This team

ksu came within a whisker of upsetting KU at KU. That is impressive. And we lost by only 3 at ksu. The team is on the hump. Something good needs to happen to push them over the hump and to winning the close games.
 
Yeah, but still don't necessarily know what that means for this team. I hope they can be competitive. I truly want to take that as a positive, but who knows. That Kent State game really bothers me. I thought the KSU game was a big downer and then I see what KSU did tonight. Very confusing. Hopefully it means the Big XII will be exciting for Horn fans too and the Horns won't be feeding on the bottom with OU.
 
Htown77 said:
It was discussed earlier, but Shaka actually made the tournament year one.
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And he was a backcourt prayer heave away from most likely going to the Sweet 16. Just think what the discussion would be like right now if that shot hadn't gone in. I suspect a lot of people realize that.

Also - and I know this is hard to say on Hornfans - you can't look at basketball and football the same way. Wins and losses don't mean the same thing - it's much more about peaking at the right time, evolving as a team over the course of the year. And in addition, the margin for error in beating teams on any given day is a lot smaller. Talent is more thin-spread, and basically anyone who has a stud and three or four solid supporting players has a puncher's chance to beat anyone. If you step onto the court and the jumper isn't falling or a guy gets into freak foul trouble... stuff just happens. You can't just make a snap judgement on a coach or a program after a year - or even two or three, in my opinion - unless it's just obvious that nobody knows what they're doing.

Shaka clearly understands the process, he HAS a process, he's won with it, and he displays a clear understanding of what needs to be done. I'm not sure that was ever the case with CS.
 
Better overall game tonight. Lost by 9 points but was much closer than that. The team seems to have some kind of spark in it now even though they couldn't get it done. Very tough place to play. I saw some positive team moves tonight I haven't seen much of this year.
 
Some definite positives, but that made the sloppiness even more baffling. It's hard to manage expectations against a team that does a lot of things right only to miss on such basic things as... oh, I dunno, pass the ball in the halfcourt set rather than dribbling around for 15 seconds, trip a couple of times, panic and toss the ball to the cheerleaders?

Iowa State's good and the home court there is tough, but too many mistakes tonight were flat-out unforced. Just guys not staying focused, playing too fast, getting themselves into bad situations and continuously waiting too long to get the other four guys involved in the possession.

There were at least two or three possessions where we drove down on a break, had numbers, and either missed an open dunk or committed a silly turnover, only to have them take the ball right down and get an easy bucket in transition. Three or four 4- and 5-point swings (they hit a trey after a couple of them) in the second half alone.

I guess I should just get over the sloppiness and horrible free throws and just accept that it's what this team is going to do. It's just frustrating because they're leaving some real success on the court and could really make a decent run this year, if they could just figure out how not to get in their own way.
 


Texas is still looking for a PG. What about Andrew Jones?
“That’s kind of what I want my identity to be known as,” Jones said. “I want to be the known point guard here at the University of Texas.”

That weekend with Ford last March, a month before he signed his National Letter of Intent, was a good start. The Longhorns had just lost Isaiah Taylor to professional basketball and Javan Felix to graduation. They both combined for 26 points and 7 assists per game last season.

Head coach Shaka Smart recruited Jones to play on and off the ball, but he believes he’ll eventually make the full transition. After all, Jones was raised to be a point guard..............
 
Right now seems like the "Havoc" system is:

"Okay, guys, this is a basketball. That orange metal ring with nylon cord hanging down is the hoop. The object is for us to get the basketball in their hoop more than they get the basketball in our hoop.

Okay, here's the ball, .... good luck."
 
The team is playing on energy, heart, and talent. That can take you a ways. They will need to mature, get a higher BB IQ, reduce the turnovers, and develop a half court offense to go with the up tempo offense to start winning the close ones in the B12.

It will take a little time, and the recruitment of a real point guard, but Shaka will do it, imho.
 
Sorry but the youth excuse don't fly...We are 16 games in and still doing dumb crap and looking like crap half the time. Overrated talent ? Overrated coach ? Mentally handi-capped ? What is wrong with this team ??? Its one or two of the three or a combination of all three.
WVU, BU, KU coming up.......I see three butt whippings coming.
This bunch is following the football team's recipe...No post-season...Will have to buy a ticket in order to go to an NCAA or NIT Tourney game.
At least the women's basketball team may give a good showing.....On the men's side maybe just maybe.....baseball saves face for us.
 
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car54 said:
Sorry but the youth excuse don't fly...We are 16 games in and still doing dumb crap and looking like crap half the time. Overrated talent ? Overrated coach ? Mentally handi-capped ? What is wrong with this team ??? Its one or two of the three or a combination of all three.
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They are just awful. Poor play and poor coaching. Excruciating to watch. I'm a die hard ut bball fan. Even more than football. Been watching every game I possibly can since the mid 80s. I just can't watch anymore this year. They need a point guard in the worst way. I was thrilled with the Shaka hire. But I'm not sold on him yet.
 
car54 said:
Overrated talent ? Overrated coach ? Mentally handi-capped ?
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Overrated by whom? By you? At this point, you have three, count 'em THREE inside players. One of them is a freshman who still isn't physically coordinated or strong enough to keep from making a bunch of turnovers out of double teams. The other is the most vertically challenged and slow big man to ever support 8 percent body fat (according to Lowel Gallindo (sp???) ) who is a defensive liability every time he steps on the court. Are you gonna coach those things away? The other is a project, and everyone KNEW he'd be a project coming in. They are what they are.

