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A Few Thoughts on the St. Joe’s Game…Hoops

Posted by Trips Right on November 24th, 2008 under Basketball

Gonna watch this two o’clock tip with great interest. This will be the first true test of Texas’ guard play because St. Joe’s is a guard oriented squad that has the ability to give Texas fits on the perimeter. The problem for the Hawks is they struggle on the glass, yet aren’t deep enough to get in a track meet with Texas. Look for St Joe’s to try to dominate tempo by mixing and matching man and zone defensively, and running possessions deep into the shot clock offensively. Evidently the oddsmakers like St Joe’s to be competitive because the Horns are just 8 point favorites in the game. Here are some random thoughts.

Will Texas press and if so will they press with big personnel? It’s tough to press a three guard offense especially if you want to go big in the front court. But with St. Joe’s propensity to turn the ball over, Texas should atleast press in spurts. Plus, St Joe’s basically goes 8 deep and Texas can really impose its will by pressing in spots to emphasize the depth advantage, which leads to the next thought.

Texas’ advantage will be huge along the frontcourt. The Hawks have been outrebounded badly in their first two games against Holy Cross and Rider. I’d love to see a heavy dose of Atchley, Pittman, and James eating glass today. Pound and play volleyball.

Can Texas’ guards force tempo? Defensively Texas can pressure and try to get St Joe’s to speed up, but offensively it might be difficult because the Horns lack players that can create offense off the dribble. If I’m Barnes I’m telling my guards to break when easy buckets are available, but running offense to get my posts involved should be of paramount importance given the Hawks like of size and depth. The worst thing the Horns can do is artificially speed up the game with poor shot selection and quick shots. Either get a layup or wide open 3 in transition, or slow up and run offense. In between is exactly how St Joe’s wants you to play.

Foul shooting. Hopefully it doesn’t come into play this game, but Texas runs the risk of poor foul shooting becoming psychological if they continue to struggle at the line this early in the season. Hit 20 out of 25 today, and it’s less likely to get in the collective heads of the Longhorn players. Hit 15 out of 25 and the Horns might start to grip. Foul shooting is not only important today, but down the road when Texas needs them vs. the big boys.

I’ll be back with a game breakdown this afternoon.

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28 Responses

  1. Vasherized said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 9:48 am

    I love the 2 p.m. tip on a Monday. Now I just wish I was in Maui.

    Nice writeup. Can’t say I know much about this St. Joe’s team but from watching many of Dunphy’s teams over the years from when I lived in Philly, I’m surprised at their turnover ratio. There’s certainly no Jameer Nelson on the squad but they’ve always taken care of the ball pretty well as Dunphy is a very good coach on fundamentals.

    We should wipe them clean on the glass and hopefully finish the job at the free throw line.

    I expect Balbay to take a nice leap this week with his contributions from the PG spot.

    I mean what Turk doesn’t feel right at home in Hawaii?

  2. Vasherized said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 9:51 am

    I forgot Dunphy left for Temple a few years agop. The same would apply to Martelli though, they’re both solid coaches.

  3. dick said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 10:46 am

    I thought Dunphy went from Penn to Temple. Martelli’s been there for at least 5 years.

  4. Kansas Horn said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 11:25 am

    Any idea if you can catch the game online anywhere….. please just don’t say ESPN 360. We don’t have a cable co. that supports it.

  5. Vasherized said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 11:55 am

    Try channelsurfing.net

  6. Minnesotahorn said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 11:55 am

    Gamecast frustrations:

    3:00 20-32 A.J. Abrams Defensive Rebound.
    2:52 20-32 A.J. Abrams missed Three Point Jumper.

  7. Kansas Horn said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    Thanks Vash

  8. Trips Right said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:11 pm

    Barnes is playing for tomorrow. Atchley and Mason have hardly played. Barnes realizes Harangody and McAlarney are going to be a bitch to deal with.

    We can’t have Dogus and Varez on the floor at the same time. Teams will zone us to death.

    Abrams actually looks good on the ball. Problem is that he’s more effective shooting the ball coming off screens.

    Damion James is killing us with quick midrange shots. He needs to get to the rim or run offense. I mentioned how these shots undermine what we should try to accomplish. We should look for easy buckets in transition or run offense with the idea of pounding with our big people. Quick midrange jumpers in between suit the Hawks just fine.

    We looked quick and aggressive on defense the first ten minutes. Bo Ryan good. Benching Atchley and Mason, even for good reason, has cost us the last ten minutes. But I get what Barnes is doing.

  9. Whodat said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:16 pm

    I think both Atchley and Mason both have 2 fouls, hence their limited play time. I expect to see them return in the 2nd half.

  10. Kansas Horn said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:22 pm

    starting the 2nd half off right

  11. Trips Right said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:29 pm

    Whodat, you’re probably right. But limiting their minutes wouldn’t be a bad idea.

