Horns’ lofty hopes start with trio of guards
AUSTIN — The best version of Texas last season emerged when just about everyone outside the locker room had surrendered all hope of it finally being the year.
That iteration channeled the ravenous hunger and desperation born of a wretched month-long freefall. Those Longhorns played like an unfettered animal that had to either succeed on the hunt or starve. And that form, which propelled Texas to five straight season-saving wins from Feb. 19 to March 3, orbited around three exceptional (and exceptionally diverse) guards.
Good news: Senior Matt Coleman, redshirt junior Andrew Jones and junior Courtney Ramey are all back in burnt orange for the 2020-21season. So is everyone else from last year’s squad, plus ubertalented freshman forward Greg Brown III.
And coach Shaka Smart expects that same veteran triumvirate will again drive Texas, as it did down the stretch amid a litany of injuries to key rotation players. This team believes that road can wind on deep into a strange and centralized NCAA Tournament that will take its cues fromthe NBA’s Orlando bubble.
“I think if those three guys can continue to build their synergy on the floor and their connectivity around winning,” Texas coach Shaka Smart said. “I don't know if you could find three guys that are any more different, but they all care about each other and they respect each other. I think the thing that they do when they're at their best is they bring out the good qualities that they have in the other guys.”
The 19th-ranked Longhorns are deep, experienced, versatile and brimming with confidence. Expectations have never been higher for Smart’s program.
It helps to have drivers like Coleman, Ramey and Jones, three guards who grew up playing ball in different parts of the country and who nowhave the weight of Texas basketball on their collective shoulders.
Smart and his staff are still tinkering with the ideal rotation ahead of their season opener on Wednesday against UT-Rio Grande Valley at the Erwin Center. But what seems certain during this era of uncertainty is the Coleman-Ramey-Jones grouping will roll together quite a bit.
“Recently at practice, coach has put us on the same team,” Coleman said. “So that we could just get a feel and build a chemistry of playing with each other and alongside each other. At the end of the day, that's what it comes down to, making more plays than the other team and us having the ability to make plays for each other and making life easy for one another.”
In the four games all three played together during that fivegame winning streak, Coleman (playing on a bum heel), Jones and Ramey averaged a collective 44.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 3.8 steals and 6.5 3-pointers. When Coleman couldn’t go against TCU, Ramey and Jones rose up with 36 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a 7056 win.
With almost everyone back healthy, that trio won’t be relied upon to form a three-man Atlas and lift this team up alone. Only senior sharpshooter Jase Febres (knee) has not yet been cleared for full-contact, though he’s expected to return early in the season.
Still, Smart has harped on how critical it is for Coleman, Jones and Ramey to develop a genuine chemistry, both in how they operate on the court and howthey lead off it.
Ramey is the drill sergeant, the one whose desire to win is so palpable it swirls throughout the gym as soon as he steps through the doors. Coleman comes off as more laissez-faire inhis leadership style, a mellow sort who can play off his more intense partner. Jones is the beacon of hope, the leukemia survivor whose presence says, “If I can beat cancer, we can beat anybody.”
Their approaches have started to blend together during this time together. And if, say, Coleman can siphon some of Ramey’s intensity into his own game and demeanor, all the better.
“I've been on Matt pretty aggressively about that,” Smart said. “I just want him in his senior year to play with reckless abandon. I want him to play with an urgency, even a desperation because it is his last year. But he's also at his best when he plays with confidence. So blending those things is something that we've spent a lot of time talking about.”
The Big 12 will again be a gauntlet this season.
Top-ranked Baylor, No. 6 Kansas, No. 14 Texas Tech, No. 15West Virginia and Texas are all ranked among KenPom.com’s top 10 preseason teams. Oklahoma sits at No. 33, while No. 35 Oklahoma State will revolve around topranked 2020 recruit Cade Cunningham.
But Texas has talent. It has experience. It has MattColeman, Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey. It has a chance, its best chance in years, to make a run.