Shaka Smart has infused the program with a jolt of energy.
New coach has players excited about hard work, fast pace of play
AUSTIN — Thanks to Shaka Smart, Demarcus Holland had to be out of bed by 5:30 a.m. Before dawn, a former Navy SEAL barked at him through hundreds of push-ups, sit-ups, weighted crab walks, and treeclimbing exercises.
Three mornings in a row, the SEAL regimen continued. Holland and the rest of the Texas men’s basketball team — coaches and staffers included — lugged a boat into Lady Bird Lake. They rolled around in the sand and slogged through the mud. At one point, they had to crawl through a raft filled with ice-cold water.
And a month after it was over, how did Holland describe the coach who subjected him to all of this sadistic training?
“The only time he gets mad at us is when we’re not having fun,” Holland said. “I mean, who doesn’t want that? His energy is contagious.”
Wake-up call necessary
Whether that energy translates into victories is yet to be determined, but Holland and the Longhorns believe Smart’s contagiousness already is paying off. For a program that had been lingering in stagnancy in recent years, Smart’s arrival from Virginia Commonwealth provided an undeniable jolt.
Whether jumping with his players into frigid waters or diving after loose balls with them during frenetic practices, Smart has spent the last seven months trying to transform a team that hasn’t made the Sweet 16 since 2008.
“It’s all about defining what fun is,” Smart said. “There is a level of expectation and challenge in it.”
For the Longhorns, who open their regular season against Washington in Shanghai, China, on Friday, part of that new definition revolves around Smart’s fast-paced “Havoc” style of play. Based on full-court defensive pressure and quick decisions on offense, “Havoc” helped turn VCU into a Final Four team in 2011 and led the Rams to five consecutive NCAA Tournaments.
Although former UT coach Rick Barnes often talked about wanting to push the tempo, his teams struggled to do so in recent years. And even though he left behind a roster loaded with big men including Cameron Ridley, Prince Ibeh, Connor Lammert and Shaquille Cleare, the Longhorns are discovering Smart’s style suits them just fine.
“Every player wants to play up-and-down, fast tempo,” Holland said. “That’s a player’s dream.”
Judging by the look of UT’s preseason scrimmage and exhibition game, Ridley and Ibeh are finding ways to thrive, particularly due to the way Smart is encouraging his guards to find the centers in transition.
But more importantly, the Longhorns appear to have a multitude of playmaking options on the perimeter — an attribute they’ve lacked since advancing to five Sweet 16s from 2002-08.
Junior point guard Isaiah Taylor is back after considering a jump to the NBA, and Holland — a versatile senior — should start beside him in the backcourt. But Smart plans to rotate an assortment of guards and wings into the lineup, with freshmen Kerwin Roach, Eric Davis and Tevin Mack joining veterans Javan Felix, Kendal Yancy and Jordan Barnett.
Roach, a 6-4 dynamo from North Shore who won back-to-back state titles in the triple jump, can play either guard position. He’ll see time as Taylor’s backup at point guard, but the Longhorns also plan to play the two speedsters together.
Could any backcourt in the country be quicker than Taylor and Roach together?
“Unless it’s Usain Bolt and Tyson Gay, I don’t think so,” Roach said.
Not cloning the Rams
Smart laughed when he was told about Roach’s answer but cautioned, “It’s not a track meet,” and said UT won’t rely on speed and athleticism alone. Likewise, he said it would be a mistake for people to assume he’s trying to make the Longhorns play exactly the way his Rams did at VCU.
“Our style of play is not going to be identical to our teams in the past,” Smart said. “It’s certainly not going to be like what Texas has been in the past.”
Now Smart needs to get the UT fan base — which often has been accused of being less than enthusiastic about basketball — to be as excited as his players are. An on-campus scrimmage filled Gregory Gym to its 3,000-seat capacity, but fewer than 2,500 fans showed up for an exhibition game at the 16,000seat Erwin Center last week.
Still, Smart said he isn’t worried about his program’s ability to fill it on a consistent basis.
“There’s going to be a lot of support here,” Smart said. “We just have to do our part.”