1. The Threes Fell
The stretch late in the first half, when Matt Coleman hit those back-to-back threes and Brock Cunningham added one of his own to pull the Longhorns ahead by seven, and then Courtney Ramey and Kai Jones added their own a few minutes later to make it a ten-point game…that was fun. It was exciting to see what the offense could do when threes were being made, rather than missed. A reminder of their importance. And a reminder of how many guys on the team have the ability to knock them down.
2. Texas Didn’t Twist the Knife
Texas let UNC back into the game, and they did it quickly and immediately following the halftime break. This is fair, and understandable, and might have been unavoidable—yes, Texas was atrocious on the defensive glass, but sometimes your opponents are good at things and that’s part of the deal—but the Longhorn failure to put the Tar Heels away felt foreboding, as did their failure to put Davidson away earlier in the week. Hopefully they figure this piece out.
3. This Team Is Deep
Royce Hamm was today’s surprise contributor. Brock Cunningham had a big week. Guys keep stepping up when they need to, and while they aren’t interchangeable, some of them feel that way—dudes from the same type. But yes, this team has options, which brings us to…
4. Shaka Smart Is Demanding Selflessness
It was striking how little Jericho Sims played. It was striking to see Greg Brown benched before the first TV timeout. Accountability is essential, but this is an aggressive way to do it, and it takes faith that no one will turn, either on themselves inwardly or on the team. If you can get a lottery pick and a mercurial (in terms of performance—this isn’t intended as a knock on Sims) senior to buy in, as we hope Smart has, it speaks volumes about culture. Culture that will go a long way.
5. Matt Coleman Can Be a Dude
Is Matt Coleman Texas’s best player? Not in terms of talent or production, I wouldn’t say. But man, is he important, and sometimes that status as the floor general overshadows just how good he actually is in terms of talent, and in terms of production. And that smile…
What a smile.
6. Kai Jones!
Awesome, awesome week from the sophomore. Restraint. Aggression. Courage. Sure, mistakes, but so few! What a blossoming that was. Hope it continues.
7. The Expectations Are Here
Depending on how this Illinois/Baylor game ends, Texas could end the day the public favorite in the Big 12, having had arguably the easiest tests of the league’s five (!!) Final Four contenders, yet being the only ones to have passed them all. They’ll have notoriety. They’ll be all over SportsCenter. Sunday’s game will be watched intently, and next Sunday, it’s a trip up 35 to Waco, and the Sunday after that, Cade Cunningham leads Oklahoma State into town. By Christmas, Texas could be 0-2 in conference play. By Christmas, Texas could be ranked second in the country. And deserve it.
8. This Is Fun
One of the cool things I get to do, driving Lyft and then Uber Eats to help finance this blog (thanks for the pageviews, by the way—been a great two weeks), is spend a lot of time out and about in Austin. Which has led to me seeing some of Texas’s basketball team in the wild. And that, combined with the 2019 NIT, leaves little impressions here and there. Matt Coleman complimented my hands when I tossed him a loose ball from press row in New York. Kamaka Hepa looked like the most relaxed man on earth walking near the Erwin Center. An undisclosed Uber Eats customer made it easy to get him his Chick-Fil-A. If it was Courtney Ramey I gave the Lyft ride to, he was polite and quiet and on his way to a very normal off-campus complex that summer afternoon. It’s silly stuff, but it makes you root for guys as individuals, and seeing the excitement level after Coleman hit the step-back was surprisingly inspiring. Hopefully this team does some cool things. So that ultimately, Shaka Smart gets extended and I successfully convince him to become an NIT advocate, ultimately leading to the NIT being resurgently recognized as America’s premier college basketball tournament (which it is), which will be both a spiritual blessing for the world and a financial blessing for me, seeing as I’m really a leader in the NIT blogosphere right now. It’s a long game, folks.
Hook ‘em.
