Texas Basketball 2023-24

[shadow_operative 15,932]

2 hours ago, dcar00 said:

agree except our best day is not a final four team.  this team is not that good because Hunter is completely MIA and our D is a disaster.  the baylor/ou wins made up for the UCF/WVU losses so he can still get to 8-10.

one win in the NCAA tournament would be good because of our D.  Our best day is probably making sweet 16 assuming we are playing the higher seed every  round, upsets could change that.

agreed. i think a better way to say it would be that on our best day we can beat a final four team. this team isn’t going to win four in a row in the tourney.

[Gut Wagon 8,065]

If we get into the tournament as a 10 seed against a 7 who's dependent on a foul-prone inside presence, maybe we can win it and thus salvage something of this season. Unfortunately, the foul-prone inside presence we depend on might spend at least as much time on the bench as theirs does. So we'll probably need a solid game from Hunter to make the round of 32...assuming we even qualify. 

[Red Five 40,852]

3 hours ago, dcar00 said:

this team is not that good because Hunter is completely MIA

Man, at the beginning of last season I thought Hunter was our best PG since.... I don't know, Augustin? Now I forget he's on the team. 

[BurgleBro 787]

14 minutes ago, Red Five said:

Man, at the beginning of last season I thought Hunter was our best PG since.... I don't know, Augustin? Now I forget he's on the team. 

Overall minimal improvement.  Pretty jaggish

[dcar00 14,178]

59 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

agreed. i think a better way to say it would be that on our best day we can beat a final four team. this team isn’t going to win four in a row in the tourney.

If you add the qualifier that the final four team plays their C- game and we play our A+ game I would agree mainly because you know...18-22 year olds.  Anyone can get beat on a particular day in college basketball.  see Virginia.

[jimmyjazz 45,897]

I remember being really excited about Hunter's athleticism.  If it still exists, I sure haven't noticed it.  Weaver is a step ahead for sure.

[Hookem2147 21,205]

Looks like we are +5/5.5 against the Cougs tomorrow 

Edited January 28 by Hookem2147

[shadow_operative 15,932]

14 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Looks like we are +5/5.5 against the Cougs tomorrow 

kevin durant ain’t walking through that door. i would be stunned to lose by less than six.

[Chad 1,728]

Texas pulls off the upset this evening.

[Hookem2147 21,205]

On 1/28/2024 at 10:48 AM, Hookem2147 said:

Somehow moved up 2 spots in NET to #42.

Moved up another spot yesterday to #41. With the way these stupid rankings work there is a good chance we will move up again into the top 40 with a close game tonight.

[jimmyjazz 45,897]

6 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

Moved up another spot yesterday to #41. With the way these stupid rankings work there is a good chance we will move up again into the top 40 with a close game tonight.

We just need to keep losing.

[Hookem2147 21,205]

12 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

We just need to keep losing.

Terry playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. Purposely threw the road game at WVU to improve their NET so our home victory against them later in the season will matter more. 

[Pancho 44,753]

1 hour ago, Chad said:

Texas pulls off the upset this evening.

[Chad 1,728]

After tonight victories over #4, #11 and #15. Get your popcorn ready.

[perfectchaos007 6,627]

Barnes, Smart, and Beard all have teams ranked ahead of us in the polls. Hopefully RT can turn it around 
 

[UnhappilyMarried 815]

22 hours ago, Hookem2147 said:

Looks like we are +5/5.5 against the Cougs tomorrow 

They obliterate teams at home and eke them out on the road. 

[shadow_operative 15,932]

[perfectchaos007 6,627]

3 hours ago, UnhappilyMarried said:

They obliterate teams at home and eke them out on the road. 

Yeah I think this will be a competitive loss

[Js1 85,302]

16 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

Neat

[shadow_operative 15,932]

must have lost a bet with jaxson hayes or something:

 

[shadow_operative 15,932]

today's performance has me feeling better about our tourney prospects than i have at any other point in this season. we played more of our best lineups, we were relentless, and then obviously abmas is the x factor. if this team can continue to play like this then our collective preseason expectations may yet be met.

Edited February 3 by shadow_operative

[realgreggym 835]

The kids are finally learning to play together. It takes time and I think they are now there. Disu

is finally healthy and they are playing much better team defense. Weaver has been a huge

surprise and max now understands that his teammates are working hard to get him shots

and he is responding. The coaches also have a better understanding of their rotations. The second

half of conference could go really well.;

[jimmyjazz 45,897]

2 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

today's performance has me feeling better about our tourney prospects than i have at any other point in this season. we played more of our best lineups, we were relentless, and then obviously abmas is the x factor.

I guess it depends on how one defines "x factor", but I'd put that title on Weaver.  I mean, that guy is just all energy, all the time, and he is really growing into his role as a leader on this team.  He has clearly earned the starting lineup.

