2018-19 Texas Longhorns thread

[Machinator 32,097]

33 minutes ago, Dennis Taylor said:

https://twitter.com/TexasMBB/status/1063823320590757888?s=19

I've known this kid since he was in kindergarten, good friend of my son's for a long time. He was a PWO quarterback last year...he's an amazing kid and great student athlete...congrats to 'Storrmin' Norman'!

 

[kingkoopa6 8,312]

[Lerka Lerka 1,084]

Nttawwt

[texasstrong12 4,668]

Arkansas just beat 3-0 Indiana. Indiana has several injuries but Arkansas is better than I expected and better than most people projected. That is starting to look like a decent to good win but it's early. 

Glad we don't have to play Gafford again. He's legit and might be the best big we play all year. Our bigs actually did a good job on him. 

Arkansas is almost certainly going to be a quadrant 2 win. Might even be a quadrant 1 win. 

 

[texasstrong12 4,668]

Gafford is 15/18 from the field in games not involving Texas.

Went 8/15 against Texas. Sims, Osetkowski and Hayes did a good job on him.

[realgreggym 832]

33 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

Arkansas just beat 3-0 Indiana. Indiana has several injuries but Arkansas is better than I expected and better than most people projected. That is starting to look like a decent to good win but it's early. 

Glad we don't have to play Gafford again. He's legit and might be the best big we play all year. Our bigs actually did a good job on him. 

Arkansas is almost certainly going to be a quadrant 2 win. Might even be a quadrant 1 win. 

 

Agreed. They have some young guys that can score. The problem that they will probably have is dead legs at the end of the season. They have an experienced coach but some things are out of your control.

[texasstrong12 4,668]

Points scored by teams Texas basketball has played so far

Arkansas:

81 vs UC Davis

73 vs Indiana

71 vs Tex (OT game)

Citadel:

80 vs Clemson

148 vs MDC

138 vs Johnson

69 vs Tex

EIU:

65 vs IUPUI

68 vs W Illinois

59 vs Tex

ULM:

75 vs Jack ST

94 vs Millsaps

59 vs Mich ST

55 vs Tex

We're currently 10th in adjusted D (Kenpom). It looks like we will be a good defensive team again if not elite. This team will come down to progression on the offensive end. 

Edited November 19, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Goo Punch 4,275]

which is exactly why the newcomers need more PT starting now. Ei Long needs to be starting ahead of Febres, and Jaxson Hayes needs to start ahead of Sims. Sis and Febres are role players, and the sooner we get out best players starting the better. and while i still dot like DO as a starter, we don't have anyone who's obviously better- yet. Hepa will be better than DO, and he's already more assertive and looks comfortable on the floor than DO. 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

Just now, Goo Punch said:

which is exactly why the newcomers need more PT starting now. Ei Long needs to be starting ahead of Febres, and Jaxson Hayes needs to start ahead of Sims. Sis and Febres are role players, and the sooner we get out best players starting the better. and while i still dot like DO as a starter, we don't have anyone who's obviously better- yet. Hepa will be better than DO, and he's already more assertive and looks comfortable on the floor than DO. 

 

[texasstrong12 4,668]

42 minutes ago, Goo Punch said:

 Ei Long needs to be starting ahead of Febres, and Jaxson Hayes needs to start ahead of Sims.  

meh. I don't really care who starts. It's all about minutes distribution. Long and Hayes need more minutes but I don't really care if they start. 

Granted, we do need to figure out the slow starts to games but I think that's more a product of playing down to competition. At least right now. Maybe I will change my opinion as the season progresses. 

Right now Long is a spark plug off the bench. I don't think you want to screw with what is working. 

Edited November 19, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Goo Punch 4,275]

we've been starting slow every game this year. if anyone wants to go look up the score at the U12 and U8 TO's of our games this year you'll see Texas struggling with and often losing to some pretty poor competition. It'd be one thing if the starters were playing well, but they aren't. And frankly Jericho Sims wouldn't even see the floor if he played for a top 25 team. That he starts for us is dumbfounding.

[Goo Punch 4,275]

Jericho Sims, our starting big man this year:

22.5 mp, 6.5 ppg, 5.3 reb, 0.0 ast, 1.0 blk, 4.3 FGA, 3.5 PF, .571 FT%

and those are just the stats. as bad as those stats are, they don't even tell just how limited he is. he's a Dungeons & Dragons champion in an NBA body. He has no discernible basketball skill. Hayes already has more skill and is already a better player. he should be starting.

 

also, Jaxson Hayes per/40: 19.0 pts, 12.3 reb, 4.1 blk. He needs to start and play as much as possible, as he's going to be one of our most important players for the next 2-3 years. I can't even picture Sims having an impact in Big XII play.

