Anyone see the game and willing to report?

B

bierce

1,000+ Posts
So, who looked good, who didn't, potential problems areas, etc? Looking at the box score, I specifically wonder who will be Dexter's backup? Hill played only 3 minutes and Chapman not at all. Was Chapman unavailable for some reason? Is this an indication of a possible redshirt? Hill gets 3 minutes in a 47 point blowout?

That sounds suspiciously like the team may be Pittman in the post and short lineups when he's not on the floor.
 
Keeping Dexter and Damion out of foul trouble will be key. But while in the game they were unstoppable. Bradley and Jordan are crazy good and are going to be fun to watch as they mature this year. This team is deeeeeeep. There is more talent top to bottom this year than has ever played at UT imho.
 
Forgot all about Chapman. Did not suit up and did not even see him on the bench.

Barnes looked like he got a little frustrated with Brown at the point. He made some typical freshman mistakes, but he has a very sweet shot. I thought Balbay played pretty good when he went in for Brown.

Pittman was an unstoppable beast underneath, but that might have had something to do with the competition.
 
I'm not a basketball guy, so .... Jordan Hamilton is a very big agile guy who plays inside and out. Kind of a muscular Durant minus the world's best 3 point aim (but a very good outside shooter). He excited me everytime he got the ball. He had a nice reverse slam, and an end-to-end score where he went behind the back at halfcourt and ended up scoring in contact with a foul. Sean Williams is another big fast greyhound out there. I don't think he even scored, but I like him a lot already. Pittman is fast up the court, compared to the past. He looks VERY strong down there and when he caught the pass, which was just about every time from any angle, he slammed with authority. Barnes seems intent on getting Damion his stats this season. Bradley was a little over anxious, but I'm not worried about him. J'Covan Brown has the point sewn up, I think: he handles the ball very well and sometimes shot that casual 3 point set shot after slowly bringing the ball up to the line, just like Augustin used to do. Gary Johnson is the same. Ward was alright. The crowd was decent. Overall, fun game.
 
I've never seen so much talent on one team( college Basketball) in my life. The Texas-- Kansas game later on could be most hyped game ever.
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Clint has the flu, so he obviously didn't want to be around the rest of the team today.

Met Jordan and his family at Hula Hut after the game. He's obviously from a fine family.

This team is scary good.
 
Sure I'll do it bierce.

Problem areas were minimal, won't be many of those this year. Chemistry was incredible for such a young team. Guys were giving up easy looks all over the place in favor of make fun passes and exciting plays to get the fans involved. It was an awesome sight to behold. I guess our biggest problems are basically who is going to play where, which will work itself out, and keeping Dex out of foul trouble. Wang can give us a good backup to Dex with his athleticism and rebounding, but he just doesn't have the dominant offense that Sexy does. We could also go small very easily with Hamilton, Williams, and Johnson in the frontcourt. Had that lineup in once and it was pretty cool.

Defense was just flat-out intense. These guys take it pretty personally, and that's the way to do it. Like watching a Muschamp D, just the way I like it.

Now to the individual players:

Brown, Bradley, and Hamilton are Godsends in the backcourt. Brown is a bit turnover prone, but he can get anywhere on the court whenever he wants and is lights out from 3-point range. He also is a very tough defender. Bradley is a beast both in your face and off the ball, defensively. He scores at all levels and there wasn't anybody on Irvine that could really stay with his quickness offensively. Hamilton...just wow. The guy is unreal. He handles like a point guard, shoots like an off guard, and dunks like a small forward. Not as good on defense as the other two, but he's certainly not a liability. All three are phenomenal passers. Shawn Williams isn't on the same level as the other three in terms of basketball understanding yet, and he needs to work on his footwork big time. His body is a lot more ready for college than I expected--guy is pretty big. Didn't see that much from him really, but he definitely needs to be more assertive and get the ball if he wants to contribute to this team.

Ward, Mason, and Balbay were okay. I was most impressed with Balbay. He was basically unguardable and his J is much prettier, but he still has trouble with easy buckets around the rim. His passing was very good and he's a Barnes wet dream pushing the ball up the court. Ward has really gotten his body into shape, and it showed with his explosiveness and coordination. He was getting by people, but he was getting his shots blocked a lot (to the delight of James). He had a beautiful pass off a pick and roll to Dex when it looked like he was going to stop and shoot but instead threw it overhead to Dex for an easy dunk. Mason filled the passing lanes well, didn't see much else from him though.

Gary looked like he was in the best shape of his life. He was dunking with ease, boxed out well, and was extremely aggressive. Wang is back and that's nice because he's a great rebounder and very good defender inside. Tough, tough guy. Hill didn't see much time and didn't really do a whole lot, but looked fine.

Dex and Damion...I can't adequately how put into words how they took over the game. It was two guys that were on a different level than everybody else. Dex was just a goliath among children. Damion was too fast, too tenacious, and too versatile. No idea how many dunks they must have had between them, though I do know they combined for 42 points and 22 rebounds in limited action. Dex was smiling the entire game, it was amazing to see. Oh, and he is almost pure muscle by the look of it. All that baby fat is gone. He looks like a freak of nature now.

It was a fun game and Ricky B let them play. Commentator said Rick gave everybody the green light for 3s, which is about as important of info as you can hear because if Rick lets this team ride their talents, we will be almost impossible to stop.
 
