kansas football game on T+1 Friday, I'm gonna assume it's us playing UCLA at 3:00p-CST, right after the Kansas football game ends actually.