They are practicing, the season isn't too far away. Many questions.
I really hate to see winter come, but basketball helps the pain. I'm looking forward to this year.
We will miss Ryan, and good luck. But it should be fun to watch the new guys and how everyone develops, and we have a core of experience as well. I have no clue what to expect, but I do think we can have a pretty good team.
But I'm sure it will be painful at some point, like it always is.
'bout time Coach K pulls the rabbit out of the hat and we go dancing.
As good a chance as any this season to break the jinx. Really good depth for a change. Might take some time to figure out go to guys as we leaned on Rollins for big scores most of the time. I think the guard depth could really help relieve some pressure on the starters. Farmer and Maddox are looking like MAC starter level guys coming off the bench.
As far as the schedule the Basketball Almanac has UAB as the top mid major in the country this year and UT as 6th. Vermont also makes the top 25, is picked to win their league and has the best home court advantage in that league too. George Mason is primed for a good year and has tons of size. Richmond hit the portal hard with a lot of grads out, but still have Burton, their go to guy. Good that we get them early as they will probably be better mid-late season. Oakland adds a couple former 4 star guards that didn't quite hit expectations at MSU and Wisconsin. They won't have that PF Cain who killed us last year, but will be better on the perimeter and a tough game again. Haven't dug into the outlooks for the rest of the schedule but will update here as I do a little research.
peek at first practice here
https://twitter.com/Justin__Ingram/statu...OCATsq83HQ
Looking forward to ‘22-23 season. I think this can be a decent team with explosive scoring. MAC title and 22+ wins …not sure. Should be close to those achievements or more.
UT migrating back to a consistent winning damn good hoops school.
I still am not sold on Farmer until he shows me he can shoot. Wilson is a bit of a project and tweener and Jacobi can defend but is an O liability until he proves otherwise. That entire recruiting class is somewhat in question. UT cannot afford to ever have an entire class not produce at least one stand-out very solid starting player. This class has that ignominious potential. That means the transfers have to really click.
Starters:
Shumate
Milner
Dennis
Moss
Maddox
First off Bench:
Lorentsson
Cochran
Edu
Farmer
Jacobi
Wilson ???
Simmons???
Looks good on paper
IMHO Rollins rebounding will be missed as much as his scoring. His defensive ability and rebounding will be sorely missed. How do we offset this loss? Maddox and Cochran don’t have Rollins amazing length. Dunno. Does AL fill this void? That would be nice but he’s likely not going to see nearly the same minutes as Rollins. Rebounding was a strong point for UT last two seasons and free throw shooting ( % and differential).
I’d love to see us rebound well minus needing guard help so we can leak out to create fast break opportunities. That would be exciting basketball in Savage Hall!!!
How Cochran and Maddox fit is a big deal since we already have Moss and Dennis. I’ve heard Moss is seeing time at PG so I assume Cochran and Maddox are both 2’s since Dennis is a PG also. Does that mean Moss and Dennis may not be on court at same time as much as last year? How can Moss be backup PG and be starter with RJ? Thoughts?????
Edu is a complete mystery. Will he even contribute? We know he isn’t a scorer so he will likely spell Shumate and Milner for 8-10 minutes. I just don’t see more than 3 to 4 points and a couple rebounds a game from AJ. But he can still be a defensive presence when needed. I’m just happy to see him apparently healthy and still on the team. Coaches must really like him and he must love UT to stick around this long. This alone speaks well for him and the staff and university.
Will Javan Simmons red shirt? He’ll get some early PT preseason and then likely redshirt. I’d like to see him give us the extra board strength as a freshman so we can substitute and release guards.
As stated before UT will continue to be a high scoring team. This is great for drawing in the crowds. UT needs to recruit better. Moss is likely only starter that was a true recruit. I don’t like teams built exclusively on transfers but that’s the trend. Almost all of our expected major contributors are transfers. TK did hit well with Rollins and Moss. Hopefully we get some real contribution from Farmer, Wilson and Jacobi.
Bottom-line - I expect UT to have a very solid chance at attaining all obvious goals. A MAC title, we’ll over 20 wins and a real chance for gold ring post season play. I loved the tweet by Tom Crean that this team will be very good. This alone revved me up
Go Rockets!!!
Very competitive situation this year with playing time and depth which is going to lead to some guys really upping their game.
As for the 2021 class I always grade them after their 2nd year as most high school recruits need a year to adjust. I think you'll be impressed by where Farmer is at. Wilson still figuring a few things out and battling wing numbers but he's got the tools. Jacobi is a worker and is growing into his body. Yes, the Icelander was a miss and Mihai was a flyer that had potential but chose to move on.
