Texas game thread

[Anti-Homer]

Ok,

Folks. Last minute analysis. I’m at the venue, trying to avoid Matthew McConaughey, who keeps blabbering in my ear that he should have won an Oscar for True Detective. Time for my game analysis.

I have seen Texas play the majority of two games, and parts of two others. They have a lot of talent, evidenced by 7 wins against teams in the field. They also have 15 losses, but all but one were against top 40 Net teams which is incredible, except for a loss to S Carolina. It was a comparably bad loss at TCU That X suffered. They have top-20 talent but are inconsistent. Who shows up tonight? They are very athletic at most positions but are not a great defensive team. They also seem to foul a fair amount as well. They have a mobile athletic center, who is comparable to Kalk, but not as good on either side of the ball.

Offensively, it begins and ends with the best offensive payer X will have faced this year to date. He’s a top 5 projected NBA lottery pick. He is their best three point (39%) and Ft shooter (87%) and averages 20 ppg/ He scored24 ag Bama, 39 ag Arkansas, 24 ag UK, 36 vs Tenn, & 30 vs A & M. He is an incredible shot maker and doesn’t need a pick to create a shot for himself.

Kaluma a 6’7 wing, avgeraging12 a game, shoots 36% from 3, and is their 2nd best offensive player. Kaluma often gets the ball high on either side of the key and looks to drive to the lane, much like Swain does. The difference is he is a good outside shooter. He may be too quick for Foster, so Hunter may see more minutes than. I sense another 10+ point outing from Maddox.

Shedrick, their 7’0 center, sets a lot of high ball screens and they’ll surely try to throw several lobs to him on pick and rolls. Most of his points in the few times I’ve seen him play come off of those, and stick backs. He doesn’t have a lot of low post moves and is very left dominant, but with a center 3-4 inches shorter guarding him, I think they’ll park him in the post more.

Texas is a decent 3-point shooting team (35% overall) and has a decent bench, especially their 6th man – guard Weaver -, and Kent, a 6’8” wing-post guy. They don’t seem to play consistently good defense though and can be susceptible to T.O.s under pressure.

Texas’matchups will be as follows:

Pope – McKnight
Mark – Conwell
Johnson – Foster
Kaluma – Swain
Shedrick – Freemantle

On X’s side, I think Swain will guard Johnson, as it will be coaching malpractice otherwise, and Foster on Kaluma.

Key to a win:

Swain & Free stay out of foul trouble and turn Texas into an outside shooting team.
Make Tre Johnson guard you because he doesn’t seem to be a very good defensive player. Also, attack Shedrick in the lane to get them into foul trouble. I think they’ll try the same with Freemantle.
Get the running game going.

X’s elevated play since St. John’s is due to much better defense and rebounding, Maddox’s ascent, and Conwell’s much-improved shot selection.

I think this game could go either way, and I ran 10k simulations with 5 different algorithms, and the average score is as follows: X 76, Texas 74.

[Kevin Reilly]

I must be missing something about Texas. Both Skyhops and Anti -homer seem to believe they are good. I am hear to tell you they aren't good. LOL. Johnson is very good and Kaluma is pretty good but the rest of the team is very mediocre. The big guy Shedrick is not talented. They are no where near a top 20 team talent wise. Heck they were 6-12 in their own league. I also watched about half of the Oklahoma game and about half the Alabama game. If they beat us I will be shocked

[Kevin Reilly]

Bad time for Freemantle to pick up two quick fouls. Maddox looks ready. We have to drive on them. They foul a lot .We need to relax and play goo defense.

[Kevin Reilly]

Texas has 30 points in 10 minutes. Better tighten up on our defense. We need to keep driving at them they foul a lot.

[Kevin Reilly]

Texas is shooting 585 and has 47 points at the half. We are having trouble keeping Texas in front of us. Maddox and Hunter had good first half's

[connecticut72]

We cannot guard them. You cannot give up 47 pts in a half and win. The good news is they cannot continue to shoot like that and we did not play well. We are still close despite that.

[Kevin Reilly]

Put Maddox in. Keep driving. The defense is picking up.

[Kevin Reilly]

Hugley.

[muskieman]

Unlikely hero Foster 22 and 8 In your face analysis that said X would lose....looking at you Miami grad with the long name

[muskieman]

Texas is shooting 585 and has 47 points at the half. We are having trouble keeping Texas in front of us. Maddox and Hunter had good first half's

You can if you score 47 in the second and only allow them 33