[realgreggym 832]

Its not who starts but who finishes. Coach Smart is doing the right thing. Very few freshmen are able to make the jump physically from high school to college. You start giving the young kids too much time early in the season and they will have dead legs when the season really counts. Sometimes a young man like Long is more valuable off the bench.

I don't care what the score is at any point of the game other when the clock is at zeros. You probably think that the runner who gets to the 10 mile mark first in a marathon wins.  

[Goo Punch 4,275]

stop saying "it's not who starts." first off, that's true in rare situations, like at the NBA level when James Harden wasn't starting but was still playing 31-35 mpg and playing the entire 4th quarter for OKC. His team didn't need him to start because they still had KD, Russ, Ibaka, et al. They didn't need Harden in the starting lineup, and he was perfect for them as a catalyst off the bench. this is not the NBA, and we are not some loaded team with three bona fide studs in our starting 5. we do not have the luxury of keeping our talent on the bench to start the game.

we are a college team that already has a lack of pure basketball talent, we aren't getting production from our starters, we've struggled to score at the beginning of every single game, players like Long, Hepa, and Hayes are much more important to the program long term than players like Febres, DO, and Sims, our head coach has a long track record of being offensively inept, and we play in the toughest conference in basketball. Do I seriously need more reasons to state that we clearly need to shake up our starting lineup? I mean we're over here talking about how the freaking Arkansas win is looking better and better because sadly, it's year 4 of Shaka Smart at Texas and we *still* need to rely on November wins vs mediocre-bad teams to "look good" because know that simply making the field of 68 is anything but guaranteed. All of this stuff about our starting lineup not mattering is total nonsense. 

Edited November 19, 2018 by Goo Punch

[Goo Punch 4,275]

also, what did Rick used to always say about Freshmen? "By February they aren't freshmen anymore." If we are clearly going to need to rely on Hayes more than Sims during conference play then this is the perfect time for Hayes to get his feet wet as a starter. And Long is a 4th year junior who is older than/better than the sophomore Febres.

[Machinator 32,097]

14 minutes ago, realgreggym said:

Its not who starts but who finishes. Coach Smart is doing the right thing. Very few freshmen are able to make the jump physically from high school to college. You start giving the young kids too much time early in the season and they will have dead legs when the season really counts. Sometimes a young man like Long is more valuable off the bench.

I don't care what the score is at any point of the game other when the clock is at zeros. You probably think that the runner who gets to the 10 mile mark first in a marathon wins.  

Long isn't young; in fact he's one of the oldest and most experienced guards on the roster.

[immortal13 4,059]

It doesn't matter who starts

[realgreggym 832]

3 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

also, what did Rick used to always say about Freshmen? "By February they aren't freshmen anymore." If we are clearly going to need to rely on Hayes more than Sims during conference play then this is the perfect time for Hayes to get his feet wet as a starter. And Long is a 4th year junior who is older than/better than the sophomore Febres.

I have no idea what your rambling was in your above post and quite bluntly I could care less. But commenting on what Coach Barnes said is more proof that you have no clue. Coach Barnes who I knew a lot better than you did was referring to experience. What you don't have the ability to understand is the huge leap in physicality that these kids face when coming to the next level. You play them too much now and their legs will be gone by February and that experience won't matter. And not that you would believe this but Coach Smart is a much better judge about playing time than either of us. If he wants to start a shorthorn on occasion thats fine with me.

And your last comment about Long proves again you don't know what you're talking about. Successful teams need a 6th man off the bench to provide a spark for their team. And right now, Coach Smart likes him off the bench. Ever hear of any 6th man awards.

[realgreggym 832]

3 hours ago, Machinator said:

Long isn't young; in fact he's one of the oldest and most experienced guards on the roster.

And he has been great coming of the bench.

[Dbeasy 14,961]

Can I request again that posters in this forum not include personal attacks on other posters and confine the comments to the basketball? It would help the forum from always going south.

[HookEm 2,442]

Shut up dbeasy, you are an idoit.

[HookEm 2,442]

Quote

All of this stuff about our starting lineup not mattering is total nonsense. 

Disagree.  Long is averaging the 4th most minutes on the team.  More than Febres. More than Sims.  Minutes matter, being there for the opening tip doesn't. At all.

It can be a real advantage to bring in somebody good to raise the energy level and gain an advantage over the other team's 2nd unit.  I have done this myself coaching my kids teams. Granted it wasn't at the Div-1 level, but the principle works at all levels even up to the NBA.

