The team is very inconsistent for a few reasons: Shaka is playing the freshmen in critical times for long stretches. (unlike what barnes did during his tenure) He is trying to develop these kids, and therefore develop depth, to be ready for primetime by the beginning of conference play. So early in the season our team will look schizophrenic. Good for a few minutes, and then clueless, turnover prone, out of position defensively. I think we can all see the potential in the freshmen. Especially Davis and Roach. They will get serious minutes by the time conference gets here. Another reason for the inconsistency is the play of our two bigs: Ridley and Ibeh. Ridley cannot be counted on to hit the point blank shot. He has improved his defense somewhat, but his offense is seriously lacking. Anything beyond three feet from the basket is a crapshoot, and it usually comes up snake eyes. With Ibeh, forget about him making anything other than an open slam dunk. And he will get fouled very hard to keep him from going up with the ball because every team knows he cannot make free throws--period. So Ibeh's value is only defense, and he is not that great on D. Yes, he can block a shot, but he is weak at blocking out, and weak at defending the pick and roll. He seems to have little basketball IQ. I think he started playing late and it shows. So for the most part, we have few options for reliable inside scoring from our bigs. Interestingly, our biggest inside threat is Taylor on the slash and cut to the hoop. His cuts to the hoop and Felix's 3's won the game for us tonight. All in all it was a good win. UTA will likely win their conference, or at least finish in the top two. They hit threes, play good defense, and know their coaches system. He's been there 10 years. Once our guys get really familiar with what shaka is teaching, they will reek some real Havoc in the B12.
The biggest disappointment so far to me is Cleare. I really thought he would be a big help, for the inside scoring game. He has basically been MIA, I hope maybe he will contribute in the future.
Yeah, he seems overwhelmed by the speed of the game. As does Mack. Maybe they will get oriented and be solid contributors by the end of the season. Hope so. We need them.
How can Clear not be used to big time college basketball? He played two years for Maryland in the ACC and started many games. roster.aspx I didn't expect him to dominate, but I thought he would be a solid addition, to help scoring in the post position and give Ridley some time to rest and stay out of foul trouble. Then Ibeh could just be used for defense, that's all he is really able to do. He doesn't need to be in there, when the game is close at the end, when free throws have to be made. Shaka did a good job of subbing him and Ridley out at the end. He never even considered Cleare, as an option. That really hurts the team.
Did not know cleare started and played significant time at Maryland. Wow. I'm baffled by his play then. Maybe its the new system Shaka is requiring him to play...just a guess. He seems lost out there, out of position, out of sorts really.
The highlights of the game just came up on Sportscenter. Van Pelt said this UTA team is good, will make the NCAA Tourney, and give somebody some real problems. Texas has played some quality opposition and logged more miles on the road, in less games, than any other team in college history. They really need some home games to find their legs again. This was not the year for that, with a new coach and system. Several Big 12 teams have yet to play a road game and WVU plays 11 straight home games.
That's men teams. Lady horns hoops just beat #4 Tennessee at their place. Volleyball team has also had a good season.
I addressed our inconsistency above. UTA has had the same coach for ten years and his players all understand the system, and what their role is. So uta looks smarter because they do KNOW what the system requires of them. Our team looks clueless at times because they are ALL (upper classmen included) learning a new system. For the freshmen who are playing critical minutes, this is exponentially true. Shaka is doing something we never saw Rick Barnes do: giving significant minutes to freshmen and allowing them to play through their mistakes. Remember how Barnes would immediately jerk players out of the game each time they would make a mistake? Shaka has a different approach. So the team should get better as the season progresses, which often did not happen with Rick's teams. So with the new system, new players, and new coach, its a good idea to hold judgement about this team until season's end. At least give them through January. So for those who shoot from the hip and react to the first thing you see, this could be a long few months as the young Horns and their coach get to know each other in real game conditions, and in arguably one of the best basketball conferences in the country.
Van Pelt's lead story on Sportscenter last night. Pretty good publicity for the UT basketball program, don't you think? Kerwin Roach Jr.'s throw down impresses SVP - ESPN Video It's also been on the first page of the ESPN web page all day, so far.
I have watched almost all the games this year, looking for something new or a spark or something..........They are like last year, at times they are world beaters and I would say could play with anybody in college, at other times I am just completely dumbfounded and the lack of skill, effort, BB IQ and just WTF comes out of my mouth. How Lammert or Felix ever see the floor, especially with the new kids on the team I will never know, those two are the biggest defensive liabilities in the world. Lammert still has not learned how to get a rebound, you have to be watching for this next time they play, he jumps for the rebound before it hits the rim, hence he is on the way down while the other player is on the way up and appears to over-power Lammert every fricking time!!!!! Lammert is worse and I never thought I would say this than Boddicker. Felix, he is just horrible 80% of the time. Lineup should be Ridley, Shaq, Holland, Davis and Taylor with Roach coming off the bench quickly for Holland(unless we see dramatic improvement this year). Prince coming in for Shaq and Felix/Lammert washing jock straps after the game is over.
Caryhorn..enjoy your basketball analysis. I too, think it is a little bit about the system and the travel too. Barnes first team took a while to come around too. Major...I myself have never really been enthralled with Holland. I guess it I because I prefer offense. But, since both Barnes and Smart seem to think he needs to be in the lineup, I guess I can live with it. But, the horns definitely need shooters and well...Felix is hitting like 60 percent of his threes. Sure, he can be frustrating at times, but has always been one of my favorites. Sure wish Lammert could have been our next Mike Wacker, but not even close.
Cleare has done absolutely nothing to warrant starting. He wasn't even considered an option down the stretch last night, even though Ridley had four fouls.
Cleare may have gotten himself into the proverbial doghouse of Coach Smart. From what little I did see of him, I think he was trying to be too much of a ball handler than an actual post player...but that as just me.
Wacker was awesome, until he got hurt and went down with the injury that ended his career, and essentially ended Abe Lemons' career. Yeah, Wacker in his prime would be welcome on any team!
It was my senior year at UT, when Wacker went down in the crappy "Heart Of Texas" gym in Waco. The floor was covered in silt, nobody touched him, he just slipped. That was 1982. Team was undefeated and ranked #5 in the country. They had beaten Houston with Drexler and Alajuwon on the road. They also beat Arkansas, with their "triplets" team in Austin. Both wins by double digits. That team lacked depth though and fell apart after that, and though it was still a winning season, Lemons was fired. That team he won the NIT with, when the NIT was still a good tournament, was also very talented. The NCAA Tourney only had 32 teams in it, at the time.
I remember the championship NIT game. I remember our up tempo style, and our guys blowing out (sorta) our opponent (I do not remember who it was). But the exclamation point on the win was a breakaway following a steal, and our player (who was it) took it to the hoop for a layup. That was sweet. Lemons was on cloud nine, as were all horns bb fans. Never would have imagined then that Lemons' tenure a Texas would be so short and end so sadly.
That team we beat was North Carolina State and we broke 100 points, winning 101-93. Texas was 26-5, for the season and went 14-2 in SWC play, beating Houston twice and Arkansas once. That Arkansas team made the final four, before losing to eventaul champion Kentucky. They beat Notre Dame in the third place game, that was still played in 1978. They lost to Houston 92-90 in the SWC Tournament. Yet in those days couldn't make the NCAA Tourney, because they didn't win the conference. These days that team would have been a 2-3 seed in the NCAA's.
