2018-19 Texas Longhorns thread

[Goo Punch 4,275]

26 minutes ago, Machinator said:

I don't see it as a diss (it's relatively tame compared to some of the shit posted on this website), but I find it a very tenuous connection that reeks of grasping at straws to confirm a preconceived notion.

it totally could be, and i admit that. but that's why shaggy was founded in the first place- the freedom to post and say exactly what you think and feel. this is nothing more than one man's opinion based solely on conjecture.

[Braff Zacklin 13,408]

Hepa's nickname should be "The Filter."

[SwanderedTalent 5,761]

51 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

By the way, let's point out a couple things-

 

1)This is a message board. This is exactly what it's here for. Discussion.

2)We've all seen dozens and dozens of posts about DO that were 10x more inflammatory and disrespectful with none of the nuance, thought, or admissions of conjecture, yet you somehow managed not to blow a gasket any of those times. Hmm. Strange.

well you did accuse DO of wanting to watch This Is Us

[txhorns 2,408]

I normally wouldn't accuse you of being a dick but you are being a dick.  I actually think Machinator is correct on this in that you came to the conclusion you wanted.  But this post along with a previous post where you made fun of DO for how he was dressed tells me you just don't like the guy and are too biased against him.

[Lerka Lerka 1,086]

1 hour ago, Machinator said:

I don't see it as a diss (it's relatively tame compared to some of the shit posted on this website), but I find it a very tenuous connection that reeks of grasping at straws to confirm a preconceived notion.

 

35 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

it totally could be, and i admit that. but that's why shaggy was founded in the first place- the freedom to post and say exactly what you think and feel. this is nothing more than one man's opinion based solely on conjecture.

And that's fair.  I don't follow DO on social media - or anyone for that matter.  That's part of why I read / post here, y'all do and post the shit I would want to know / see. But back to DO, I think it would also be fair to tap the brakes and see how he performs over the next month or so.  I mean, the dude was hardly recognizable last night.  And I'm not just talking about his hair.  The dude has lost some serious weight.  I've never gained or lost that much weight but I would think it has to effect your game?  Maybe for the better but might take some time to learn to play within your new body composition?  Maybe he's just a bit lost right now trying to figure things out? 

[txhorns 2,408]

Maybe it was the first game of the year in which DO was coming off of a minor injury and he just had an off night.

[texasstrong12 4,668]

Osetkowski was fine last night on the offensive end. He played in system and wasn't forcing shots. 

 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

28 minutes ago, txhorns said:

I normally wouldn't accuse you of being a dick but you are being a dick.  I actually think Machinator is correct on this in that you came to the conclusion you wanted.  But this post along with a previous post where you made fun of DO for how he was dressed tells me you just don't like the guy and are too biased against him.

i've been a lot nicer to DO than a good many of our fans here. I don't dislike him or anybody else in the team. I've disliked one UT player ever, and that was no secret to anyone. Making a light jab about the way young people dress and positing that he may not have a passion for the game isn't nearly as foul as many of the things that others have said about him. And there's nothing wrong with preferring spending time with your girlfriend to playing basketball; that's just my observation of him, and again, it's based on conjecture and i'm not stating it as fact. I've also posted support for him and said that I hope he has a better year passing and shooting the ball. Don't jump to conclusions about be hating somebody just because i'm critical of him.

[texasstrong12 4,668]

Last year these were the field goal attempts per game between Osetkowski, Roach and Coleman. 

Osetkowski (11.8), Roach (10.0), Coleman (8.9). 

I think we want Osetkowski near 7-9 shots a game with an increase in attempts for Coleman and Roach. 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

Coleman is likely going to be a streaky shooter, but i really like his shot from inside the arc, and on the nights when he's hitting from beyond the arc he will be a real problem for opposing defenses. His drive game is strong, he can pass really well, and again I think he has an underrated midrange game. He's going to be really important for us.

Edited November 7, 2018 by Goo Punch

[dcar00 14,030]

basically all you can hope for with Dylan is that he can give you 10/7 while shooting at 45-48%.   limiting the 2 WTF turnovers a game would be a positive as well.  needs to do this in under 30min/game.

[texasstrong12 4,668]

I think we will get better shots this year with Coleman, Long and Ramey. I know it was Eastern Illinois but our ball movement was pretty good last night. 

We have 3 players that can handle the ball now and get guys shots. 

Roach and Febres should get open looks from 3 all year. We saw it last night with Febres. If anything we were a little bit too unselfish last night and passed up some good looks. 

