Texas vs Seton Hall- Thursday, Dec. 9th, 5:30 pm on FS1

[shadow_operative 15931]

17 minutes ago, Revolution512 said:

Pre-season rankings are the same as final four predictions?

well, yeah. it's preseason rankings. it's not like anyone says, "here are my preseason rankings, oh, but btw i have my 27th ranked team playing my #16 team in the title game." 

[LTtxfan 48913]

11 minutes ago, sportsbay said:

Can you imagine what we would look like without Beard?

Guard play is definitely a concern this year.  

Some of Shaka's former players (guards) were still disappointing tonight: 

• AJ did nothing -- 32 minutes and 2pts
• Febres nothing -- 18 minutes and 3pts
• Ramey did a little -- 31 minutes and 9pts

Devin Askew (guard) really not done much yet this year either.  It sure seems like the fate of this team is really tied to Carr playing well.  

 

 

[UTEE97 3427]

1 hour ago, Satchel said:

There were “fire Shaka” posts during his first year. Stupid ass comment indeed.

Fire coach threads are for posting all the bitching about that coach. 

[Satchel 6908]

Just now, UTEE97 said:

Fire coach threads are for posting all the bitching about that coach. 

Stop. Get outta Dallas!

[NorthLoop 14066]

8 hours ago, sportsbay said:

Can you imagine what we would look like without Beard?

I know what a vagina looks like

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

Our shitty nonconference schedule is going to be a giant monkey on our back working against us getting a 3-5 seed. If we don't finish with somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 to 14 conference wins I doubt we get a 5 seed or higher. Our schedule is really garbage this year. 

Edited December 10, 2021 by Catdaddyhorn

[MirrOlure 14604]

Final Four expectations were premature. Carr tagged as preseason Big 12 newcomer of the year was premature. Top five ranking was premature. It's very clear that we are not at the same level as Zaga, Duke, etc. 
Still, compared to where we left off last season, this coach and team are still a 1,000,000x upgrade. I think a 3-5 seed and a Sweet 16 appearance are realistic. Doubt we'll see many all-conference accolades as this team (outside of perhaps Mitchell and Allen) seem to be a cast of badasses rather than superstars. But we really do need a first-class point guard and a good defensive rebounding presence. At least we have the latter coming back...hopefully soon. 

While I’m excited about the future, and until we see evidence otherwise, I think it’s more realistic that we go 0 for KU and Baylor, struggle to reach .500 in conference, live on the bubble through January and February, and if we survive an 8-9 game get unceremoniously bounced by a No. 1 seed.

Hope I’m wrong on all of that.

[Ghost of Shag 2576]

Bunch of reactionary bitches in this thread.

News flash: Seton Hall is good. We go 1-13 from three, ensure some home cooking from the refs and lose on the last possession.

Now I’m less inclined to put a lot of hope in Disu because even with him back, he needs time to gel with the team and all that, but we’re a formidable opponent for anyone even when we’re incomplete and not at our best.

As was mentioned above, our guard play will determine our season and that isn’t currently looking too promising. 

But this isn’t Shaka. We’re going to keep getting better. 

[shadow_operative 15931]

31 minutes ago, MirrOlure said:

While I’m excited about the future, and until we see evidence otherwise, I think it’s more realistic that we go 0 for KU and Baylor, struggle to reach .500 in conference, live on the bubble through January and February, and if we survive an 8-9 game get unceremoniously bounced by a No. 1 seed.

Hope I’m wrong on all of that.

well let's all hope you're wrong. we're likely heading into january at 10-2, and won't play another game as an underdog until we travel to lubbock in february. if we're on the bubble in january then something has gone horribly wrong.

[texasstrong12 4668]

56 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

well let's all hope you're wrong. we're likely heading into january at 10-2, and won't play another game as an underdog until we travel to lubbock in february. if we're on the bubble in january then something has gone horribly wrong.

Yup. Texas should start stacking more wins  because the schedule is not good. During this 12 game stretch we likely won't play a team better than Seton Hall. Oklahoma State, OU, and WV don't look to be as good as they have been in years past. 

