Texas Basketball: Texas-82, Boston-46

J’first?

Yes, I enjoyed what I was able to watch on the internet/Longhorn Network.

You know, missing two football games against terrible opponents is one thing, but missing a large number of basketball, baseball, and yes, volleyball games on the LHN is really going to chap my behind. That, to me, is the value of the LHN as a fan. I would easily pay $5-$10 per month to have the LHN on DirecTV.

Enjoyed the game and LHN free preview. I liked JFG. Considering this was an LHN game I was expecting Nobody McNobody to announce the game, so having a recognized pro doing the game was nice.

I know BU is supposed to be quality low-major team, but this game still felt a bit like an exhibition. Maybe it was the ample subbing. It was amazing that so many guys logged around 20 mins apiece. We are going to be exposed, but hopefully it won’t occur until the UNC game. I have no idea what to expect by the time we get to conference. Seems like 20 wins is doable, but I haven’t a clue if 20 is our floor or our ceiling.

If last night is any indication, this doesn’t look to be a selfish group. Some of the assists were as much fun to watch as the 3s. Count me in as one who is excited to see how much this group can grow. By the way, shout out to those season ticket holders who couldn’t make it to the game. We enjoyed your seats.

uthookem -
 
I really liked the LHN too. I’d gladly pay an extra $10. Hell, I’d pay $40 just for an internet subscription.
 
Ricky -
 
20 is doable and it’s our regular season ceiling. Our schedule is pretty brutal.

Nice writeup – I’m really proud of J’Covan for choosing the Road Less Traveled By for the Young, Talented but Moody/Me-First/Headcase Baller and actually buckling down to re-evaluate his game, work on his weaknesses and become what his team needs him to be.

I am in permanent chillax/whatev mode with Texas basketball until Barnes proves that passionate fandom will ever be rewarded again during his tenure, so I should enjoy this season immensely. Go and frolic, little ducklings – I your successes shall elicit my gleeful applause, your foibles my detached bemusement.

You think J’Covan has a chance to earn some individual hardware this season in (apparently) a down B12?

FYI, the team Texas just beat is BU or Boston University, but never just Boston. Don’t expect that to come up much in the future but there ya go.

nobis60 –
 
You have been hurt and can never love again.
 
texasengr -
 
I think he can be a 1st team All-Big 12 guard. We won’t win enough for him to get MVP consideration. 19 ppg and 4 apg is achievable.
 
bigdukesix -
 
We actually beat the Celtics.

Sounds like we can actually end up with a really good starting 5 this year, but depth will kill us.

I think Texas fans will have to learn to draw a distinction between exciting/promising vs. good.
 
Good is a state of arrival and completeness. Exciting and promising are about the journey.

So you’re saying we’re a poor man’s Villanova? Or a rich Villanova’s Texas? I forget thow that goes. Do we freaking remind you of Villanova?

I was terrified about rebounding with GJ, Thompson, and Hamilton leaving and I’m a little more scared now. If that’s compounded by a turnover-prone backcourt we will be murdered by every good team so I’m pleased to know that Kabongo’s game isn’t comparable to other famous freshman points like John Wall. We need him to be smart with the ball, even though his creativity is likely to be a primary means of scoring.

We could still be great at rebounding if these young guys pay due diligence to developing that aspect of their game. They sound, thus far, much less like prima donnas than some of the other players we brought in previous classes so that’s encouraging. Size helps but rebounding is a skill that anyone can possess. See Barkley, Charles.

C’mon. We all know how this story will play out. Midway through the season we’ll be shocked at how good this young team is. The talking heads will be projecting a Final 4 tourney for Texas. I’ll be praising Barnes’ ability to develop freshmen into stars.

And then comes the 2nd half of the season…

RE: UT players
I was impressed with Julien Lewis. He had some foul trouble early and sat for a big portion of the 1st half. For him to come out focused and playing like he did in the 2nd half was impressive for me to see, especially given that this was his first game of his college career. His shooting stroke, like BON noted, is more pure and consistent than I thought from watching clips of his high school days.

I think McClellan’s numbers are misleading, too. His slashing ability is better than any wing player at UT in the last several years. Better than Bradley’s or Hamilton’s or Joseph’s. His jump stop in the lane (although he missed it) in the first half was nice to see. The fact that he can hit the 3 (unlike, say, Justin Mason) gives me hope that we’ll see less standing around along the perimeter like in years past, but still force defenses to guard us along the 3 pt line (and not sag down in the post when Dogus and/or Mason were on the floor).

