The daytime basketball continues.
The Game
Texas vs. Indiana (in Maui [in Asheville])
The Time
12:30 PM Texas Time
The Television
ESPN
The Opponent
Indiana. The Hoosiers. An NIT power lying in wait.
What Texas Needs to Do
As with yesterday, win. The goal is to get Shaka Smart a contract extension. That’s the NITexas priority right now. Not because Shaka Smart’s a bad coach or anything—he was just nice to us that one time, which makes us think he might be nice to us again, which could theoretically lead to us convincing him to aim to start an NIT dynasty if we get in his good graces and play our cards right over the next few years. It’s a long game, folks. The odds aren’t great. But we have to take our shots.
On the Court
Trayce Jackson-Davis will be the focus, but Race Thompson was great against Providence, as was Aljami Durham, and Rob Phinisee’s had two good games now himself. Basically, Indiana’s legitimately good, and well-rounded, and we didn’t fully realize that until yesterday. It’s going to be difficult to slow down Indiana offensively, and second chances are going to be hard to come by, which will put pressure on Texas’s shooters to make shots.
Defensively, Texas probably wants to collapse more into the paint than they did yesterday. Indiana isn’t a great shooting team, so the tradeoff lines up well to double-team more inside. Just as Texas didn’t want Davidson to beat them with the three yesterday, they don’t want Indiana to beat them at the rim. Collapse. Help. Be willing to take some damage from the arc.
Offensively, Texas would do well to get the ball inside. Are the bigs finished products, capable of scoring in the post? The answer’s probably no. But the guards aren’t bad off the dribble, and if they can force Indiana to foul them—something Indiana did a lot of last night against even a middling Providence offense—they can solve some of their defensive worries while racking up points and opening up threes (which should be taken in moderation).
It’s a tough game. It’s arguably the second-best matchup of the season so far in the national sense, trailing only that Gonzaga/Kansas game. It’s a good measuring stick for this Texas team.
Hook ‘em.