Edited November 7, 2018 by texasstrong12

[TreatyOak 16,149]

I attended the game last night. We had a lot of fun. I'll be attending the Friday night game in El Paso, and will post pics. 

[ClubWhatever 12,087]

Fuck Chip Brown

[Catdaddyhorn 3,444]

1 hour ago, texasstrong12 said:

I think we will get better shots this year with Coleman, Long and Ramey. I know it was Eastern Illinois but our ball movement was pretty good last night. 

We have 3 players that can handle the ball now and get guys shots. 

Roach and Febres should get open looks from 3 all year. We saw it last night with Febres. If anything we were a little bit too unselfish last night and passed up some good looks. 

I think people forget how many open shots we got last year and missed. For all the criticisms of Shaka's offense he does/did a good job of scheming open shots. Of which we missed a shitload last year. I'm sure @Bitterwhiteguy could give us the synergy numbers from last season, but I remember reading an accounting of it and we did a reasonably good job getting guys open shots. Just have to knock them down. 

[Revolution512 1,480]

Can you get the right people open shots.....that’s the key stat.

[Bitterwhiteguy 153]

12 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I think people forget how many open shots we got last year and missed. For all the criticisms of Shaka's offense he does/did a good job of scheming open shots. Of which we missed a shitload last year. I'm sure @Bitterwhiteguy could give us the synergy numbers from last season, but I remember reading an accounting of it and we did a reasonably good job getting guys open shots. Just have to knock them down. 

Synergy categorized 43% of Texas' catch & shoot half-court shots as unguarded, which is a very good number; in the Big 12, only Iowa State and Baylor had a higher percentage of unguarded shots last year. The problem is that their points per possession on those shots were abysmal. They generated 0.92 PPP on the unguarded shots, nobody else in the conference generated less than 1.067. Extrapolate that out to the 200+ possessions each team had in this area and you start to see the difference between an 8-10 record and an 11-7 record for a team that went to as many OTs as Texas did. As a side note, this is part of what was so maddening about Eric Davis. He had 22 unguarded possessions and generated 6 points from them; that's a cool 0.273 PPP, one of the worst in the nation. However, on his 52 guarded possessions he generated 81 points for 1.558 PPP which was in the top 2% nationally. This is exactly the opposite of how it should be for most shooters and why I was making jokes about him needing the opponent's hand in his face to calculate how to hit the shot. Some day I'm going to write a book about his weird-ass statistics.

So yes, the issue last year wasn't so much generating open looks as it was about converting those open looks.

[VinyVango 677]

I like our depth overall, moreso if Hamm shows he can play some effective minutes.  It seems like we have a lot of interchangeable players at all positions.  The SF position was a question mark and concern for me, but it looks like we will (and should) play a lot with 3 guards on the floor.  

Still waiting to see what version or Roach hits the floor to start the season, but if he is used correctly as a driving 2 guard and minimize his trying to run the offense at point I am cautiously optimistic. There will certainly be a couple turd games unless DO, Roach, and Coleman can show the propensity to hit open shots, draw fouls, and hit free throws when the younger guys are going through rough spells. 

I don't think this team (unlike last year) needs to rely on DO or Jones jacking up a ton of shots, or Roach waving everyone out of the paint for the last 5 minutes of the game so he can dribble for 20 seconds and iso into the paint hoping for the and-one.  I hope Shaka doesn't force them into "you need to be the hero" roles and playing them an excessive amount of time at the expense of getting the younger guys good experience.  For the initial games this season, I think he is well served to play lots of guys to determine their ideal roles, see which teammates complement each other best on the court, and see which ones have the best bball IQ, chemistry, and poise when things get intense.

 

[Machinator 32,097]

43 minutes ago, VinyVango said:

I don't think this team (unlike last year) needs to rely on DO or Jones jacking up a ton of shots, or Roach waving everyone out of the paint for the last 5 minutes of the game so he can dribble for 20 seconds and iso into the paint hoping for the and-one.  I hope Shaka doesn't force them into "you need to be the hero" roles and playing them an excessive amount of time at the expense of getting the younger guys good experience.  For the initial games this season, I think he is well served to play lots of guys to determine their ideal roles, see which teammates complement each other best on the court, and see which ones have the best bball IQ, chemistry, and poise when things get intense.

 

It seems like the team needed a kick in the rear to get going. On Tuesday, it came in the form of Mitrou-Long being aggressive and the press generating additional scoring opportunities.

