Texas vs Houston Christian 7pm on ESPN+

[Rickylovesweed 14211]

Just now, Derka said:

yeah, this team is not going to be consistently great, but if we jell we can absolutely go back to the elite 8. we’ve got some guys, and Mark hasn’t even played yet. this game will probably be the best example of how bad we can be and how good we can be depending on the day.  it when we’re good this year, we gone be real good.

This is the Miami team from 2 years ago. 

Meh defensively (#99 in Drtg that year) but they had 3 or 4 guys that could go off. That's who we are going to be when Mark comes back. Mark, Johnson, and Kaluma should be one of the best scoring trios in the country. 

 

 

[HtownHorn 14573]

Nice of Justin Mason to get a gig doing color.

[Braff Zacklin 13474]

5 minutes ago, Derka said:

yeah, this team is not going to be consistently great, but if we jell we can absolutely go back to the elite 8. we’ve got some guys, and Mark hasn’t even played yet. this game will probably be the best example of how bad we can be and how good we can be depending on the day.  it when we’re good this year, we gone be real good.

There are a lot more bona fide scorers than last season, including the best we've seen on campus since KD (yes, I think I'm already going to put Tre up there).

As much as the lack of defensive effort frustrated me in the first half, the second half was very encouraging. Texas was much more aggressive and attentive. 

Other positives: only seven turnovers (to 17 for HCU), more offensive rebounds despite shooting 23% better, and better shot selection (a third of our attempts were from deep).

I'm gushing at this point, but I can't say enough about Tre Johnson. He was hyped up quite a bit but I still feel like he's been better than advertised.

[dcar00 14060]

5 minutes ago, Derka said:

yeah, this team is not going to be consistently great, but if we jell we can absolutely go back to the elite 8. we’ve got some guys, and Mark hasn’t even played yet. this game will probably be the best example of how bad we can be and how good we can be depending on the day.  it when we’re good this year, we gone be real good.

If Tramon Mark can play we are a potential sweet 16 team because Johnson gives us a reasonably high floor that can bail out Terry's O(if you can call it that).

of course the wrong matchup with a team with good bigs is gonna be a problem.  We need to find out who is gonna be the dirty work guy like Brock.

Edited November 9 by dcar00

[Derka 5989]

kenpom does it again:

Edited November 9 by Derka

[BigTEAMLittleme 198]

13 minutes ago, Derka said:

to expound on this, and i’ve said this here before when discussing beard vs RT:

go look at any really good coach’s resume and he’s won everywhere he’s been. i don’t think there’s a sport on earth where coaching is more important than CBB. there’s only 10 total players (kids in this case) going against one another on a small court. coaching buys you more wins in that scenario than any other i can think of.

the really good coaches win everywhere they go, from the start to the end of their career. that’s it. that’s all they do. beard has won everywhere he’s been (in historic fashion at sfa and ttu, and was on track to do the same at Texas), while Terry has not. both of these guys are who they are. that’s how it is in college hoops more than any other sport- you are who your record says you are. so until Beard starts failing as a HC, i see no reason to assume he is not who his record says he is.

Speaking of Beard: Texas AT Ole Miss January 29, ESPN2. 

[Hookem2147 20956]

Good to see Pope finally get going at the end. 

Kaluma has quietly looked pretty damn good through 2 games. 15 and 10 tonight.

[MotownHorn 1742]

Complaining about a 90-59 victory is a thing you can do if you want, I guess

[Rickylovesweed 14211]

1 minute ago, dcar00 said:

If Tramon Mark can play we are a potential sweet 16 team because Johnson gives us a reasonably high floor that can bail out Terry's O(if you can call it that).

of course the wrong matchup with a team with good bigs is gonna be a problem.  We need to find out who is gonna be the dirty work guy like Brock.

Mark is a much better player than people realize (especially as a scorer). 

He averaged 16.2 points a game last year and he wasn't healthy for a good portion of that season. The only worry with Mark is his health because it does seem like he may have some issues staying healthy. 

If we aren't a top 15ish offensive team with Mark, Johnson, and Kaluma something has gone terribly wrong IMO. These guys are all legit scorers. 

[Derka 5989]

3 minutes ago, BigTEAMLittleme said:

Speaking of Beard: Texas AT Ole Miss January 29, ESPN2. 

god damn that’s gonna be big one. having aggie, arkansas, barnes, and beard on the schedule is going to be wild.

[dcar00 14060]

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

Mark is a much better player than people realize (especially as a scorer). 

He averaged 16.2 points a game last year and he wasn't healthy for a good portion of that season. The only worry with Mark is his health because it does seem like he may have some issues staying healthy. 

If we aren't a top 15ish offensive team with Mark, Johnson, and Kaluma something has gone terribly wrong IMO. These guys are all legit scorers. 

Oh I'm not saying he's not.  I'm just saying if he can do what we expect him to do we can be sweet 16 with Johnson because Johnson seems to be that damn good.

