Texas Basketball 2023-24

[Catdaddyhorn 3446]

1 hour ago, CTC2 said:

I know exactly what is on his resume and see it as the guy has forgotten more about basketball than most people know. I did visit with him a couple of times and also spoke with the parents of some players who held him in high regard.  My opinion is just reflective of those conversations and observing the staff in game. 
Wasn’t suggesting that we were going to suck because he wasn’t there. Just that he was not some scrub who could easily be replaced.  I heard from several people close to the program that his international experience was a positive. 
Haith may be just great. Don’t know anything about him other than it seems he used to be the bagman at a couple of stops. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Time will tell. 
I’m fairly optimistic about next year if this team can develop the on and off court chemistry displayed last year. The team is living together again in the same place so I’m hopeful. 

Frank Haith won the Henry Iba coach of the year, AP coach of the year, Big 12 coach of the year, and the AAC coach of the year as a head coach in addition to being a bagman at a couple of stops. 

[CashMcCoy 3199]

247 dropped an article with thoughts from mid-major coaches who played against the guys who transferred up to P5+Big East this offseason.

Max Abmas, transferring from Oral Roberts to Texas: “Max Abmas is the ultimate competitor, the ultimate leader. He’s a high-level student, he’s a high-level person. I think the world of that young kid. He’s as good a player, I think he’s an exceptional young person. He’s going to have success whether it’s on the court or off the court. Max is going to do really well in life. I always felt like we guarded those guys OK. We switched off a lot. We did not go under on those logo ball screens. We switched out or we went over. We put more pressure up on him and forced him to make a play off the bounce. I always felt like we guarded him OK, but he’d always seem to find his teammates and he’d put the ball in their hands to make plays. When you go through our stats, he had a couple games where he went off, but it would be other guys. You had to pick your battles against a team like Oral Roberts. A lot of times the battles we’d pick was to make someone else who wasn’t a scorer, make them look to score. Max was always good at moving the ball and getting it to where it needed to go. High-level kid man. High-level leader. I wish him the best because he’s a guy who’s committed and loyal to ORU and he’s going to take advantage of an opportunity that’s in front of him because he’s earned it.” – Paul Sather, North Dakota head coach

Chendall Weaver, transferred from UT Arlington to Texas: “He’s an athlete at that level. He was very impressive in person. Needs to shoot it better, but is capable. He got better throughout the year. The first time we played them, we played them in conference compared to where he was in the conference tournament and the confidence he was playing with. Yeah, when he left, I thought that kid was going to go pretty high. With his potential, the years he has remaining, the athleticism combined with all these guys we’re talking about, they compete, they’re tough and combine it with the skillsets they have, it’s a high ceiling for that kid.” — Chris Victor, Seattle head coach

Ze'Rik Onyema, transferred from UTEP to Texas: “Bigger guys are going to be harder. I expect him to be a dunk-spot guy, rim protector, fighting to give them depth in the post. Texas is a place where you’re right outside of 'Blue Blood' territory. They’re going to have McDonald’s (All-Americans) or big-time transfers, so it might be a dogfight for him to play a lot of minutes. But what he just did is add depth so that when they go to the second wave of guys, they don’t have much drop-off.” – Talvin Hester, Louisiana Tech head coach

 

Link if interested: https://247sports.com/LongFormArticle/max-abmas-grant-nelson-rival-coaches-dish-on-college-basketballs-top-transfers-college-basketball-transfer-portal-212156662/

[HookEm 2467]

4 hours ago, ryskey said:

If you were to regress our final ranking for each of those years with one metric, which one is the most predictive?

Good question.  All of the stats are pretty related.  Teams with more experience also returned more counting stats as you would expect. 

I think career minutes is probably the best predictor.  Admittedly though, in the early 2000s we mainly recruited super talented one and two year players and had pretty good success.  But they were loaded with NBA talent... and high level NBA talent at that... and we also usually had a core group of experienced players to complement them.

