KEY TO REST OF SEASON

Discussion in 'Men’s Basketball' started by Herkie Walls, Jan 8, 2008.

  1. Herkie Walls

    Herkie Walls 25+ Posts

    the key to the rest of the season is everyone staying healthy. we can't afford for any of the starters to miss games with injuries.
     
  2. Bob in Houston

    Bob in Houston 2,500+ Posts

    I suspect we also will see some budging on bench minutes. Not a lot, but some.
     
  3. bigup2dahorns

    bigup2dahorns 250+ Posts

    the key is ian mooney, or so it seems thus far [​IMG]
     
  4. bierce

    bierce 1,000+ Posts

    Well, I don't want to be rude, at least not inordinately so, but saying staying healthy is the key to the rest of the season is pretty much nothing more than a truism. It's a rare team that has enough depth to lose a starter and make a deep run. I will grant you that the Horns may be a little more so, having just six players who can reasonably be expected to play 15+ minutes each game.

    I would have hoped that at least one of Pittman, Wangmene, and Chapman would have established himself as a guy who could be relied upon to come off the bench and provide a combination of defense, rebounding, garbage baskets and free throws. Very early on, both Wangmene and Chapman showed some promise in those regards, but not nearly so much recently.

    So, if you will permit me, I'll give some more specific things that might be considered "keys" for the rest of the season.

    1) Better control of defensive glass

    Texas isn't that bad at allowing offensive rebounds, but it allows opponents to get the rebound on roughly 35% of their missed shots. (Meanwhile, Texas gets 37.7% of its misses.) Last season and the 01-02 season were the only seasons this millenium in which Texas allowed opponents more than 33%. One would hope that Johnson's presence will be all to the good in this category, but one has to note Johnson grabbed five defensive rebounds against St. Mary's (who got 19 offensive boards--eeesh!) and TCU combined in 47 minutes.

    2) Free throws

    19 for 32 in the two losses. Sub 60% ft throw shooting will lead to a lot of close losses.

    3) Perimeter defense

    Still that old thing. We can reasonably expect more 3's from opponents with the increased playing time for Johnson, as opponents' offensive rebounds and inside scoring opportunities may decrease (or so we hope, see #1 above). In the two losses, MSU and Wisc. combined to hit only 9 of 27 3 point attempts. I would think that unless UT gets thoroughly abused inside on a regular basis (which I don't see happening), we can expect opponents to average over 20 three-point attempts a game. Getting out on those shooters will be huge.

    4) DJ getting rest during the season

    5) Someone stepping up as a consistent player in the paint off the bench.

    Yeah, we beat UCLA when it couldn't hit anything, and generally kept it off the offensive glass, but we might be thankful Love was on the bench for a lot of the second half. Someone is still going to have to step up inside. I'm not asking for too much. Just someone who will play defense, keep opponents off the glass, hit a good percentage of ft, and get the occasional garbage basket.

    OK, maybe I am asking too much at this point. I'll be happy to see that in March.
     
  5. Longhorn_Fan68

    Longhorn_Fan68 1,000+ Posts

    Free throws have already cost us one game.
     
  6. M C Orange

    M C Orange 100+ Posts

    mooney's strength gives me strength! [​IMG]
     
  7. MoJames

    MoJames 25+ Posts

    Mooney needs to punch Laser Love in the face.
     
  8. bierce

    bierce 1,000+ Posts

    Against Mizzou, Texas controlled defensive boards pretty well, but failed in all other categories. 0 minutes rest for DJ, allowing Missouri to hit 12 of 26 3's, zero defensive presence from the bench (but a couple of nice plays by Pittman on offense), 50% ft shooting.

    Having this team get 21 offensive rebounds and still lose by double figures should raise real concerns.
     

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