I give a lot of credit to Abmas for balling out and going to the paint when nothing else was working for him.  However, he doesn't have Weaver's burst nor his defense.

Disu, what can I say?  The guy is a legit shooter from just about anywhere on the floor.  Such a boost to get him back and have him playing at this level.

Hunter, oof.  Come on, man.  Dillon -- get a grip.  Too many stupid turnovers and just bad ball-handling.  I fear his game may be just a little too limited for the next level, but he can be a huge contributor for us if he just cuts down on the mistakes.

[The_Great_Hornsby 3,236]

19 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I guess it depends on how one defines "x factor", but I'd put that title on Weaver.  I mean, that guy is just all energy, all the time, and he is really growing into his role as a leader on this team.  He has clearly earned the starting lineup.

I give a lot of credit to Abmas for balling out and going to the paint when nothing else was working for him.  However, he doesn't have Weaver's burst nor his defense.

Disu, what can I say?  The guy is a legit shooter from just about anywhere on the floor.  Such a boost to get him back and have him playing at this level.

Hunter, oof.  Come on, man.  Dillon -- get a grip.  Too many stupid turnovers and just bad ball-handling.  I fear his game may be just a little too limited for the next level, but he can be a huge contributor for us if he just cuts down on the mistakes.

This x1000. Weaver is the biggest reason why this team has an upward trajectory at the moment. Love his hustle and passion. It is contagious and elevating the play of everyone around him. 

[shadow_operative 15,932]

23 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I guess it depends on how one defines "x factor", but I'd put that title on Weaver.  I mean, that guy is just all energy, all the time, and he is really growing into his role as a leader on this team.  He has clearly earned the starting lineup.

I give a lot of credit to Abmas for balling out and going to the paint when nothing else was working for him.  However, he doesn't have Weaver's burst nor his defense.

Disu, what can I say?  The guy is a legit shooter from just about anywhere on the floor.  Such a boost to get him back and have him playing at this level.

Hunter, oof.  Come on, man.  Dillon -- get a grip.  Too many stupid turnovers and just bad ball-handling.  I fear his game may be just a little too limited for the next level, but he can be a huge contributor for us if he just cuts down on the mistakes.

for me weaver is the overall x factor for our team, but come tourney time abmas is the x factor in that he can get hot at any time and completely change the game of a game. he can take over like he did today, scoring 15 of our last 17 points. we haven’t had a guy with that ability in a very long time.

[HtownHorn 14,676]

The key for this game was Hunter picking up his 4th foul. TCU only scored one basket the rest of the game(after Abmas went on a 11-0 run himself to ice the game), and Texas had 0 TOs, other than the BS offensive foul they called on Abmas.

[jimmyjazz 45,897]

10 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

for me weaver is the overall x factor for our team, but come tourney time abmas is the x factor in that he can get hot at any time and completely change the game of a game. 

I certainly wouldn't put it past him.  He's the dude who can drop 30 on a good opponent on the right night.  He was just "off" for a bit of the game today.  It was encouraging to see him figure out other ways to score besides bombing it.  If that's a real thing, teams will have to deal with another threat we haven't shown until now.

[Braff Zacklin 13,557]

I get your point, Derx, but I'd hesitate to call Abmas an x-factor because ... 

For a streaky, "volume-shooting" scorer, Abmas has been remarkably consistent. He's racked up double digits in every game this year and is converting 45.0 percent of his shots from the floor, 39.9 percent BTA, and 88.1 percent from the charity stripe.

In my opinion, the x-factors are the guys who should be doing better, like Tyrese, Brock and Kadin. If the light comes on for them--and stays on--this team could do some damage in March.

(In Kadin's defense, I don't think he's anywhere close to 100 percent and we saw in Disu's play two years ago and for half of last season how much an impact that can have on performance.)

[shadow_operative 15,932]

i don’t recall us having anyone like abmas who could just say “fuck it” and take over a tourney game since j’covan single handedly led us to a VICTORY (😡😡😡) against Arizona more than a decade ago. that’s why he’s the tourney x factor in my eyes. he can absolutely take over, and more, he can score 12-14 points in three minutes. guys like that are special in the tourney.

Edited February 4 by shadow_operative

[dcar00 14,178]

5 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

I get your point, Derx, but I'd hesitate to call Abmas an x-factor because ... 

For a streaky, "volume-shooting" scorer, Abmas has been remarkably consistent. He's racked up double digits in every game this year and is converting 45.0 percent of his shots from the floor, 39.9 percent BTA, and 88.1 percent from the charity stripe.

In my opinion, the x-factors are the guys who should be doing better, like Tyrese, Brock and Kadin. If the light comes on for them--and stays on--this team could do some damage in March.

(In Kadin's defense, I don't think he's anywhere close to 100 percent and we saw in Disu's play two years ago and for half of last season how much an impact that can have on performance.)

who is Kadin?