Here are the seasons ranked by returning minutes.   Almost all of the top returning minutes teams did well, even if they didn't all have tourney success.  The ones that didn't, like 2015, got Rick Barnes fired.  2016 and 2021 were both very experienced teams that should have been much better.   

As you go down the list, you see teams like 2017 and 2013 that were inexperienced and missed the tournament altogether.  And 2012 and 2018 that never cracked the top-25.  

 

Bringing it back to 2024, we return the 3rd most minutes of any team since 2003.  As such, I think a top 2-3 seed is within reach.  

[HookEm 2467]

1 hour ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Frank Haith won the Henry Iba coach of the year, AP coach of the year, Big 12 coach of the year, and the AAC coach of the year as a head coach in addition to being a bagman at a couple of stops. 

It is crazy to me that any Longhorn fan old enough to post on this board would have any doubt about whether Frank Haith is a home run hire as an assistant coach.

[jimmyjazz 45976]

3 hours ago, HookEm said:

It is crazy to me that any Longhorn fan old enough to post on this board would have any doubt about whether Frank Haith is a home run hire as an assistant coach.

. . . or if we would have retained both RT and Donewald.  One of them was likely to bolt.

[BornOrange 1441]

Thought this post should be in this thread:

5 hours ago, Pancho said:

 

[MotownHorn 1770]

Seems like RT and Donewald just didn’t click. Doesn’t look like Donewald was leaving for greener pastures as he’s still unemployed.

Leave it to our internet “experts” to turn a decision RT seems to have intentionally made to let Donewald go into a supposedly big L for RT

[shadow_operative 15932]

3 hours ago, BornOrange said:

Thought this post should be in this thread:

not a huge fan of this move. i was highly critical of shaka bringing all his buddies from vcu, as they were all out of their depth in the big xii, and i have no reason to think ghat this is any different. i'm sure RT has a level of comfort with this guy that matters to him, but this is the type of hire that shaka would make. no chance this guy ever makes one of Beard's staffs, and Beard is outstanding at assembling a coaching staff. RT...we'll see.

[Catdaddyhorn 3446]

I believe the only guy Shaka brought from VCU was Mike Morrell. 

[BornOrange 1441]

Since all the assistant coaching spots are filled, I think Matson is going to fill the Special Assistant to the Head Coach role that Steve McClain had last year before being named an assistant coach.

[shadow_operative 15932]

18 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I believe the only guy Shaka brought from VCU was Mike Morrell. 

i don't remember where they all came from, i just remember darrin horn being the first assistant he hired who was actually qualified for his role. david cason, mike morrell (who is doing well for himself no doubt), and jai lucas just had zero skins on the wall at this level, and their teams at Texas ended up (unsurprisingly) being poorly coached. a guy who's coached for RT at two middling programs and then ECU sounds like he has a similar lack of a qualified resume. 

whatevs, it's not the biggest issue in the world, i just don't like hiring guys who have zero experience of winning at this level. 

Edited June 29, 2023 by shadow_operative

[MotownHorn 1770]

26 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

not a huge fan of this move. i was highly critical of shaka bringing all his buddies from vcu, as they were all out of their depth in the big xii, and i have no reason to think ghat this is any different. i'm sure RT has a level of comfort with this guy that matters to him, but this is the type of hire that shaka would make. no chance this guy ever makes one of Beard's staffs, and Beard is outstanding at assembling a coaching staff. RT...we'll see.

Again the opposite of sunshine pumping

[MotownHorn 1770]

Wasn’t Jai Lucas already on our staff when Shaka arrived? Shaka just kept him, right?

Youre using a guy who was already on Barnes’s staff, thought to be critical to recruiting, and a current associate head coach at a major program as an example of Shaka bringing his unqualified assistants along for the ride? Huh?!?

Edited June 29, 2023 by MotownHorn

[Catdaddyhorn 3446]

Cason was at Tulsa, Notre Dame, UNC, and Vandy prior to working under Shaka. Meanwhile Donewald Jr has worked for precisely one college basketball coach. 