If we had any credible low post offense, I’d be really excited about our prospects on offense.

RE: LHN
I am a Grande customer and have enjoyed LHN for a couple of months now. I absolutely love it. I’m not kidding, I’d switch cable providers if Grande decided to stop offering it.

Jeff Van Gundy, in my opinion, was great. He’s an NBA guy, true, but he also knows the game and it translates well in the broadcasts. It’s way better than Reid Gettys or Marques Johnson or Eddie Oran. The Rhode Island game will be covered by JVG and Mike Breen, which is 2/3 of ESPN’s #1 NBA broadcast team. Chalk that up to an unexpected boon from the NBA lockout.

Before the BU game, there was a Longhorn Legends broadcast featuring UT hoops alums. Kevin Durant, TJ Ford, LaMarcus Aldridge, DJ Agustin, and Chris Mihm…talking Texas basketball. All of them All Americans under Barnes, all of them NBA Lottery picks. Needless to say, it was so full of win. When you think about where the program has come from under Barnes and the level that UT basketball is at now…I can’t fathom how any UT fan feels entitled to more. Is what we have the best we can do? No. Is it better than it’s EVER been? Yeah.

Expectations are key to enjoying this season. I have not seen this many quick guys playing basketball in a long time. Fairly impressed with Oingo-Boingo but he is a green frosh that sometimes forgets its not a playground. Barnes is being Barnes with them. Lewis drained a nice three, then came down and made a steal but immediately followed that with a stupid pass. Barnes sat him. Was very impressed with the defense, especially for this stage of the season and in light of the fact that the average age of the team is 17. Ha ha.

Holy Cow -
 
A very poor man’s version of Villanova, but with freshmen instead of juniors and seniors.
 
Nickel -
 
We won’t rebound well unless we crash our guards. Starting front courts of 6-7, 6-7, 6-3 don’t cut it in most mid-majors.
 
UT07 -
 
If we make the tournament, the year is an unqualified success.
 
mpayne/RS -
 
Thanks for your two cents.

I enjoy a good journey, but with Barnes driving the car I’m a little nervous to ask him if we are there yet.

Scipio – always appreciate your stuff, but I’m curious about Trips.

- “But anyone expecting consistently slick offense from freshmen need an expectations check.”
- “You have been hurt and can never love again.”
- “I think Texas fans will have to learn to draw a distinction between exciting/promising vs. good.”
- “Good is a state of arrival and completeness. Exciting and promising are about the journey.”

Wait, I thought this was a basketball report.

and he does a great job of making people feel his wide body.

I have this same skill.

As a married man, if I play my cards right and don’t fuck up too badly, I get to enjoy the security of knowing the same lovely woman will put up with my shit and occassionally reward me for good behavior for the rest of my life.

As a Texas BBall fan, I get to enjoy the excitement and mystery of watching an almost completely new team every damn year. So, even if the crappy luck with returning star talent keeps from ever making another final four appearance, I will enjoy having an avenue in life that presses my novelty button.

Also, Scip, you have a very entertaining way with words that I appreciate. You are the Jeremy Clarkson of sports writing. Or maybe Clarkson is the Scipio Tex of car show presenting.

Scipio – I, too would pay $40 just for an internet subscription. I actually emailed ESPN to suggest they offer that option for those of us outside the US, since that in no way could compete with the cable companies.

Not holding my breath waiting for a reply.

I really did enjoy watching the basketball game, as well as the volleyball. Damn, I wish I could watch these, plus baseball, etc. Hell, I even watched them hunting for water snakes in Waller Creek!

Back to basketball. This should be a fun team to watch grow up. Thanks for the report.

Butch & Sundance, “Who are these guys?”

For some reason that’s what kept popping up in my head. Their potential is off in the distance, but damn if it doesn’t give you the chills with its unrelenting promise.

Crazy Joe – I started to make the same point, thinking I had somehow clicked on a football post.

Both teams can be fun to watch, unless you expect a certain result, and let yourself get down when that result fails to materialize.

As a cruising sailor, I never say I’m sailing TO somewhere. I just say I’m sailing TOWARDS somewhere. This avoids the implication that I am somehow guaranteed to arrive where I’m aiming. I think following UT sports this year I’m going to take the same tack.

I liked that JVG was doing the game. It allowed me to feel superior to all others who aren’t fans of Texas. That’s why we are fans right? Seriously, that is pretty cool for the LHN. I heard he and Breen are going to be doing more games for LHN as well. They will have time to do the whole season now.

