This team is a lot better than expected

M

MojoMan

1,000+ Posts
I have watched a couple of games now and I like this year's Texas men's basketball team. These guys look pretty solid. Certainly a lot better than pretty much everybody has been expecting, including myself, especially after the dreadful showing last year.

Are they going to win the Big 12 or a national title? I don't think so. But this team does look like it will likely make a run at being in the NCAA tournament. And they should be competitive week in and week out along the way.

Good job turning this around so quickly, Rick!
 
The Big 12 is going to be pretty tough, especially playing a round robin schedule. While the team appears better than I expected, I'm still looking at about a .500 season overall. Maybe a little better if they can hit more than 60% of their free throws. I would love to be proven wrong though.
 
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.500 will be a good season. Unfortunately that probably will not sit well with the new AD. The decision will be is that as good as it is going to get over the next 3 years or will someone else do better over that same period?
 
I am happily surprised by the results so far. I wouldn't get too overly excited though because we've beaten teams with a combined record of 34-28 so far and nearly lost a couple to bad teams.

The thing I like is that they don't seem to give up and that will go a long way once conference play begins. They have Temple, Texas St, UNC, Mich St and Rice before the start of conference play.

Temple - win, they aren't very good
Tx St - win, they are terrible
UNC - lose, they are inconsistent but
Mich St - beat down from the #1 team
Rice - win, again not a very good team

We should be 10-3 starting conference play and that is over achieving for this team in my book.

hookem.gif
 
I think sometimes it's easy to overlook the whole idea of chemistry on a team, especially in basketball. It's been a couple of years since you watched a Texas team that really looked like it was all on the same page and working on the same plan.

It just seems like this group plays better than they are individually. Or maybe they were all just underrated as recruits? Anyway, this really does look like a nucleus that Barnes can build on for a couple of years, and hopefully give him the ammunition to pull in a difference making recruit and complete the puzzle.
 
Great group of player's.
Hustle and Effort you can't teach that.
And this team has that.
 
I've only seen a handful of games so far, but it seems this team is missing one key element they've had the past several years: underachieving prima donnas. I think we're still a long-shot to make the tourney, but it looks like they're giving more effort this year.
 
The Big 12 will be brutal. With Kansas, OSU, and Baylor who knocked off #3 Kentucky tonight that is pretty much six losses to start with.

Iowa State is good and will probably sweep us. OU and Kansas State could sweep us, but a split is possible. TCU is better but could be a sweep for us, maybe a split. Tech is terrible and we should sweep.

I'm thinking we go 7-11 or 8-10 in conference and that doesn't get you in the NCAA tourney. Probably no more than 4-5 Big 12 teams make the tourney.
 
That 81-80 win at Temple was amazing. Temple was playing well, and I expect them to win a lot more. This win will really look much better later in the season, if i am to guess.

Yes, this team can sure play. What a pleasant surprise that nobody expected! Don't be shocked if this team gets ranked sometime soon, at this rate.
 
And on Temple Home Floor.
Did you see J.Bond on Temple's Bench,looking on.
I bet he hate he transfer.
I love it.
Go head Barnes,do your thang.
 
Realtimerpi.com which probably has a better rating of teams outside of the top-20 or so at this point (and has probably the closest RPI rankings as what NCAA supposedly uses), rates us at #28. Our quality wins (against the top-100 in their RPI rankings) are against #60 Mercer, #88 Stephen F. Austin, #80 DePaul, #95 Vanderbilt and #82 temple. Our one loss is against BYU who has so far played the 3rd toughest schedule in the nation and has a #11 ranking with a 6-3 record.

Anyway, #28 looks a little high for us now, as a ranking - but we are probably playing top-50 type basketball nonetheless.
 
I for one am loving this low expectation season. I don't care if we end up .500, this team busts its *** to win. They are a fun, hard-nosed team to watch. I'm shocked this Texas team has me searching for their next game to mark down so I can enjoy more. Some of my favorite seasons in any sport are watching one of my supposedly average teams play with tremendous heart and effort and exceed expectations. This has been fun so far, I'm very grateful.
 
Brad Austin, I agree with you totally. I love the way they get up and down the floor.Once this group have been together 1 year.
They are going to be a tough team to play.They have a lot of speed on their team.And Big Men's, are running the floor.Conner remind me of Dirk for the Dallas Mavericks.A Blue Collar Player.
Keep Working Team.
Hookem'
 
The entire Big 12 is better than I thought and I knew the conference would be tough. OU appears particularly improved and the two teams picked below Texas - TCU and Tech - are playing above .500 respectable ball. Even WVU led a ranked Gonzaga team for most of the game before losing in a close one.

Granted the teams have played a lot of relatively weak opponents so far, but it looks to be an interesting and competitive season in the Big 12.
 
After a big win against North Carolina in Chapel Hill, are there any doubters remaining?

If these guys continue to progress as you would expect from this point, an invitation to the NCAA Tournament now appears like a very reasonable expectation for this team. Does anyone disagree?
 
Congrats to the basketball team. I'm glad to see the sophomores stepping up and being the leaders of the team. I expect them to make the NCAA tournament this year, and to get even better next year. It sort of feels like 2000-01 when the foundation of a good team was laid with the influx of great young players like Mouton, Ivey, Boddicker, Thomas, etc.
 
I'm particularly impressed with how Holmes has improved since last season. Not flashy, but very solid stats - just under 13 PPG and 7 RPG while shooting 51% FG, 85% FT and 48% of his 3P attempts.
 
Breath of fresh air. These guys battle and fight for games, again and again. Regardless of how this all pans out, which should be fairly respectable, this team is fun and their play is a source of pride. Great win, keep battling.
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