[jimmyjazz 45,897]

2 minutes ago, Braff Zacklin said:

In my opinion, the x-factors are the guys who should be doing better, like Tyrese, Brock and Kadin.

Brock still isn't scoring much, but man, it was good to see him wrestle that dude to the floor for the jump ball.  He hit both his 3 attempts and as always lifted the team with his junkyard dog mentality.

[Braff Zacklin 13,557]

15 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

who is Kadin?

[Js1 85,302]

7 spot jump to 32 in NET

Aggy is 49. I ‘member when Pancho was endlessly worried about them 😂

[Hookem2147 21,205]

On 1/9/2024 at 8:43 PM, Hookem2147 said:

Updated:

The path to 10 conference wins (which probably means top 6-7 seed) is probably this:

Must sweep (2): WVU

Must split at minimum (2): OU, Tech 

Must win at home (3): KSU, UCF, OSU

Need 2 of 3 (2): at TCU, at Cincy, ISU at home 

Steal one (1): at KU, at BYU, at and vs Baylor, at and vs Houston

Updated:

-Need to sweep OU to make up for not sweeping WVU

-Need to either beat ISU or win another in the steal one category to make up for UCF

Must sweep (2): WVU

Must split at minimum (2): OU, Tech 

Must win at home (3): KSU, UCF, OSU

Need 2 of 3 (2): at TCU, at Cincy, ISU at home 

Steal one (1): at KU, at BYU, at and vs Baylor, at and vs Houston

[Js1 85,302]

Do we get a pissed off ISU or a deflated ISU or a worn out ISU after that battle in Waco 

[closetohumping 17,438]

On 2/4/2024 at 9:32 AM, Js1 said:

Do we get a pissed off ISU or a deflated ISU or a worn out ISU after that battle in Waco 

Judging by the lone ISU poster we have here, we will get pissed off, sarcastic, whiny baby in denial ISU

Edited February 5 by closetohumping

[Rickylovesweed 14,283]

15 hours ago, shadow_operative said:

i don’t recall us having anyone like abmas who could just say “fuck it” and take over a tourney game since j’covan single handedly led us to a VICTORY (😡😡😡) against Arizona more than a decade ago. that’s why he’s the tourney x factor in my eyes. he can absolutely take over, and more, he can score 12-14 points in three minutes. guys like that are special in the tourney.

Yup, this is also why we just need to make the tourney and anything can happen. Abmas has already done this at Oral Roberts in their Sweet 16 run. 

[ChickenSandwich 9,831]

Max and Disu are elite college scorers for their positions. You can go far in the tourney with that plus 3 above average defenders and effort guys (mitchell, weaver and brock). Weaver and Mitchell having elite college athleticism raises the ceiling. 

[Hookem2147 21,205]

Interesting comment from Gerry

[shadow_operative 15,932]

i wouldn’t care if texas never signed another HS PG ever again. off the top of my head i think we’ve had a total of two of them in my lifetime who were ready to play an important role on a good team as freshmen.  maybe three if we count isaiah taylor. PG is the no.1 position where you want to bring in someone who’s already had success at the d-1 level. and with everything we have to offer texas should be able to compete for just about anyone we want at the position.

[Js1 85,302]

I agree

[Braff Zacklin 13,557]

13 minutes ago, shadow_operative said:

off the top of my head i think we’ve had a total of two of them in my lifetime who were ready to play an important role on a good team as freshmen.

Yeah, but those two we did bring in ... 

 

(Not disagreeing with you; just wanted to highlight the excellence of T.J. and D.J.)

[Rickylovesweed 14,283]

1 hour ago, Hookem2147 said:

Interesting comment from Gerry

Yup, I've seen comments about "Abmas not getting clean looks" but that's because teams are constantly hedging 2 guys at him. It also makes the struggles of Brock and Hunter even more frustrating because they are getting good looks. 

Gerry is right that a scorer like Abams is essentially a "PG" in today's game. When you have to send multiple defenders out that distance it creates the same impact as dribble penetration. 

 

[HtownHorn 14,676]

Give the rest of the team credit, they kept us close to a really good offensive TCU team until Max found his shot. 13-2 run later, blouses.

[shadow_operative 15,932]

 

[Gut Wagon 8,065]

I do see Gerry's point about Abmas being "today's" kind of college PG. I just wish we had a distributor who could penetrate and kick it to him for some relatively open looks. Sad that Hunter can't do it consistently well. Maybe Weaver can. 

[Js1 85,302]

[jimmyjazz 45,897]

Well, that can't hurt.

[dcar00 14,178]

17 minutes ago, Js1 said:

as long as he isn't teaching shooting technique all good.

[closetohumping 17,438]

6 minutes ago, dcar00 said:

as long as he isn't teaching shooting technique all good.

He and Justin Mason have a running game of 21.