As many of you know, I was in attendance last night,
undercover, at one of the evening’s most consequential college basketball
games. To spell it out, I watched Texas play Oklahoma here in Austin. To make
this blog seem more hefty than it is, my attendance came, indirectly, on the
dime of a local hedge fund (I paid for my own Coors Lights, though). Here are
my takeaways:
I Like Texas
Since moving to Austin, I’ve been on the fence about whether or not I like the
University of Texas’s athletic programs. They’re still counting the votes for
the rest of the department, but for men’s basketball in particular, I’m on
board. As an NIT fan, I cheer for history, and the third-ever repeat NITitle
would be historic, but this goes deeper than that. It comes down to the fact
that Shaka Smart was nice to me one time. That’s all it took. Hook ‘em, and if
those bastards let him go just one year after winning the national
championship, I will be upset.
Texas Might Not Make the NIT
In November, this looked nearly assured. But in the opposite direction from how
it appears now: Texas was playing well. Too well. They’ve rectified that, but
have created another problem: If they can’t beat Oklahoma at home, they’re
going to struggle to get enough wins from here out to get a bid.
Taking a Lot of Threes and Hoping Someone Gets Hot Doesn’t Seem to Be
Working
It looked like it was going to work. Texas seemed poised to pull away for a lot
of the game.
It did not work. Texas did not pull away. They missed a lot of threes. They had
a few turnovers where they looked like they’d gotten sniped. Oklahoma pulled
away.
Perhaps the biggest implicit condemnation of this approach came when Kamaka
Hepa kicked it out to the three-point line from under the hoop on a drive when
it appeared, from my angle (in a suite, no big deal) and the evident angles of
many groaning Texas fans, that he could’ve gone up with it. The Universe
signaled its displeasure, as the ensuing shot clanged off the iron.
Kamaka Hepa Is Still Thrilling
The man is from Barrow, Alaska, and I had forgotten this. It’s a town on the
Arctic Ocean—America’s literal North Coast. It is not accessible by roads. It’s
the northernmost town in the United States. He moved to Portland for his last
two years of high school, but the man is from Barrow, Alaska. Also always looks
kinda happy, and seems like the kind of man who is always wearing flip flops,
which was probably an issue in Barrow. Maybe he’s a converted moccasin guy.
Jericho Sims Can Be a Monster
Sims didn’t get many attempts (too many threes to be shot), but he nonetheless checked
off some thunderous tasks. One of his dunks bounced, from the court, over the
stanchion. Cleared it. A thing of beauty.
In Sum
Texas’ hopes of an NIT championship in 2020 don’t look good. That could change.
It might not.
Texas has pieces. Sims is not Mo Bamba or Jaxson Hayes, but he’s better, as a junior
this year, than Jarrett Allen was during his lone year at Texas, and Jarrett
Allen’s almost averaging a double-double for the Nets. If Courtney Ramey were
shooting as well as he did last year, the offense would be significantly better.
If Matt Coleman had hit even one from deep last night, or if Hepa had dunked on
someone when he had the chance, or if the slop hadn’t engulfed the Horns down
the stretch, today might hold vastly different stories. Instead, it’s an overarching
feeling that these pieces Texas has just aren’t clicking into place. I haven’t
followed the Longhorns closely enough these last five years to know, but it
feels, from afar, like that’s always been the case with Texas under Smart.
I Attended the Texas/Oklahoma Game Last Night