What will be telling is when we play more talented opponents, where the forced turnovers won't be as bountiful and the games will be closer in the second half. Will we remember our training or regress into hero ball?

[Machinator 32,097]

 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

18 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I think people forget how many open shots we got last year and missed. For all the criticisms of Shaka's offense he does/did a good job of scheming open shots. Of which we missed a shitload last year. I'm sure @Bitterwhiteguy could give us the synergy numbers from last season, but I remember reading an accounting of it and we did a reasonably good job getting guys open shots. Just have to knock them down. 

Agreed. But i'll also say that this is a bit reminiscent of Greg Davis, when he started running a forward thinking offense, yet he kept recruiting jumbo linemen like they were all going to be road graders. The offense itself could totally have worked, but he had a bunch of 6'4", 340 lb linemen being asked to sprint out to the flats to make blocks every other play. It's good that we got so many open looks, but when you keep recruiting guys who are more athlete than basketball player/shooter then it kind of defeats the purpose.

[texasstrong12 4,668]

I don't know where we will finish but we will almost certainly be improved from the 3 point line. 

1) I expect a decent jump in 3 point shooting from Coleman and Febres. FR to Sophomore year jump. 

2) I think it was obvious after the opener that Shaka had a talk with Osetkowski about jacking 3s. Bamba also had  bad shot selection at times last year. Just minimizing bad shot selection from those 2 should help the numbers. 

3) Hepa is a better shooter than both Osetkowski and Bamba. I'm not sure how many 3s he will attempt so no clue what impact that has on the numbers. 

The wildcards are Ramey, Roach, and Long. The hope is that Roach continues on the same path as the end of last year because he was actually a good 3 point shooter near the end of the season. 

If our 3 point shooting is focused around Coleman, Febres, Roach and Hepa we should see improved numbers. 

Edit: The other big factor is Jones. He's the best 3 point shooter on the team when healthy. 

Edited November 8, 2018 by texasstrong12

[texasstrong12 4,668]

I would also say our shot selection from 3 was good against Eastern Illinois for the most part. 

Osetkowski only had one 3 point attempt and it was wide open. Coleman had 5 attempts, Febres had 6, Long had 4, Ramey had 2. I would say most of these were open. I would prefer if Long is more of a drive and dish type player so that's really my only complaint on the 3 point attempts. 

The #s were a little bit distorted in this game because Jones was jacking 3s at the end of regulation but I don't really have a problem with that. It was clear Texas and the staff were trying to get Jones a bucket. Liddell also bricked a few 3s but he's not going to play much this year. 

The core group of guys that will play this year had decent shot selection in the opener. 

 

Edited November 8, 2018 by texasstrong12

[texasstrong12 4,668]

Long is really good with the ball in his hands. He was consistently getting guys open looks in the opener. Here's a few gifs. 

https://gifs.com/gif/texas-vs-eastern-illinois-men-s-basketball-highlights-32k95A

https://gifs.com/gif/texas-vs-eastern-illinois-men-s-basketball-highlights-86p95j

https://gifs.com/gif/texas-vs-eastern-illinois-men-s-basketball-highlights-voWjV8

[Goo Punch 4,275]

yeah i mean there's no way we aren't going to be improved in that category. the question will be consistency. will we merely go from shooting it poorly every night to shooting well on occasion, or will we actually be able to count on multiple guys to shoot 38%-42% from deep. That'll be the difference in finishing 5th in the league and being a 7-9 seed and finishing top 3 in the league and getting a 4-6 seed.

[kingkoopa6 8,312]

woah! recruiting news... 

[Machinator 32,097]

19 minutes ago, Tony Soprano said:

Does college basketball have a rule on playing a certain amount of games to preserve a redshirt like football does with the 4 game rule?

Don't believe so.

[TreatyOak 16,149]

On 11/7/2018 at 7:21 PM, ClubWhatever said:

Fuck Chip Brown

[kingkoopa6 8,312]

GAME DAY !! 

[kingkoopa6 8,312]

need some of this again.. Col3man, H3pa, 3lijah, F3br3s

 

[Cameltoe 114]

On 11/7/2018 at 12:02 AM, Goo Punch said:

jesus you're stupid. 

 

1)Literally nobody had bad things to say about this recruiting class, so bragging about being high on them is incredibly dumb.