[texasstrong12 4,668]

 

[Machinator 32,097]

 

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[Machinator 32,097]

 

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[Machinator 32,097]

 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

8 hours ago, HookEm said:

Disagree.  Long is averaging the 4th most minutes on the team.  More than Febres. More than Sims.  Minutes matter, being there for the opening tip doesn't. At all.

It can be a real advantage to bring in somebody good to raise the energy level and gain an advantage over the other team's 2nd unit.  I have done this myself coaching my kids teams. Granted it wasn't at the Div-1 level, but the principle works at all levels even up to the NBA.

you fail to address the fact that we've started slow every. single. game. but because bench player is playing more minutes than a starter we should keep starting two guys in Sims and Febres who are absolutely not Big XII quality starters, and who have contributed to our dreadfully slow starts? i don't think so. total nonsense.

again, if you have a complete and balanced starting lineup that gets the job done then absolutely go ahead and keep some of your best players on the bench so that there's little/no drop off when the starters start coming off the floor. that is not our situation. we have a weak starting lineup that has struggled at the beginning of literally every game this year, and a bench gbat features at minimum two guys who are clearly superior and more productive than the starters. if we had played against three big xii teams we'd likely be 0-3 and losing big early on. and again, sims wouldn't even play for a legit team, much less start. 

Edited November 20, 2018 by Goo Punch

[Goo Punch 4,275]

yeah i'll say it again, there's pretty much no point in posting anything shaka smart says. here's a preview of every interview he will give from now until the end of time-

 

"platitudes, platituudes, unwarranted positivity, coach speak, great young man, platitudes, positivity, positivity, uber positive spin on something that's clearly a negative, platitudes, platitudes, positivity, great young man, doing really good things."

i just can't stand a coach who never says anything truly honest or substantive. and it's all fear based thinking. he's so afraid of it being positive, of hurting a player's feelings with the truth, that he'd rather just BS you to your face every day. you can be a successful coach while being that way- see mack brown. but the majority of the very best coaches i've ever known, at every level- pop, belichick, saban, stoops, cal, et al- they were never afraid to call a spade a spade, to talk honestly about their team or their players, to acknowledge when they're struggling, and just simply not BS everyone like we're all fucking idiots who don't know any better. it's disingenuous and it provides nothing.

and i'll day right now that if 17 of you run in here and spazz our because i'm criticizing the coach then you can go ahead  and blame yourself for derka'ing the thread. it's never been off limits to criticize mack, gd, strong, barnes, herman, beck, orlando, whomever- never been off limits. yet for some reason shaka smart is a special snowflake and everyone freaks out whenever he's criticized, despite the fact that he's arguably the worst, and least accomplished coach on that list. so to follow up on dbeasy's reauest is like to request that we all put our big boy pants on and be able to handle some criticism of our head coach. it's the very reason shaggy was created.

[texasstrong12 4,668]

The fact you keep getting worked up over meaningless statements from press conferences has to be the most Derka thing ever. It's reached the point of amusement that you get so worked up over this stuff. 

What a coach says to the media is rarely what they say behind closed doors.

If you don't like "platitudes"/"coach speak" you probably shouldn't watch press conferences because about 90% of them are just that from coaches. Criticizing play on the court is fair game. This type shit is just Derka being Derka. Who the fuck cares? 

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by texasstrong12

[ChickenSandwich 9,798]

No. We need coaches to tear down their kids publicly towards the media so they really know how much they suck. They are being disserviced by this coach speak. How can they grow or be confident if you aren’t constantly ridiculing their shortcomings to the media during a press conference?  How can one be coached up if we aren’t pointing out their failures?

Those who complain about mid season press conference coach speak need to go ahead and take a self imposed break and reevaluate some things. First of those is common fucking sense. 

[texasstrong12 4,668]

This is every single Herman press conference:

1) "We have to go 1-0 and focus on this week"

2) "If we play our best we can beat anybody. If we don't play our best we can lose to anybody."

3) "The most important step for this team is they have blocked outside noise. They are buying into the internal noise of the team."

Then some other random platitudes or coach speak sprinkled in the middle. The only thing you get out of these type press conferences is team related news (i.e. dismissals, suspensions, transfers, injuries and so on). That's not a criticism of Herman either and luckily the football board is smart enough to not constantly bitch about it. 

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by texasstrong12

[Machinator 32,097]

I'll try to be more selective in which quotes I post.

Edited November 20, 2018 by Machinator

[Machinator 32,097]

16 minutes ago, texasstrong12 said:

That's not a criticism of Herman either and luckily the football board is smart enough to not constantly bitch about it. 

Lol, no they're not. People aren't bitching because we're winning this season.

