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Longhorn in Austin

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Hey guys,
Greetings from Longhorn Nation. I get the impression you guys know very little about the Longhorns so I thought I would give y'all a quick overview.

The Longhorns have been very inconsistent this year, which isn't the norm for a Rick Barnes squad. It is most easily attributable to the departure of several NBA lottery picks over the last couple years (Augustine, Aldridge, Durant, Gibson, etc.) leaving us for the most part with an interesting mix of highly talented role players.

Center:
First and foremost, we play with a true old fashioned big man at Center - Dexter Pittman. Lately, our offense has run through Dexter who is an NBA caliber talent. He stands at 6-10, 300lbs and he knows how to use every bit of that big frame. If the refs allow for a physical game, expect Texas to win. If the refs call ticky-tacky fouls, Dexter will be on the bench quickly and Minnesota has a great chance.

Gaurds:
AJ Abrams is the ONLY true perimeter threat on the team. Granted, he has scored more 3-pointers than anyone in the history of the Big 12, but I can’t emphasize how poorly the rest of the team shoots from outside. Teams have literally assigned a player to shadow AJ at all times and it has greatly reduced our overall scoring potential.

Justin Mason is our ‘glue’ guy. He is the scrappiest player on the team. His motor is constantly turning and always seems to be at the right place at the right time. He doesn’t have an outside shot and isn’t the best ball handler, but it is hard not to love this kids attitude on the court. He is always at the right place at the right time.

Dogus Balbay handles the point most of the time. He can’t shoot from anywhere on the court, including the free throw line… but he is very quick and distributes the ball very well. Varez Ward is a freshman full of potential, but he probably won’t make a large difference in this game.

Forwards:
Texas’ forwards can compete with anyone in the country – IF they are on. Damion James (6’7) is the most well rounded player/athlete on the team. He gets a double double almost every outing, and yet he is also one of the most inconsistent players on the team because he has a hard time creating his own offense even though he has the tools. Gary Johnson (6’6), IMO, is the key to Texas’ success. He seems to ignite the team and does the best job of creating his own shots. He has a good mid-range jump shot and his motor, like Mason’s, is constantly running. Conner Atchley (6’10) is the biggest disappointment of all the players this year. He was an integral part of the team the last 3 years and most Longhorns expected him to play at the next level. This year, outside of two games, he has rarely contributed to the success of the team. Matt Hill (6’10) and Clint Chapman (6’10) are lanky forward/center types that will get their minutes and pull in their share of rebounds, but they likely won’t alter the outcome of the game.

All in all, this team has been too inconsistent to predict. We have looked like a top 16 team at times with impressive wins over UCLA, Villanova, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin. We had also had very close losses to Michigan State and Kansas. Then there were times this team looked like it was NIT bound. I could see us making it to the Elite 8. I could see us losing to y’all in the first round. It is just impossible to predict with this team.

It is late… but feel free to post questions and I’ll do my best to answer.
 

Thanks for the insight. From what I've seen from the Horns on TV this year, it seems like if Abrams is hitting 3s you have a good chance to beat anyone, when he's not, you are very beatable ?? But I also seem to have seen Pittman start to pick up his game lately. We may have trouble with him, as our big guys are a little inexperienced.... All in all I think it will be an entertaining game, I was happy to just see us make it, but I think Texas is a tough draw for us.
 

It isn't a matter of whether AJ is on. He is almost always on. If he has a wide open perimter shot, he'll make it 90% of the time. The question is whether he'll be wide open. He has pretty good off-ball movement, but if you shadow him with an equally agile player, he won't be wide open. Texas will set screens for him, but that still makes him shoot at a lower percentage. That is why pretty much everyone in the Big 12 regular season dedicated a player to covering him 1:1 the entire game.
 

Mr Longhorn,

From what I've seen on tv of you guys, I've gotten the impression that if the game is close, Texas does whatever they can to get the ball to Abrams. I look at the nebraska game, Abrams had somebody (dont know who it was or if he can shoot) open at the top of the key, but instead took an off-balance 3 to tie the game with two guys in his face. I guess what I am trying to say is that IMO Abrams seems to force it a little too much when the game is on the line. What do you think?
 