AJ is really well respected among his teammates and gives us a real rim protector. I don't know how many minutes he plays but once his confidence is fully back he will be a big boost to our defense. Simmons didn't look ready in PR but we'll see in November. RS is a possibility if Edu and Lorentsson are gobbling up all the spare PF minutes.
Maddox is really good. Doesn't have Rollins length but can do a lot of similar things on offense and really defends well on ball. Cochran is probably going to have the biggest challenge finding his role because he has such a unique build and game and is used to having the ball in his hands a lot.
Moss looked good at PG in PR. Seems like the rotation is to start both moss and dennis and then give dennis a blow while leaving in moss who shifts to point, that way he's in the game flow and the position switch isn't awkward. after a breather dennis will come back and moss will sit. cochran can play the point in a pinch too.
as long as this group stays pretty healthy it will be very good. there's a strong closeness and developing cohesion. lorentsson and maddox add needed shooting, depth is much better.
MAC has a top tier of UT, Akron and Kent that is probably pretty interchangeable. Kent returns their strong backcourt but needs to rebuild their frontcourt. Akron loses Ali but adds a solid MAC vet guard in Hankerson and a decent SEC PF who can play next to Freeman. Ohio, Buffalo, Ball St and EMU have good talent but lots of new faces to integrate. OU signed several good upperclass transfers which could mean little drop off but could also backfire if those guys at the end of their career don't find the role they hoped. CMU was coming on late last year and returns a lot too, wouldn't overlook them.
(09-28-2022 03:31 PM)pono Wrote: [ -> ]Very competitive situation this year with playing time and depth which is going to lead to some guys really upping their game.
As for the 2021 class I always grade them after their 2nd year as most high school recruits need a year to adjust. I think you'll be impressed by where Farmer is at. Wilson still figuring a few things out and battling wing numbers but he's got the tools. Jacobi is a worker and is growing into his body. Yes, the Icelander was a miss and Mihai was a flyer that had potential but chose to move on.
AJ is really well respected among his teammates and gives us a real rim protector. I don't know how many minutes he plays but once his confidence is fully back he will be a big boost to our defense. Simmons didn't look ready in PR but we'll see in November. RS is a possibility if Edu and Lorentsson are gobbling up all the spare PF minutes.
Maddox is really good. Doesn't have Rollins length but can do a lot of similar things on offense and really defends well on ball. Cochran is probably going to have the biggest challenge finding his role because he has such a unique build and game and is used to having the ball in his hands a lot.
Moss looked good at PG in PR. Seems like the rotation is to start both moss and dennis and then give dennis a blow while leaving in moss who shifts to point, that way he's in the game flow and the position switch isn't awkward. after a breather dennis will come back and moss will sit. cochran can play the point in a pinch too.
as long as this group stays pretty healthy it will be very good. there's a strong closeness and developing cohesion. lorentsson and maddox add needed shooting, depth is much better.
MAC has a top tier of UT, Akron and Kent that is probably pretty interchangeable. Kent returns their strong backcourt but needs to rebuild their frontcourt. Akron loses Ali but adds a solid MAC vet guard in Hankerson and a decent SEC PF who can play next to Freeman. Ohio, Buffalo, Ball St and EMU have good talent but lots of new faces to integrate. OU signed several good upperclass transfers which could mean little drop off but could also backfire if those guys at the end of their career don't find the role they hoped. CMU was coming on late last year and returns a lot too, wouldn't overlook them.
Great overview… likely spot-on.
Cochran is a bit of a mystery to me. I know he’s a ball in hand look for shot guy.
Backcourt should be really strong. Great core with Shumate and Milner. I expect both will be much improved. Shumate’s jumper looks good as ever. Both should be 15+ scorers. Should be a very balanced o.
Yeah - I get the feeling this team is committed to having a GREAT season and the chemistry is clicking. Guys like each other. Big big plus.
I expect moss to contribute even more on the boards
Go Rockets!
Reported on twitter that there is an open practice Saturday from 11-1, for those who might be on campus for homecoming.
(09-28-2022 04:37 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote: [ -> ]Reported on twitter that there is an open practice Saturday from 11-1, for those who might be on campus for homecoming.
Thanks NC… they have done this in past (have attended) but would’ve been unaware of availability. I’ll be there.
I’m the guy with gray hair and UT gear
Go Rockets!
(09-28-2022 05:07 PM)IamN2daRockets! Wrote: [ -> ] (09-28-2022 04:37 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote: [ -> ]Reported on twitter that there is an open practice Saturday from 11-1, for those who might be on campus for homecoming.
