Basketball Articles
Texas vs. UNC Hoops preview
Posted by Trips Right on December 17th, 2009 under Basketball
For Texas Longhorn basketball, Saturday is huge. We’ve been pointing to this game as a program since being jobbed by Duke in the big dance last season. We’ve been pointing to this game since Damion James and Dexter Pittman decided to come back to school. Since Jordan Hamilton, J’Covan Brown, and Avery Bradley were wrecking shit in open runs in the off season, since Texas was ranked preseason number 2, and since it was evident that the teams on our schedule at least for the first month and half would provide little if any sort of test. For Texas Longhorn basketball Saturday, it gets real.
On the other side of the coin, the UNC Tar Heels have faced some stiff tests losing a tough ball game at Rupp Arena to the upstart Kentucky Wildcats and winning convincingly against a talented Michigan State club trying to find its identity. The Heels have been tested, and we’ve got a pretty good idea who they are and who they want to be as a result of these tests.
The Tar Heel Front Court
The bellcows of the Carolina pivot are bookend bigs 6-9 forward Deon Thompson and 6-10 forward Ed Davis. These two are long, strong, and athletic and when they aren’t bludgeoning you on the offensive glass for second chance points, they’re beating your bigs down the floor on the secondary break for easy post up opportunities on whatever poor bastard that gets back, likely your small forward or shooting guard. If you’re good enough to limit these aspects of their games, Davis and Thompson are above average back to the basket scorers. Ed Davis will look to pin you deep while Thompson has a better face up midrange game out of the post. These two compliment each other well.
Off the bench it’s a who’s who of college basketball recruiting and UNC may have the deepest frontcourt in the nation because of it. 7-0 Center Tyler Zeller and the 6-10 Wear twins come off the bench looking to continue to run, rebound, and post, but not necessarily in that order. This is where things may get dicey for the Horns but we’ll get to that. 6-10 fly swatter John Henson, Jr. will also get minutes and he’s more of a defensive specialist at this point in his career.
The Tar Heel Backcourt
Choose the cliche of your choice, but I’m going to go with everyone’s favorite, the straw that stirs the drink, to describe Larry Drew, II. He’s the Heel’s only legitimate point guard at this point in the season and the success of the Heels bigs and shooters alike, largely depends on Drew’s ability to create, especially in a halfcourt setting. If you allow Drew to penetrate and break down your defense, he’s going to find Ginyard for open looks, or he’s going to decimate your block out assignments by creating help situations. Either outcome is instant offense for the Heels because Ginyard can flat out shoot it, and Davis and Thompson will own the backboards if your 3 has to drop down and blockout the weakside glass because Damion James or Dex Pittman slides to help. We’ve already talked about Ginyard, a 6-5 AJ Abram who’s looking to spot up and shoot it, but the other wing is 6-5 sophomore Will Graves who has deep range although he’s struggled with his shot early in 2009. Dexter Stickland is a true freshman backup point guard who has struggled with turnovers, but he’s lightning quick and a talented shooter. He’ll be a great player down the road, but he struggles when pressured.
Keys to the Game for the Horns
This game may be the easiest game to breakdown of all the Horn’s heavy weight matches. It’s such a wheelhouse matchup for Texas. But to win, the Horns must do the following three things, and I’d like you to be the judge of their ability to pull these items off.
1) Keep Larry Drew in front and out of the lane.
Especially in the halfcourt. So much of what Carolina tries to do is predicated upon Drew creating offensive looks by breaking down your defense. Keep him out the lane and guys like Ginyard go from being good to decent shooters. Stay in front of Drew and maintain the integrity of your blockout shell and players like Thompson and Davis go from being good to decent rebounders. It’s quite simple. An added bonus is that it protects Pittman from picking up cheap helpside fouls. Remember, Carolina doesn’t have a 3 man like Xavier Henry or an off guard like UK’s Bledsoe to create offense and take that burden off of Drew. Drew creates or no one does for the Heels. Does Texas have someone that’s up for this task? You tell me.
2) Control Carolina’s secondary break.
Texas can do this by threatening the offensive glass and making the UNC bigs stay at home for a count to make sure a defensive rebound is controlled before getting into transition. Remember, the Carolina bigs are looking to run to the block, wait for a reversal, and pin the mismatched defender before your big can get up the floor. Texas bigs must also run to the floor defensively which should be no problem for guys like James and Wangmene. Pittman will have to battle through this aspect of the ballgame, but smothering on ball transition defense from Balbay and Bradley can really help to jam the break. Again, Texas has the athletes to control this component of the Tar Hell offensive arsenal.
