Basketball Next Year: How The Pieces Fit

Ricki Lake, huh?

Hey dude, there’s parchment with shots of Vinnie Johnson doing stuff like that Dumars guy. I loved Vinnie Johnson. Especially when I got to see him from press row at the Drum back in the day, and he looked like a fullback. Nobody got in his way… nobody.

Hill would be an unlikely transfer, IMO. Given that he already has redshirted because of injury, he has only one year to offer, say, Creighton.

If he drops below D-I, he can play two years, of course.

We’ll of course have to see how the new pieces fit in, but there is a whole shit ton of potential there over the next couple years.

Biggest immediate liability I see is three point shooting…

Won’t Lucas, Hamilton, Williams, and Bradley more than take care of that?

Dwyane Wade only barely hit double digit threes the first few years of his NBA career, didn’t attempt too many either. He is the current king of the midrange, though he has developed a long range game this year. Rip Hamilton lives off the midrange game as well. There are a couple (not enough) role models for that style.

Damion could have his best season by far if he sticks around and the new guys pan out. He is best as third or fourth option offensively. He has no real offensive moves, but is so gifted athletically that he can abuse the third or fourth best defender on an opposing college team.

Barnes has never had a problem throwing out a lineup with one big and four perimeter guys of offense. If our four best players next year fit that mold, we will do it. We could even see it for stretches, especially if we want to play with more on the ball pressure. Running Balbay out with 3 other perimeter guys leaves alot more room for him to penetrate and discourages defenses from packing it in around Dex. Of course, we have to see how well these new guys can shoot first.

Hiphop,
I think Jai will provide some decent 3’s. More importantly, with the talent we have coming in I forsee a lot more space on the 3-point arc as defenders will be packed in the paint to defend our big men.

I predict that by mid-season the opposing teams will be so preoccupied with guarding our big men and protecting the paint that the 3-point arch will be golden to our PGs and SGs.

Shit just wrote 4-5 paragraphs on next years team with comments on Vinnie and the BadBoys,
Dog shooting right handed and hitting 61% from the floor, Jordan rebounding like DJ on acid etc,. Shit lost it all on a reboot….

Quit bitching and type it up. We want to see your thoughts.

Good read, Scipio. Many agrees, just a couple additional thoughts.

• I don’t love Jai Lucas’ game either, and I think you’re lowballing Dogus. I don’t think it’s going to be possible to play him just 20 minutes a game. Lucas will have his role and can play as a Dogus sub for 10 minutes + another 10 as, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say, a more versatile AJ Abrams at the 2 when Bradley’s not on the floor.

• I don’t see it with Chapman. At all. He’s soft, mentally and physically. His Balbay-like free throw numbers put the final nail in the coffin for me. Kid’s mentally soft — similarly skilled to Brian Boddicker, but in a thong… with half the strength and none of the toughness. He should transfer to a less physical conference than the B12.

PB, disagree on Chapman. I think he’s got it. The question is whether “it” will develop and mature here in Austin or somewhere else. Although the free throw shooting is appalling. “3 for 19” sounds like it should be a sarcastic comment being directed by Dean Wormer to one of the Deltas.

Scip, excellent preview at a good time – we need a lift.

BTW – Tech up double digits on Kansas in the 2nd half. ESPN2

If we needed to free a roster spot next year – which I don’t think will come to pass – wouldn’t you just kneecap Smith and have him take a medical and finish out his degree? This seemed obvious to me, and then about 10 days ago he decided to start contributing.

Hate to run off a big man. Maybe Hill just needs to reinstate the ’do.

I like Alexis Wangmene very much. I hope he stays. Since he only played in the first five games, and is noted as “out for the rest of the year” because of knee surgery in the game notes, I have to assume he’s redshirting.

On a side note, "Six University of Texas men’s basketball players have earned a spot on the 2009 Academic All-Big 12 Men’s Basketball Team, the league office announced Wednesday. UT’s six selections marked the most of any school in the conference.

Senior Connor Atchley, junior Damion James and sophomores Dogus Balbay and Gary Johnson were each named to the First Team, while juniors Justin Mason and Dexter Pittman were selected to the Second Team."

That’s good.

ATX: I’m in the minority on Chapman, I know. Watching him on the road, though… I don’t see it coming together. If he stays, I’ll hope you’re right, sir.

And yes, interesting night in hoops so far. Kansas trailing to Tech, Mizzou sticking it to OU, and LSU drops one to Vandy? Must be March…

PB, I don’t think you’re in the minority on Chapman. I imagine most observers are pretty negative about the guy. I’ve seen enough flashes in his game to think he’s got potential, but there’s just no consistency. Maybe he can be the next Jason Klotz or something.

An aside: I thought Boddicker was one of the most underappreciated Horn players ever. I mean, there were Horn fans who HATED the guy with an intensity rarely seen in places other than Chris Simms’ cell phone.

KU’s loss to Tech makes our struggles against the Raiders a little more palatable. I’m guessing that once they fell behind, KU didn’t see much point in exerting a lot of effort to catch up on the road. They’ll save that for us on their Senior Day, of course. I hope we can stay within 15.

OU at Mizzou was a pretty easy call. The WSJ has an article on how hard it is to win on the road in men’s college hoops.

The first two paragraphs:

"The road winning percentage in major men’s college basketball is .340 — meaning the road team wins roughly one out of every three games.

Somewhere on Earth there may be a sport in which this figure is lower. But it isn’t the NBA, NHL, American or Australian football, English or Argentine soccer, Major League Baseball, Japanese baseball, Dominican winter baseball, or any of two dozen other sports leagues."

