So, You've Decided It's Time To Tune Into Texas Basketball

If you’ve been watching this team already this year, this article might run a little hollow or simple. If you haven’t, please allow this article to be an easy introduction to UT men’s hoops in year one under Sean Miller. Truth be told, Joe asked me to write this article shortly before New Year’s and I didn’t come through.

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My reasoning, if you’re willing to call it that, was based on two specific troubles:

1. What seems to unquestionably be the most important Football Portal Window of Steve Sarkisian’s career was about to begin and I wasn’t sure anybody was even going to bother reading a hoops article while they were busy smashing that F5 button in hopes of getting up-to-the-second info; and
2. Texas (Men’s, important caveat) Basketball was playing like dogsh**.

I guess your mileage may vary (we have some awesome, dedicated hoops fans that I’m sure would have given me a courtesy read), but it just really didn’t feel like the time.

Luckily, Miller’s guys found some form and have put together two impressive wins in a row (at Alabama and home against a previously unbeaten Vanderbilt a couple of nights ago). Plus, I’m guessing that many here have more intellectual bandwidth to spare on hoops as the Portal comes to a close.

So… here we go.

How We Got Here

As has recently been the case at Texas, the non-conference slate was a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde dichotomy. The Longhorns ran up (occasionally convincing) wins against a number of Quadrant 4 teams like Rider, Lafayette, Fairleigh Dickinson, Le Moyne, Maryland-Eastern Shore, etc. They also took their lumps against P5 teams Duke, UConn, Virginia and Arizona State.

Then, as SEC play began, Texas followed up a concerning home defeat to Mississippi State with an understandable butt whooping at the hands of a Rick Barnes coached Tennessee squad.

Add in the two aforementioned recent excellent wins and… voila! 11-6 (2-2) here we are!

What’s Not Working

Even with the current uptick in positivity, it’s probably prudent to start here.

There still are some issues to traverse.

• Defensive Zeal. There have been times where defensive awareness, effort and execution has been terrible. Execution can be frustrating. Awareness can be tricky while still gaining comfort in a new system. A lack of effort is a joke. It’s impossible to take any team seriously when you can genuinely question whether they even try on defense.
• Defensive Personnel. Chendall Weaver is a ******* rock star, defensively. Cam Heide is capable. Dailyn Swain also has some defensive chops (when he decides to use them). But the rest of Texas’ roster includes guys with some tough hurdles to get over as it pertains to defensive excellence (namely lateral quickness, length, explosiveness and timing).
• No Standout Playmaker. We’ll touch on positives in a moment, but while Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark have some real strengths on offense, neither is a true point guard nor do either of them possess the ability to consistently pass people open or force defenses to rotate in ways that make offense a lot easier for their teammates. You can win without a stud point guard, but it ain’t easy.
• Turnovers. It’s funny. Texas is either super sloppy with the ball, or they really aren’t. A lot of the time, they play sound, safe offensive basketball. But for weird two-to-four minute stretches just about every game, they rack up boneheaded, avoidable turnovers. That’s a tough recipe for a team that already struggles some on the defensive side of the ball.

What Is Working

• Roster Construction. For having a short period of time to build the roster, Miller and co. did a solid job of assembling pieces that fit to form a cohesive team. They have ball handling guards. They have athletic wings. They have multiple bigs. If you haven’t seen them, they do resemble a squad that was put together with real thoughtfulness and fidelity. That suggests a level of systemic competence, which is a nice thought as we look to the future.
• Shooting. Other than Swain and Weaver (two indispensable guys for this roster), everybody can shoot. In fact, if you were to take away Dailyn and Chendall’s portion of Texas’ perimeter shots, the Longhorns would be around 38% from deep, which would put them close to Top 20 in the nation for that category. As is, they’re still rocking team splits of 49/35/73, which is plenty good.
• Rebounding. More on this in a bit, as well, but Texas is one of the top rebounding teams in the country. It helps when your best overall player (Swain) gets after it like he does. But Weaver is fantastic on the glass for a guard, too and (and this is not meant as hyperbole) but Lassina Traore is legitimately one of the best rebounders I’ve seen in my time watching Texas hoops. That guy is a vacuum on the glass every single game.

What Could Work Moving Forward

• Multiple Offensive Looks. While they’re missing a true point guard. Texas can employ not only a diverse lineup of capable shooters/playmakers but also a diverse set of stylistic options. They can utilize dribble hand offs around the perimeter with any of Swain, Mark, Pope, Wilcher, Heide or Weaver and attack off movement. They can run pick and roll looks with Swain, Heide, Vokietaitis or Traore setting screens. They can feed Vokietaitis on post entries and allow him to play through the low block (though him being able to pass out of the low block would add a nice wrinkle). Regardless, Texas does have some answers that could allow them to adjust to different defenses or exploit specific weaknesses of opponents.
• If the Defense Can Ramp Up…In our new portal-infused world, competence has never been more assured. High major teams are benefiting from the ability to nab proficient players who have proven they can execute at the D1 level. That’s mostly true everywhere as far as who Texas will play the rest of this season. So, if your defense is struggling, it’s difficult to change your stars as team after team will have the competence to take advantage of those struggles. But what if your struggles are effort related (as it certainly appears to have been in Texas’ case) and your coaching staff’s messages finally get through? If that were to happen, particularly when coupled with Texas’ ability to get snag rebounds, this team could actually be pretty strong.

The Endgame

This team has some flaws. Relying on Swain as their best playmaker can be tricky. Expecting Vokietaitis to stay out of foul trouble and execute against quicker, athletic post defenders every game is a bit unlikely. Needing Tramon’s or Jordan’s shotmaking to keep the offense afloat during rough stretches can be a risky proposition.

I’m not going to be putting in any Final Four bets on this team.

Still, there are seven guys (maybe eight if Wilcher can see the game slow down for him here any time soon) that can legitimately play at this level and the matching skill sets make sense.

Look, their next three opponents (host A&M, at Kentucky, and host Georgia) could all send Texas’ positive momentum crashing back to earth, but there’s something here.

And kudos to Miller and his staff for not allowing the team to give up or fold after the 0-2 start to league play.

Thanks for reading, friends.