[Machinator 32,097]

 

[texasstrong12 4,668]

3 minutes ago, Machinator said:

Lol, no they're not. People aren't bitching because we're winning this season.

Probably right to a degree but the football board is generally alright when it comes to overreacting to random shit like this. 

[texasstrong12 4,668]

UCLA doesn't look very good. It was a 5 point game with Presbyterian with about 7 minutes to play and UCLA is pulling away now. 

If we lose to UNC we want UCLA. 

[realgreggym 832]

55 minutes ago, Machinator said:

I'll try to be more selective in which quotes I post.

No. Please keep posting. No one cares what the board expert thinks.

[Goo Punch 4,275]

4 hours ago, ChickenSandwich said:

No. We need coaches to tear down their kids publicly towards the media so they really know how much they suck. They are being disserviced by this coach speak. How can they grow or be confident if you aren’t constantly ridiculing their shortcomings to the media during a press conference?  How can one be coached up if we aren’t pointing out their failures?

Those who complain about mid season press conference coach speak need to go ahead and take a self imposed break and reevaluate some things. First of those is common fucking sense. 

Yeah, that's what I asked for. It never ceases to amaze me how you lot all respond so childishly and then somehow continue to convince yourselves that I'm the one who is childish. I've never once expressed a desire for Shaka to insult, disparage, or cut down any of his players. Ever. But apparently nobody can respond to my criticisms without sensationalizing it into something that it's *clearly* not. But please, continue to mischaracterize everything I say, as if that's any more noble or conducive to conversation than what I'm saying. Completely dumbfounding how off limits Shaka Smart is.

[Goo Punch 4,275]

3 hours ago, Machinator said:

I'll try to be more selective in which quotes I post.

I don't have any problem with you posting what he says, and in fact I appreciate that you do so. You contribute more to this board/thread/topic of discussion than almost anybody. It's simply that the constant coach speak/uber optimism and positivity is annoying to me. As every single person here knows, countless shaggy posters used to crush Mack Brown for this exact same thing, yet for reasons unknown it's a mortal sin to do so about Shaka, who has none of Mack's success or accomplishments. Why is that? Best guess: because I'm the one saying these things. It's the only plausible explanation. Sorry not sorry.

[Dbeasy 14,961]

While I wish coaches would sometimes be more candid in public forums, I don’t blame them at all for just serving up coach speak. This country is merciless in slamming people for anything they say, and the press can be ridiculous in how they run a story into the ground.

The younger generation also may not respond as well to public criticism. The hard nosed football coach of years past would scream and cuss at players. That isn’t working as well anymore. Coaches these days are finding that more positive reinforcement works better. Tom Herman has had to tone down his navy seal bullshit somewhat to adapt to today’s athlete.

[ChickenSandwich 9,798]

3 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

Yeah, that's what I asked for. It never ceases to amaze me how you lot all respond so childishly and then somehow continue to convince yourselves that I'm the one who is childish. I've never once expressed a desire for Shaka to insult, disparage, or cut down any of his players. Ever. But apparently nobody can respond to my criticisms without sensationalizing it into something that it's *clearly* not. But please, continue to mischaracterize everything I say, as if that's any more noble or conducive to conversation than what I'm saying. Completely dumbfounding how off limits Shaka Smart is.

It’s your insufferable lack of self awareness. You are NOT a victim. 

[Goo Punch 4,275]

58 minutes ago, Dbeasy said:

While I wish coaches would sometimes be more candid in public forums, I don’t blame them at all for just serving up coach speak. This country is merciless in slamming people for anything they say, and the press can be ridiculous in how they run a story into the ground.

The younger generation also may not respond as well to public criticism. The hard nosed football coach of years past would scream and cuss at players. That isn’t working as well anymore. Coaches these days are finding that more positive reinforcement works better. Tom Herman has had to tone down his navy seal bullshit somewhat to adapt to today’s athlete.

i agree with what you're saying, 100%. It's a major part of the reason that Rick Barnes is no longer our coach. What I don't agree with is the contention that I'm advocating for or pining for this polar opposite, menacing, snarling, hard-ass authoritarian who throws his players under the bus. There is a ton of gray area between "everyone is great" and "my players are all terrible".What I'm looking for resides in that gray area, and leans much closer to the "everyone is great" end of the spectrum then the opposite.

Also, an important distinction that I've mentioned every time I've brought this up is that I see a correlation between coaches who comport themselves this way and a certain level of underachieving/lack of supreme achievement, whereas I also see a correlation between coaches who don't hold punches and who do reach the highest peaks of their respective sport. It's by no means a prerequisite, but what I take from it is that the always positive, sort of coddling nature of these coaches doesn't end up serving anyone at the end of the day. If I didn't believe that this kind of coaching style could potentially hold a team and/or its players back, then I wouldn't put myself through hassle of dealing w the typical responses that I know I'm going to get when I post these things. I'd just leave it.

