Hoops Preview: West Virginia
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Shaquille Cleare (Will Gallagher/IT)[/caption]
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Hoops Preview: West Virginia
Date: Saturday, January 14
Time: 3:00 pm Central
Television: ESPN2
Location: UT
Opponent Strengths:
Things really seemed to be okay a week ago. Texas had just beaten Oklahoma State on Wednesday before losing a close game at Iowa State where they were in the game in the final minute against a team that had just lost by two at number one Baylor. Not where Texas fans wanted to be, but headed in the right direction.
Then this week happened. The home loss to TCU (the first one in almost 30 years) was bad enough, but the next day saw Coach Shaka Smart publicly announce the indefinite suspension of Tevin Mack (one which will see to his departure from the program, more than likely).
Thankfully, the Longhorns will now have some time to lick their wounds and relax for a bi...Oh...right...they host 14-2 West Virginia who just beat that same Baylor team by 21 points on Tuesday night.
Welp.
Here goes nothing.
Press Virginia. Two numbers stand out pretty substantially: 1. West Virginia leads the nation in turnovers forced with an average of 24.6 per game; 2. West Virginia leads the nation in steals with an average of 12.9 per game. As a comparison, Iowa State ranks 159th in the country in turnovers forced (Texas had 19 in that game) and TCU ranks a little better at 100th (Texas had 17). So, what are we looking at, here? Fifteen turnovers? Twenty? Twenty-five? *Shudder* More? Obviously, if Texas wants a chance to win this afternoon, they’ll need that number to be as closer to 10 than it is to 25.
The Mountaineers look to be led by 6’9 senior forward Nathan Adrian (10.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.4 steals per game). The hometown product has had an enjoyable career to follow from afar as he’s gone from a seldom used freshman shooter into an invaluable, all court player. Perhaps the toughest thing to handle with Adrian is his ability to attack the offensive glass where he averages almost 3.5 second chance rebounds per game. That’s against a Texas team that, again, struggles with keeping average teams off the boards. If Adrian has a big day, this game probably won’t be close.
Opponent Weaknesses
It’s relative. If you can break WVU’s press, they are susceptible to two main things...fouling and open three pointers. WVU is last in the Big 12 in amount of fouls they commit per game and are allowing opponents to shoot almost 40% from beyond the arc in league play thus far. Now, it’s relative because who knows how capably Texas will break their press and get into those favorable looks/situations (especially without easily their best transition shooter/scorer in Mack), but there if they can get through the trap and into the open floor, opportunities will be there.
Texas Keys: Offense
Jones, Roach and Allen. The need for Jones and Roach to play under control against the press is obvious, but Allen’s role could be just as important. Without Mack in the game, it’s probable that Allen will be expected to be a safety valve against the press because of his height/length and vision. Makes sense, except his own turnover issues are well documented and he’s never played against a team that does what this WVU team will do. If he can play with poise and solid decision making, Texas may well have their ticket to breaking the press.
Davis and Young. Davis’ slow start has been mitigated, to a degree, over the last few games. Young, on the other hand, is in the middle of a freshman campaign which can only be described as disastrous. Both of those guys are going to have to step up in Mack’s absence as reliable shooters because there is, literally, nobody else. This is possible because of the open looks they’ll get and it would be big if one or both of them can get going as early as possible. Is either guy up to the challenge? Smart better hope so because WVU can put up points in bunches, to put it mildly.
Texas Keys: Defense
Again, two main things to pay attention to. First, WVU’s offensive rebounding percentage. This could well be a game where the Mountaineer’s have as many (or more) offensive rebounds than Texas does defensive. That’s not a recipe for success. Second pertains to Texas’ live ball turnovers. If the Longhorns are close to 15 of those, it’s going to be a blowout. If they’re closer to 5, this is (theoretically) a winnable game.
The Endgame
Mack’s not a bad kid, but I don’t see him coming back to this team (I’m not comfortable talking about what he did but, suffice to say, I don’t think the staff would be out of line to see this through).
And maybe the team rallies around their need to collectively make up for his absence. And maybe the newfound positive attitude with Tevin’s departure creates a more can-do feeling. And maybe Texas can shock the world.
But probably not.
Now, the Longhorns have come as close as they really probably could have to owning Bob Huggins of late, but this team doesn’t have the steady ball handling of Taylor and Felix.
What they do have, however, is a bunch of athletes who won’t be intimidated by the Mountaineer’s size/athleticism.
And that is something.
Will that be enough for the Longhorns to hang their hats on?
I doubt it.
Prediction: West Virginia 85 - Texas 70
Projected Starting Lineup
Roach
Jones
Davis
Allen
Cleare
Sign up here for FREE Inside Texas Premium access for two weeks!
