1. Yes, this is a low point.
Hopefully it’s the low point. Hopefully this is just Texas getting its feet back under it after a rocky few weeks of Covid stuff. Hopefully the dudes take advantage of this little lull of a week ahead of them and get it back together. The promise peaked after the UNC game. It peaked again after the West Virginia game. It can rise once more. But its ceiling does appear lower than it was at either of those times.
2. Nobody could make a basket.
For Texas. For Oklahoma State, one man could make a basket, and his name was Kalib Boone, and I would like to know what witchcraft he enlisted to allow him to make a basket while nobody else in the building was allowed by said witchcraft to make baskets. Even Cade Cunningham missed baskets. Seventeen baskets. He missed seventeen shots, and he would’ve missed more had he not turned the ball over six times. Assuming there’s a free market for witchcraft, Kalib Boone must’ve paid a fortune to outbid Cunningham. “Sorry, Cade. Today’s my day. I’ve got a gift card.”
3. How many overtimes would it have taken for Brock Cunningham to post a double-double of just steals and rebounds?
I think five. I think we were three overtimes away from Brock Cunningham hitting the ten-steal mark. But to be clear, he still would have had only three points. No amount of overtimes could have gotten him more than three points. And no, this is not because of the witchcraft. This is because he was definitely fouling out before he got another bucket.
4. Greg Brown does not deserve your shit, Fran Fraschilla.
Sorry, Fran, I know what you meant, and I don’t mean to jeopardize our relationship (which will bear great fruit for both of us when we join forces to propel the NIT to the top of the charts [I assume there are tournament charts {and I further assume Casey Kasem reads them off every week in the afterlife}]). No, Greg Brown doesn’t have great touch. Yes, Greg Brown struggles to hit threes. But at the same time, Greg Brown loves rebounding. He tweets about it all the time. He’s not Cade Cunningham. He’s not going to take over offensive possessions. But he has an awesome nose for the ball, he hustles way more than he gets credit for, and his athleticism profiles really well for that continuing to blossom as a skill set. Dude who ends or extends possessions and throws down nasty dunks? Sign me up.
(Also it’s interesting that Brock Cunningham gets so much love for his hustle and Greg Brown gets none. Really interesting. Wonder what the difference is there. Because I get that Cunningham’s more reckless, and that’s pretty thrilling, but the discrepancy in recklessness is nowhere near as large as the discrepancy in which gets credit for hustle in the local press. Wonder what’s going on with that. Must be a haircut thing.)
5. Get ready for a surge.
In the last two years, Texas has rebounded from a rough patch in the new year to 1) win the NIT and 2) go on a thrilling run that may have saved Shaka Smart’s job. This year, they’re the best team of the bunch. Don’t fall for the old trap. They’re about to go off.
