OTF Premium Sean Miller previews No. 7 Texas' season opener vs. Chicago State | Sunday, 2:45 p.m.

[Jeff Howe]

Just now, Jeff Howe said:

Texas has grown and learned from two closed scrimmages against Arizona State and SMU, plus the exhibition against St. John's.

"There will be a lot we can grow from and learn from, for sure," Miller said of Texas playing three games in eight days to open the season.

[Jeff Howe]

Texas has a higher starting point and a higher ceiling than it had a year ago, "but that doesn't mean we're going to get there," Miller said.

[Jeff Howe]

Just now, Jeff Howe said:

Texas has a higher starting point and a higher ceiling than it had a year ago, "but that doesn't mean we're going to get there," Miller said.

Miller: "I believe that our room for growth will be greater than some teams we play against."

[Jeff Howe]

Miller takes the No. 7 ranking in the AP Top 25 as a compliment.

Miller doesn't believe Texas is one of the top-10 teams in the country right now. He believes Texas can get there, but "we need to be on that quest to improve."

[Jeff Howe]

Matas is "much more agile away from the basket than you think he is," Miller said.

That should allow him to stay on the court late in games instead of subbing him out for defensive purposes. Miller said they've put him in a position to be better in situations where he switches and has to be on a smaller, quicker player.

[Jeff Howe]

David Punch anchored TCU's defense, Miller said. Punch's long arms, quickness and great instincts make him a great player. Punch and Matas playing together can work for Texas defensively, Miller said.

[Jeff Howe]

Miller mentioned that Marcus Spears and Amari Evans can allow Texas to play bigger defensively.

[Jeff Howe]

That's it for Sean Miller.

Looking forward to tomorrow's opener at Moody Center.

[Gerry Hamilton]

Watching Amari Evans to challenge Elyjah Freeman 

[LonghornFan4Ever]

If Lewis Obiorah as the backup center can give Texas some good minutes against the bigger teams in the SEC, that raises the floor of this team.

[Jordan Scruggs]

46 minutes ago, Jeff Howe said:

Miller: "Tomorrow is the first time everybody except Matas has played a home game at Moody... We have to get through these types of experiences, especially in the month of November."

This is crazy but it's modern day CBB in a nutshell

[DanielOnorato]

Marcus spears will definitely start at some point this year and have ability to run the offense as a point forward. He is a modern day Michael beasley/Chris bosh type player. Will absolutely have the ability to play the 3 and be a better ball handler than most people have projected. 

[DanielOnorato]

10 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

Without Lewis, Austin Goosby, Bo Ogden and Joe Sterling are in more prominent roles. Texas is young and inexperienced without Lewis in the backcourt.

"Without Mikey, it makes us younger," he said. Miller added that the youth might've shown up in the exhibition against St. John's.

Joe Sterling needs to be on the court as a free throw shooter when teams foul at ends of games. Weaponize my boy. 🤘

[DanielOnorato]

10 hours ago, Jeff Howe said:

Miller said he changed the way he covered screens in his second stint at Xavier, relying more on drop coverage. He brought that to Texas because he didn't feel the Longhorns could handle it because of the lack of depth, particularly in the front court.

With that said, expect Texas to be more aggressive this season, Miller said. He expects this team will play with better tempo and be able to rely more on blocks and deflections than last year's team did.

The change is part personnel, part philosophy.

I have always loved hard hedging with connectivity for proper rotations. Sean Miller is brilliant. Thanks for the nugget. 

[longhorninaledo]

Thanks Jeff...super excited for the season and the coverage that you and Gerry will provide on OTF for Texas Hoops!

[Gerry Hamilton]

14 hours ago, LonghornFan4Ever said:

If Lewis Obiorah as the backup center can give Texas some good minutes against the bigger teams in the SEC, that raises the floor of this team.

He'll be a short spurt player rim protector. Rim protector and paint defender.

I'm not sure it changes much, but it's nice to have in spurts

[harveycmd]

The absence of a true point guard against St. Johns was a big problem. Most teams can't pressure like SJ, but it's definitely a potential problem for this team if the guards don't improve their ball handling. It's not a coincidence that Pitino told Jon Rothstein in an interview a couple of days before the game that teams who think they can get away with combo guards rather than true point guards are living in a dream world.