Remember, an enraged goose brought you into this world and an enraged goose can take you out.

How about a little player development, please? Chapman could be the next Klotz.

Believe it or not, what you are seeing with Chapman is player development. He’s no longer just screening or trying to hit the boards. He’s shooting the ball. He’s driving.

That said, I’m more with PB than the rest of the crowd. He still looks uncomfortable out there, hasn’t caught up to the speed of the game. His touch around the hoop comes and goes, and he sure hasn’t made any FTs.

If there’s a chance that James is coming back, Pittman and Hill already have put in three years, and Tristan Thompson is coming, when is Chapman going to stand out? He won’t be a starter. He could be a capable backup, but when would that happen?

“I’d also like to own an ocelot. But neighborhood associations frown on exotics after a pack of sugar gliders mauled a soccer Mom in Tarrytown.”

Oops, big laugh at work.

Texoz – I agree. Just off the cuff, I’m not sure I see enough natural range there. Not a huge detriment, but maybe the difference between being really good and great, or something like that.

“An aside: I thought Boddicker was one of the most underappreciated Horn players ever. I mean, there were Horn fans who HATED the guy”

I knew some of these people. They are called morons.

If you say Jai Balbay or Dogus Lucas out loud, it’s weird how both mash-ups almost rhyme, yet completely don’t look that way at all on paper. At the very least, it beats thinking about Ricki Lake’s knockers.

It’s a small thing, but I’m curious in imagining how the season would’ve played out if Chapman had been out for the season as opposed to Wangmene. The Wingman’s superior athleticism and uncompromising badassery would’ve been a complete 180 for post bench minutes. Although that doesn’t solve out outside shooting woes.

People may have hated Boddicker because it looked like he spent more time refining his hair than his game. I felt that the Bod contributed more over this Longhorn career than Buckman, but since Buckman looked and played like Joe the Plumber, he was appreciated a lot more.

It seems as though our personnel next year really lends itself to two specific offenses. One with Lucas, one with Balbay.

Pittman’s playing time should coincide with Lucas’. 4 out, 1 in, and with actual shooters on the perimeter, Dex becomes an absolute nightmare to defend. Where does the double come from with Lucas, Bradley, Hamilton, and Johnson/James on the floor?

With Balbay at the helm, Dexy goes to the bench, we make Johnson and James the bigs, and run like hell. Teams would have a hell of a time matching up with Balbay, Bradley, Hamilton/Mason, Johnson, James.

The question is whether or not we can effectively run a bi-polar offense.

I’m with PB on Clint Chapman. He has some nice basketball skills, but does not have the strength or toughness. If he stays, the best we can hope for is Connor’s junior year on offense out of an inferior defender.

Based on absolutely no evidence whatsoever, I think he transfers.

ctex80

wet dreams.

Boddicker played with so much intensity when he wanted to. Whenever anyone fouled him or got too close to him, it looked like he wanted to punch them in the face. I was always worried he was going to crack at some point and get thrown out.

I loved Boddicker. He was such a lighting rod for opposing team’s fans that it always brought our team together. He instilled toughness and it’s no coincidence that when he was here we were a damn good road team.

Come this June you can look for my ass in Austex. I’ll be the most real Easter Bunny you’ve ever seen.

Thinking about James being back next year is a pipe dream.

I also don’t think it does James’ any good. Next year’s draft is going to be a lot better, and with the players Texas is bringing in, there will be less of an opportunity to develop his abilities as a perimeter player than there were this year. He needs to be in the pros.

There are a lot of aspects of James I’m going to real miss - his work ethic, his ability to hit the jumper, his loyalty, his athleticism. He’s just an all around great kid, who’s overcome a lot to get where he is.

As far as the team goes, though, I’m really going to miss his rebounding. The team is going to improve in a bunch of ways next year, but I’m expecting both offensive and defensive rebounding to take a hit because of James’ departure.

James texts his high school coach on a daily basis and Robert claims he’s coming back. Whether or not DJ’s being honest might be a different story.

Honestly though, what kind of pro will he be? Will he even make a roster? He can’t face up against 3’s in the league, and I doubt one can find a 4 that he can guard.

Scipio, great post. Any follow up post of a similar topic better bring the wood, so I have my work cut out for me in that respect. If the market can find it in its heart to stay in the black on consecutive days, maybe I’ll have time to shower, shave, and make a crystal ball post.

Why would he be lying?

Nonetheless, I don’t believe there’s a chance in hell he’s coming back.

I don’t see the idea of Damion texting his high school assistant coach constantly, and the assistant coach insisting he’s coming back, necessarily mutually exclusive with Damion actually entering the pros, all the while everyone is telling the truth. But we’ll see.

This notion that Jordan Hamilton is more talented than Shawn Williams is the most asinine thing I have ever heard. The problem is that most of you who write this stuff have no basis for it other than what you’ve read on another website and based on rankings. I live in Cali and have seen Jordan Hamilton play numerous times and while he can play he is nowhere near as good as all you clowns on this site try to make him out to be. His own AAU coach told me that he was good but he wasn’t as good as he or other people think he is. Greg Hicks over at Scout.com has told me repeatedly that he is vastly overrated and he does all the scouting for the West Coast. Dave Telep who is the head scout at Scout.com told me point blank that there were kids who made the McDonald’s team who weren’t as talented as Shawn Williams and Telep has a vote on the committee. You take that for what it’s worth and stop all this crazy talking ya’ll doing man.