3) Accept Carolina’s challenge to play uptempo.
I’m going to go out on a limb and guess Barnes will approach the game similarly to Kentucky in that he’ll welcome running up and down with the Heels counting on his advantage on the perimeter to show over the course of a ballgame that will see more possessions than your garden variety tilt. If we accept the challenge, we have to be willing to accept the fact that guys like Wangmene, Hill, and even Chapman may see signficant minutes at the expense of Big Dex’s, and that’s okay. An uptempo game mitigates the disparity in frontcourt talent and accentuates our advantage on the perimeter. As John Mackovic told James Brown, “Come to run.”
Fearless Predictions
I like the defensive matchups of James and Pittman on Thompson and Davis respectively. James’ athleticism should bother Thompson’s face up game while Pittman’s strength should confound Davis’ ability to carve out space for offense. On the perimeter, Balbay can literally take Drew out the game while Bradley is the perfect matchup for a player like Ginyard, someone that wants to spot up but can’t handle. Bradley has the athleticism and size to get to Ginyard’s shot especially if Ginyard can’t create space or threaten with the dribble. Again, if Texas can control Carolina’s break and prevent easy baskets, the Horns should be able to smother Carolina in a half court setting.
On offense, first and foremost, Texas must never have Balbay and Mason play any minutes together. There will be plenty of glue time for Mason with Brown or Lucas at the point. Backcourts of Bradley and Brown, Balbay and Bradley, Balbay and Brown only, please, unless you want to mix in some Lucas. Other than that, spread the floor, push the tempo, and enjoy a ballgame against a team that gave up 45 first half points to UK and 80 plus points to an Izzo coached club. Texas can and will score if UNC falls prey to its own DNA.
Hell if I’m Roy Williams, I’m tempted to slow the game down, play Strickland and Drew together as much as possible and try to body blow the Horns inside. If they play typical Tar Heel ball, their lack of ball handling depth coupled with their propensity to turn the ball over vs. pressure will get the Heels run out of Jerry World’s gym. But quite frankly, I don’t think Roy can help himself. So help yourself to a satisfying win against college basketball’s most storied program.
Hopefully somebody from Carolina March will swing by. Funny post here (The Strange Fantasies of Rick Barnes).
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Activity
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Nate Heupel commented on the blog post Oklahoma Sooners – Recruiting So Far 2 hours, 33 minutes ago
BOC: Neither has visited, yet we hold ’ships open for both.
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Nate Heupel wrote a new blog post: Because We’re Dedicated To Doing Stupid Things – Tiny Gallon Reportedly Took Payout 2 hours, 42 minutes ago
TMZ reports that Tiny Gallon took a $3000 payout from an agent. My God, Capel has no control over this team whatsoever. This is 2007 offseason Texas football levels of embarrassing. You can’t let a half dozen bad apples spoil a bushel of 10 apples…that analogy sucked balls, but you get my
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Previewing Jimmer and the Cougars 3 hours, 53 minutes ago
Great stuff, bear. really looking forward to this game.
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Nickel Rover commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 3 hours, 53 minutes ago
06_UT: you are probably right. I thought about changing the post description to “least favorite Barnes team” because that’s more accurate but I didn’t feel like it.
That said, I’m not sure this team would beat those other two. They would lose Abrams and let him go 7-15 on 3s and the Abrams team played better -
admin commented on the blog post Nike U in Turmoil 3 hours, 58 minutes ago
Aren’t they building some sort of super duper hoops arena? Most expensive ever bilt or something?
Who will the get? Mark Few?
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Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Nike U in Turmoil 3 hours, 58 minutes ago
Aren’t the building some sort of super duper hoops arena? Most expensive ever bilt or something?
Who will the get? Mark Few?
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srr50 wrote a new blog post: Nike U in Turmoil 4 hours, 15 minutes ago
10 weeks ago, Oregon played in the Rose Bowl as Pac 10 champions. Since their loss to Ohio State, the program has been in some kind of bizzaro parallel universe where every headline concerns a player arrest, a firing, or now a resignation.
Mike Bellotti, the Duck AD and former head coach earlier this week
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Luke commented on the blog post First Round: Clemson Tigers 6 hours, 26 minutes ago
Prescient comment, Doc.
I think we learned today that no team is really a mirror image of Missouri, even if Clemson is about as close as it gets. Unless you have significantly better/more talented athletes, if you try to run with the Tigers, you will lose. This team is so much fun to watch in games
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 6 hours, 40 minutes ago
Good to see that Tom Penders still believes in the weave offense. Maryland finally figured out that if you pass quickly, the middle is always open.