Thanks NC… they have done this in past (have attended) but would’ve been unaware of availability. I’ll be there.
I’m the guy with gray hair and UT gear
Go Rockets!
Please give us a scouting report.
(09-28-2022 04:37 PM)northcoastRocket Wrote: [ -> ]Reported on twitter that there is an open practice Saturday from 11-1, for those who might be on campus for homecoming.
anyone make it?
(09-28-2022 10:01 AM)IamN2daRockets! Wrote: [ -> ]Looking forward to ‘22-23 season. I think this can be a decent team with explosive scoring. MAC title and 22+ wins …not sure. Should be close to those achievements or more.
UT migrating back to a consistent winning damn good hoops school.
I still am not sold on Farmer until he shows me he can shoot. Wilson is a bit of a project and tweener and Jacobi can defend but is an O liability until he proves otherwise. That entire recruiting class is somewhat in question. UT cannot afford to ever have an entire class not produce at least one stand-out very solid starting player. This class has that ignominious potential. That means the transfers have to really click.
Starters:
Shumate
Milner
Dennis
Moss
Maddox
First off Bench:
Lorentsson
Cochran
Edu
Farmer
Jacobi
Wilson ???
Simmons???
Looks good on paper
IMHO Rollins rebounding will be missed as much as his scoring. His defensive ability and rebounding will be sorely missed. How do we offset this loss? Maddox and Cochran don’t have Rollins amazing length. Dunno. Does AL fill this void? That would be nice but he’s likely not going to see nearly the same minutes as Rollins. Rebounding was a strong point for UT last two seasons and free throw shooting ( % and differential).
I’d love to see us rebound well minus needing guard help so we can leak out to create fast break opportunities. That would be exciting basketball in Savage Hall!!!
How Cochran and Maddox fit is a big deal since we already have Moss and Dennis. I’ve heard Moss is seeing time at PG so I assume Cochran and Maddox are both 2’s since Dennis is a PG also. Does that mean Moss and Dennis may not be on court at same time as much as last year? How can Moss be backup PG and be starter with RJ? Thoughts?????
Edu is a complete mystery. Will he even contribute? We know he isn’t a scorer so he will likely spell Shumate and Milner for 8-10 minutes. I just don’t see more than 3 to 4 points and a couple rebounds a game from AJ. But he can still be a defensive presence when needed. I’m just happy to see him apparently healthy and still on the team. Coaches must really like him and he must love UT to stick around this long. This alone speaks well for him and the staff and university.
Will Javan Simmons red shirt? He’ll get some early PT preseason and then likely redshirt. I’d like to see him give us the extra board strength as a freshman so we can substitute and release guards.
As stated before UT will continue to be a high scoring team. This is great for drawing in the crowds. UT needs to recruit better. Moss is likely only starter that was a true recruit. I don’t like teams built exclusively on transfers but that’s the trend. Almost all of our expected major contributors are transfers. TK did hit well with Rollins and Moss. Hopefully we get some real contribution from Farmer, Wilson and Jacobi.
Bottom-line - I expect UT to have a very solid chance at attaining all obvious goals. A MAC title, we’ll over 20 wins and a real chance for gold ring post season play. I loved the tweet by Tom Crean that this team will be very good. This alone revved me up
Go Rockets!!!
Went today Edu looks healthy and was moving great had at least 3 offensive rebounds
I would guess Maddox will be the fifth starter but just a guess. Could possibly be Edu later on. Will miss Rollins but will be way better when he is not on the court than they were last year all the transfers will be in the rotation. I liked Simmons but would not be surprised to see him redshirt.
May I assume we can watch the games on ESPN+/3 like before? Not far away when you think about it.
Anxious to see what they look like. This will be a new look. You wonder what guys like Milner and Shumate will do since they are the true veterans, know the system, and take advantage as they have another year of skills under their belt. They will be solid without a doubt, especially in the MAC.
Now that Ray J and Moss had a year, it will be interesting to see how they improved. Ray J on how he handles the point, and what kind of game Moss has developed. Talk of some point duty, how's the three, etc? I think he has game, but with some of the new guys, he might fight for minutes.
And I'm looking forward to watching the new guys. Given what I read here (thanks all)it sounds like we might have the most "quality" depth in quite some time. I wonder about redshirts. How late can they declare?
Milner, Shumate, Adu on the floor at that same time? Will we see that?
What will be the starting lineup, considering they usually go with "the usual suspects? Shumate, Milner, Dennis...then who? I don't think we know, do we?
I wish they could have booked a better game than the one they got.