 

I bring up Donewald because it's not lost on me who does and who does not get credibility bestowed on them by completely arbitrary means. Unlike Donewald, Cason immediately got another college basketball gig upon being let go. 

Edited June 29, 2023 by Catdaddyhorn

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 minute ago, MotownHorn said:

Wasn’t Jai Lucas already on our staff when Shaka arrived? Shaka just kept him, right?

Youre using a guy who was already on Barnes’s staff, thought to be critical to recruiting, and a current associate head coach at a major program as an example of Shaka bringing his unqualified assistants along for the ride? Huh?!?

Lucas was promoted by Smart when he got here, he was a special assistant before that and iirc was 28 years old. mike morrell was also around 29 years old when hired to be one of shaka's top assistants and had only ever been an assistant under shaka in the caa and a-10. yes, they were unqualified hires for this level, and their team's performances reflect that.

[ztejas 43475]

7 minutes ago, MotownHorn said:

Again the opposite of sunshine pumping

Meh. I don't love it either. ECU blows fucking dick at basketball. Hiring one of their guys is stupid.

However - I liked the Haith hire. And I like the coaching staff outside of that. This isn't going to sink us. It may be a slight negative. 

Also I don't know who said "assistant coaches don't matter" but that was pretty dumb even for this thread. Of course they matter. If nothing else they matter a lot when it comes to recruiting. Which is sort of important.

[shadow_operative 15932]

2 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Cason was at Tulsa, Notre Dame, UNC, and Vandy prior to working under Shaka. Meanwhile Donewald Jr has worked for precisely one college basketball coach. 

we had a whole entire thread on this group and how underwhelming they were, and david cason led the way. he had something like 28 years coaching/being DOBO at those schools and iirc his teams had *made* the tourney 7 times in those 28 years. his CV was full of stops where his teams had limited - zero success. wasn't he also the first one from shaka's staff to be fired and/or demoted for morrell? i'm pretty sure that correct. there were exactly zero top flight schools looking to hire Cason when shaka brought him in. 

[Catdaddyhorn 3446]

2 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

we had a whole entire thread on this group and how underwhelming they were, and david cason led the way. he had something like 28 years coaching/being DOBO at those schools and iirc his teams had *made* the tourney 7 times in those 28 years. his CV was full of stops where his teams had limited - zero success. wasn't he also the first one from shaka's staff to be fired and/or demoted for morrell? i'm pretty sure that correct. there were exactly zero top flight schools looking to hire Cason when shaka brought him in. 

Same can be said of Donewald Jr, In fact he wasnt even at fulltime assistant prior to Beard bringing him in. Meanwhile Cason is currently employed at a power 5 school 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Catdaddyhorn

[shadow_operative 15932]

1 minute ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Same can be said of Donewald Jr, In fact he wasnt even at fulltime assistant prior to Beard bringing him in, meanwhile Cason is currently employed at a power 5 school 

bob donewald was essentially lebron james's personal coach and trainer during the beginning of his career. i consider that to be a FAR bigger skin on the wall than anything david cason has ever done.

again, we had a whole giant thread on this back in the day, and i don't remember you championing cason as any sort of good coach back then. suddenly he was a great hire by shaka? even though shaka then turned around and demoted him? okay. i'm sure you really believe that. 👌🏼 

[Catdaddyhorn 3446]

Yes "we" all read your screed. You posted about it literally everyday. I wouldnt exactly call it a discussion. YOU decided the staff sucked and you built that narrative by yourself and no one else daned to disagree because after that 2nd year it wasn't worth arguing about. The staff consisted of Mike Morrell, Darren Horn, and David Cason. Morrell was the young recruiter. Darren Horn was the old vet and David Cason had a few worthwhile recruiting finds like Jordan Clarkson and Jeff Traylor and a great shooter at Vandy who's name escapes me at the moment. Not exactly an elite staff, but not the drebs of college basketball either. Like most coaches he hired who he was comfortable with. 

