How Good Will Texas Be This Season?

[Dr. D]

The dog days of summer. What better time to speculate on the coming season. Texas could be a good Sweet Sixteen caliber team next year, simply because almost everybody's back. All the guards showed huge improvement in their offensive efficiency last season. We can't expect another quantum leap this year, but the back court should be better simply because they're all older, wiser and stronger. Chassidy's gone, but we'll get to that in a minute. Enempali will be a force again inside; and if she finally perfects a ten foot jumper, she'll be even tougher. Also, Texas has two wild cards with tremendous talent who could be monsters if they overcome their limitations. I am speaking of Nekia Jones and Imani. Jones is simply an astonishing point-a-minute athlete, amazing really; but she carries so much weight she's never been able to stay on the court more than a few minutes at a time. If she can shed 30 pounds, or somehow ramp up her conditioning, she will be a killer against any level of opponent. The same goes for Imani, but her problem isn't physical. The kid can shoot; she's mobile and graceful and 6' 7" tall. A lot of us thought she'd be a national level star in her sophomore season, but she wasn't. I suspect its a matter of personality. Imani seems like a wonderful young woman who likes to play basketball, but that's it. Up to now she's lacked the relentless drive and will to win that's required to be a superstar. She'll always be very valuable, but if she ever gets more aggressive, she'll be All American material. So, barring injuries, Texas should be be good. Whether we can be really really good, Elite 8 or better, depends, in my humble opinion, on incoming Frosh Ariel Adkins. Last year Karen Akins said, "We're a team without a star, so everyone has to contribute." She was right. Texas didn't have anybody capable of exploding for a lot of points and carrying the team for crucial stretches of close games. Adkins could be that player. She's a big guard who can drive and pass and shoot, our highest rated recruit in over a decade, named Player of the Year by one national organization. She looked very good in the MacDonald's All American game. I expect her to replace Chassidy's scoring pretty easily. The key will be if she can be a twenty plus point scorer in her first year. I don't mean averaging that every game, but being capable of rising to that level in any given game. If she can do that, Texas will be extremely hard to beat. Then there's Brooke McCarty, who didn't have a good All American game, but is a highly rated point guard with a tremendous high school record. I haven't counted on her for much in her freshman year, but if she contributes good scoring minutes, that would be the cherry on top of a sweet sweet season. The other two new comers will probably be bench players for a season or two. Guard Tasia Foman didn't impress me much in the state playoffs. And the center from Colorado wasn't ranked high by the national rating services...In summary, you never know, I hate being an optimist, but it could be more fun this year than we've had in many seasons.

 

[overseasbbfan1]

Good post. I have been thinking about the landscape these next few seasons, not only for Texas, but the national picture as well. Speculation is always fun during the off-season. If I had to pick potential Elite 8 teams (okay....7 teams other than UCONN) for next season, I would probably include Texas in that group. Others would be Tennessee, ND, SC, NC, FSU and A&M. And while the addition of DeShields should make the Vols a legit FF contender, I think the Tar Heels are still going to be an Elite 8, or better threat without her. They return every other player, including two additional freshmen All-Americans, and with 10 underclassmen on last year's roster, they should be in the mix for the foreseeable future. FSU is a team that may be better in 2015-16, and including them may be a stretch since they lost in Rd 2 this year, and also lose their star Howard to graduation. But they are my dark horse to surprise some folks and exceed last year's results. Thomas looked so strong in the McD's game, and with the addition of Bulgak and return of three starters, I see a bright future for the Seminoles. ND is a bit harder to predict; definitely Elite 8 caliber but will interesting to see how they do after losing McBride, Achonwa and Braker. That's a lot of talent to lose all at once, but Loyd, Reimer, Allen and Mabrey all return. If Turner has the kind of impact many expect during her frosh season, I could see ND possibly making a fourth consecutive FF.

As far as the Horns go, I do see us being better than just Sweet 16 caliber. We were within a few points of making it that far this year, and as mentioned Atkins should more than make up for the loss of Chas. IMO we have all the pieces and everyone else should be stronger next season; I can easily see us making a deep run come tourney time. And I wouldn't necessarily discount any freshmen just yet, including Diani and Tasia. It could be most ride the bench for a season or two, but there are impact frosh every year who weren't highly touted by the services. We all recall Chas' first season and she wasn't ranked on any of the lists coming in. And of course those coming up through the Duncanville program don't have the same learning curve experienced by many others when making the transition from HS to collegiate play. Bottom line I don't think it's optimistic to think this could be our best season in many years; I think that is pretty much everyone's expectation. Looking forward to an exciting year!

 

[BabHorn]

Given the talent & experience this 2014-15 team brings to the table, anything less than a Sweet Sixteen appearance will be disappointing. Replacing Chas’ scoring will be the easy part. Replacing her drive to succeed will be harder. Yet, I feel this group can draw on their work with her and use that experience to continue to get better.

Besides UConn, I cannot think of any team that I would consider a lock to make the Elite Eight. The usual suspects abound: Tenn, North Carolina, Norte Dame, Louisville, South Carolina, Stanford, Maryland, A&M, Baylor and Kentucky. I think Texas has the players and determination to be among them. No one liked the way the season ended and that should drive them to work harder and get better.

Texas should be the favorite for the Big 12 title. And when was the last time that happened? While Ariel may end up being the best player on the team (there will be plenty of competition for that), she will not have to do it all. The front court of Nneka and Imani should be the best in the Big 12 and one of the best in the nation. The backcourt was thrown into the fire two years ago and last year they showed that they had learned how to handle the heat. While this year may not show another dramatic jump in improvement, they are battle tested and augmented by a talented group of freshmen, including one that has a chance to contend for Big 12 FOY and national FOY honors. The bench is deep and experienced. And everyone wants to play. The battle for playing time will only make everyone better and allow the coaches multiple options during game time.

Back to the original question: How good will Texas be this season?
My expectations: Big 12 champs and Sweet Sixteen participants at the minimum.

 

[hoopsalot]

Tantalizing question Dr. D. I am reluctant to predict any particular achievements, but I can' stop myself from being excited even though we are a full 4 months from the beginning of games. Here are a couple of questions on my mind. Can Nneka keep her aggressiveness and be called for fewer travels and offensive fouls? I speculate that officials were calling some things differently last season and it was hard for Nneka to adjust mid-season. Post moves, after all, are something the player works and works on until they are second nature. I am hoping there are some adjustments she can work on over the summer. How good can Nekia be if she gets in better basketball shape? My goodness, she was a lot of fun to watch on the court. We are all waiting to see that, I imagine, along with how the talented freshmen adjust to college ball and mix with our current players.