Why are we not working Lard more to try to pick up that 5th foul. should be a dream to work Sims down on him.
Not a great shot by Coleman, but it went in. Qualifies as clutch Young has been open for the short 3 on consecutive possessions but the Big O wont give him the ball
Good win. Ugly but good. Did what we needed to do to get to post season. Sims is a beast game on the glass. He reminds me of James Thomas a little.
Not that Shaka was in deep trouble or anything, but this win gives him a clear further year before having to hear grumbling. And yes, maybe Sims can prevent some fan grumbling next year. Seems like the kind of player who will only get better (oh, maybe practice FTs).
We’re in! OU “should be” on their way to NIT but the committee will NOT deny Trey Young! They just won’t! We upset Tech = 10 seed!
Tense second half, Horns cant have six plus minute stretches without a basket if they want to win anymore games either in KC or in the tourny. That shot by Coleman was mega clutch. Roach has a habit of making some really foolish plays and if he can reign that in, get Bamba back and not have Coleman in foul trouble (all of which is asking a lot) and this team has a chance. Beat tech and they avoid Dayton First Four.
Roach is a complete liability with the ball. He has flashes of greatness, but, I cringe every time he drives the lane. He should be utilized primarily in the other areas where he excels; aggressive defender and perimeter/mid range shooting. JY is green and a little wild but his energy and tempo are pretty unmatched. He’s going to settle in and get more controlled the more he plays, in my opinion. I’d be ok to not see Bamba in another starting lineup this year. The core guys we have in now are gelling and seem to be able to push and spread at a better tempo; which is more Shakas style.. Sims is an exponentially better all around player at the position than Bamba at this point. He adds a dimension of athleticism Bamba just doesn’t have. I could see Bamba subbing in to show a different scheme: mix it up a bit to mess with defenses. Sims is our future. He needs to be in as much as possible. Coleman’s green too. I think his issue with getting into foul trouble is just unbridled aggressiveness. Getting that corrected is Shakas job.
I'd think that with 19 wins against tough competition, we're way past having to worry about winding up in the play-in game. I'd think we'd be at least a 12 or 13 seed by now.
We seem to play even with every team we play from Kansas to Iowa State regardless of who we have in our lineup. Happy for the win, but man, we are much better than Iowa State even with losing three players and it is frustrating the game is so close. I wish we had plays instead of just throwing up 3s and hoping they hit like against West Virginia. Anyway, hope we upset Tech! The raiders are getting a little high on themselves in basketball and baseball (with good reason) so it would be nice to pay them back for Thanksgiving with a series win in basketball!
^^^The way Sims has progressed is really impressive. Seeing is believing, and I'm seeing a super athlete developing right before my eyes. Txlandagent, you called this weeks ago and you were correct. Sims adds a lot that Bamba doesn't have. Nothing against Mo, but Mo isn't as quick, aggressive, and agile around the hoop. And Sims gets back on defense much faster. The open layups off the break that other teams were getting a few games ago are pretty much non existent with Sims in. Could be a special game for Coleman tonight. He felt very bad after missing Ft's against ttu in Lubbock. Tonight could be redemption time for him!
Tidbits from the Box Score: 1. Last nights announcers were constantly voicing concern for the isu's short bench. Box reveals they played eight guys; Horns Bench was even shorter, we played only SEVEN. 2. A lot of us were moaning about Roach's carelessness with the ball. We were right. Roach had 4 turnovers. No one else on the team had more than one. He is the same as last year: he cannot be trusted to handle the ball, or bring it up the floor, etc. He's not the answer at point. Apart from Coleman, I don't know who is. Young only had one turnover, he's aggressive to the hoop but his passing is suspect. Shaka desperately needs a good point guard in this recruiting class to help Coleman next year.
I struggle with this - on the one hand, I really want someone in the media to just flat out ask him "Shaka your team took 31 3-point shots today. Are you really OK with that number?" But his answer would probably be "hey, it's not like we were forcing them. They were wide-open looks, and you can't tell guys not to shoot when you know they have that ability, because it just reinforces the problem." To me it was definitely more about settling because the threes were just so easy to get. It's work to get the ball inside against a zone that's daring you to shoot threes. And we just didn't look interested in working early in the game. Yeah, so I came away with the vague impression that this was an important game for Texas to win. Did anyone else pick up on that because eventually I caught onto that idea after they said it EVERY THREE MINUTES ON THE DOT.
This is why some of the analysis makes little sense to me leading up to it. OK so we're playing a 3-14 (or whatever) Iowa State team that would be a bad loss, and the guys keep saying that Texas has to win in order to make the tournament. So in other words, this is a team that if Texas can't beat, they shouldn't be in the tournament. So why then does beating that supposedly horrible team now prove Texas SHOULD be in the tournament? If you're a bubble team, how does beating a non-tourney team change that at all? It's just a weird mindset to me, but i tells me just how subjective and "feely" all this is. If Texas comes out and gets worked by Tech, I would personally say they shouldn't be in the tournament. If they come out and look strong, play a competitive game - like you would expect to see from oh, say, a 5-12 matchup in the tournament - then it seems like that's a better indicator than watching them struggle to beat Iowa State.
well, we knew from last season that Roach isn't a PG. But he does have last season's experience at PG so he is the logical choice to play there whenever Coleman has to sit. Smart has to establish PG depth. As mentioned by Caryhorn, a true PG in next season's class would be great. A PG every couple of years would also work so that we don't have to play someone that is not a PG at that spot, like we had to last season and have to at times this season. I got no problems with Roach playing PG because he is being forced into that position when he should not be in that situation. It's hard to blame a player for doing the best he can when playing out of position due to lack of depth. My criticism is on Smart for allowing that situation (lack of PGs) to happen.
