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Continuing with thoughts on Texas' 73-41 win over Western Carolina.

REVIEWING THE KEYS

1. Foul control. [Grade: A] Texas went inside to Pittman on its first two possessions, one resulting in a made basket, the other in a foul by Richie Gordon. By halftime, Gordon had picked up two more fouls, while Big Sexy had drawn just a single foul. Of course, by halftime it was also apparent it wouldn't have mattered much if it had been otherwise, but hey, it's good seeing Dexy play with good body control.
2. Guard composure. [Grade: C]  Texas' guards seemed to maintain a roughly 1:1 ratio of good to bad offensive possessions, finishing the night with 20 turnovers, struggling at times with the length of WCU's guards.
3. Don't settle. [Grade: B-]  Post entry remains an issue for most of the guards, although Rick said in the post-game that the team focused exclusively on defense after the UC-Irvine game, prompting him to say he wasn't surprised by the sloppy offensive showing.

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I have extensive player notes to post tomorrow, but non-sports life got in the way this evening and it's too late for me to get 'em all up now.  For now: Another convincing win in which Texas just overwhelmed a vastly outmatched opponent -- tonight, Western Carolina, 73-41. A Cliff's Notes preview of tomorrow's discussion:

1. We're really damn good right now, but what's most exciting is that this team is just scratching the surface. I'd take Texas -2 over Kansas right now, but given my impression of the two teams' ceilings, give me Texas -6 in March.*
   
2. J'Covan Brown was calm, cool, and collected... And very, very impressive.
   
3. We're going to see Brown's high-impact on this team before we see, in order, Bradley and Hamilton's. Avery will get there soon, Hamilton by year's end. When all three are no longer freshmen in February -- you won't want to play Texas.
4. The halfcourt offense has a ways to go still. We utilized Big Sexy terribly tonight.
5. You are seeing why I said in the preseason that, amidst all this talent, Dogus will surprise and will demand minutes. Especially as freshmen take some time to get going, he's an important player for us. He'll be a bit less so by March, but he's hugely valuable to us in several critical components of the game.
6. The way we can just run swarms of subs, and mix-and-match lineups -- without dropping off in quality -- is going to allow us to just overwhelm every team but the top 20 or so in the country. Among the best, we'll win if we're on the right side of average, and even some nights when we're not.

More tomorrow. Hook 'em

* And yes, I hope Kansas fans see this, and react to this. Not because I want a chest-thumping war, but because I think this is our rival in basketball. Rick Barnes and Bill Self see it the same way, and I'm all for it. The Texas-Kansas back-and-forth over the last 6 years has been the best kept secret in college hoops, and I absolutely love that we have a powerhouse like Kansas to constantly measure ourselves against. They're smart fans: I think they see it, too. This should be the most fun season to date.

Game #2: Western Carolina Catamounts (1-0) at No. 3 Texas Longhorns (1-0)

8:00 p.m.  *  Frank Erwin Center  *  Austin, TX

TV: ESPNU  /  Radio: 98.1 FM, 1300 AM

Opponent Preview

The Catamounts visit the Drum four days after opening their season with a 65-41 victory over St. Catharine College and on the heels of a 16-win season in 2008-09, good for the North Division crown in the Southern Conference. The Catamounts are entering their fourth season under head coach Larry Hunter, returning their entire starting lineup and a deep, experienced roster overall--five seniors and four juniors, all recruited by Hunter during 2005-06.

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More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

Rick may have his most complete Texas team yet. (AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

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Game Recap: The #3 Longhorns notched their first victory of the season, 89-42 over UC Irvine at the Drum behind strong performances from seniors Damion James and Dexter Pittman.

Along with James and Pittman, Varez Ward, Justin Mason, and freshman J'Covan Brown completed the starting lineup. Brown started slowly and sloppily at the point guard spot, and Coach Barnes was forced to sit him down after two early turnovers and again after a couple of more. After the game, Rick said this about his freshman point guard, "J'Covan wore us all out before the games. I've never seen a guy as amped up. Ever."

As will be a theme this season, the depth of this team allowed the ‘Horns to quickly find their stride. Dogus Balbay was inserted for Brown and helped the Longhorns turn a 19-18 deficit after the first ten minutes of action into a 42-21 halftime lead.

Balbay played solid on-the-ball defense and helped protect the ball in the halfcourt where James and Pittman could dominate. Both big men finished with 21 points a piece. Most of Dexter's 10-of-11 from the floor came off dunks or lay ins. James had a few buckets of length but most of his scoring came around the basket as well. The smaller Anteaters were simply overmatched in height, strength, and athleticism.

During the back and forth start, I thought Texas struggled to communicate on defense. There was some confusion on how to defend ball screens. Some players were also over running their pursuit on the pass and over committing on shot fakes. The substitution patters of three, four, or even five players at a time help explain the early defensive lapses. However, after that back and forth start, the Longhorn defense played more consistently and more together. Texas contested shots better, didn't allow second chance points or almost anything in the paint, and, for the most part, controlled dribble penetration.

The outcome was: Exciting. Exciting because this was the first game; exciting because I finally got to see the four freshman live and in a college game; and exciting because the potential of this team is clear.

Unlike last year, this year's Longhorns will not have trouble scoring from the perimeter. Jordan Hamilton and Brown can both shoot the ball from deep. They both have good form, which should help produce consistent buckets, and good size, which will allow them to easily shoot over zones.

Unlike last year, foul trouble, even if it's Dex, won't be an issue. The ‘Horns are deeper than any team in the country and can run as many as 14 different players on the court for double digits in minutes every game.

