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UTRGV @ Texas tipoff 3pm Gregory Gym/Leon Black we salute you!

SL Xpress

By SL Xpress
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SL Xpress

SL Xpress 7,513

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Televised on Longhorn Network. Look for links in the thread. Usually a good Samaritan or three will throw some links our way for those without LHN.

Radio broadcast here:

https://texassports.com/sports/2014/11/19/GEN_1119144623.aspx

 

So this is the second year of the throwback games in Gregory Gym, which I think is a wonderful way of breaking up the season for both the fans and the players. Last season it was a student only affair. This year 3500 tickets were sold to the general public, with the rest of the seats reserved for the students. 

It's also the 2nd season of the Leon Black Classis. Leon Black's wife and son will be in attendance. Chris Beard may be a fantastic basketball coach, but honestly as good as he is in that regard he's at his best when he's extolling the virtues of others - which he does often. It's heartwarming to hear him speak of Coach Black and all he meant to the UT program and the players who played under him.

As far as the opponent I'm not going to go into a lot of detail. It should be another cupcake game - and I don't say that in a derogatory way. There's just not much of a point in going into a lot of analysis of an opponent we're going to beat by 20+ points - maybe by a whole lot more than that.

They lost to KSU in their season opener in Manhattan 93-59. They also beat Northern Arizona on Tuesday in back to back games for both them and NAU 91-79. They're currently 4-2 on the season, and 0-2 on the road, having also lost to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 97-75 in Corpus Christi.

Probably the most interesting thing that has come out of this series is that the UTRGV athletic director held the same position at Arkansas Little Rock when he hired Chris Beard as the head basketball coach. In some ways he rescued Beard from an abusive situation under Billy Gillispie at Texas Tech, with whom Beard had confrontations regarding differing approaches to coaching style. This is a bit of a segue, but don't expect Tarleton State to appear on any UT schedules in the near future.

Starting lineup for UTRGV is:

Will Johnston PG 6-3 180 11.7ppg 4.2 apg

Sherman Brashear 6-5 180 7ppg 3.7rpg

Justin Johnson 6-6 185 19.2ppg 3.8rpg

Ahren Freeman 6-7 230 6.8ppg 6.3rpg

Dima Zidor 6-10 230 12.3ppg 5.5rpg

It looks like they have 6 players who can come off the bench, including a 7' Ukrainian (slava Ukraini!) Alex Horiuk. Leading bench scorer is CJ Jackson, 6-7 196 at 6.7ppg.

Matt Figger is the head coach in his second season from Eastern Kentucky.

Texas beat UTRGV 88-58 last year in a game in which Christian Bishop was the high scorer with 17 points, and Tre Mitchell was the leading rebounder with 5. 

If you remember, that was the game that Texas only led at half by 46-41 and all of us were wondering what in the heck was going on, then in the second half outscored UTRGV 42-17, including a 33-5 scoring run.

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SL Xpress 7,513

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4 minutes ago, Horny Bull said:

I know they don’t have a choice but this floor looks terrible with the volleyball lines still on it. 

Volleyball tournament starts next week. Texas is likely going to be the #1 overall seed.

For me it's fun seeing the volleyball lines. But I love the volleyball program, so it's different. 

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SL Xpress

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UTRGV calls a timeout down 10-0 at the 16:30 mark.

This Texas team is ridiculously fun to watch. 

Mitchell has a couple of midrange shots that have looked absolutely awful. Barely catching the rim. 

Justin Johnson scores his team's first point from the free throw line.

Then Carr with a terrific drive.

12-1 Texas. 

Media timeout at 15:38 mark. 

Texas is going to win this 96-8. 

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I find myself rooting for Timmy Allen in a different way than I did last year.

Last year I just knew he was going to get his, and his teammates had to find a way to step up to match his old man's game.

This year I find myself hoping shots go in so he can make a contribution on offense. Not that we need him the way we did last year, but it makes me personally sad to see him struggling so much on that end of the floor when he never has in his entire college career. 

Just now, Braff Zacklin said:

Timmy needs some spiritual guidance right now. Strange mix of forcing it/lacking confidence. Love the guy but something is "off" with his game. This team needs the real Timmy.