Tons of people had negative responses when I talked up how good this class would be in May. It seems like you yourself were probably one of them but I don't feel like wading through your litany of gibberish backposts right now. Basically the argument was "there's no 5-stars, Hayes is too raw, won't be enough to make up for the loss of Bamba, blah blah blah."

[Cameltoe 114]

Arkie - Texas starts in an hour! 

[dogbreath 431]

What a horrible coaching job last night.  The lack of communication between players and players and coaches was shocking.

New strategy to fix this team is to get DO and Sims in foul trouble early, so Hepa and Hayes (the guys with basketball IQ) play more minutes.  Ramey should already move Febres to spot minutes.  I'll give Coleman a pass from last night, but him being foul friendly was very similar to last year.  Long will help there to close out games.

Lineup should be Coleman, Ramey, Roach, Hepa and Hayes.  Use DO, Sims, Long, Febres as backups. No more 39 minutes for DO. No more 5 minutes for Hepa. No more standing around the perimeter watching guys get trapped.

Play the 5 smartest players and damn the consequences. 

If Shaka runs off Hepa for lack of playing time, then he needs to be fired immediately.

[Red Five 40,632]

I can't believe how terrible Coleman and Osetkowski look. I feel like we're going to learn soon that they both have the flu. 

[billfromlaketravis 11,358]

Ramey was one hell of a lot a late pick up. He's already the second best guard on the team. 

Hayes needs to be playing more. 

Hopefully Dylan O quits basketball to open a tattoo parlor on Dirty 6th. 

[Machinator 32,097]

That was probably Coleman's worst or second-worst performance as a Longhorn (his game in Morgantown last year was pretty bad, too). Hopefully that's just a blip and not the start of a bad trend.

[Goo Punch 4,275]

Shaka's been talking a lot about Matt Coleman needing to be more selfish, be more of a leader, be assertive all of the time, etc, which as we've seen over the years is Shaka's way of saying to the public, "this guy isn't doing well and we all should be worried if he doesn't fix his shit." as we've also noted, shaka is the exact opposite of Barnes, who will tell the media/fans exactly what is going on/exactly the same thing he's told the player(s) to his face, and he will then leave it up to that guy to do what he needs to do to fix it. "Kevin Durant is a terrible defender"; "Brian Boddicker needs to get his head out of his ass"; "Jonathan Holmes has to decide that he wants to be the guy." Well that's not Shaka's style. This is his way of indirectly communicating to the public that one of his guys is having problems. couple these comments with jay williams comments and we shouldn't be super surprised that Coleman was as off as he was. Hopefully he gets his shit together. 

[ClubWhatever 12,087]

Just sit his ass on the bench and go with Roach Ramey and Long

[Catdaddyhorn 3,444]

3 hours ago, ClubWhatever said:

Just sit his ass on the bench and go with Roach Ramey and Long

That's pretty much what he did at the end of the game. 

[VinyVango 677]

In some of these early overmatched games, I'd like to see Ramey, Hepa, and Hays start over Febres, DO, and Sims. 

Roach absolutely has talent, but I don't like him with the ball.  There were too many sets last week where Coleman, Ramey, and Long were running around off ball with Roach mindlessly dribbling out valuable minutes.  There are times when his iso is useful, but I shouldn't be our base offense.  DO's head is not in the game currently and Sims looks a bit shell-shocked by the spotlight.  Having them come off the bench, even if it's after just a few minutes might be beneficial for them. 

Coleman seems to be forcing things, but he's good with and needs the ball to press the pace.  He's a non factor running around as the off guard on offense.

Our best lineup might actually be Sims and Hays with 3 guards. 

I'd like to see the loyalty to a flat, slow, and passive DO go by the wayside to get Hepa, Hamm, and sometimes Hayes some playing time at the PF.  Bring DO off the bench and maybe he gets a little fire in his belly.  He might end up being a spark, light the later career Boddicker.  

 

[txhorns 2,408]

Sims and Hayes do not need to be on the floor together.  They are far too similar skillsets and would just clog up the lane.

[VinyVango 677]

3 hours ago, txhorns said:

Sims and Hayes do not need to be on the floor together.  They are far too similar skillsets and would just clog up the lane.

I'm thinking more for defense and rebounding when we play a team with a larger front line.   Against some teams it simply wouldn't work.  There is also the big risk of getting both of our Center options in foul trouble.  But, both could use as many minutes as possible.

[Cameltoe 114]

6 hours ago, txhorns said:

Sims and Hayes do not need to be on the floor together.  They are far too similar skillsets and would just clog up the lane.

