Gametime: What We Want to See in Texas vs. Washington
Posted by Andrew Murawa on November 13th, 2015We’re just so excited that games are tipping off today that we had to spend some time thinking about what we’re about to see. As a result, the Pac-12 and Big 12 microsites got together to review this evening’s Texas vs. Washington matchup, the first regular season game in any big-time American sports league to be played in China. Shanghai is hosting the event as part of Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott’s initiative to open up Asia. Aside from the intrigue surrounding the location of the game, it will also feature the debut of Shaka Smart as Texas’s new head coach. On the other bench, almost everything except the head coach, Lorenzo Romar, is new for the Huskies. Ken Pomeroy’s ratings suggests that Texas is a nine-point favorite. Below Brian Goodman and Andrew Murawa discuss what they want to see out of each team tonight.
What We Want to See From Texas
Shaka Smart is all smiles as Texas tips off from China. (UT Athletics)
True Havoc is still a little ways away, but there should still be some change in store for Texas as they tip off their season in China under new head coach Shaka Smart. At a minimum, the Longhorns’ 300th-ranked tempo from last season should tick up. Just don’t expect Texas’ defense to have the same look of Smart’s classic VCU teams. While the Rams drew heaps of praise for the way the guards pressured the backcourt, Texas’ backcourt defense was apathetic at best a year ago, with defensive turnover and steal percentages among the worst in the game. Instead, the Longhorns relied on their bigs to make life miserable for opponents inside, blocking more of their opponent’s shot than every team in the country. Quite the dynamic. While Isaiah Taylor, Javan Felix and Demarcus Holland should improve under Smart, it’s a good bet that his interior will remain the team’s bread and butter on the defensive end of the court. Ridley rightfully gets praise for his shot-blocking prowess, but Prince Ibeh is a highly effective post defender as well, and should earn a bigger role this season. Whether Ibeh shares the floor with Ridley or slides over when he needs a breather, expect Texas’ frontcourt to be very good once again, especially with Shaquille Cleare available after sitting out his transfer year.
The backcourt provides a ton of upside offensively, though, and is definitely worth watching. The Longhorns have talented guards up and down their roster, led by Taylor, Felix and Kendal Yancy. Taylor will once again be the floor general and can lead by attacking or by distributing, though his passing was very suspect at times in 2015-16. Meanwhile, Felix, Yancy and Demarcus Holland are reliable from deep. The challenge for Texas’ perimeter attack tonight, is that Lorenzo Romar’s teams have historically excelled at limiting three-point attempts. How many clean looks the Texas shooters can find in Shanghai will be one of the bigger storylines of the game. If the ‘Horns backcourt is unable to get free for open jumpers, let alone knock them down, Smart may look to freshman Kerwin Roach to bring more of a slashing, attacking dimension to the game. Roach is a fantastic athlete, and as a bonus, if he can get it done, Washington will be forced to pay more attention to him, drawing attention away from a solid finisher in Ridley.
What We Want to See From Washington
Lorenzo Romar Begins His 14th Season in Seattle (USA TODAY Sports)
For the Huskies, everything is new: There are eight newcomers and only three players return from last season. Whatever happens tonight in China is going to be surprising, but the hope is that the shock of it all will indicate a pleasant nature. More than Xs-and-Os and a finished product, what Huskies fans have to be dying to see again is the type of swagger, confidence and up-tempo excitement that the best teams of the highly successful Lorenzo Romar era brought. Of the six squads in Romar’s time in Seattle that earned NCAA Tournament berths, his slowest-paced team averaged 71 possessions a game (good for 23rd nationally that year). The past four seasons? Washington has been in the neighborhood of 67 possessions and closer to the middle of the Pac-12 in tempo. With a group of athletic and young newcomers and an incentive in a faster shot clock, now is the time to reclaim that territory as one of the nation’s most up-tempo clubs. In the Huskies’ exhibition game, Romar’s team ramped up to about 80 possessions. While that number probably isn’t sustainable over the long season, it’s definitely a step in the right direction. One caveat: playing quickly against Shaka Smart and Havoc may not always be the best idea, but then again, Havoc may not yet be in full-swing with these Longhorns.
The other thing we want to see out of the Huskies is legitimate frontcourt play. We can reasonably expect senior Andrew Andrews along with freshmen Dejounte Murray and David Crisp to comprise a pretty strong and talented guard rotation. But in order for Washington to be anything more than a sacrificial lamb on the way to competing for a basement spot in the Pac-12, freshmen Noah Dickerson, Marquese Chriss and Matisse Thybulle are going to need to prove up to the challenge. Texas’ frontcourt rotation, featuring veteran bigs like Cam Ridley, Prince Ibeh, Shaq Cleare and Connor Lammert will certainly give the Washington youngsters a good early test tonight.
Andrew Murawa Likes Basketball.