Early in the season, we did depend on AJ way too often in close games. We don't do that as much anymore. In fact, we had a very close game against K-State in the Big 12 tourney in which AJ only took 4 shots. Dexter Pittman on the other hand shot the ball 12 times.

Now... If we need a 3 in the final minute, you better believe AJ will be taking the shot - even if it is off balance with a hand in his face.
 



I and almost anyone else here can answer that for you. It is our guard play. VERY inconsistent. They have a tough time holding onto the ball, lots of turnovers and their shooting has been bad most of the year. Westbrook has the ability to take over a game if he is on, if he's not though, he forces bad shots and can a little helter-skelter.
Nolen pretty much has been a disappointment all year long. He defends as good as anyone, but his decision making and turnovers have been a huge problem.
Our inside guys are tough, we have outrebounded most teams we have played this year, Tubby makes his guys rebound. Get in an up and down game with us and we can and probably will beat ya. Slow it down though and make us play some half court offense, and we will have lots of trouble scoring. Most teams seems to pack their defense in the lane hard against us, as our frontline does a good job, but our guards lack the ability to hit the big threes that we will need to win some of these tough games in the NCAAs.
 

3-point shooting has been up and down. Mainly down lately though. At the start of the BT season we were 9-9 one game from 3, lately though we have been around 25-30 percent in most games. Turnovers have also cost us a great deal. I don't know any numbers off the top of my head, but we lost the Michigan game because of them (I think we had 20 or 23 that game), and a couple others as well. I am really looking forward to see how we match-up with Pittman. We have 2 freshman posts, one is a banger (Colton Iverson), and the other (Ralph Sampson III) is more of a finesse player. Our biggest strength is our defense. We have been pretty stingy lately with our defense and having our defense create offense. Our weakpoint in our defense though is our perimeter D. Kind of scary going up against Abrams.
 

I think the biggest strength of this team (outside of our defense - expect a lot of blocked shots) is depth. We will play 10 players in the first 15 minutes of the game, regularly. We will keep fresh legs on the court the entire game. Our starting lineup is not necessarliy our best lineup.
 



Longhorn in Austin said:
If the refs allow for a physical game, expect Texas to win.
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I know you have a lot of faith in your big to bang around and score a ton if the refs allow a physical game, but this may be a misstatement. The Gophers play face-up, aggressive defense, which is definitely the strongest point on this team. If the refs are allowing some of our better defenders to play a physical game, avoid foul trouble, and stay on the court, baskets may be difficult to come by. Though Dexter may get his if they allow the game to be played physically, I wouldn't expect Texas to score more than 60-65 if this is the style dictating by officiating.

The sad thing is, 65 may very well be enough to beat the Gophers.
 

As others have said.. Defense is our biggest strength. We will get after you the whole game. We create plenty of turnovers and block a lot of shots. Our rebounding is solid as well. We are pretty athletic.

Our weakness is scoring in a half court setting and turnovers. We tend to turn the ball over a lot in our half court set. Our guards are very good defenders but poor at running a half court offense. Our offense is best in transition. Our guards tend to do well in transition and like to push the ball. In the Big Ten, this is difficult which is probably why we are .500 in league play. We cannot shoot the 3 well...but have a couple guys that can get hot.

We have three big guys that can play a true center position and our depth can wear teams down. At the end of the day..if we can hit some outside shots you're in trouble. If the game gets bogged down into a half court game..we are in trouble.

I think we match up well against Texas because we have guys that can play good man to man defense. Should be fun.
 

Nobody other than Michigan State all year has been able to beat us on the inside. This may sound strange since we have two freshman post players and they are not in there both at the same time other than the first four minutes of the game - but we have some athletic 3/4 players in Damien Johnson and Paul Carter. They are excellent defensively and get after the boards.

Most of our losses have been due to giving up WAY too many threes. In our seven losses against teams not named Michigan State we've given up 59 three pointers....almost nine per game!

This scares me not necessarily with Abrams - but with your other guys. We've struggled with TEAM 3 pt shooting. Abrams might hit a couple threes, but I have a feeling that guys who don't normally contribute behind the arc will. Balbay won't shoot at all, but guys like Justin Mason, Damion James, and ESPECIALLY Connor Atchley I fear hitting some unexpected threes. Atchley is the biggest threat because he is soft on the inside and he won't be able to be effective down there - but he has 3 pt ability and has underachieved all year. Seniors tend to step up come tournament time.