Having "similar skillsets" doesn't really preclude putting players out on the floor together. If it turns out both Sims and Hayes are in our top 5 best players then they absolutely should be on the floor together at times. Ditto if we are facing a team with a lot of height who is pounding it inside on us.

[txhorns 2,408]

11 minutes ago, Cameltoe said:

Having "similar skillsets" doesn't really preclude putting players out on the floor together. If it turns out both Sims and Hayes are in our top 5 best players then they absolutely should be on the floor together at times. Ditto if we are facing a team with a lot of height who is pounding it inside on us.

Both players are basically dunk only offensive players at this point.  Having both on the floor at the same time would kill what is already a stagnant offense.  Neither can contribute anything from 5+ feet out.  Thus clogging up the lane taking away any driving opportunities from guards, which happens to be the strength of our guards.

 

The only reason they should play together is if we are up very big late in the game and don't care about scoring anymore.

[Cameltoe 114]

37 minutes ago, txhorns said:

Both players are basically dunk only offensive players at this point.  Having both on the floor at the same time would kill what is already a stagnant offense.  Neither can contribute anything from 5+ feet out.  Thus clogging up the lane taking away any driving opportunities from guards, which happens to be the strength of our guards.

 

The only reason they should play together is if we are up very big late in the game and don't care about scoring anymore.

If I have a 6'11" guy (Hayes) and a 6'9" guy with hops (Sims) and they are both coordinated young men who can play defense, dunk, and handle a basketball in general, I am sure as shit going to play them in a college basketball game together, or a la carte, whenever I please.

Having twin towers is just almost never a bad thing. Sure, they need to improve their range on offense or whatever, but this point you're trying to get at that they can't play the floor at the same time is pretty worthless.

[txhorns 2,408]

8 minutes ago, Cameltoe said:

If I have a 6'11" guy (Hayes) and a 6'9" guy with hops (Sims) and they are both coordinated young men who can play defense, dunk, and handle a basketball in general, I am sure as shit going to play them in a college basketball game together, or a la carte, whenever I please.

Having twin towers is just almost never a bad thing. Sure, they need to improve their range on offense or whatever, but this point you're trying to get at that they can't play the floor at the same time is pretty worthless.

Please explain how we would score points with them both on the floor?

[Cameltoe 114]

4 minutes ago, txhorns said:

Please explain how we would score points with them both on the floor?

Miss shots and let them crash the boards.

[txhorns 2,408]

3 minutes ago, Cameltoe said:

Miss shots and let them crash the boards.

That is not an offense.  Now I know why Derka gives you so much shit.  You know nothing about basketball.

[txhorns 2,408]

On 11/3/2018 at 9:50 AM, Bitterwhiteguy said:

Hayes won't be put out there at the same time as Sims very much, it would murder offensive spacing. Also, Hepa can shoot better than your statement seems to imply.

Here is @Bitterwhiteguy thoughts on it for you.

[Cameltoe 114]

1 hour ago, txhorns said:

That is not an offense.  Now I know why Derka gives you so much shit.  You know nothing about basketball.

If you want to make this a pissing contest about basketball knowledge it's pretty unlikely that you know more than me about the college game since it's been my #1 followed sport for a number of decades now.

Even if that wasn't true, your assertion that I know "nothing" is obviously false and a hyperbole so laughably extreme that it damages the credibility of the opinions you espouse on here..

I wouldn't take your cues from bitterwhiteguy. While I haven't seen much of his writing, what I have seen has been pretty hit or miss. Writing a lot about something, and even having others read what you write, doesn't necessarily mean your opinions on the matter are always correct. Around here in Austin, unfortunately, you get a lot of sports people who have really smart opinions about football and really know their stuff when it comes to college pigskin. But it is rare you run into someone with that level of understanding about the hardwood.

I really have no idea what bitterwhiteguy's level of understanding is, but if you or him are trying to make a point that Hayes and Sims can't be played at the same time it's silliness because together they comprise at least half of our playable frontcourt roster. If Dylan O or Kemaka Hepa are having a bad game, or injured, or disposed in any other way, Coach Smart will have no problem playing Sims and Hayes at the same time and both players should have no problem complimenting each other's roles on the court. I'm sorry if you don't understand that, but you need to give up your idea that they can't play together because it's dumb.

And as far as crashing the boards "not being offense" you're even more uninformed if you don't understand how paramount offensive rebounding is in the game of college basketball.