[shadow_operative 15932]

6 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Yes "we" all read your screed. You posted about it literally everyday. I wouldnt exactly call it a discussion. YOU decided the staff sucked and you built that narrative by yourself and no one else daned to disagree because after that 2nd year it wasn't worth arguing about. 

the thread was started back on TOS and my OP had overwhelmingly positive rep. i have no clue what you think that you're remembering here, but it's a fantasy. 

also that staff did suck. it was terrible. there was and is no debate about it, ESPECIALLY in hindsight. what a weird fucking fight to pick with me, particularly after the fact when there is no debate as what a shitty staff that was. so fucking odd.

Edited June 30, 2023 by shadow_operative

[Catdaddyhorn 3446]

I love how Bob Donewald Jr's sole season in Cleveland has morphed into Lebron James' personal coach and trainer during the beginning of his career.

[shadow_operative 15932]

7 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

I love how Bob Donewald Jr's sole season in Cleveland has morphed into Lebron James' personal coach and trainer during the beginning of his career.

yeah, you and motownhorn are literally just in here picking fights with me over the dumbest shit. your intentions are as transparent as shaka's assistant hires we're shitty.

Quote

the summer of 2003, James was putting in extra work before his rookie season. Aged only 18, he had long been regarded as basketball's next great hope. 

He was the cover star of the prestigious Sports Illustrated magazine while still a junior in high school. For years it had been predicted he would be the number one pick in the 2003 NBA draft - and sure enough he was. Selected by his hometown team the Cleveland Cavaliers, rarely has a teenager carried such high expectations into their professional debut. 

Throughout that summer, James travelled to the Cavaliers' practice facility - a 40-minute drive from where he grew up in Akron, Ohio - for intense one-to-one training with Bob Donewald Jnr, one of the team's assistant coaches.

i'm not talking with y'all two shit starters any more today. fucking christ you guys beg for these internet fights and then you whine when you get what you asked for. it's pathetic.

Edited June 30, 2023 by shadow_operative

[Hookem2147 21339]

Feels like peak offseason when we are arguing about stupid crap like this regarding a guy who isn’t even going be one of the 3 primary assistants who can recruit off campus.

[Catdaddyhorn 3446]

15 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

yeah, you and motownhorn are literally just in here picking fights with me over the dumbest shit. your intentions are as transparent as shaka's assistant hires we're shitty.

 

You're ignoring or misunderstanding my point. That summer or even that entire season working with Lebron James has apparently done a lot of work for Donewald's Jr career. One summer out of Lebron James 20 year career doesnt mean a fucking thing to me. And furthermore, your view on what does and doesnt make a good staff is completely based on who is doing the hiring. Donewald Jr cant fucking hold an assistant job for more than a year. What makes Brandon Chappell or Ulric Maligi a good hire? Shit, what makes even Chris Ogden a good hire? Because he worked here before? Or because he was a mediocre coach at UTA? IT's an arbitrary view completely based on whether you like the head coach or not.

Edited June 30, 2023 by Catdaddyhorn

[HtownHorn 14724]

Gerry is hinting at something going down this weekend basketball related. Another poster chimed in with this...

 

[Catdaddyhorn 3446]

Frank Haith has been a head coach at multiple schools and has even won awards while doing, yet because some feel that RT is undeserving Haith's hiring as an assistant is questioned by that same faction. Based solely on the fact that the coach doing the hiring doesn't have credibility with them. 

2 minutes ago, HtownHorn said:

Gerry is hinting at something going down this weekend basketball related. Another poster chimed in with this...

 

That sounds like Tre Johnson to me. Hope it's true and last til next year. 