Shaquille Cleare (Will Gallagher/IT)[/caption]
Sign up here for FREE Inside Texas Premium access for two weeks!
Hoops Preview: West Virginia
Date: Saturday, January 14
Time: 3:00 pm Central
Television: ESPN2
Location: UT
Opponent Strengths:
Things really seemed to be okay a week ago. Texas had just beaten Oklahoma State on Wednesday before losing a close game at Iowa State where they were in the game in the final minute against a team that had just lost by two at number one Baylor. Not where Texas fans wanted to be, but headed in the right direction.
Then this week happened. The home loss to TCU (the first one in almost 30 years) was bad enough, but the next day saw Coach Shaka Smart publicly announce the indefinite suspension of Tevin Mack (one which will see to his departure from the program, more than likely).
Thankfully, the Longhorns will now have some time to lick their wounds and relax for a bi...Oh...right...they host 14-2 West Virginia who just beat that same Baylor team by 21 points on Tuesday night.
Welp.
Here goes nothing.
Press Virginia. Two numbers stand out pretty substantially: 1. West Virginia leads the nation in turnovers forced with an average of 24.6 per game; 2. West Virginia leads the nation in steals with an average of 12.9 per game. As a comparison, Iowa State ranks 159th in the country in turnovers forced (Texas had 19 in that game) and TCU ranks a little better at 100th (Texas had 17). So, what are we looking at, here? Fifteen turnovers? Twenty? Twenty-five? *Shudder* More? Obviously, if Texas wants a chance to win this afternoon, they’ll need that number to be as closer to 10 than it is to 25.
The Mountaineers look to be led by 6’9 senior forward Nathan Adrian (10.7 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.4 steals per game). The hometown product has had an enjoyable career to follow from afar as he’s gone from a seldom used freshman shooter into an invaluable, all court player. Perhaps the toughest thing to handle with Adrian is his ability to attack the offensive glass where he averages almost 3.5 second chance rebounds per game. That’s against a Texas team that, again, struggles with keeping average teams off the boards. If Adrian has a big day, this game probably won’t be close.
Opponent Weaknesses
It’s relative. If you can break WVU’s press, they are susceptible to two main things...fouling and open three pointers. WVU is last in the Big 12 in amount of fouls they commit per game and are allowing opponents to shoot almost 40% from beyond the arc in league play thus far. Now, it’s relative because who knows how capably Texas will break their press and get into those favorable looks/situations (especially without easily their best transition shooter/scorer in Mack), but there if they can get through the trap and into the open floor, opportunities will be there.
Texas Keys: Offense
Jones, Roach and Allen. The need for Jones and Roach to play under control against the press is obvious, but Allen’s role could be just as important. Without Mack in the game, it’s probable that Allen will be expected to be a safety valve against the press because of his height/length and vision. Makes sense, except his own turnover issues are well documented and he’s never played against a team that does what this WVU team will do. If he can play with poise and solid decision making, Texas may well have their ticket to breaking the press.
Davis and Young. Davis’ slow start has been mitigated, to a degree, over the last few games. Young, on the other hand, is in the middle of a freshman campaign which can only be described as disastrous. Both of those guys are going to have to step up in Mack’s absence as reliable shooters because there is, literally, nobody else. This is possible because of the open looks they’ll get and it would be big if one or both of them can get going as early as possible. Is either guy up to the challenge? Smart better hope so because WVU can put up points in bunches, to put it mildly.
Texas Keys: Defense
Again, two main things to pay attention to. First, WVU’s offensive rebounding percentage. This could well be a game where the Mountaineer’s have as many (or more) offensive rebounds than Texas does defensive. That’s not a recipe for success. Second pertains to Texas’ live ball turnovers. If the Longhorns are close to 15 of those, it’s going to be a blowout. If they’re closer to 5, this is (theoretically) a winnable game.
The Endgame
Mack’s not a bad kid, but I don’t see him coming back to this team (I’m not comfortable talking about what he did but, suffice to say, I don’t think the staff would be out of line to see this through).
And maybe the team rallies around their need to collectively make up for his absence. And maybe the newfound positive attitude with Tevin’s departure creates a more can-do feeling. And maybe Texas can shock the world.
But probably not.
Now, the Longhorns have come as close as they really probably could have to owning Bob Huggins of late, but this team doesn’t have the steady ball handling of Taylor and Felix.
What they do have, however, is a bunch of athletes who won’t be intimidated by the Mountaineer’s size/athleticism.
And that is something.
Will that be enough for the Longhorns to hang their hats on?
I doubt it.
Prediction: West Virginia 85 - Texas 70
Projected Starting Lineup
Roach
Jones
Davis
Allen
Cleare
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