37-29 Maryland late in the first half.
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Luke wrote a new blog post: Previewing Jimmer and the Cougars 6 hours, 41 minutes ago
Kansas State is going to be under a lot of pressure tomorrow night in primetime at the Ford Center.
Not only are the Wildcats the favored #2 seed going against #7 seed BYU, but if the Wildcats lose, they may sentence hundreds of boys to nonstop harassment from all the kids who think that “Jimmer” was
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Ibas water bottle wrote a new blog post: Georgia Tech post mortem 6 hours, 53 minutes ago
We came up short.
Credit to Georgia Tech they worked the ball inside where they had the advantage and played great D on the perimeter. Matt Pilgrim is the most athletic big man we’ve had in years around here and he was irrelevant. When we tried to drive they collapsed like Chris Farley on a
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Phenomenal Smith commented on the blog post First Round: Clemson Tigers 7 hours, 29 minutes ago
Doc, the turnovers seemed to do the trick – there were great big chunks of time when Mizzou didn’t even have to get into a half court offense.
Great to see Ramsey have such a good game and pretty stifle Booker. As Euclid said during the game, even when Mizzou doesn’t play well
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dick commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 8 hours, 8 minutes ago
“Also because those other teams gave great effort almost every game. This team’s effort was questionable. Dumb and lazy, not a good combo…..”
This is what made this season so bizarre for me. This has never been a problem for Barnes’ teams. But I actually questioned this team’s heart and desire to play together
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 8 hours, 22 minutes ago
Travis Ford spent the 2nd half channeling his inner Rick Barnes — lot’s of standing around on offense while one player tries to generate something off a ball screen — then taking a forced shot.
So the Big 12 goes 5-2 in Round One.
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skymonkeyhorn commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 8 hours, 27 minutes ago
This is the worst coached team ever in Barnes era. Period.
Worst defense over the whole season,
Offense sucked big time and the bench coaching was horrible, ransom’s attitude was better then the coach’s overall this season.
Trips write up pre and post better then the game plan and O schemes.
Hell we could have -
srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 8 hours, 30 minutes ago
advertisers think they will probably get some deals for the additional 32 games that would be added. The feeling is that an ESPN would disount rates somewhat, since they already have a dual revenue stream — advertising dollars and subscription fees.
It’s all about content for ESPN — even mediocre content.
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dick commented on the blog post FLV March Madness First Round Bets 8 hours, 32 minutes ago
a great first round of the tournament from an excitement standpoint, very mediocre from a gambling standpoint.
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 8 hours, 48 minutes ago
Ga. Tech — last in the ACC in free throw shooting at 64% — 13 for 13 tonight.
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 8 hours, 57 minutes ago
A poll of media buyers from the major agencies overhwhelmingly showed that advertisers believe that the NCAA will expand, and the tournament will join the BCS on ESPN.
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whiskey wrote a new blog post: The week in news- Pariahs, Malcontents and Power Hour 9 hours ago
In the midst of March Madness, St. Patrick’s Day, house guests, nice weather outside and a host of other distractions I still managed to come across quite a few interesting college football stories this week. Here we go.
Mike Leach and Craig James were apparently in the same room this week and nobody wrestled. Bummer. Leach
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srr50 commented on the blog post March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 9 hours, 12 minutes ago
Anderson finds out what going to the paint is like when there is a big who knows how to defend the low block.
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srr50 wrote a new blog post: March Madness Open Thread Part Deaux 9 hours, 21 minutes ago
So far on Day Two, no buzzer beaters, but there was the obligatory #12 over #5 with Cornell thumping Temple 78-65, but the Ivy League school was everyone’s “inside” pick for an upset. Still the day hasn’t come close to generating the action that Thursday had.
Today
#5 Texas A&M 69 #12 -
Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 9 hours, 46 minutes ago
I wasn’t trying to say they quit. They just didn’t play hard a lot of the time. Lazy = lack of effort. Example, our transition defense was about 75% effort and 25% stupidity. We loafed down court a lot. The kids didn’t like to lose so they would fight back,
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Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 11 hours, 19 minutes ago
This the most disappointing team because our talent level is higher than those others.
The DGib/Buckman team was the least talented, barely, after the injury to LaMarcus and Tucker’s suspension.
Last year’s team was the hardest to watch. Just watching AJ Abrams, who I don’t hate as much as most, run around like a
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uthookem commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 11 hours, 26 minutes ago
Agreed on Damo being my favorite Longhorn basketball player, I wish him all the best.
