Yes! Alley oop type of play— slam dunk!!! Perimeter D is good. We’re getting some boards that V should have grabbed. Pretty good overall play thus far. Up by 5. And we are working it inside to the post more. That’s new. We are hustling hard on the boards. That’s really good. Nova has some mad talent. Refs are calling it really tight. Some ticky tacky fouls are being called. Down by 2 at half. V’s weakness is their often poor positioning and lack of hustle when grabbing the boards. Other than that, they’re a very talented opponent. Greg Brown coming up big on D with a couple of big blocked shots. Down by 4 with 6:52 remaining in the game.
Kai! But he missed the FT to complete the three point play. Arrrggh! Welp, lost it by 4. We have a legit top 25 team here, based on defense, three pointers, hustle, and the boards. I wouldn’t pencil us in to win the conference, but we will at least be in the discussion (in a non-ironic way). Biggest difference from recent years—this team hustles hard, including on offense away from the ball. Also, Brown adds a new element to our interior D and on the boards.
Shaka has this team scrapping away for everything. They lost, but I have a little more confidence and respect. I hope they keep improving as the year goes along as opposed to past years where they almost completely tank in Jan and Feb.
Yea very good effort. I’m sure they’re disappointed in the ugly ending, but hopefully Shaka will clean it up.
Big picture, it's looking good. Micro-worry: Our most courageous and inspirational player, Mr. Jones, is shooting 22% from 3 point land.
The key point in the game from my perspective is when the Horns took the 7 point lead, but they couldn’t build on it when they had opportunities. Horns are going to get better with players still struggling offensively. We can only hope.
Disappointing loss but starting season 4-1 is about as good as could have hoped for. This Texas team needs to finish in top four of Big XII and if it can do so that is a successful season given how really strong the conference is this year.
I know it's hard to bench everyone's favorite player, but until AJ can get back into top form he needs to be relegated to situational playtime. And we may have to face a reality that he will never be the same. But at this point I think Brock, Kai, and perhaps even Liddell and Williams deserve more PT and AJ less. And I think Febres can be a bigger contributor when he gets back than what we've seen from AJ also. I'm probably one of his biggest fans, but reality is he's just not getting it done.
This isn’t the same ‘ol Shaka teams folks. Our guys are consistently hustling even when they don’t have the ball and are hitting the boards very hard. Brown is a fantastic addition and fits right in. Kai is special. We’re top 4 in the conference and perhaps a lot better. As the season goes on, Brown will just get better and better. If a particular hot hand gets cold, we have others to make up the difference.
To put it into perspective, this is arguably a much better team than the Kevin Durant season of 2007. Don't get me wrong; the best 5 on that team could easily stomp the best 5 on the 2021 team, maybe even without Durant. But beyond that? You had like a sophomore Atchley and fattie Pittman roaming the paint and nothing else. This team has a legit 5 guys who can get into the paint and not look like they're running on fumes. And while I'm not entirely sold on the abilities of Coleman and Ramey, we're working with a partially-functioning A. Jones and if Febres comes back, he fulfills that "AJ Abrams" role that the 2007 team had. We don't need a "Durant" on this team to compete. Everyone seems to understand their roles (finally). 2007 also had one of the most disappointing season finishes ever with the loss to USC in the round of 32. I think we can top that the way we've played to start the season. I've seen some other games from around the country, and I don't think any single team has the depth we do.
It is the same Shaka team....rely on the 3 instead of working inside. If Texas is hot from 3 pt land they have a chance of winning....Cold night there and they lose. A fifth place or worse finish in the Big 12 guaranteed. Going into today I had high hopes for both the men and women teams...Not now !!!
I disagree with your characterization. according to the box scores, the 'Horns are taking the 3 shot at a 27%, 27%, 69%, and 67% for the games against Nova, NC, IU, and Davidson. That is not excessive. Nova's 3's were at 26% of their shots. We are getting killed at the FT line due to excessive fouls and need to clean that up. That is where we lost the game. We were 3-6 and Nova was 14-19. a quick calculation from my aging brain said that is an 11 point difference. I am not a Smart fan, but this team is playing hard and hustling all over the court. If they do not have the traditional mid season collapse, they should make the tourney, if there is one.
Where were the fouls on the floor ??? Aside from foolish fouls, fouls usually occur when you attack the paint. Nova attacked the rim and drew the fouls. Why did Texas only shoot 6 FTs ? They didn't attack and draw fouls.
Biggest noticeable difference: This year's Shaka team really hustles away from the ball. Maybe I wasn't watching closely enough in the past, but I haven't seen that in previous Shaka-coached teams. Our lads have desire this year. (we also have Brown on the team, who is developing into a shot-blocking ace)
Didn't get to see the game. Score indicates it was a good one. Checking the box score highlighted one of my major problems with all of SS's teams. Fouls: putting the other team at the line too much, and putting our guys on the bench when they get into foul trouble Nova was 14 of 19 from the FT line. We were 3 of 6. That is a difference maker. Arguably, that cost us the game. SS needs to work the team on knowing when a foul is smart vs. when it's stupid.
Horns tied for 13th in AP rankings. Five B12 teams ranked in top 20. B12 is a strong BB league this year.
