AJ staying!

[MeaHorn]

link

 

[Bill in Sinton]

 

[TexasGolf]

That would be a good move for him and the Horns.

 

[Third Coast]

smart move.

 

[El Torito]

 

[LovinTheAtx]

This is great!

I can't wait for the season to start.

Hook 'em

 

[HornLivin]

Good decision AJ! Great for everyone! Hook 'em!

 

[updog07]

Thank you lord.

 

[ProdigalHorn]

This is a win-win for us and for AJ. Hopefully it will get us about 30 more next season.

 

[SA_Town_Horn]

 

[PFD]

So, do we expect to see a starting backcourt of Mason and A.J.? Balbay and A.J.? Three guards, featuring all three?

 

[OUsucksATMblows]

while I am relieved, I never really thought there was a doubt. I posted on the "AJ" thread that's been going for a month that he would be back and got blasted by some posters. Knowing AJ and his family, I am happy for them and our basketball program. AJ deserves to have an amazing senior season in which he will be our focal point on offense. Look for him to have a great senior season.

 

[overmaars]

nice move AJ. We need you and the sleeve back for another dream run!

 

[DirtyFranke]

I'd say that the starting line up will be this but who knows what Barnes will do. I always thought AJ should come off the bench last year.

Balbay
Mason
James
Johnson
Atch

It should be interesting because Barnes loves AJ, Mason, and James but Dougy is our only true PG and James and Johnson need to be on the floor. Man I hope we don't put the same 3 guard line up out there like last year.

 

[Rockinghorse]

^ You really think he pulled out of the draft to be the 6th man at Texas? The lineup will probably change many times before conference play, but AJ will be there every night.

 

[whereiend]

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[SL Xpress]

I can safely say I'm not as excited about this as many of you. I sure as heck hope he's not the focal point for the offense, unless he suddenly shows an ability to create plays for his teammates, with more of a willingness to pass the ball.

On the other hand, I still consider J'Covan and to a lesser extent Dogus Balbay somewhat risky options coming into the year. The team needs at least 4 quality guards to be as good as they can be. 5 is probably one too many, but better to have one too many than one too few, so for that reason alone it's good to see Abrams returning --- at least from a UT perspective.

The main thing for AJ, is that as long as he feels good about his decision, and he feels like it's the right one for his future, that's all that's important. I wish him much success this coming season.

 

[Bob in Houston]

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[TJ=NPOY]

I have to think damion james will be the focal point of the offense, and gary johnson will get more low block opportunities than he did last year.

 

[Benjamin]

No way that AJ doesn't start next year.

Looking at some of these lineup projections it looks like we are going to be stacked next year.

 

[Bob in Houston]

It's taken a couple of years... but they now have depth.

 

[wadster]

I think someone else is going to step up to. One of the several power forwards that needed another year of seasoning. Johnson can play a lot of 3 to give us a bigger lineup too.

 

[UTExinPDX]

 

[UTperks]

9 out of the top ten in scoring returning to an elite eight team and Big 12 regular season champ.

Loss of DJ with the addition of Ward, Balbay, and Brown.

A year more experience for everyone else. We will be deep and dangerous.
I'm starting to get excited about the possibilities.

Hook'em!

 

[AFhorn82]

We need a legit night in/night out low post scoring presence. We have the personnel with Gary, Wangmene, and Dex (and Damion depending on the opposing team's rotation) but they need to be more consistent. I also heartily agree that AJ needs to learn to pass the ball when his shot isn't falling. Hopefully it's something that he's working on right now in some scrimmages (no idea where that would happen since they can't officially practice as a team yet but you really need to be able to work on it in a game setting; drills just don't work as well for improvng passing as they do for some other skills).

 

[EJC+1]

Take this to the bank....

AJ will get a shot at PG early on next year. If it works out, then good. If not, then he'll go back to his original role of SG.

IMO, PG is the position that AJ needs to play. If he can do it successfully, then we will become a better team.

 

[Truck's Son]

One of the things the team lacked last season was quality depth at guard. I don't necessarily know if losing D.J. is offset by the addition of Ward, Balbay, Brown and the return of A.J. and Mason, but this certainly will be the deepest team Barnes has had at UT (assuming no injuries or other unforeseen events). Are we now the favorites to win the Big 12? Or does KU return too much talent?

 

[Truck's Son]

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[Bob in Houston]

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[Benjamin]

Watch out for OU next year. Blake Griffin may just be the best player in the Big 12 and they are adding Willie Warren too. They should be pretty stout.