This was definitely the worst, by far.
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Trips Right commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest: Post Mortem 12 hours, 39 minutes ago
Don’t have time to address each and every comment now, but I wanted to say thanks to everyone for contributing to the site this season. It’s made it a lot of fun to follow a team that’s tough to watch at times.
Also, I wanted to thank you for the kind words as
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post Big Dance: Day Two 12 hours, 40 minutes ago
And that’s all she wrote…relatively boring day so far. A&M out to a nice early lead.
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Art Vandelay commented on the blog post Texas Hoops vs. Wake Forest: Post Mortem 12 hours, 43 minutes ago
Trips,
Great work all year long. Love the passion. The fact that you kept writing these (even around the birth of a child), is fantastic, shows your commitment, and is a little freaky. :-)
I think you showed great restraint in this post. It would have been easier to “go off” on Barnes.
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ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post Barnes worst team 12 hours, 44 minutes ago
Second awesomest thing — Magnus gets his woman to go to Hooters with him.
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Hiphopopotamus commented on the blog post Big Dance: Day Two 12 hours, 50 minutes ago
Missouri going to hang on…
Sconsin clinging to a 2 point cushion
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CrazyJoeDavola said:
December 17th, 2009 at 10:36 pm
What about the setting of the game? It’s going to be really bizarre for both of these teams playing at JerryWorld. Do you think it favors or punishes either team more than the other?
Trips Right said:
December 17th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Usually domes or non-basketball arenas punish jump shooting teams because of depth perception. If there’s an advantage it favors Texas because we have more guys that can get to the rim and create.
Sailor Ripley said:
December 17th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
Great stuff, Trips.
is Jerry World as big as Loos Field House? :) That dingy place f’d me up.
I can’t imagine shooting in Jerry’s space ship.
EggNog said:
December 17th, 2009 at 10:51 pm
I’ve got tickets to the game and Saturday can’t come soon enough.
I think our guards shut down UNC’s backcourt. Losing Ward and Brown (will he be back?) has meant more minutes for Mason, which we all agree isn’t the best thing. I still think we come at them in waves and pressure them all game. It won’t just be a matter of wearing them down to the bone 30 minutes in, we will force turnovers and get easy baskets. We have a young team playing the first big game of the season in a brand new venue, fast break points will ignite the team and the crowd.
Between James, Johnson and Wangmene we have some guys in our frontcourt that will get out and run. I don’t think Pittman will hurt us too badly in that respect, provided the other four guys are quick enough down. I think they are. Pittman and James have been dominant for most of this young season. They are extremely capable of shooting 70-80% inside against UNC. If Pittman stays out of foul trouble, I think we run even with their frontcourt. I think we get enough ball pressure to keep the post game from really being established.
I think we get some good spurts against them, my biggest question mark is whether or not we stomp on their neck when they are down. Does our youth allow them to claw back like they did against Kentucky? Or are they ready to fight the entire 40 minutes and not be satisfied with anything other than the ass beating they can provide?
Trips Right said:
December 17th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Carolina is a young team and they’re going to have a hard time figuring out what constitues a good shot and a bad shot this game because everything will be contested. The only way Carolina gets easy looks is if they crank up the tempo. And that’s Roy’s dilemma. If he slows it down, he loses 68-58. If he pushes pace, it gets ugly.
Either way, our kids are going to be sky high and the danger is playing out of control. That’s where the James, Balbay, and Pittman leadership comes in.
NY Horn said:
December 17th, 2009 at 11:00 pm
This game is just scary too me. Probably because I’m a casual college basketball fan outside of the horns. We really, really need to win this and the MSU game to have a good shot at a one seed. We just don’t have many opportunities for signature victories in our non-con with UConn not looking that hot.
Trips Right said:
December 17th, 2009 at 11:02 pm
NY Horn, if we win the Big 12 with less than 5 losses we’ll get our 1 seed.
Trips Right said:
December 17th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Drew, yes it’s worse, it’s a fucking monstrosity.
kafka said:
December 17th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
This is when we find out just how good the horns are right now. Win or lose, I will be happy if they play well.
Do we know that Brown is healthy for this game? A sprained ankle really hurts your lateral m obility (i.e. makes it very tough to stay in front of a quick guard on D). If Brown is hobbled, then either Mason and/or Lucas will be spelling the starters. Assuming Bradley and Balbay play really intense D, they will probably not play more than 30 minutes. This means that for half the game either Mason or Lucas will be playing. Let’s remember, Lucas has not played a real game for over a year so he is going to be rusty. It will be a huge boost if J’Covan is good to go, not only because of his talent but also because of his confidence. J’Covan will not be intimidated by the big stage.
