tylerlindsey2111

Pope is not this team’s issue; the idea Pope is a supplier of offense for others is an issue.

Agreed, but that’s a possession that was doomed to die from outset. He’s given ball in iso set after Kent has taken life out of possession. No, he’s not a finisher or driver, but we’ve gotta be better in our initial after a make flow than just coming down and standing.

Big thing we’ve learned this year in portal era.. just because you were good at a good mid major, does not mean you can be really effective at this level. Larry/Kent are good examples. Not terrible, but nowhere near productive, good SEC players.

Next possession after the Grill made 3 is an awful possession resulting in a <15% three point shot.

Early pitch action in transition is a great plus. Little action like that creates advantage. Are we always going to get a made 3? No, but it triggers the dominoes to allow us to get an advantage downhill. Tempo/pace would help this group SUBSTANTIALLY.

While I agree more teams are foregoing the use of old school "continuity" base offenses, more teams are generally playing out of called concepts that are layered to provide triggers to create advantages in space for their best players (funny enough, a lot of these initial create actions have Princeton as a origin point). Alignment typically is the first call and decision in this, such as a horns look or a domino look or a traditional 5 out spacing. There are still teams running continuity; Auburn runs a version of the Flex, Gonzaga and Arizona are ball screen continuity, etc. But more teams are going with the UCONN model, or attempting to. Texas appears to be very limited in their creates, and lack execution in the simplest of these. Leads to a lot of stagnation, a ton of stationary dribbling (not to be confused with driving) and a lot of out of rhythm jump shots, or poor post ups.. (Onyema, anyone?) From an offensive philosophy perspective, in essentially year three, this philosophy gives me great concern when paired with style of player being sought by staff.

As a very educated guess, I would say it is a combination of both this year. Lots of "gotta get mine" coupled with an inability to put them in spots to be successful. Everyone feels like they are the guy to stop a run, to bail the team out, to call their own number, etc. Everyone can't play hero. Not you two, but for the uninterested observer that is curious of the carryover effect of this to the rest of the game, when Texas struggles to score, watch how many penetrating or positive passes are made (hint: it is very few). Additionally, then track the number of contested, low efficiency shots that are taken (hint: number is very high). Lastly, once these two things occur on offense, look at the poor effort to get back defensively. Becomes the circular guillotine that kills a basketball team.

I tend to agree with the prevailing sentiment from you guys about this year's team, and what will realistically bring RT back (whether I would like that or not). My bigger concern is the overall direction/philosophy of the program. There is no identity of which we can go to games or turn the TV on and say "we know FOR SURE we will see XYZ tonight." That is a clear leadership issue. It is evident in the way they have approached portal recruiting. Am I blaming it all on them? No, investment and resources matter. However, the inability to be sharp in ATO's, the lack of advantage shot creation, and the inability to quell runs from good teams are coaching/program issues and have existed since RT took over.

I would say no. I think that is a small view, results based approach.. similar to what has landed you in this situation. There needs to be wholesale changes, both on the program side and the donor/fan/investment side. Basketball has to matter for more than just a few weeks in Feb/March between end of football and spring practice.

@Jordan91@bierce Any thoughts to add? I see you guys are the main MBB contributors, so decided to help a bit.

I understand the thought process of adding guys who can go get their own and the value it brings, specifically late clock situations. Texas, however, has too many possessions with either no ball/player movement that ends in a forced shot/turnover, or they run a 1-5 pick and roll with Larry/Onyema, which is less than ideal in any situation. I have yet to understand why we are not utilizing our iso and shot making strengths by putting help-side defenders on islands to make choices in downhill attacks, especially early in the clock.

Clearly, at a critical point in the season. Lunardi still likes their chances to get in. I, however, do not. Stagnation, lack of ball movement, reliance on iso drive and 1v1 shot creation without action/gap creation seems to be overwhelming issues offensively. Defensively, it appears they only lock in for long stretches when they are scoring, which creates issues in its own right. How is everyone else feeling? What is the threshold for RT getting another year? Maybe we can liven the basketball interest up, there seems to be some good basketball discussion from time to time on here.

I am trying to find out the same before I buy tickets.

How is the weather going to affect this?