With Chris Bosh injured, former University of Texas center Dexter Pittman has received some minutes for the Miami Heat during the 2012 playoffs, including one start, but Big Sexy made the wrong kind of headlines this morning after his blatant flagrant foul on the Pacers' Lance Stephenson last night. I heard about it on the radio this morning, but only now saw the video:
Oh, Dexter. So not Sexy. And so out of character, from what we know about him from his four years in Austin. Pittman has been known to knock out an opponent before (remember Blake Griffin?), but never, ever with anything intentional. Last night's foul? Yikes. Dexter should prepare to find he's going to miss whatever's left of the playoffs for Miami.
The last time we checked in on Devonta Pollard, the most recent news was related to his decision to delay selecting among his four finalist schools: Texas, Alabama, Georgetown and Missouri. There hasn't been any word from Pollard or his family since then, but in recent days the landscape of Pollard's recruitment has changed.
First of all, Missouri appears to be out of scholarships for 2012. Having not been blackballed in the Jordan Clarkson sweepstakes, the Tigers were able to land the Tulsa transfer, who will count against the scholarship limit in 2012-13, despite having to sit out.
Second, three days before Pollard decided to put off making his decision, Georgetown assistant coach Rob Kirby -- the Hoyas' top recruiter and point man on Pollard -- accepted a job on Johnny Jones' staff at LSU. Kirby's departure from the program may not necessarily impact Georgetown's standing with Pollard, but it certainly changes the dynamic of his relationship with the program, and would seem to make the Hoyas less likely to secure his commitment.
In theory, Kirby's arrival in Baton Rouge could open the door for the Tigers to make a late push, but right now, the last week of news would appear to elevate Texas and Alabama to likely favorites to land Devonta Pollard. There remains no update on Pollard's timeline for a decision.
After sporting a frontcourt with just a single player over 6'8" last season, the Texas Longhorns in 2012-13 are poised to be loaded with length down low. Cameron Ridley is Texas' big-name big-man in the Class of 2012, but Rick Barnes and his staff wound up inking a trio of 6'10" recruits, landing both Connor Lammert and Prince Ibeh as well. We've already talked about Ridley, and today our attention turns to the Longhorns' other incoming freshman center -- the long, lean, shot-blocking machine: Prince Ibeh.
It's understandable that so much interest tends to be focused on multi-dimensional players with a multitude of elite skills. It's also understandable that with a well-founded bias towards well-rounded players, the glaring weaknesses or gaps in a player's game often stand out and can seem particularly problematic.
So it isn't at all surprising that some might have an underwhelming reaction upon watching Prince Ibeh for the first time. Ibeh most assuredly has gaps in his game, and they are glaring: though long and athletic, at this point in his young career the center has very little in the way of halfcourt offensive game, with his ability to contribute more or less limited to dunks and put-backs.
Understandable as it may be, it's the wrong way to evaluate Prince Ibeh, at least at the collegiate level. Whatever the heightened requirements to play at the professional level, a college player may be able to provide valuable play with just a single elite skill, and at the collegiate level much more focus should be placed on what a player can do, with relatively less emphasis on well-roundedness as a barometer for capacity to contribute value.
McDonald's All-American five-star forward Devonta Pollard was thought to be ready to announce his college decision last Friday, but as reported by Adam Zagoria, the Mississippi basketball star decided to delay his decision, with his coach relaying that any and all information regarding his recruiting decision would henceforth come from Pollard's mother. Pollard has narrowed his list of college destinations to the Texas Longhorns and three other programs -- Georgetown, Alabama, and Missouri. As of now, there's no word on when Pollard will make his decision, and while the NCAA signing period ends on May 16th, practically speaking there's no real obstacle to announcing later than that.
I wrote about Devonta Pollard a month ago, in the context of a discussion about the relative risks and values of top-tier recruits who have the potential to declare for the NBA Draft early after one season, finding in an preliminary review of recent data that fewer blue chippers turn pro after their freshman season than is widely perceived, and that as a general rule, the more high-elite recruits the better. I noted that while there was certainly ample reason to hope for a recruit of Pollard's caliber to come play at Texas, I hadn't yet watching him play enough to offer much in the way of evaluation.
I've since spent some time with Pollard's film, so as we settle in to wait for the announcement of his decision, let's take a look at the player Rick Barnes is trying to sign to Texas, why the Longhorns have a shot at landing him, and why UT fans should be thrilled if we do.
Devonta Pollard | 6'7" | 200 lbs. | De Kalb, MS | Kemper County High School | Southern Phenoms AAU
If Devonta Pollard decides to sign with Rick Barnes and Texas, needless to say it won't be because he's looking for a great college basketball atmosphere. Lamentable as is the meager support that UT basketball receives -- not only from fans, but the Athletics Department itself, which has been nothing short of an embarrassment in marketing the program -- even under the best of circumstances Texas will never become a big-time hoops school. That speaks to the truly remarkable job Rick Barnes has done transforming UT into a Top 10 program, and the way that he's done it is in fact very relevant to why a school like Texas finds itself one of the final four schools for a blue-chip recruit from Mississippi.