Edited June 30, 2023 by Catdaddyhorn

[CashMcCoy 3199]

36 minutes ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

You're ignoring or misunderstanding my point. That summer or even that entire season working with Lebron James has apparently done a lot of work for Donewald's Jr career. One summer out of Lebron James 20 year career doesnt mean a fucking thing to me. And furthermore, your view on what does and doesnt make a good staff is completely based on who is doing the hiring. Donewald Jr cant fucking hold an assistant job for more than a year. What makes Brandon Chappell or Ulric Maligi a good hire? Shit, what makes even Chris Ogden a good hire? Because he worked here before? Or because he was a mediocre coach at UTA? IT's an arbitrary view completely based on whether you like the head coach or not.

Donewald, 34, was closely aligned to Cavaliers guard LeBron James in his only year in Cleveland. The Cavaliers discussed the move with James, and he was reportedly on board with it.

When Silas and Cavaliers general manager Jim Paxson reviewed the 2003-04 season, they felt it was time to make the move.

“Now that the season is over, Paul and I had a chance to have the initial discussions of where we are and where we need to go,” Paxson said. “We felt that a change was appropriate.”
 

It’s a cool story, but if he was so instrumental in (arguably) the GOAT prospect’s development, why did they get rid of him and why did he never work for an NBA team again? That’s a legit question. I would’ve loved to have Donewald still on the staff, but he obviously didn’t want to remain on with RT.

[CashMcCoy 3199]

2 hours ago, HtownHorn said:

Gerry is hinting at something going down this weekend basketball related. Another poster chimed in with this...

 

Not sure if this Tim guy knows shit (a 5/10 pick doesn’t inspire much confidence), but he put in the first prediction for Tre Johnson last night.

[closetohumping 17449]

12 hours ago, Catdaddyhorn said:

Frank Haith has been a head coach at multiple schools and has even won awards while doing, yet because some feel that RT is undeserving Haith's hiring as an assistant is questioned by that same faction. Based solely on the fact that the coach doing the hiring doesn't have credibility with them. 

That sounds like Tre Johnson to me. Hope it's true and last til next year. 

Or a transfer guard from Kentucky?

[Herpa Derpa 6126]

We really stanning for a journeyman nepo baby coach who has zero accomplishments of note beyond spending a year with a 19 year old LeBron?

Peak offseason.

[kevwun 15797]

Donewald can be a good coach and someone who also can't stay in one spot for various reasons.  Look at his resume.  His next landing spot will be his 19th job since 94.

Edited June 30, 2023 by kevwun

[closetohumping 17449]

55 minutes ago, Herpa Derpa said:

We really stanning for a journeyman nepo baby coach who has zero accomplishments of note beyond spending a year with a 19 year old LeBron?

Peak offseason.

Guy coached in China , Iraq, Beirut, Jupiter and Dayton.  I guess you don’t value diversity?

[MotownHorn 1770]

20 minutes ago, kevwun said:

Donewald can be a good coach and someone who also can't stay in one spot for various reasons.  Look at his resume.  His next landing spot will be his 19th job since 94.

Is he a drunk or something?

[Herpa Derpa 6126]

4 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

Guy coached in China , Iraq, Beirut, Jupiter and Dayton.  I guess you don’t value diversity?

I despise Jovians and their big talk.

[closetohumping 17449]

Just now, Herpa Derpa said:

I despise Jovians and their big talk.

Them and the Mormons always knock at the most in opportune moments 

[CashMcCoy 3199]

3 hours ago, closetohumping said:

Or a transfer guard from Kentucky?

Think Reeves is staying at UK. Gerry hinted again just now at a basketball commitment coming sometime next week. Tre would be a huge surprise, but a welcome one.

[kevwun 15797]

5 minutes ago, MotownHorn said:

Is he a drunk or something?

I don't know what his deal is, but there is definitely a reason he can't stay anywhere for more than a couple of years.

Edited June 30, 2023 by kevwun

[closetohumping 17449]

1 hour ago, kevwun said:

I don't know what his deal is, but there is definitely a reason he can't stay anywhere for more than a couple of years.

Probably just tired of RT

[CashMcCoy 3199]

 

[MotownHorn 1770]

Mowing the lawn earlier I remembered that my friend from growing up worked in the Cavs ticket office when LeBron was drafted. He was 6'6" so he used to play 1 on 1 with young LeBron for his first years in Cleveland

Maybe we can get my old buddy Mike to replace Donewald?!?!?!