These seasons sans high expectations are always my favorite. I actually think we have one of the easiest schedules for our standards in quite a while. At UNC is a killer game but there really isn’t another tough OOC game. Our other two toughest OOC opponents Vandy and UCLA got stomped at home by Cleveland St and Loyola Marymount, respectively. Our typical OOC slate is brutal. Throw in a weaker than normal Big 12 and we got ourselves a problem come early March when SOS and RPI start to mean something other than Police chorus and nerdy schools in Rochester, NY.

I find those who immediately want to assume that the second-half disasters of the recent past await this team are simply denying the fun that can be had watching this young team.

Waiting for a coming meltdown doesn’t allow for having a good time watching good athletes try to learn how to play at an elite level.

It has been a part of recent history, but you will find that if you look at the entire landscape during Barnes’ tenure, you will see that his success here has been built on taking mid-level talent and developing it to blend in with the stars.

Royal Ivey
Brandon Mouton
Brian Boddicker
Syd Harris
Jason Klotz
Kenton Paulino
P.J. Tucker

All were quality contributors who got better here. Perhaps with Rob Lanier back in the fold there is someone on the staff who can get Barnes to tap the brakes now and then. All I know is I see no upside to go into the season expecting another implosion. It isn’t worth the effort.

I intend to follow Scipio’s template for the season and enjoy the rollercoaster ride right to the end.

Y’all should watch this.
 
http://www.texassports.com/allaccess/?media=280204
  
- The part at 1:09 where he’s talking to Lanier’s son made me laugh out loud. I re-watched it about five times. The kid looks like he’s 12.
 
- He’s really encouraging this group to shoot the ball when it’s there. “We’re not trying to run offense, we’re trying to score.”

By the way, JFG compared J’Covan to Sam Cassell. Brilliant comparison.

I agree about the J’Covan/Cassell comparison. It’s the best one I’ve heard. Whenever people try to make comparisons between college/high school players and pros, it seems like it’s always referencing a “star” player…like I won’t get the comparison unless every PG is like Chris Paul. A good example of, again, why I liked Van Gundy and how college hoops fans win due to the lockout.

Very much enjoyed the write up, Scipio. This team is exciting and interesting, and I was grinning ear-to-ear last night at the Erwin Center watching Kabongo lead a group of players over to the north student section to high-five with fans — it seemed reflective of the attitude and chemistry of this young group. This is a very likable team/group of players.

srr50 – Spot on with all your points, although I’ll correct the end of your first sentence for you:

I find those who immediately want to assume that the second-half disasters of the recent past await this team are simply denying the fun that can be had watching this young team not basketball fans.

HTML fail. Strikethrough: “simply denying the fun that can be had watching this young team”

Back when Illinois was looking for a coach — no fair saying they’re still looking because they have Bruce Weber — I loved the nickname they had for JVG: Lord Van Gundy.

NBA rules are much better than college rules regarding the shot clock
35 seconds is an eternity. 100 percent of college point guards spend 8 of them per half court possession dribbling around 5 or 6 feet behind the three point line. Learn to run an offense for real kiddies!

Remember how James Thomas/Damion James had a sixth sense for rebounding, pulled down 8 boards before they tightened their shoe laces, ate rebounds for an appetizer? Jonathan Holmes fiercely lacks that.
Who was the leader of this team last year…how about the year before? Hard to name right? J’Covan is the no doubt head of this ship, that’s worth the price of admission in and of itself.

So, how are all those guys that would have been starters that left early doing in the NBA? Oh, yeah, they’re still sitting on their asses, great.

Every time I have heard JVG on the radio I have enjoyed and felt that I picked something up about basketball. His knowledge is as good as anyone on the game, the guy who known for watching more film than Peyton Manning, and to top it all he really has a great sense of humor.

My favorite JVG radio moment was his description of teaching his daughter’s youth basketball team how to play a zone defense.

Nice thoughts, Scip. Yes, we’re young, we’re inexperienced, and we’re small, but we should be damn fun to watch.

I think you’re underselling Gibbs ability to contribute. When J’Covan or Myck aren’t running the point, Gibbs did a pretty decent job. He made a couple good looking passes that let us score with virtually all back ups in at the end. He’s definitely a serviceable player there for 10 minutes at least.

Klust -
  
I undersold Gibbs by saying he’d give us 10-15 minutes per game and you think he’s serviceable for 10.
 
Okay.

I think we’d be pretty damn good if we had someone like, oh, say, Tristan Thompson. That would be fun.
It always seems like we’re “a player away” in basketball, although it’s not like we’re the only school that feels that way.

I can see JCB doing the big balls dance.