After DJ Augustin's brilliant two-year tenure in Austin, Longhorns fans certainly have good reason to be excited about undersized point guards from New Orleans. Javan Felix may not have nearly as much raw talent as did his predecessor, but the comparisons will be inevitable. And, in some important ways, appropriate. Let's meet Texas' four-star point guard from the Class of 2012.
Javan Felix | 5'11" | 190 lbs. | New Orleans, LA | St. Augustin's High School | New Orleans Elite AAU
Many have noted Rick Barnes' apparent shift in emphasis towards recruiting more quality depth, focusing on bringing in deep stables of strong players who are likely to play three-plus years in Austin. But there appears to be another, more subtle, shft in emphasis embodied in the 2012 recruiting class: Rick Barnes and his staff seem to be keenly focused on recruiting players who are driven, competitive winners -- without question, among the defining attributes of Javan Felix.
To the extent that this emphasis is substantive, as opposed to just coach-speak, I like it, particularly if there's a correlation with recruiting players with excellent basketball understanding and make up. Although this is probably a topic for a full post all on its own, I think it's an important and useful lens through which to evaluate Javan Felix and his potential impact at Texas
The Texas Longhorns men's basketball team will head to New York City and Madison Square Garden on Tuesday, December 4th to square off with the Big East's Georgetown Hoyas in the Jimmy V Classic. This will be the 'Horns first meeting with Georgetown since the 1971-72 season, a 78-70 Hoyas win. Texas last played in the Jimmy V Classic in 2008, when No. 6 Texas defeated No. 12 Villanova 67-58.
Georgetown earned a No. 3 seed in this year's NCAA Tournament after going 24-9, losing in the second round to NC State, who will also be in the Jimmy V Classic, playing aganst UConn. The Hoyas lose three starters from last year's team -- seniors Henry Sims and Jason Clark, along with early entrant Hollis Thompson -- but will return their outstanding freshman power forward Otto Porter.
The Longhorns will return three starters as well, after losing Clint Chapman/Alexis Wangmene to graduation and J'Covan Brown to the NBA Draft.
We now have a little bit of distance from the 2011-2012 basketball season. It is a good point to look back and reflect. Previously, I have taken a look at the Texas offense, leaning heavily on results pulled from my play-by-play database. In this post, I want to review the Texas defense.
Texas had the #44 rated defense in division one this season, based on the kenpom.com ratings, which adjust for tempo and quality of opponents. This was Texas' weakest defensive team since the 2006-2007 team that featured Kevin Durant, DJ Augustin, and a whole bunch of underclassmen. Durant's individual offensive greatness wasn't enough to overcome a team that had a pretty serious flaw -- they had trouble getting stops. In particular, the 2006-2007 team was undermined by their trouble rebounding the ball, and they didn't do enough else well defensively to make up for this. The 2011-2012 Longhorns had a similar problem.
When we review the Texas defense, we see that they really struggled with two things. Texas was the 247th best defensive rebounding team in college basketball, as measured by defensive rebounding percentage. Texas also fouled a lot, allowing their opponents to shoot 0.42 free throws for every field goal attempt (ranked #271 in division one).
On the positive side, Texas forced an NCAA median level of turnovers (opponents turned the ball over in 20% of their possessions), which is a bit better than what Rick Barnes' teams usually do. The best thing that Texas did defensively was to hold opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 47%. Texas had the 79th lowest opponent effective field goal percentage in division one basketball. While this was a good number, it wasn't as good as we are used to seeing from the Longhorns. It also wasn't good enough to compensate for the other defensive problems, and allow Texas to compete with the top teams in the country.
Let's dig carefully through the data, to see if we can learn a little more about the Texas defense.
[12:24 pm update]: It's finally official. Cameron Ridley is a Longhorn. --Wescott--
Five-star recruit Cameron Ridley is expected to sign with Texas on Wednesday at around 12:15 pm CT, ending a nervous waiting period for Longhorns fans who have wondered if the talented center would stick to his verbal commitment to play for Rick Barnes. While we await the news that Ridley has signed and his commitment is official, let's take an in-depth look at Cameron Ridley's profile.
Cameron Ridley | 6'10" | 250 lbs. | Fort Bend, TX | George Bush High School | Houston Hoopstars AAU
Cameron Ridley provides the long-awaited answer to the question: "What if Lamarcus Aldridge and Dexter Pittman had a baby?" The McDonald's All-American center has the long arms and diverse skillset of Aldridge, with the body strength and giant suction cups for hands of Pittman, and you could make the case that Ridley is the best big man recruit that Rick Barnes has ever had at Texas. Aldridge may have possessed the higher long-term professional upside, but the gangly power forward did not arrive at Texas nearly so ready for college basketball as will Ridley.
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