[Hank_Hill 18879]

I probably made as much of a difference in the career of the greatest player we’ve ever seen as Donewald did.  He’s a good coach nonetheless. Wonder if he’s the town lake strangler? Would explain the career moves. 

[closetohumping 17449]

4 hours ago, Hank_Hill said:

I probably made as much of a difference in the career of the greatest player we’ve ever seen as Donewald did.  He’s a good coach nonetheless. Wonder if he’s the town lake strangler? Would explain the career moves. 

Impossible imo.  He’s had 19 jobs. Many away from Austin.   But hey Rodney was the only hc who would t or could t keep him. 

[cochamps 1879]

On 6/29/2023 at 6:45 PM, MotownHorn said:

Again the opposite of sunshine pumping

Why would anyone want sunshine pumping?  Wanting that is just dumb.  SO thinks this is a bad hire, and my first reaction was that it is disappointing to hire one of your buddies who hasn't helped you to any measure of success.  I hope he does a good job, but I'm skepitical.

[cochamps 1879]

On 6/29/2023 at 6:51 PM, Catdaddyhorn said:

On 6/29/2023 at 7:00 PM, Catdaddyhorn said:

Same can be said of Donewald Jr, In fact he wasnt even at fulltime assistant prior to Beard bringing him in. Meanwhile Cason is currently employed at a power 5 school 

I bring up Donewald because it's not lost on me who does and who does not get credibility bestowed on them by completely arbitrary means. Unlike Donewald, Cason immediately got another college basketball gig upon being let go. 

A good reminder as to who brought Donewald in.  Perhaps you guys trashing him, don't think that Beard bringing him here is a positive data point.  I have to disagree.

[MotownHorn 1770]

24 minutes ago, cochamps said:

Why would anyone want sunshine pumping?  Wanting that is just dumb.  SO thinks this is a bad hire, and my first reaction was that it is disappointing to hire one of your buddies who hasn't helped you to any measure of success.  I hope he does a good job, but I'm skepitical.

I want neither sunshine pumping nor its opposite. Being negative for the sake of it is just as lame as being positive for the sake of it.

[cochamps 1879]

6 minutes ago, MotownHorn said:

I want neither sunshine pumping nor its opposite. Being negative for the sake of it is just as lame as being positive for the sake of it.

I think that he had a negative view bc it was a "comfort" hire, not for the sake of being negative.  Since that's what it felt like to me anyway.

[Catdaddyhorn 3446]

1 hour ago, cochamps said:

A good reminder as to who brought Donewald in.  Perhaps you guys trashing him, don't think that Beard bringing him here is a positive data point.  I have to disagree.

I actually believe Donewald did well in his time here,  however your point highlights the very thing I'm saying. We don't have a clue which ones are the good or bad assistants. Our view of them is solely based on how we feel about the coach who brings them in.   

[closetohumping 17449]

1 hour ago, cochamps said:

A good reminder as to who brought Donewald in.  Perhaps you guys trashing him, don't think that Beard bringing him here is a positive data point.  I have to disagree.

No the problem is some are using it as a negative data point on RT.  He left.  Like he did 19 other jobs.  Maybe it’s not RTs fault?

 

 

since Beard hasn’t added him to the ole miss staff is that a negative data point?

Edited July 1, 2023 by closetohumping

[cochamps 1879]

3 minutes ago, closetohumping said:

No the problem is some are using it as a negative data point on RT.  He left.  Like he did 19 other jobs.  Maybe it’s not RTs fault?

 

 

since Beard hasn’t added him to the ole miss staff is that a negative data point?

Yeah it took me a while, but it is apparent that Donewald left us.   hate that because the offense was really good last year and he was supposed to be in charge.  But if he left butthurt (or just left), we need to move on.  As I've said, like the Haith hire.