You and I are in a weird sympatico right now. Second time in a row we had extremely similar thoughts at the same time.

It's a compliment to me.

You, on the other hand, should be mildly concerned.

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1 minute ago, ztejas said:

Carr has a picture of me in his locker. He's playing like this just to spite me for everything I said about him last season. 

Wazzat you say?

Whoops. Was meaning to reply to the Dillon Mitchell post. He looks unreal.

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1 minute ago, Pato del Muerto said:

He’s turned into the worst regular player on the team, especially this newer uptempo offense. 

 

He's still a junkyard dog. I certainly don't mind him on the floor. But I am hoping he finds another gear at some point. I have confidence he will. It's clear he has no idea what his role is on this team, though. On the offensive end, anyway. He needs a slumpbuster. Doesn't have to be this game, but it needs to come at some point. Someone on campus hook the man up.

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Crappy end of the half, but still a very satisfying game so far.

44-22 Texas.

Carr leading scorer with 12. 2-3 from BTA.

Rice the leading bench scorer with 8. 

Disu leading rebounder with 5 AND leading assist guy with 3.

UTRGV with 14 turnovers at the half, which is not exactly surprising given that they're one of the worst turnover teams in the country. They're also 0-5 from the 3 point line. Texas 4-12. 

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Rickylovesweed

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1 minute ago, SL Xpress said:

Lance Blanks, "This Texas team should back off on defense and make UTRGV shoot threes."

That makes no sense on any level. 

So stupid. The biggest strength of this team is creating pressure and forcing turnovers. 

 

 

 

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1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Once again Texas goes to the 3 guards with Allen on the bench and look much better. I think Beard is going to have to stick with this 3 guard starting lineup. 

They're just so much better when 3 guards are on the court together. 

We're coming to conclusions against UTRGV?

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm saying this game doesn't mean anything compared to competition that matters. 

I know we're going to hear more of it, and it has some merit, but personally I'm not willing to say the team is better with Allen on the bench just yet. 

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Just now, SL Xpress said:

We're coming to conclusions against UTRGV?

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm saying this game doesn't mean anything compared to competition that matters. 

I know we're going to hear more of it, and it has some merit, but personally I'm not willing to say the team is better with Allen on the bench just yet. 

Yeah Allen has a role to play this season. Whether we need him today or not. 

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Rickylovesweed

Rickylovesweed 14,262

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1 minute ago, SL Xpress said:

We're coming to conclusions against UTRGV?

I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm saying this game doesn't mean anything compared to competition that matters. 

I know we're going to hear more of it, and it has some merit, but personally I'm not willing to say the team is better with Allen on the bench just yet. 

It's been the case all year. I don't even know if the conclusion is "Allen needs to come off the bench" but more Texas needs to start 3 guards. 

Is Allen at the 4 and Mitchell at the 5 too small? 

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ztejas

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I think part of the beauty of this team is that we are so deep and multifaceted that no one feels like they have to do too much, and in turn, whenever someone is attempting to make a play they play loose and within themself and it results in better execution and creativity. 

Just one of those things that compounds itself on good teams. 

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Just now, Rickylovesweed said:

It's been the case all year. I don't even know if the conclusion is "Allen needs to come off the bench" but more Texas needs to start 3 guards. 

Is Allen at the 4 and Mitchell at the 5 too small? 

I don't know. A team being too small on one end can mean an advantage on the other. Ideally I'd think you'd want players on the interior bigger than Disu or Bishop, but we don't. Beard likes his switching pressure defense that doesn't allow 3s and makes entry passes tough. Texas is never going to be an overwhelming rebounding team while Beard is the coach the way they were under Barnes, for example. But everyone who plays more of an interior position is a great rebounder for their size. The guards are great rebounding guards, for that matter, other than Carr. 

Still, I do think Allen may be the best rebounder on the team in terms of instincts. I don't know that that's the case, but it often feels that way to me. And there's no issue with him in terms of switching on defense. 

Creighton and Illinois will both be great tests. Let's see how the lineups compete in these next two games. 

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