That said, I'm certain that my lifetime as a Texas fan has shaped this opinion. I think that Mack would have been better served being a bit more demanding/realistic/honest with/about several of his coaches, players, and teams, and I personally know a whole slew of guys who LOVE  Coach Barnes- butted heads with him, got upset with him, got dogged out by him, sure- but who LOVE him for "challenging me as a man and getting more out of me than I ever thought possible" as one former player put it. Based on a lifetime of being fairly close to both major UT sports programs I believe that major college athletes are already too coddled, too celebrated, and too slurped, to be blunt, as it stands, and that being humbled, and challenged, and treated more like a grown person than a collegiate demigod can do them a lot of good. I think that many of them need a healthy dose of that, a dose somewhere between the two opposite ends of the spectrum.

So again, it's not that I want Shaka to criticize his players; I just don't agree with the "everyone/everything is just so great" public persona of our coach. I don't think that "we need to be better at the start of games", or "our guys need to hit their open shots when they have them" is all that uncalled for. Is that extremely different from "we've had a lot of good looks that just haven't fallen"? maybe not to you. But in my opinion, when it's perpetually reinforced that "we're doing good things and results *will* get better", that sometimes the bottom line message of "our guys need to step up/improve/play better" (aka taking ownership of the situation), can get lost, and your entire team can spend the entire season just sort of waiting for/expecting/assuming that things will get better/correct themselves.

 

Edited November 20, 2018 by Goo Punch

[VinyVango 677]

 I like starting Long or Ramey over Febres and Hayes over Sims.  The leash on DO and Roach and Coleman should be short.  If they don't show poise and aggression, I like Ramey, Hepa, and Ramey being subbed in soon to provide energy.  I do like the connection that Hayes and Ramey seem to be developing, so I like them on the court together as much as possible.

I'd like to see more of what Hamm and Liddell have to offer, but preferably not at the expense of the freshmen's minutes.  Maybe Hamm could be told to go put Sims and DO on notice that he's hungry for some of their minutes, and Liddell could do the same for Febres and Roach. 

When Roach is aggressive, he can be the best guy on the court.  When he decides he's going to model his shot selection after Trey Young's, I prefer he be on the bench with a smelling salt being waving under his nose.

DO has been showing a little life, but he still seems uninspired and slow.  He is playing less minutes and he does seem to be more selective with his shots, which is a plus.  He needs to cut down the turnovers and step it up a bit on the interior defense. 

This season is heavily on Roach and Coleman's shoulders.  We will be scratching to make it through conference on the + side of .500 if Coleman cannot average around 9-10 points (shooting above 40%) with 5-6 assists a game, and if Roach gets comfortable standing on offense and heaving up 10+, 3-point attempts a game.  Coleman, Ramey, and Long are all WAY better with the ball in their hands early in the shot clock than Roach. 

The good news is we have great depth at guard.  So, there's no reason for player loyalty and lack of viable options to trump the hook when the game is on the line. We don't need to let someone who is repeatedly making the same mental mistakes "play through it".

[huge 3,788]

me 75% of the time I click on this thread

[Machinator 32,097]

[texasstrong12 4,668]

VCU looks better than I expected. Our nonconference schedule is shaping up to be much tougher than it initially looked.

The good news is our metrics should be good. We are almost certainly going to finish with a top 10 strength of schedule when you throw in this nonconference schedule with the Big 12. 

Edited November 21, 2018 by texasstrong12

[immortal13 4,059]

16 hours ago, Goo Punch said:

I don't have any problem with you posting what he says, and in fact I appreciate that you do so. You contribute more to this board/thread/topic of discussion than almost anybody. It's simply that the constant coach speak/uber optimism and positivity is annoying to me. As every single person here knows, countless shaggy posters used to crush Mack Brown for this exact same thing, yet for reasons unknown it's a mortal sin to do so about Shaka, who has none of Mack's success or accomplishments. Why is that? Best guess: because I'm the one saying these things. It's the only plausible explanation. Sorry not sorry.

Derka, please. You aren't the only one critical of Shaka on this board. I think the should've already been fired

[ztejas 43,262]

Can someone explain to me why Texas is playing UNC on Thanksgiving? I liked following them almost upset Duke last Thanksgiving Saturday. Who the fuck is going to watch a college basketball game on Thanksgiving outside of each fanbase?