How many minutes can Jordan play? Probably not more than 30. This probably means another 10 minutes for Mason. Shawn Williams sprained his ankle and has not played that much this season anyway so it would be a bit of a surprise if he is ready to play much vs NC. I would not be surprised if Roy Williams matches up Jordan with somebody who is quicker than Jordan (to try to get Barnes to respond by inserting Mason at small forward).
Syracuse beat NC playing zone D and I won’t be surprised if Barnes breaks out some zone for at least 10 minutes.
UT probably has trouble with NC’s secondary break when Dex is in the game. NC is really going to attack Dex to get him out of the game as soon as possible. The NC center (whoever Dex is guarding) will probably help break half court and full court pressure by the horns because there is no way that Dex can deny that pass. NC will also probably run a lot of their half court offense through the high post (at least when Balbay is in the game). This will permit them to attack Dex and take ball handling pressure off the NC guards.
Expect the outside shooters on both teams to be impacted by playing in such a large, strange venue.
Jordan’s junk shot game will be less effective because of NC’s big man help D. It will just be a lot tougher to shoot anything other than a dunk inside vs NC because they are so tall. Dex will shoot at least 10 foul shots.
UT wildcatter said:
December 18th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Trips, how bout their defense or lack there of?
I know Henson is a good help side shoot blocker, he doesn’t even start, but what about the other guys? Graves is almost as big as a defensive end at 6-6, 230 so I’d imagine our perimeter penetrators can have a field day, que Bradley and Brown when he’s at the shooting guard.
Who gets Pittman? Davis because of height or Thompson because he’s a lil more hefty and heavier?
The UNC boards seem to think they have more inside players but I think we are even, they just haven’t seen much out of Wangmene, Hill, and Chapman.
ransomstoddard said:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:42 am
We scored baseline tickets and a private tour of the palace. Can’t wait
Hiphopotamus said:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:43 am
If Texas is a serious contender this year, they’ll win this game by double figures.
kafka said:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:51 am
Chapman and Hill will be over matched vs the NC big men. Gary Johnson will have some trouble because he is short relative to the NC big men.
When Lucas is playing, NC probably posts him up if UT stays in man. NC has no problem inverting its offense.
TEXBB said:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:57 am
Brown is “Probable”
Bob in Houston said:
December 18th, 2009 at 7:22 am
If there’s an advantage it favors Texas because we have more guys that can get to the rim and create.
I’ve been at a UNC board in which a poster (who obviously was painting broadly) said that the dome atmosphere should favor UNC because they don’t shoot it well from outside. I’ve puzzled over that a bit, but, whatever…
The UNC boards seem to think they have more inside players but I think we are even, they just haven’t seen much out of Wangmene, Hill, and Chapman.
Their inside guys basically are bigger (well, taller), across the board. UNC has a better rebounding margin than Texas. However, the backups are freshmen and by and large they have played like it. There’s just enough experience on the Texas side that I wouldn’t be quite as worried as I otherwise might be about the relative size disadvantage.
So much of what Carolina tries to do is predicated upon Drew creating offensive looks by breaking down your defense. Keep him out the lane and guys like Ginyard go from being good to decent shooters.
I really agree with this. I’m trying not to be too picky about the defensive effort, considering that KenPom has it No. 1 in the country with a bullet, but I’ve seen a lot more chances for guards to get into the lane than you would think from looking at the scores. If Balbay/Bradley/Mason just keep Drew in front, it’s going to be a big plus. You make Drew stop, when he wants to be on the move, and Ginyard move, when he wants to catch and shoot. But if they pressure too hard, Drew is quick enough and skilled enough to get a half-step on them, and then the bad stuff happens.
And, they’ve given plenty of long-range shots that other teams have just been too tired to make. We’re dealing with at least two steps up in talent from some of the teams that Texas has beaten. They’re going to make some of those open threes.
So, I’m torn. I’ve watched Texas consistently wear down teams with depth and pressure, and I want some of that payoff in the last quarter. Frankly, I don’t foresee any change in basic strategy on defense (in terms of stopping penetration), so I would not be surprised to see UNC leading with 10 minutes to go.
