Cool Open Gym Video of 2009 Horns

My God we are going to be good.

Me likey!

Wow!

Jordan Hamilton’s final shot was pretty awesome. He looks like he can handle the ball pretty well, too. I hope the 360 people keep posting this stuff, it is great.

Was that Bradley with the amazing slam off an assist by Durant?

Yes that was Bradley. His coast to coast layup was even more impressive. He’s a blur.

That was impressive. I am pumped to see these guys get up and down the court this year.

Looks like Bradley could play point pretty well from a ball handling perspective. Looks like Hamilton could play shooting guard from an offensive perspective. It is going to be tough to effectively press UT this season.

It would be so cool if Barnes would post clips from practice on his website. No music or narrative required, silent video would be fine.

I agree on Bradley. It’s tough to pressure that kind of quickness.

No, Kafka, I need volume. I wanna here Hamilton and Brown talk shit to one another. That would make me infinitely happy.

My goodness that was just sick, jordan looked good moving without the ball and that J was nice. This really made my night since the 26 million Lotto is still out there.
Chappy has nice form from 18 feet. OH! this shit is too much for my BB addiction.
I will donate $$ to 360 to continue posting maybe 10 or so….Damn I needed that boost.

Epic win for Todd Wright on Dexter Pittman, jesus christ.

oh, and can we move Bradley to running back please?

Dexter looks to be in fantastic shape.
 
Chapman’s body is really coming around. I’m curious what a redshirt year could do for him.

I wonder what Dex weighs now. I’d like to see how quickly he can move and how explosive his jumping is when he goes all out.

Chapman’s stroke looked great. If he can hit that reliably, he will be a great sub for Dex. Instead of posting up, he could go outside to clear the middle to make room for penetrators like Bradley, Damion, J’Covan, Hamilton, etc. If Chapman’s man helps out, Chapman is wide open on the 18 footer.

Playing with Bradley and J’Covan is going to elevate Justin’s and Varez’s game. Being defended by Justin and Varez in practice is going to sharpen Bradley’s and J’Covan’s ball handling skills.

I would not redshirt Chapman. This is not the year to build for the future. The future is now.

UT needs a backup for Dex. Maybe this will be the year when Chapman breaks out and unleashes the talent he has.

It must have been a thrill for Chapman to score a couple of times on Durant (and he has the video to prove it).

UT really needs to oil up the promo machine and fill the seats early in the season. Releasing video clips from practice is one way to do that.

Wait, so the team with Durant, James and Avery Bradley lost? Jesus, we are gonna be awesome.

Given that J’Covan and Avery are so awesome with the ball, is there any point to having Dogus, Justin, or Valdez play point guard? Maybe they should focus on developing reliable 3 point set shots because they are going to get wide open looks at the 3 point line (when paired at guard with J’Covan or Avery). This would maintain spacing and make it more difficult for their defender to help out on J’Covan or Avery. Dogus, Justin, and Valdez could focus on intense defense, rebounding, fast breaks, and finishing.

By pairing J’Covan or Avery with one of last year’s point guards, Barnes can rest his new star guards a bit during the first 35 minutes of the game and play a more uptempo game for the entire game.

Assuming that Dex’s explosiveness and stamina have improved proportionately with his latest weight loss, maybe the horns can do more screen and roll with Dex this season. He has great hands for catching the pass on the roll and is a devastating finisher. Dex setting a pick for Avery or J’Covan really poses a dilemma for the defense. If they hedge the screen to take the ball out of Avery’s or J’Covan’s hands, then Dex has the advantage inside (being defended by a guard on his backside). If they don’t hedge the screen, then J’Covan/Avery will have an easy jumper or even drive for a layup.

The horns are probably going to be facing a lot of zones this season.

Teams that zone us are going to have a hellish time closing out
defensive possessions with rebounds. Start with zero block out
assignments. The consider our atheleticism and length 1-5.
Everyone tried to zone those great UNLV teams because they really
only had two plus shooters. But it didn’t matter because those
teams that did zone could never pull a board. Augmon, Johnson,
Ackles, Scurry, etc were just monsters on the glass.

“Start with zero block out assignments”.

True, blocking out in a zone is tough but maybe a matchup zone would facilitate blocking out. Barnes seems to be able to teach blocking out from a zone (of course there are few coaches who teach defense as well as Barnes). In any event, my guess is that the horns slaughter man to man defenses so the defense will be forced into zone.

What does the horns’ zone offense look like? How does that impact personnel decisions?

Good question and a lot of it has to do with defensive matchups on
the other end. But all else equal, I think you can get away with
your base starting 5 which seems to Brown, Bradley, Hamilton,
James, and Pittman. That’s why Brown’s arrival is so huge. He’s the total package at the 1.

This squad gives you two elite shooters, Brown and Hamilton, along w
with two capable shooters, James and Bradley, plus a guy that
blocks out the sun when he flashes or ducks into the lane.

More importantly it gives you 3 playmakers that can collapse the
defense with their dribble and find people. And on the other end,
it’s going to be hard to exploit any one player.

If you wanted to get specialized you bring Jai in for Bradley, especially if there’s an opposing player that’s a suitable cover
for Jai on the defensive end. that gives you 3 ELITE shooters and
3 solid ball handlers. Plus size and athleticism to punish the
glass.
opposing player you fell comfortable

holy crap, Dex looks svelt…

this is gonna be sick

Of course you don’t actually need an elite shooter to bust a zone. You just need a guy who can hit a set shot from one exact spot outside. For example, at the end of last season Dogus hit a couple 3-point set shots. Nobody would call Dogus an elite shooter but if he can reliably hit a set shot from that one spot then he makes the defense pay for collapsing off him.

We have 3 guards (Dogus, Justin, and Varez) who are exceptional at defense/rebounding/running the floor, good at handling the ball, and probably will be good at finishing around the bucket. Unfortunately, none of these guys was real good at shooting outside last season. If any of these guys can hit a simple set shot from one spot outside, it will be much easier to play them.

You have to wonder why Justin Mason shoots a jump shot from the 3 point line. It is a much tougher shot than a set shot and defenses will give him all the time he wants to shoot the 3. Also by jump shooting instead of set shooting, he makes it much tougher to fake the shot and drive. Dogus deserves credit for being smart enough to shoot the set shot from 3 point land rather than the jump shot.

Dex looks to be in unbelievable shape. He’s going to get paid.

It moved.