You have a bunch of guards, none of whom are skilled point guards. The only one who was recruited as a potential PG arrived this year, and it was understood that he wasn't a pure PG and was going to have to grow into the role. You do get that you don't just become TJ Ford in 16 games, right? You don't even become Daniel Gibson in 16 games. Roach is out of position and over his head as a PG, but that's not his fault - he's not here to play PG.

This lineup has holes that only recruiting can fix right now. So take up a hobby if watching this team is going to cause you to fulfill your negativity quota for the week and cause you to come on here and post the same stuff you always post. Because this is going to be the issue all year, and frankly, most of us SAID it would be the issue all year. I'd say the majority of posters I read on this board said this year would be a coinflip proposition on getting to the tournament.

Seems to me the one who has the issue with overrating things is you.
 
Very disappointing team. We now have home losses to UTA, Kent State and TCU and a 5-point nail-biter win against Incarnate Word. In the past week, those teams have lost games to power-houses like Lamar, Texas State, New Orleans, Northern Illinois & Ohio.

I believe in Shaka, but it's inexcusable to make some of the mistakes this team consistently makes. Is it the players not applying, or Smart not teaching? Turning the ball over with a shot-clock violation coming out of a timeout is about the worst mistake you can make. Turning the ball over and taking horrible shots is not the recipe to win games.
 
Not only do we lack a point guard but we haven't had good shooting guards for quite a few years now. How hard is it to find players that can shoot the ball. And we still cant shoot free throws. I believe Shaka will turn it around but it's going to take awhile.
 
I am ok with the freshmen as shooting guards. And also with Roach as a shooting guard. they will be much better when playing with a true point. Matt Coleman, the top point guard Shaka is fighting Duke for, is not only great at dishing to his teammates, he is hitting threes at a 48% clip. If he commits to the horns on Monday, next year will be like a sunny day compared to the bleak, overcasts days we are in now. (not a bad metaphor, imho :smile1:)
 
If Matt Coleman comes to Texas is there any chance Allen stays another year? He really needs it from the games I've seen.
 
Allen is not nba ready, say like karl Malone was when he came out. He needs to put on about 40 or so pounds of muscle, and get focused daily training in how to play post in the nba. He will get lots of practice doing that in rookie leagues, etc. He will be paid well to do that next year if he declares for the draft.

If he stays here he will get practice, put on some weight, work out with teammates without coaches much of the year, and get a great education if he applies himself. He will play in March Madness (I predict) and with the addition of a decent point guard, the team will make a run. He might have the time of his life.
Some would say he can finish his degree after he turns pro, if he wants to.
When a team offers to make him a multi millionaire next year, knowing full well he isn't ready, yet more than willing to pay him, lock him into a contract, while they prepare him, it will be very difficult to say no to his lifelong dream.

I don't think this is an easy decision. I hope he stays for one more year. We all do.
 
I'm not sure how much of the game I will watch today. Just too frustrating. Youth is not an excuse for getting worse as the season progresses.
 
This is just my (possibly uninformed) observation, but this team strikes me as the inverse conundrum of the late Barnes era teams where we had the too many cheifs and not enough Indians. Now we have too many role player caliber guys and no real standouts to step up and lead. Expectations were too high for our McD AA's I think. This group (and Shaka) just need time to settle in and figure out what's going to work. Someone needs to step out and take on more of a leadership role...we need a PG. Maybe there's the correlation....I think Allen is gone so we need to focus on Coleman next season and designing a team around him. This season is a wash, a rebuilding year. Look ahead to future-better versions of ourselves.
 
utempire said:
Not only do we lack a point guard but we haven't had good shooting guards for quite a few years now. How hard is it to find players that can shoot the ball.
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A good point guard will distribute to the shooting guards when they are in the best position to take a good shot. You'll be amazed how much better the shooting percentages will get with the right ball movement and timing.
 
Erwin Roach is struggling when he's asked to handle the ball. That being said he did have more assists than turnovers: 5-4. And that is real progress.

Banks had perhaps his worst game of the season. He has a lot of growing to do re: his game. 12 minutes, no points, no assists, 4 turnovers. He was outmatched by the Baylor bigs. Its a sign of the poor depth that Shaka had to give the kid 12 minutes.

Overall the team had 11 assists, 14 turnovers. Still a negative ratio. But 14 TO's is better than 18-20, which was the norm earlier. For comparison, BU's guard, Lindsey, a true point, had 7 assists and 2 turnovers. That is a difference maker. When that turns in our favor, we win games.

Good news on that front is that Jones had no TO's along with 4 assists.

I'm not a patient person. Sometimes, like with Coleman coming in next year, being patient is all we can do.

BU is a top ten team. We are nowhere close. Losing is never good. But I have to give Shaka credit, he is keeping them playing hard. They are being tested under fire. KU is coming up.
 
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We haven't had good shooting teams in 4-5 years and our free throws are still an issue. Those are the 2 most basic things that a team needs to win. I still think Shaka will turn it around starting next season.
 
4th_floor said:
Main reason: Shaka had a winning season last year because he did not kick several players off the team.
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This thing about Charlie kicking people off the team keeps coming up. Do you know the real story? Do you think that's really what he wanted to do? Do you think they weren't given any chances? Do we ridicule Baylor and OU but then hold it against our coach when he has standards that are costly in the win column? Are we downplaying the Baylor coaching hire now? What if Charlie had hired Horney?
 
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