However, this is definitely not the national championship UNC. It’s a mostly young team that has reloaded but isn’t ready to fire. I’ve seen the Syracuse debacle, where they couldn’t throw it in the ocean for the first 10 minutes of the second half. And, the end of the Ohio State game, in which they whizzed past some “Bridge Out” signs and busted through a couple of barricades on the way to tossing that game over the cliff (but stopped short), and even the Nevada game, in which I think they were up double digits at half and were trailing with 7 to go. And I haven’t even talked about Kentucky.
In short, UNC has lost focus repeatedly. There’s a chance of a 16-4 run sometime in the game that would give Texas a hammerlock. If Bradley, Brown and Hamilton were sophomores, IMO it would be a blowout. But they are not, and this almost certainly won’t be.
But I’m gonna be there, and I’m looking forward to it.
srr50 said:
December 18th, 2009 at 7:29 am
People talk about our experience, but a lot of our key players have never played in a collegiate game with this kind of atmosphere. I think the dome will effect both teams shooting, but this is the first “big time” collegiate atmosphere for our freshmen and I think UNC has a big advantage with their schedule up to now.
I worry that especially Bradley who has so much invested in this game (just look at the front page of the Dallas Morning News this morning) that he might be too pumped run around like a balloon losing air.
That and free throws worry me. Otherwise I believe in Trips.
Trips Right said:
December 18th, 2009 at 7:30 am
Kafka, I agree with your assessment of our big people, but I wouldn’t zone Carolina unless it’s for a possession or two as more of a change up. If we zone we lose our advantage pressuring the dribbler and sort of help to “bail out” Carolina’s lack of depth at the guard position. let’s wear these dudes down. Also, we want to do things that push tempo. Remember, the open floor is our friend vs. every team in the nation with the exception of Kansas and perhaps UK.
UT Wildcat, they’re a decent defensive team but it’s not a strong suit. I’d guess that Roy will play Thompson on James because he’s a tad more accustomed to playing in space. Davis will probably play Pittman. James at the 4 should give the Heels fits floating around the perimeter and hunting spot up 3’s. I’d love to see us screen roll with a shooter and James here to really open up the floor. But overall, the affect of big on big matchups will be limited in an up and down game. Heels fans should be more concerned with the waves of perimeter guys we’ll throw at them. Really, UNC has Drew and Strickland to handle the rock. And that’s it essentially.
Trips Right said:
December 18th, 2009 at 7:46 am
Ransom, kick Jerry Jones in the junk for me.
Hiphop, I agree, this is a sweet spot game for us. It’d be like you guys paying ‘Nova.
kafka, I think UNC has some covers for Gary. I think he can stay with Graves and bully Henson all over the court. He can get minutes because Carolina doesn’t roll out a big athletic 3.
Bob, I think your 3rd paragraph holds the key to the game and I’ve typed as much. Bradley, Balbay, and Mason are going to force Carolina to find a decision maker other than Drew, or absolutely risk wearing the kid down. That’ll force UNC to find other handlers and creators which is something Ginyard and Graves aren’t comfortable doing especially against good defenses. It’s why I think KU is so much tougher this year. Last season, if you smother Collins you took away Aldrich and everyone else. This year they have guys like Henry that can manufacture buckets without Collins help, which bring Aldrich right back into the fold. It’s also why Hamilton is such a difference maker. Creative 3’s are like dual threat QB’s.
srr50, I absolutely agree about scheduling and atmosphere. But unlike football, Bradley, Hamilton, and Brown have butted heads with NBA guys like Durant, Nash, and Ford for the last year and a half or so. There won’t be any game this year where they’ll be intimidated. Ripping it from Kevin Durant or crossing over Steve Nash does wonders for your confidence. But like you, I’m worried about the kids being too sky high.
Bob in Houston said:
December 18th, 2009 at 8:02 am
srr, Carolina is only slightly better at FTs.
ransomstoddard said:
December 18th, 2009 at 8:02 am
TR: I’m told JJ will be in New Orleans and not at the game although I find that hard to believe. His ego will demand that he get on tv for the first ever bb game at the palace.
I think win or lose this game is invaluable come March
panchoclaus said:
December 18th, 2009 at 8:06 am
AB should play all 40 minutes. Same with DJ.
Magnificent Bastard said:
December 18th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Thanks for the great write-up and breakdown of why Texas stomps a mudhole in Carolina’s ass.
Art Vandelay said:
December 18th, 2009 at 8:47 am
When does the clock stop at Jerry World? When the basketball crosses the out of bounds line, or when it hits something in the stands?
Sorry…. couldn’t resist.
Magnificent Bastard said:
December 18th, 2009 at 9:07 am
But seriously, what if this happens again?