Arkansas Pine Bluff (1-10, #357 Kenpom)

Stanford (4-3 but will likely be 4-4 after this weekend, #88 Kenpom)

Rice (5-4, #167 Kenpom)

Incarnate Word (1-8, #355 Kenpom)

WV (8-1, #48 Kenpom)

@ K-State (5-3, #66 Kenpom)

@ OK St (6-3, #45 Kenpom)

OU (7-2, #43 Kenpom)

@ Iowa State (9-0, #49 Kenpom)

K-State (5-3, #66 Kenpom)

OK State (6-3, #45 Kenpom)

@ TCU (7-1, #72 Kenpom)

 

 

 

 

[Rockethorn1978 6061]

Conference is tough no matter who we’re playing and we should all know that by now. 
 

it’s not like a 3-5 seed is even bad unless you’ve put the expectation of what you think we would be way to high. I always saw huge potential and still do especially when we get disu rolling. But that doesn’t take away my concerns I see like with carr and shooting the rock from deep. Beard is the guy and I’m not doubting that at all. 
 

He’s got some good guys coming next year on top of whoever he can pull for the portal so there’s zero doubt of beards ability to build a roster.

[jimmyjazz 45494]

In a pure statistical sense, rebounding wasn't the big problem last night (38-34).  Even up on defensive boards, down 4 on offensive boards.  I think Disu is going to shake things up once he's on the court.

Agreed that our guard play doesn't look athletic enough across the board to make a big difference, but jeez, 1-13 from 3 has to be an outlier going forward.  If we had just sucked we would have won by 5 or more.

[Catdaddyhorn 3444]

24 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

In a pure statistical sense, rebounding wasn't the big problem last night (38-34).  Even up on defensive boards, down 4 on offensive boards.  I think Disu is going to shake things up once he's on the court.

Agreed that our guard play doesn't look athletic enough across the board to make a big difference, but jeez, 1-13 from 3 has to be an outlier going forward.  If we had just sucked we would have won by 5 or more.

According to kenpom they rebounded 36.8% of their missed shots which is a season % that would place them as the 17th best offensive rebounding squad in the nation. Obviously a healthy Disu would've been a big help here, but the main problem with yesterday's loss is that it's one of only 3 good opportunities to build our resume in the nonconference. I'm confident that we'll improve immensely as the season progresses, but having not watched a lot of these guys play prior to this season I'm a bit surprised at how unathletic we are. I'm really curious as to what made Carr the #1 transfer in the portal. He's essentially a poorer shooting Ramey with a bit cleaner handle and more of a willingness to try to score in the lane.  

[jimmyjazz 45494]

9 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I'm really curious as to what made Carr the #1 transfer in the portal. He's essentially a poorer shooting Ramey with a bit cleaner handle and more of a willingness to try to score in the lane.  

19.4 PPG, 4.9 APG looks good compared to most transfers.  I didn't watch him at Minnesota, so I don't know what's changed, other than the obvious in just trying to find his fit on a new team.  His minutes aren't down a tremendous amount (35.8 MPG -> 28.5 MPG), so that's not it.

[XYZ 2154]

3 hours ago, MirrOlure said:

While I’m excited about the future, and until we see evidence otherwise, I think it’s more realistic that we go 0 for KU and Baylor, struggle to reach .500 in conference, live on the bubble through January and February, and if we survive an 8-9 game get unceremoniously bounced by a No. 1 seed.

Hope I’m wrong on all of that.

[hobbes2702 12771]

4 hours ago, MirrOlure said:

While I’m excited about the future, and until we see evidence otherwise, I think it’s more realistic that we go 0 for KU and Baylor, struggle to reach .500 in conference, live on the bubble through January and February, and if we survive an 8-9 game get unceremoniously bounced by a No. 1 seed.

Hope I’m wrong on all of that.

I don’t see that at all and not sure what you’re seeing. This team can play high level defense, has two really good scorers in the bigs, Carr will get better, and the rotations will get tighter. The conference is good but only KU and BU can really say they are better at this point.

[TexArcher 37448]

Agree with others that this isn't a bubble team.