Unlike last year, Barnes does not have to play smaller, three guard lineups. While Texas did start three guards, that was by choice not out of necessity. Hamilton (6-7) and Williams (6-6) will give Texas excellent size from the wing, and I won't be surprised to see James (6-7) play some at the three too when Rick wants to play with an even bigger lineup. Texas has real size at the two guard spots also. Avery Bradley, listed at 6-2, and Brown, listed at 6-1, both played bigger and stronger than their listed heights. The days of playing two sub six foot guards plus Mason at the wing are thankfully over.

The biggest thing I took away from the ‘Horns first game was potential. Right now, they are so much less than the sum of their parts. And right now, they're pretty good. The parts are all there-talent, size, depth, and experience. There is no reason why Barnes shouldn't be able to mold this team into more than the sum of their individually talented parts and national championship favorites by tourney time.  

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GAME TIP: 1:00 CT

TELEVISION: ESPNU

Dual apologies for the lack of a Baylor postame piece and, now, a somewhat abbreviated hoops preview. Computer issues are to blame. (For a solid-as-always pre-game look at this afternoon's contest, check out Longhorn Road Trip.)

There will be a Baylor Postgme React (delayed to Monday evening, in all likelihood), but there's not much time to do a comprehensive preview of the hoops team's season opener against UC-Irvine today. Fortunately, both my parents teach at UCI these days and, even as the basketball team has settled into a prolonged slump of mediocrity, my poor father -- a college hoops junkie who played college ball himself -- continues to go to all the Anteaters' home games, so I know enough about UCI to offer a few quick pre-game thoughts.

The two key Anteaters to watch are 6-5 forward Eric Wise, who last year averaged a team-best 14 points and 6 boards as a freshman (All-Big West second team) and 5-10 senior guard Michael Hunter, who's not unlike the similarly diminutive AJ Abrams in that he's not great as a distributor but has an accurate, quick-release jump shot and a scorer's mentality. Hunter is comfortable looking for a quick pop beyond the arc after using a ball screen or pulling up in transition on the break. Ward-Balbay-Brown will need to keep track of Hunter, who can get hot in a hurry.

Beyond those two, the roster is pretty pedestrian. Patrick Rembert will run the point but isn't capable of breaking down a defense on his own. Texas will want to keep close 6-2 Derrick Strings, the other likely starting guard alongside Hunter and Rembert. Strings has a nice stroke from downtown and has potential to be more of a slasher/scorer this year as a sophomore.

The big trouble for UCI, if you hadn't guessed from the guard-heavy previewing thus far, will be in the frontcourt, where the Anteaters lack both size and talent. Starting center Zack Atkinson will be banging with Dexter Pittman at 6-9, 220, which is a mid-day snack for Big Sexy. The aforementioned Wise is a very nice player, but Texas' size and strength on the interior makes this a tough game for him. A +15 rebound differential for Texas wouldn't surprise me in the least.

All told, this is a squad that is not at all well-constituted to deal with Texas' size, strength, and athleticism. If Texas' perimeter defense is sloppy and the 'Eaters get hot, they might stick around for a while, but even if the 'Horns play poorly this afternoon, they're going to wear down UCI by the end. If they play well, this one will be over early.

Prediction: Texas 78  UC-Irvine 56

And.....it's go time.

After a long off-season following the heartbreaking--yet not soulcrushing--loss to Duke in Greensboro, it is finally time for the Longhorns to get back on the court.  We've been beating the drum for the past few months, but this is going to be a special team and a special season.  Today will be our first look at the 'Horns as they start their murderous schedule against the not-so-murderous Anteaters of UC-Irvine.  Ryan Clarke of Longhorn Roadtrip--AKA "The Man"--has written an excellent preview for the game.

After the jump, I've catalogued a list of links and articles from the off-season for your perusement.  If you dont read anything else, make sure you read the extensive Roundball Roundtable...

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More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

Avery Bradley: the face of a super recruiting class set to take the court at the Erwin Center.

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(The following comes from the WAO half of 40AS, although I feel confident that JMA agrees with the general sentiment. Except for the first one. I know he disagrees with that one.)

• Sixty-four teams will get good news in March: they will have the opportunity to win the national championship on the court. By beating other teams that also want to win it. Many supporters of the BCS argue that the system makes college football's regular season better than those of other sports, yet the basketball regular season stands in clear defiance of that notion. Basketball season is proof that, in the moment, we fans simply want our team to beat the other team, and the end of close hoops game is every bit as gut-wrenching in January as a football game in November. It may only be the difference between a 3 seed and a 5 seed, but it matters. 
• Here comes the real heresy: I had more fun in college at the Drum than at DKR. That's not necessarily to say that I liked basketball better than football. I simply mean that I have more specific game memories from hoops than pigskin. Reasons after the jump.

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More photos » by Harry Cabluck - AP

Only one of the fantastic freshmen appears likely to start as the season gets underway. What should we make of it?

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Txtwstr7: It's been a while since we've talked hoops.  I thought we could hold off on another roundtable until closer to tip-off, but the news trickling out over the probable starting line-up has forced our hand.  It appears that things aren't exactly as we thought, and many Longhorns fans might need to recalibrate their expectations over which players we will see trotting onto the floor during the early non-conference season.   Based on the heavy circulated tweets by Andy Katz, it appears that the starting line-up will be Ward-Bradley-Mason-James-Pittman.  Naturally, this means that J'Covan Brown and Jordan Hamilton-both presumed starters-will open the season on the bench.  This is pretty jarring and its full ramifications need to be fleshed out.

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