Horncasting said:
December 18th, 2009 at 9:24 am
Kudos for Pittman for putting in the time and extreme effort to take off the weight that he has. Having said that, should his conditioning still be an issue 4 years into the program? I understand that losing the weight takes alot of you and it takes time to get adjusted to your new body, but wasn’t he about the same size 2 seasons ago?
rachel uchitel said:
December 18th, 2009 at 9:56 am
Trips, where are you sitting at JerryWorld?
I ditched the Cheetah for the weekend, and would love to pick you B-Ball brain….
Trips Right said:
December 18th, 2009 at 10:28 am
rachel, Barking Carnival’s security detail has mandated that I not disclose my seat location for fear of a drive by with an $18 cheesesteak. Who knew that positing minute distribution for a college basketball team could mean a death sentence?
huge said:
December 18th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I’m nervous about the game, but I think if our defense translates, we’ll be in every game. This will tell a lot about the team’s identity going forward.
admin said:
December 18th, 2009 at 11:22 am
Specious.
Jigglebilly said:
December 18th, 2009 at 11:29 am
Those in attendance tomorrow must absolutely refrain from any sort of derogatory comments directed at UNC’s players, it makes their vaginas tear up.
Trips Right said:
December 18th, 2009 at 11:33 am
So I can’t wear my “Dante Calabria is a Euro-trash faggot” T-shirt? What’s fun about that?
admin said:
December 18th, 2009 at 11:44 am
I thought you’d wear this one again:
T Shirt Hell
admin said:
December 18th, 2009 at 11:47 am
Roy is very sensitive.
Hank Dudek said:
December 18th, 2009 at 12:04 pm
Good write up Trips.
My thoughts after watching North Carolina play against Kentucky are that Davis and Thompson were not effective scorers when pushed off the block. Patterson, Cousins, and Orton were able to bully those guys. Texas will have to get physical and make these guys have to work for position. While they are long, they are not strong.
The North Carolina guard play was not impressive and made me feel a lot better about our team and our talent level. They have some decent spot up shooters but not a lot of guys who can create their own shots.
The bottom line is that Texas will need to play aggressive which has been our theme for the year. If for some reason we get into a finesse game with North Carolina instead of a UFC beatdown we lose. I think the uptempo benefits us as well but it will need to be created from hard- nosed defense and not simply a need to run.
jc25 said:
December 18th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
Thanks for the write-up, Trips. Glad to know my comments make a difference on this site. Not much to add as I think you covered everything pretty comprehensively. Like I (and srr50) mentioned, the only advantage UNC has going into this is their earlier non-con experience. We match up extremely well against them, and their diaper dandies and soaring sophomores (yay for alliteration?) have not developed to a point where they look like a scary team, a la Kentucky. That said, I wouldn’t be surprised to see our boys go in there too amped up and lay an egg.
Gonz said:
December 18th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
How much pt do yall think Jai gets? I know Barnes is real high on the kid, but he hasn’t played in a game scenario in a while, and I can’t see his first real playing time coming in such a big game.
kafka said:
December 18th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Trips:
I think Gary can score in this game but will have a tougher time rebounding and defending. I didn’t think about him playing small forward. If it is a good matchup, that is great. Of course if the 3 matchup is good for Gary, it ought to be great for Jordan.
Re: zone, if the horns play matchup zone, they should still be able to pressure the NC guards. I think you may be disappointed in the results of UT D pressure on the NC guards. The NC big men are not real powerful; but they handle the ball pretty well. They will help out the NC guards quitea bit as relief valves. The NC triangle offense featuring a high post man is pretty sweet (and requires no dribbling by the NC guards). BTW, I’m not sure how well Mason will stay in front of a quick point guard. He is more suited to pressuring a small forward. A zone will turn Dex from a defensive weak spot into a strength. It will also protect Lucas so that he can play more minutes.
When the horns are in man D, NC will attack Dex relentlessly. Dex’s man will be a relief valve to neutralize UT D pressure on NC guards. He will set picks to free up the NC guards. How many times have we seen Dex’s man execute a viscious screen where Dex was not close enough to even warn the UT guard of his impending collision? Dex will be forced to play high post D,making him vulnerable to giving up the alley oops and getting back screened. Even on made baskets, NC will fast break, forcing Dex to sprint down floor every time.
I’m also not as optimistic about a fast paced tempo favoring UT. It definitely works against Dex. NC plays fast tempo all the time and has mastered the secondary break (i.e. all 5 players contribute to the break). If Damion gets on the break, the risk of a turnover goes up. Dex is not likely to be part of the break. I love for UT to pressure and fast break but they don’t run the break nearly as well as NC.