Shooting beyond five feet, turnovers, and 3 pt defense are the three issues with the Gopher team you are about to face.
 




Josh087,
You seem to know your Longhorn basketball. Atchley (6'10 forward/center) was a solid perimeter threat the last three years. Somehow he has managed to lose that stroke. For Texas' sake, it would be nice if he found that shot in the tournament. You are correct in that Balbay will NOT shoot the ball - period. Mason and James do shoot beyond the arc occasionally. If they are wide open, I'm guessing they make 25% of their attempts. Not good, but sometimes those baskets come when we most need them.

I'm excited to see Pittman go up against your big men. It should be great fun to watch. One factor we know little about is that Pittman got a concusion in our game against Baylor on Friday. If he is even remotely off his game, we are in trouble.
 

Thanks for the breakdown Longhorn. I haven't seen the Horns play much this year and knew little about them exept Abrams.
 

Longhorn,

I watch a TON of college basketball - maybe even as much as Selection Sunday, an expert on this site. Between all the ESPN networks, all of the FSN channels, national games on CBS, etc, and ESPN360.com I can't think of many teams I haven't watched. Add to that most of the games I watch are not live - I can zoom through them and maximize the amount of games I see.

I've seen Texas play probably 8-10 games this year. When Texas is at their best it is because they have been effective on the inside with Pittman and James early in the shot clock - and late in the clock with AJ in 1-1 situations. The success on the inside opens up Abrams a little more. Teams in the B12 have correctly shadowed him wherever he goes with a committed defender.

If I were a longhorn fan I would want to see the ball in Abrams hands more and less in Balbay's hands. Abrams should never have a four shot game. Balbay's european-style drive and kick nature isn't really conducive to the games of Pittman and James down low. Have it in Abrams hands up top and play an inside-outside game. It would only work with Abrams since Balbay won't put up a shot outside of 15 feet - so he is no threat and his defender can leave him open. We have a similar player in PG Al Nolen. The only difference is he actually puts up shots once in a while - but with no success, so we also struggle to have an effective inside game since opponents perimeter defenders can leave guards open up top.

All-in-all it should be a good game. I don't think we have the offense to keep up with you guys, so as long as it isn't a possession-to-possession game and you come to play defense and we don't get a ton of fast-break points or hit unexpected 3s you will probably win - but I think it will be a role player like Atchley who is the key.
 

If I were a longhorn fan I would want to see the ball in Abrams hands more
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I agree with everything except the above statement. AJ simply isn't a natural PG. He is a darn short SG. He can and has played point, but only does well when the defense is putting little pressure on him. Otherwise, he isn't very sure handed with the ball in his hand... and he certainly can't create a shot for himself so we lose his scoring ability. When he does play point, he has a tendancy to take it to the basket and pop up a mid-range floater which usually doesn't go in. It is about the most frustrating thing I can think of when it comes to this team. That floater kills me every time.
 


Longhorn in Austin said:
He is a darn short SG.
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His size might not be as big of a problem against Minnesota as it may have been against others. Our primary SG is Lawrence "Larry" Westbrook, who is only about 6' flat. When he's into the game (and I'd hope he would be for his first NCAA tournament game) he can be a pretty tenacious on-ball defender - but he won't loom over the top of anyone as a legit shot-blocking threat.
 


Gopherthewin said:
Weaknesses: Perimeter shooting and Travis Busch.
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Hahaha, its somewhat true. Busch has the amazing ability to make you go, BUSCH!!! or busch..........

he has had some suprisingly good games this year...
 

the key to this game for the gophers is Nolan. I dont know if anyone has noticed lately but westbrook and nolan are the only ones on our team who can actually drive..when teams pressure the perimeter and contest our passes around the arc (which comprises of 2/3 of the shot clock) if nolan decides to drive (and he can) and make a good decision once he is down low we got a darn good shot. Also nolan has been passing up A LOT of open looks..he either has to nut up and pull the trigger or get someone who will (joseph)...what does everyone think our starting lineup will be?? i hope tubby gives lanky carter a lot of time
 

Defending Busch

The Gophers wouldn't be in the tourney if it wasn't for Busch's contributions against Louisville and Iowa. Pretty significant influence for a walk on.
 

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