  12. Minnesotahorn said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    Thanks for your thoughts Trips. They’re much appreciated.

  13. Trips Right said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:30 pm

    James is doing a much better job of looking to attack the rim.

    Pittman can be a weapon if we would enter the goddamn ball.

  14. dick said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:43 pm

    holy crap our d is good.

  15. Trips Right said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    Dogus in. Two-three zone. Get used to it partner. We need to put some shooters on the floor to help him out.

  16. Vasherized said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:53 pm

    Nice games from Gary Johnson and Wangmene.

    Balbay is still hesitant at PG. Abrams is our best PG right now, as difficult as it is to say. I’d much rather have him at the 2.

    Mason and Ward are both out of synch offensively today.

  17. Trips Right said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 12:59 pm

    Vash,

    Johnson and Wangmene looked very good. Mason and James were disappointing. Balbay is still rusty, but showed some flashes with a couple of would be dimes that our bigs need to catch and finish. We’ll find out an awful lot more about this team tomorrow because ND has a crap load of talent.

  18. Vasherized said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 1:07 pm

    I agree we could have our hands full with the Irish. Harangody is a stud.

    I’d like to get our starters out of the game like five minutes ago.

    You can see glimpses of the good things that Balbay will eventually bring to the table more consistently.

  19. Kafka said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 2:58 pm

    Wangmene was pretty awesome today: 8 point and 7 rebounds in just 9 minutes. I wondered when he was finally going to get an opportunity.

    Gary had 14 points and 10 rebounds in just 23 minutes. Dex did not get too many opportunities to score but he got 4 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 block, and 1 nice assist in just 10 minutes.

    Ward had 4 assists in 12 minutes. The guy is a player.

    Mason needs to learn to not throw the ball low to the big guys. Maybe the best approach is to get the ball to the high post first and let the high post guy pass the ball to the low post guy.

    Re Balbay: it is hard to play a PG who can not hit the college 3 so I hope Balbay can hit the 3.

    I don’t get the impression that Mason and Damion are real great at ball handling.

    The horns are going to have lots of opportunities for fast breaks but Barnes is going to have to deal with the fact that fast breaking attacks are going to have some turnovers. The way he reamed Ward (a true freshman) when Ward slightly overthrew Connor was a bit excessive.

    Sure wish Barnes encouraged an inside-out attack instead of encouraging guys to jack up the first clear 20 foot jumper that is available.

  20. Bob in Houston said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 2:59 pm

    Atchley sat most of the first half because of two fouls.

    If they pack the defense, they can play with anyone. Problem as I see it is that last year’s 88-84 game is more likely to be 58-54 this year because they haven’t worked out how to score. FTs are adventures, and inside shots are estimates.

    They can win with defense, but they need more twos.

  21. Bob in Houston said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 3:08 pm

    “The way he reamed Ward (a true freshman) when Ward slightly overthrew Connor was a bit excessive.”

    That’s the way he’s always done it.

    “Sure wish Barnes encouraged an inside-out attack instead of encouraging guys to jack up the first clear 20 foot jumper that is available.”

    Ya think he was encouraging those…?

  22. The General said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 3:28 pm

    I could only watch the first half, but . . .

    I have no problem with Damian James’s shot selection or jumper’s off the dribble. He has a very good two dribble then jump shot move. Those shots are going in and out. When they start falling he will be fine.

    I know he needs to get to the rim, but he gets out of control when he attacks the basket.

    AJ is our best point guard.

    I think Barnes does encourage AJ, Damian, and Atchley to take any shot they can get. A bad shot from them has statistical advantages over a layup from Clint Chapman.

    We are a much, much better team with Connor Atchley in the game than without.

    How about this shit?

    NBA DRAFT NET – Senior Rankings Released

    Connor Atchley Eats Your Soul
    Connor Atchley
    Photo: IconSMI

  23. huge said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 3:41 pm

    atchely over hansbrough, we’ll see

  24. RansomStoddard said:

    November 24th, 2008 at 5:59 pm

    You guys sure are serious for this early in the season. I get the sense Barnes is just fooling around with some lineups and wants to see what the best offensive strategy will be. This team is pretty good.

  25. Bob in Houston said:

    November 25th, 2008 at 4:01 am

    It’ll be interesting to see what Vegas does with this team. Only a nine-point favorite yesterday.

  26. Nordberg said:

    November 25th, 2008 at 5:46 am

    Ransom that’s the most optimistic thing I’ve ever heard from you.

  27. huge said:

    November 25th, 2008 at 9:01 am

    i saw Texas -2.5, is that what you see?

  28. RRR said:

    November 25th, 2008 at 9:45 am

    Trips, are you going to preview Notre Dame today?

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