The Longhorns are 24-5 (12-2) with wins over Illinois in New York City, North Carolina in Greensboro, North Carolina, at Michigan State, over Texas A&M, at Kansas over Missouri and at Texas A&M and losses to Pittsburgh in New York City, to UConn and at USC, Nebraska and Colorado. The Longhorns return 2 starters from last season (a squad that posted a 24-10 overall record, including a 9-7 mark in the Big XII Conference). The Longhorns were projected to finish 3rd in the Big XII Conference.
The Longhorns are lead by G/F Jordan Hamilton, F Tristan Thompson, F Gary Johnson, G Cory Joseph and G J'Covan Brown. Hamilton is averaging 19 points/game (leads the team), 8 rebounds/game (co leads the team) and 2 assists/game. Hamilton just plain looks like an NBA player. Long, lean and smooth, he is perhaps Texas' most tantalizing player. He seems like a 30-point game just waiting to happen. Hamilton lives and dies on the three-point line where he is making 41% this season.
Thompson is averaging 13 points/game, 8 rebounds/game (co leads the team) and 1 assist/game. Thompson was rated the No. 17 player in the class of 2010 (Rivals.com). He's a Dwight Howard type who is a prolific rebounder and shot blocker and loves to dunk. His jumper is still developing, but he could be a terror on fast breaks and has nice touch around the rim. What he does best is running, jumping and dunking.
Johnson is averaging 12 points/game, 7 rebounds/game and 1 assist/game. Johnson's size tends to make people think of him as a bench player, but the reality in the Big XII today is that you don't necessarily need a 6'8", 6'9" power forward to get by. A handful of Big XII teams, including some of the best ones, will be giving minutes at the four spot to guys in the 6'5" to 6'7" range, so it's not as if starting Johnson at power forward would create a nightly matchup problem for the Longhorns. Johnson quite obviously isn't going to be a star, but he's a bit of a junkyard dog and can score without having to be catered to, which should make him a nice fit in a Texas starting lineup that has plenty of guys who want the ball.
Joseph is averaging 11 points/game, 4 rebounds/game and 3 assists/game (co leads the team with G Dogus Balbay). Joseph is a well rounded point guard who can jump out of the gym, defend and score from anywhere. Joseph attended Findlay Prep in Henderson, Nevada. It went 32-2 last year and won the ESPN Rise National High School Invitational, with Joseph scoring a team-leading 20 points per game in a three-day stretch. He also played for the well-respected Grass Roots Canada AAU program in Canada.
Brown is averaging 10 points/game, 2 rebounds/game and 2 assists/game. Brown, like Hamilton, is a prolific scorer with some room for improvement in his decision-making. Brown and Hamilton are both used to being volume shooters, and both might be well advised to take it down just half a notch or so. The good news on that front is that against Wake Forest in the NCAA Tournament, Brown scored 20 and Hamilton had 19. The bad news is Texas lost.
Balbay is averaging 5 points/game and 3 rebounds/game. Balbay is immensely athletic. It's just that in basketball, you have to be able to loft a leather orb into a metal hoop from considerable distances, and Balbay is not very good at that. He can't shoot, he knows he can't shoot and everybody else does, too, which makes defending Texas in the halfcourt a kind of 5-on-4.5 proposition. And Balbay was the starting point guard last season. He was 1-10 from three point range last season and is 0-2 this season. On the positive side he is ridiculously fast and an excellent defender, especially in transition. Ideally, he could be deployed as a situational defensive stopper and a backup point guard.
Texas has been an underachieving team in the past but they are achieving this season. Perimeter scoring hasn't been a problem this season and they don't turn the ball over much (1.12 assist/turnover). The Cats gave the 'Horns the tiebreaker in the Big XII with their win over uk so I guess we'll have to live with giving it back to that school to the east because after all.....WE OWN TEXAS!
