Texas Longhorns Basketball - Notes from inside Denton Cooley Pavilion

Super interesting, Ripley.

A lot of stuff has been said about Dex’s improved conditioning but a max of 25 min/game sounds like he still has a ways to go (is that the case?)..

Hamilton is plenty big enough to play small forward.

Great news that J’Covan will be the point guard. It would have been easy for Barnes to screw up that decision (given all the returning point guards on the roster).

Wonderful to hear about Varez’s progress. Given that either Bradley or Brown will probably have the ball in their hands 95% of the time, it is good advice for Varez to focus on hitting free throws and ball handling. Varez, there is no disgrace in shooting a set shot from 3 point land. You will have plenty of time to get the shot off and it is much easier than a 3 point jump shot.

Really surprising that Matt Hill seems to be doing better than Chapman. Wonder if Barnes is trying to motivate Chapman (who appears to be more talented than Matt Hill).

It could be a real bummer if Mack retires (from a football perspective not a bball perspective). Here’s an idea, give away free tickets to the horns game to austin area college and high school students. Get the drum rockin. Way more important for the basketball program to create a great atmosphere at home games than the lost revenue.

How is Damion looking? Any improvement (in ball handling, for example)?

Sailor just earned a one month extension on his temp contract.

Great stuff. The potential of the team is stratospheric.

Thanks, man. A couple of thoughts:
 
Jordan Hamilton was very impressive. Didn’t look as big as he’s listed and didn’t look as big as Damion James (get more reps with Todd Wright).
 
I’ve heard exactly opposite of this. That Jordan was a legit 6-7 230.
Not that I care as he’s playing SF.
  
Athletic enough and big enough to get a rebound and go the distance, though he’ll have some trouble grabbing the tough rebound in traffic (a la Damion).
 
That’s an issue for Damion? I always thought he battled pretty well in there.

“J’Covan Brown has blown everybody away. A true 6 assists a game PG. He has a remarkable floor sense. Knows where everybody is and sees all the angles. Perhaps more importantly, he seems to be a really good kid and is well-liked by his teammates. He’s hitting his classes and getting his shit done. Obviously the pressure gets ratcheted up in season but so far, so good. It’s debatable how much anybody can affect the NCAA Clearinghouse but DeLoss was personally monitoring this situation. J’Covan will be the pointguard.”

I just came…

Scip – One source looked at him and the quote was like he didn’t seem to be the 232 that he’s listed at. 232 can be thinly stretched across a 6-7 frame, I guess. I took it as more of a comment on weight than height. Perhaps we’ve all grown accustomed to the post-Todd Wright work. As you point out, if he’s on the perimeter a lot, not really and issue plus he’ll have match up advantages.

On the rebounding, that was sloppy grammar. The a la Damion was a reference to the grabbing a tough rebound in traffic. Clearly Damion is a beast rebounding in traffic. This isn’t Jordan’s forte. He can get a long or unchallenged rebound and go but in traffic, Damion still wins that.

yeah i think the original poster meant “though he’ll have some trouble grabbing the tough rebound in traffic (UNLIKE Damion).”

If Bradley and Brown are as good as we’re hearing, I have a few predictions.

1) We win it all.
2) One or both leave for NBA
3) Varez gets a lot of minutes next year, which is one of the reasons he probably stuck around. That, and playing in the NC.

God, I can’t wait for the season to start. As someone else mentioned, I really hope the UT sports goes all out to promote the upcoming season. If it was me, I would already be working an ad campaign. First game is two months away, Nov 15 vs UC Irvine. They should set a goal to fill the Drum even if they have to give tix away.

Re: Avery
“…and he will need to hit his free throws because he’ll be at the line a lot this year.”

Is this a case of Avery being weak at the stripe – I hadn’t heard any FT info about him so far – AND/OR is this a function of him getting cheap fouls against weaker opponents?

I was wondering about that Damion comment given his propensity to rack up 20 boards on occasion… and tapping out ones he can’t pull down.

Is this a case of Avery being weak at the stripe – I hadn’t heard any FT info about him so far – AND/OR is this a function of him getting cheap fouls against weaker opponents?

He is a decent free throw shooter, not his strong point. He was referring to it as Bradley will get fouled frequently.

Has anyone seen or heard from Balbay this off season? I have not seen him in any of the open run videos and was wondering if he was out of the country over the summer? Just curious and really looking forward to the best season ever!

Glad to hear J’Covan is meshing with the team and adding some positive energy to the overall team chemistry. I know it’s too early to tell how any of them will respond while in the heat of a game but this is still a good sign…..if they can pull it together and honor their individual roles, this team will be a VERY SERIOUS CONTENDER for the ultimate prize!

I’m from Tacoma , WA so trust me when I say…….we’re all countin’ down the days!

I ordered my copy of Blue Ribbon tonight. I’m really looking forward to this season…

Bob, I don’t know anything about Blue Ribbon. How is it different from Athlon/Lindy’s?

Was with Jordan, yesterday. Good kid. Doesn’t look 230 when u look at him and spend time around him, has a mature frame and has been listed in the 225-230 lbs. range for a while now, so it must be something to it. I’ve been telling Trips dumb ass that he isn’t one and done for months now but I was a crazy and a douche bag and all that type of shit, now somebody else who has actually seen him verifies what I’ve been saying all along.

If Brown is as good as everyone reports, he and Bradley are the key players to a deep run in the playoffs. It comes down to guards. And we’ve got guards out the wazzuu! Having Dex inside for rebounds, scoring, blocking shots, setting screens, playing the inside-out game, etc., is all very important. But it can’t happen without the guards. Jai can help in situations; Balbay, well, he’s great on defense but a real liability after that. Maybe he can be our Bruce Bowen. Varez and Justin can both play some point, but they have some liabilities, too.

But, overall, depth and talent at guard will win playoff games. JMO.