Boy is it good to have this Texas team back in the United States. Now that the Longhorns’ lengthy away game streak is over, and games are actually televised on a real TV station, I was able to tune and get a glimpse of this squad.
Texas took on a very good UT-Arlington team. Prior to the game against the Longhorns, the Mavericks knocked off Ohio State in Columbus and Memphis in Tennessee. Scott Cross’ team deserves credit and congratulations for the way they play basketball – fundamental and very strong as a team.
Now on to Texas.
I liked Shaka Smart’s game plan. Texas pushed the tempo early and the threes falling early were huge, no doubt. Texas has had some trouble hitting threes recently so to see success from the arch against the Mavs is encouraging. However sometimes when pushing, this Texas team has a problem playing with control. It manifested itself in the form of bad shots and turnovers. Demarcus Holland dribbling the ball off his foot sticks out to me.
Texas got Cam Ridley involved early and often, something they need to do in every game. Ridley’s post-game has improved substantially this year. One example that comes to mind in the UT-A game was Ridley being able to bury his man deep in the post and being fed the ball while the entire front court of UTA’s zone collapsed on him. He kept the ball high for an easy score. When a big man like Ridley attacks the zone in the post, you have a great way to force them out of it, or kick it out for an easy three.
During the course of the game the Longhorns had a tendency to get lazy while attacking UTA’s zone. They need to pass the ball more and whip it in and around the perimeter. This will facilitate the zone shifting and cause driving lanes, open threes or opportunities to feed the big men.
In the second half Isaiah did a much better job of dribbling penetrating the zone. He scored all of his points in the second half and overtime.
In overtime the Longhorns passed the ball with extreme efficiency. Texas finally was able to wear out the Maverick team. Back to back drives resulting in three-pointers put this game out of reach for UT-Arlington and Texas improved to 11-0 against the Mavericks all time.
Texas is making progress and has a lot of talent but there is still a lot of work to be done with this team.
https://www.hornsports.com/images/txuta15.jpg