Johnson is going to run up against teams that will single him with a great D players/double him with good D players.  Terry needs to make sure he doesn't hit the Frosh wall.

[Lonestar88 4603]

Tre Johnson alone makes this team more fun to watch than last years’ team.

Wish I knew what “indefinitely” meant in regards to Tramon Mark though. His health will decide the teams’ ceiling. 

[Hookem2147 20956]

It’s pretty important that you win these games by 30+. NET rankings factor in efficiency metrics and we got hurt last year by winning games by 20 that we should have won by 30.

[perfectchaos007 6603]

Highlights for those that missed the game/don't have SEC+
 

 

[hobbes2702 12948]

Tre Johnson is awesome. That is all.

[HookEm 2450]

Tre Johnson’s offensive game kind of reminds me of Kawhi Leonard when he was in his prime. He is a confident ball handler in traffic and can get his shot off from anywhere. He also isn’t an “explosive” athlete but his balance and body positioning and instincts are all great. He is also a big time competitor, especially when you consider he is a freshman.

I think this team will get a lot better. It is constructed to win in a way that last year’s team wasn’t. We are stacked on the wings and have so many different lineups.

Hot take alert: I like Tyrese Hunter better than Pope or Larry. He would have fit in so much better on this team than the last one.

Shedrick is looking better. I really like what I see out of Kent. He is an awesome garbage collector / rebounder and is decent from distance. If Tre Johnson or Mark could play point guard we could roll out a lineup of: Johnson, Mark, Kent, Kaluma, Shedrick and out size anybody.

[Hookem2147 20956]

3 minutes ago, HookEm said:

Hot take alert: I like Tyrese Hunter better than Pope or Larry. He would have fit in so much better on this team than the last one.

No way I’m going here yet. They had to have Hunter play off the ball last year for extended stretches it got so bad and that also really hurt Abmas because he had to take over initiating the offense.

I would have loved to see Abmas and Johnson get the opportunity to play together. 

[Rickylovesweed 14211]

Hunter went 4/11 with 4 turnovers in the opener. 

He's just not very good. 

[Rickylovesweed 14211]

35 minutes ago, Hookem2147 said:

No way I’m going here yet. They had to have Hunter play off the ball last year for extended stretches it got so bad and that also really hurt Abmas because he had to take over initiating the offense.

I would have loved to see Abmas and Johnson get the opportunity to play together. 

I don't understand how Hunter would be a good fit with this team. He wants to be a 10 to 11 shots per game type guy and we simply don't need that when Mark returns. 

We want our scoring volume to come from Mark, Johnson, and Kaluma. 

If Hunter was willing to play a reduced role in that capacity maybe he would be a good fit. Doesn't seem like that was an option. 

 

[HookEm 2450]

Hunter was good when he started on the ISU Sweet 16 team and was good when starting on the UT Elite 8 team. He was fine deferring to Carr and Rice.

Regardless, no point in arguing it. He’s gone. Maybe the new guys will end up being better.

[Rickylovesweed 14211]

1 hour ago, HookEm said:

Hunter was good when he started on the ISU Sweet 16 team and was good when starting on the UT Elite 8 team. He was fine deferring to Carr and Rice.

Regardless, no point in arguing it. He’s gone. Maybe the new guys will end up being better.

Hunter has been an ok role player when he's surrounded by really good players. 

I see no reason why Larry and Pope can't be that when Mark returns. Right now the roles are out of whack because those 2 guards are being asked to do too much. 

[Rickylovesweed 14211]

3 hours ago, Braff Zacklin said:

There are a lot more bona fide scorers than last season, including the best we've seen on campus since KD (yes, I think I'm already going to put Tre up there).

As much as the lack of defensive effort frustrated me in the first half, the second half was very encouraging. Texas was much more aggressive and attentive. 

Other positives: only seven turnovers (to 17 for HCU), more offensive rebounds despite shooting 23% better, and better shot selection (a third of our attempts were from deep).

I'm gushing at this point, but I can't say enough about Tre Johnson. He was hyped up quite a bit but I still feel like he's been better than advertised.

This is why I think Larry will be a perfect fit when Mark returns. 

He does not turn the ball over and already has 8 assists in 2 games. He's not going to score or blow you away but that's fine. We need somebody that runs the point and doesn't turn the ball over. 

 

[Derka 5989]

1 minute ago, Rickylovesweed said:

He's not going to score or blow you away

what a bunch of bullshit. i mean you bring in a kid named larry from indiana state and there are certain expectations man. if he’s not telling his sec opponents exactly where and when he’s going to bust a three in their face then i will consider him a complete and total bust. 

[VinyVango 684]

In the second half it appeared like many of our players started to find their individual grooves of sorts (against an inferior opponent with no depth) where they were finding spots to get better shots up and playing better defense. The key will be whether we can get a reliable offense with multiple layers installed so guys can get good looks moving without the ball without being too predictable when we play the big boy teams who are coached up well