If we handle our business the rest of this month, we're 10-2 heading into the conference schedule.

That leaves 18 conference games plus the game against Tennessee.  If we go 11-8 through that stretch, we're 21-10 heading into the conference tourney.  And there's reason to think we'll be better than that.  

Don't let Battered Shaka Syndrome creep in.  We've lost to a pair of Sweet 16 teams while our guys are still getting to know each other and a new system.  We'll be just fine in 2022.

[shadow_operative 15931]

more thoughts about the game:

•1-13 from deep is a positive. i mean it. last year we would have taken 30 shots from deep. last night we identified that getting to the rim was the best way to score, and we pounded that over and over and over. remember, we made eight straight baskets at one point. we were not settling for stupid, early shot clock jumpers. we were playing smart, efficient basketball on offense for the first 30 minutes of the game.

•rebounding- i loved what i saw in the first half. we were consistently holding SHU to one shot per possession, with everyone on the team aggressively blocking out and going for rebounds. once again the game plan was clear, and our guys were all on the same page.

•along the same lines as the first two points, our team discipline and IQ are the highest they've been since Shaka's first year, which is outstanding, because that team was all guys who had been together for three years already. Beard has already established that we will be playing intelligently, both from a game planning standpoint, as well as individually.

•i think we got tired, which is a bit troubling. i watched the game with my dad, and we were really paying attention to our tactics/execution, rewinding the game when needed to take it all in (just like your mom). timmy allen leads our team in mpg at 28.5. last night our main five guys all played 30+ minutes, including 36 apiece for Mitchell and Carr. as the game wore on, it was clear that our guys were getting gassed. we started being half a step late on those block outs, and guys found it harder to get by their man and to the rim. our guys gotta get their conditioning up.

•probably related to the above point, but decision making on offense went downhill late in the game. guys driving but not even trying to finish; guys picking up their dribble before they needed to; less/slower off-ball movement than the first half. the game was a grind, and until that giant pause in the middle the second half was going by quickly, and without a lot of breaks.

•Seton Hall is a good team, a potential S16 team for sure. as poorly as we played in the 2H, that was generally a very well played game between two pretty damn good teams. both teams were playing smart, aggressive basketball, and neither was helping the other one out with silly mistakes or turnovers. the way we lost sucks, but there was a lot to be encouraged about with our effort and performance last night.

•finally, and once more for posterity: people who are speaking definitively about this team's ceiling based on the two games vs Gonzaga and SHU don't know shit about Chris Beard, or college hoops in general. pipe down, and save your all-or-nothing knee jerk reaction shit for that toxic wasteland called the football board. 

Edited December 10, 2021 by shadow_operative

[MirrOlure 14604]

Ok ok ok….I tend to overreact. Especially on Friday mornings. After drinking moderately heavily on Thursday night. Forgive me!

[jimmyjazz 45494]

4 minutes ago, MirrOlure said:

Ok ok ok….I tend to overreact. Especially on Friday mornings. After drinking moderately heavily on Thursday night. Forgive me!

"Moderately heavily":

[shadow_operative 15931]

i know i can't be the only one who feels like this team might truly be exactly what we've all been pining for- the anti-Shaka team.

Shaka team: spectacular in the open floor, high flying athletes everywhere you look, sportscenter top 10 every night, shooting 30 threes/game, multiple nba first round picks on the roster...low basketball IQ, maddening, repeated mistakes. zero tournament wins.

the anti-Shaka team: no great athletes, no high flying dunkers, no NBA first round talent, no SC Top 10 plays, no modern, nba-style, perimeter oriented offense...high IQ, intelligent basketball, grows over the course of a season, wins multiple games in March.

yes, there's lots of work to be done; but i can see it happening with this group. i really can. 

[shadow_operative 15931]

did anyone else notice that the kid for SHU who hit the game winning three appeared to either be on the spectrum or have tourette's? i watched the game with both of my parents and all three of us saw the same thing/came to the same conclusion. if that kid really does have either of those maladies, then that's a very cool story to see his success. reminds me of CJ2K.