Honest opinon

centexorange

centexorange

1,000+ Posts
Without looking through orange colored glasses how do you see this game playing out? I feel we match up well.. Plus the rough schedule Barnes sat up plus the day in day out play of the Big 12 should have us ready for any thing Memphis has to throw at us.. Im not an x's and 0's basketball man here just my opinon as a horns follower.. Like to hear from somebody with a little more knowledge of the game.. Thanks and HOOKEM
 
I have to disagree with the "good matchup" call. Memphis goes 10 deep and has bigger guards who are very talented.

Texas can win the game but it will have to play well. As others have noted, if Memphis plays like it did in the first half last night, the Horns are going to have a very hard time.
 
I don't like this match up at all.

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Man for man, nobody in college basketball really matches up well with Memphis. Some are able to deal with their length and athleticism better than others, but nobody looks at their roster and says "YES! Big, athletic front court. Lengthy scorers on the perimeter. Just what we wanted!!"

And if they play like they did in the first half against Sparty, the '95-'96 Bulls would have a tough time.

All of that being said, we can certainly play with these guys. We're just going to have to play well to win. It's the Elite 8 - that's life.
 
I think are top priority should be shutting down the inside penetration. It is almost never used, but Memphis wouldn't be able to score on a 1-2-2 zone. It leaves shots open from three, but Memphis is a terrible shooting team so that gives them a chance to run cold. Really, what we should do is press 1-2-2 (because Memphis's starters are terrible ball handlers other than Rose) and then sink into the zone when they get past half court. This would slow the pace of the game down and force some turnovers. What we have to avoid at all cost is playing man to man the whole game and getting torn apart in the half court by Rose and CDR.
 
Depends on which MSU game Memphis plays like tomorrow. If it's Michigan State, it's going to be a hell of a tough game, if it's Mississippi State we should win going away...
 
I think Texas has to play significantly better than against Stanford, and I think Memphis has to have at least some of its' players mailing in their game for Texas to win. I think Texas gives Memphis a lot better game than the Spartans did, but Memphis is as fast or faster than us, and bigger. That makes this one tough game for Texas.
 
I think their speed hurts us more than their size. We showed last night we can compensate for size differences by playing smart ball in the paint and pushing the floor. But Memphis pushes the tempo just like Texas, so it will be a question of how well out guards can defend theirs. We really need Mason to have a STELLAR night of defense against Douglass Roberts
 
I'm not sure what to think of this matchup. I think using the MSU game is a bad comparison for the game against UT. MSU stuck in their man defense when it was clear that they were not athletic enough on the perimeter to stay in front of and prevent easy looks for the Memphis wings. The Memphis guards are great one on one players, especially against less quick players like basically every MSU guard except Lucas. I haven't seen enough of MSU to know whether Izzo has a zone in his defensive arsenal, but if he did, it was a huge mistake not to use it.

I think also Kalin Lucas picking up two fouls before I could even get back to my seat after the UT win had a lot to do with it. I think he really is their best player as a freshman and controls the pace for the team. If DJ picks up two early like that, we are doomed. If Lucas had been able to stay on the floor in the first half, it would have been a more competitive game.

I look at the Miss St game and think that UT can throw a effective zone against Memphis. They had Hansborough is the game most of the time, a guy that would be a severe man mismatch against that team. We can effectively negate the guard size mismatch with the zone. They'd get some open looks against the 2-3, but they would also have to make them. I also see Atchley doing some of the same things as Varnado did in terms of blocking and changing shots. Atchley is not as good as Varnado in that regard, but he is close. Memphis is prone to taking bad shots in the half court and that could make Atchley and maybe even Wangmene and James a factor defensively.

I also wonder if Barnes is considering throwing some junk Ds on Memphis. A strange thought I had was maybe AJ in a box and one defending CDR. AJ has done a great job against similar players (size and style) in Brandon Rush and Josh Carter over his career. I think the other 4 could play a quick reacting zone that would get out to open shooters and clog the lane when CDR gets past AJ. Using a 1-2-2 also intrigues me but I highly doubt we'll see any of that.

Offensively, I think we can get a lot of open looks despite their length and quickness. DJ will get into the lane to probe against anyone, we generally don't like to finish dribble penetration with a shot at the basket except on occasion and when we have a clear path to the basket. This will partially negate the Memphis block party they brought against both MSUs. AJ will have to play the game of his life off the ball just to even get clean looks. We may have to set double and triple screens for him ala Stephen Curry and Davidson. I have confidence that Barnes will come up with a strategy to get AJ free.

A wildcard is that if it's a close game in the second half, we have depth in the frontcourt that will allow us to foul the Memphis bigs continuously in the second half if they get the ball. I think CDR and Rose will make enough of their free throws, but if we can hack the frontcourt, it can be a difference maker.

Lastly, the final concern I have is if the Tigers use Andre Allen a lot in this game. I think he can really keep up with DJ and make us struggle just to get into our offensive sets. He's a bulldog of a defender who reminds me of a mix of Ivan Wagner, Fredie Williams, and Daniel Gibson defensively. I sincerely worry about DJ being locked up by him. Fortunately for UT, it seems like they don't really put him and Rose on the court together for long stretches, and Rose aint sitting much tomorrow.

I think it's really going to be a tough game. If I was a partial observer, I would pick Memphis. But I'm not.

Texas 80 Memphis 75

DJ and Damion have great game to pick up for a lack of production from Abrams, and my surprise player will be Wangmene who I think will come up with some huge plays against the super athletic Memphis frontcourt.
 
I think Memphis and Kansas are quite similar, though I'd say Kansas is more disciplined in their offense.

I think we hang with Memphis by playing somewhat up tempo just like we played with Kansas, and if we produce like we did against Kansas we can (not will) win the game.
 
Good point by some. Only reason we cannot play press is that we don’t have backcourt depth. I would like a little bit of half court press. We pressed Stanford for a minute. Thanks about all I can expect.

Eating club. I hope u are right about the local support. I hope they yell a bit more Sunday.

MSU gave up late in the first half. They got frustrated and made stupid turnovers and took bad shots and just missed. MSU front court is VERY un athletic. We are way more athletic. MSU rarely plays zone, to beat Memphis you must play good zone D. Miss St was very athletic in frontcourt and played pretty good zone. That is our hope to win this game.

Am i confident, no. Am I scared, no. We need to be able to rebound better. Stanford, especially in the first half not only out rebounded us, but they got all the lose balls too.

Very good post Failed Engineer.
 
We have athletes (James and Mason) who can match up with some of their athletes (Douglas-Roberts, etc.). They need to do a good job of blocking out and rebounding. Let our guards be the playmakers for everyone else--meaning not too many stupid shots by the others (such as a 3-pointer during a fastbreak or too many jump shots). If we don't get into foul trouble and shoot badly early on, we can hang in there and save the fouls for the 2nd half. Then foul the crap out of them if we are behind by 5-10 points.
 
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