The General said:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:18 pm
I think there will be a defensive adjustment for Texas when we first see how a Roy Williams team switches from offense to defense. This will create some early scoring for UNC, but I don’t think it is a definitive advantage for the entire game. After the young kids see it a few times, we will adjust.
The biggest worry I have is our slow offensive start. We do not come out of the blocks well on offense, and if UNC presses a momentary advantage to go up big early, then it will be interesting to see how our untested young guys react. I am almost rooting for a 16-4 UNC lead early to put pressure on the young guys.
Of course, a couple of Damion James put backs or Dexter drawing quick fouls against the UNC front court could mitigate our early disadvantage.
I am worried about Texas in any game where free throw shooting is important at this point.
Dude said:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:27 pm
What srr said. This is the first thing to a real game our boys have seen. And the fact that it’s in the most spacious dome on the planet?? At Carumbs. And when was the last time Dexy stayed out of foul trouble?
What does Vegas have as the line?
CrazyJoeDavola said:
December 18th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Dude, did you post that from your iPhone (or equivalent)?
BEHorn said:
December 18th, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Dude – what the hell does “At Carumbs” mean?
CW said:
December 18th, 2009 at 7:55 pm
UT -7? vegas must think highly of us…….
Huckleberry said:
December 18th, 2009 at 7:57 pm
kenpom.com says Texas 88-65
My ratings say Texas 85-68
Sagarin says Texas by 12
Vegas likes us less than any computer.
dick said:
December 18th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
public is 75% on the underdog UNC. Texas -7 is the correct gambling play. personally, i think we struggle with the first good team we’ve played all year.
uthookem said:
December 18th, 2009 at 11:26 pm
Speaking of gambling, is there any thought on adding college basketball to the BC sportsbook?
jimmyjazz said:
December 18th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
Thanks for the great write-up, Trips. Your posts make game-watching much more interesting for me. Going into a game with a little insight into the possible matchups really helps, and I appreciate it.
Dave said:
December 19th, 2009 at 12:32 am
fewer
lowdenswain said:
December 19th, 2009 at 8:37 am
Haven’t seen a single comment on the 3 biggest determining factors of the game.
The Zebras.
If they consistently call ticky tack contact fouls Balbay, Pittman and Wangmene are sitting with 2 fouls each with 8 minutes left in the first half. Texas loses.
If they allow physical play Texas wins by 8-10.
Trips Right said:
December 19th, 2009 at 8:51 am
jimmyjazz, thanks man.
Huck, that’s because vegas knows they’ll always get UNC money. Why raise the price on Texas basketball fan?
dick bringing the gambling wood again. I like it, bro.
jc25, your comments on this site are terrific. Keep them coming. We need more hoops talk.
Gonz, I think it depends on how bad Brown’s ankle is. Jai will certainly play at least 10 I’d suspect.
The General, I think transition is key, I just don’t think UNC realizes how much an open floor benefits us.
Kafka, I hear you on the zone, hell Syracuse had great success against the Heels. But I don’t think it’s easy to flip the switch and say, okay, we’re going to zone this game unless we’ve been working on it for an extended period of time.
lowdenswain, great point about the zebras. We need some big east officials. Hell I’d take wrestling officials. Great username by the way.
jimmyjazz said:
December 19th, 2009 at 11:21 am
How likely is Dex’s conditioning going to play into his time on the court? It seems to me that his bench time these days is more related to foul trouble or Barnes’ need to get other bigs some game time than it is just being gassed. Is he in good enough shape to go up against UNC’s bigs for 25 minutes?
Art Vandelay said:
December 19th, 2009 at 11:21 am
ESPN just showed Jerry Jones on the floor of the Deathstar talking to Eddie Sutton. I’m sure it sounded a lot like the old cartoon with the little Terrier dog jumping around the Bulldog.
“Hey Spike you like my new basketball place??? Hey Spike, you like it? Spike?”
Huckleberry said:
December 19th, 2009 at 3:33 pm
Sure. It’s just that I can’t commit to getting them posted every day because it’s all manual still. I’m thinking about starting to try to post all Texas games at the very least. Hopefully all Big 12 games if I can get to them.
Barking Carnival — Blog — Texas Hoops vs. UNC: Post Mortem said:
December 20th, 2009 at 6:39 pm
[...] decision making, you name it. The one bright spot was Jordan’s performance on the glass, and I previewed he’d be needed on the boards from his 3 position. Had he had a better floor game, Jordan likely gets a double double, but he [...]