Rough in spots but I've never seen a Horns team that seemingly had such an abundance in "natural" talent. No look passes, passes behind the back and out having fun and being effective in all 5 positions. It'll be up to Barnes and the players to put it into a "team" and succeed but all the pieces are there. Lets not forget that there is still another piece of the puzzle incoming in Dec.
 
Wow, that's really surprising. I'm shocked Barnes said that. Williams looked pretty lost out there at times compared to the other three. Glad to hear I'm wrong though
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I thought Williams looked really good. 6 boards in 13 minutes and while he didn't get credited with any steals, he was very active on defense with some deflections and tips and keeping the ball alive.

He didn't take a shot so we'll see about his offense but I thought he looked like a long guard that will really present problems for teams in the passing lanes and as a rebounding guard.
 
EPThorn, I believe GoHornsGo answered your question in the second to last paragraph of his long post.
 
Had my family with me so I didn't watch as intently as usual, but Hamilton and Bradley impressed the most out of the freshmen.

Hamilton took some nice outside jumpers. Bradley drove well and made some nice passes. Finished well when the lane was open.

Passing to the post looked much improved over last year. I think we'll see that continue as teams will not suck in on the post as much as previous years.

The ability to have 3 guys over 6'7" out there at the same time will be huge this year.
 
Mostly echoing everybody's sentiments, but I'll add:

Dex - ever bit the dominant force that I've been saying he would be. He seems now to be taking his time when he gets the ball - not rushing his shot. When he is in the game, we need to go through the post on almost every possession.

Damion - Seemed to be playing with a mean attitude all game. Looks like he is on a mission to prove the NBA scouts wrong.

Ward, Mason - I realize these guys are starting b/c of seniority, but not sure how long that will last.

Brown - Bad start with 2 turnovers in first 3 possessions. Finished with there 3-pointers, but Barnes was chewing on him quite a bit. Unless his PG play improves, I think he'll move to SG and give way to Balbay and Lucas.

Bradley - Wasn't completely obvious why he is the #1 recruite, but he was very poised for a freshman. Liked what he brang on defense and offense. Quietly has 10+ points.

Hamilton - Hard not to get excited by this kid. Sort of a mini-Durant. Size, great outside-shot, runs the court well, and can handle the ball reasonably well.

Williams - I agree that he was the list impressive of the freshman, but that has more to do with the rest of the guys shining.

Doge - Looked capable at the PG. With more more shooters around him this year, he may actually do better. But, when he is on the floor, he needs to be flanked by Hamilton, Bradley, and/or Brown.

Wangmene - Happy to see him back out on the court, but I think Chapman (who was out sick) will be Pittman's back up. Wangmene just is not an offensive threat and seemed to have trouble hanging on to the ball.

It's gonna be a great season.
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This team is sick with talent. I have never been as excited about a Texas b-ball team from top to bottom as this year. Scoring from so many players is such an asset down the home stretch. Dex has made significant improvement with his body control. Now he can dominate in tighter spaces. James does look like he is out to prove his worth to the NBA. Wang's tough rebounding is going to be a great asset in conference play and in the tournament. Bradley will quickly improve as he gets used to the college game flow (normal for first college game). Brown looked good shooting the ball, but as expected is a little crareless with the rock. I love how Balbay controls the tempo and glides to the rim. Hamilton and Williams are big time talents. This is gonna be a fun ride.
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Did anyone see the "PHYSICALITY" of the team ?
This team reminded me of the old Michigan State teams that just beat up on everybody on defense and on the Offensive boards.

JBrown is a keeper, watch how he bumps his guy on defense, he breaks down a players offense.
Watch Brown get bumped, he does not move but pushes forward to get his defender off balance.
Brown has a sweet 3 and good form outstanding motor starts the day before to get ready to play.RB will have to tie him up or get him into Meditation before games. (
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Jordan wait until RB lets him loose, I do not think that many teams will have an answer for Jordan. He plays better defense then most people believe.Highlights to follow. His handles is very good wait to see more of him in an open floor during a fast break.

Avery is a fast learner he is special .

These 3 guys have the tools to play college D1 ball and will only get better. 5 games in, conference, the dance are all benchmarks to watch for. So dont be surprised. Accept it.

Shawn did well but is not strong enough at this point, he knows and does what he needs to do .
Ward is much better then last season, leadership,handle ,passing maybe shooting.
Dog is still high on my list, his shooting form looked better.

With the length that we have guarding with their arms out, when they get that down will be a nightmare for 99% of the teams we play. This is what I think RB is telling them today.
 
One last comment. My biggest concern is with the guys sharing the spotlight. I know that sounds silly given that we've never had an issue with that and we've had some pretty high profile players... but something struck me as strange yesterday. During the Eyes of Texas, the cameras were all on Bradly and Hamilton. I noticed some of the older players give some funny/nasty looks in their direction. Boy I hope I'm wrong.
 
What am I talking about? I'm talking about my belief that Mason and Ward will eventually not be the starters. I didn't say that they suck. I didn't say that didn't have a role to play on the team. I'm just saying (in my opinion) that Bradley and Hamilton will eventually be the starters.

I expect that if you polled most of the people that were at the game on Sunday, they'd say the same.
 
Like I said... Ward and Mason do alot of things besides score and rebound like Damo and Dex.

No I am not saying they are better or score more. But the little things they do ammount to just as much as what Damo and Dex contribute in my opinion.

Every player plays a role in this team. Dont sell Mason and Ward short of theirs.
 
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