Thoughts on Texas' beatdown of Gonzaga

The Texas Longhorns put together a very impressive performance on a national stage Wednesday night beating No. 2 ranked Gonzaga 93-74.

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Simply put, Wednesday night could not have been a better product for the future of Texas Longhorns basketball. That goes for the Texas fan base, and, more importantly, recruiting targets now and in the future.

CULTURE 🤘 pic.twitter.com/vPzv3F2M82

— #12 Texas Men’s Basketball (@TexasMBB) November 17, 2022

For those that watched Texas for the first time this season, it was an eye-opening event. But make no mistake, this type of performance already happened once providing those paying attention a glimpse into this team’s capabilities.

The Longhorns beat Arkansas 90-60 in an exhibition in a game the Longhorns could have won 100-60, bullying a young but very talented team off the floor in the Moody Center. The Longhorns are a mature team with versatility, make no mistake. And now the program has the ability to affect games with a true home court advantage, and it’s a potentially great one.

A lot of what was seen last night was talked about after the Arkansas exhibition game with one major change in regard to the ceiling of this team. That is Dylan Disu. The 6-foot-9 senior is as healthy as he has been since his final season at Vanderbilt. Texas fans didn’t see anything close to his ability last season. Unless one has truly studied Disu, they probably don’t know that he averaged 15 points and an SEC leading 9.2 rebounds per game as a sophomore, and hit 75 three-pointers in 49 games at Vanderbilt.

The Texas guards are Final Four level, without question. If Dillon Mitchell and Disu come close to maximizing their ability this season, watch out.

Texas will take losses this season with a schedule that will likely rank among the top 5-7 in the country. The scheduled includes No. 5 Baylor (twice), No. 6 Kansas (twice), No. 10 Creighton, No. 15 TCU (twice), No. 19 Illinois, No. 22 Tennessee, and No. 23 Texas Tech (twice). But Gonzaga won’t be the last statement win this season either.

Tonight was Chris Beard's third career coaching win against an AP Top 2 team.

Only one other coach has three wins over Top 2 teams since the start of 2017-18: Mike Krzyzewski. pic.twitter.com/eoXer8SOMI

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) November 17, 2022

Texas ceiling is about more than schematics

Texas will be a very well coached team under Chris Beard, Bob Donewald Jr., Rodney Terry, Brandon Chappell, Steve McClain and Chris Ogden. This staff will develop players. It’s already evident for those following closely. And that includes the tremendous work of strength and conditioning coach John Reilly. Check out Reilly’s Instagram page for the before and after pictures of some of the Texas players since the end of May.

There are some key reasons why I believe this Texas team has the opportunity to make a March Madness run.

This team has leadership and complete buy-in. Beard and staff added O.K.G.’s in the portal and recruiting. Tyrese Hunter has high-end leadership qualities. Sir’Jabari Rice has true leadership qualities. Dillon Mitchell is a 5-star that “get’s it”. Those guys fit right in with the toughness, grit, and leadership of Brock Cunningham. Guys like Timmy Allen and Christian Bishop bring toughness. This team has the key ingredient to win if the shots aren’t falling, or when adversity surely hits this season. Different players will play well at different times this season, but it’s how they play when shots aren’t falling that will be the difference.

It’s broken record time. The Longhorns have three players that were point guards on NCAA Tournament Round of 32 teams or better last year. Tyrese Hunter, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice all ran their teams last year. All three have bought into running the Texas team together, doing so with different roles married with the ability to each run the Texas offense at times. Not only is Hunter a big time point guard, but he can also play off the ball when Carr runs the half court offense. Rice can run the team in a pinch when needed.

What the trio of guards plus freshman Arterio Morris provides Texas is vastly improved play off the ball. Texas ability to attack from the wings will apply pressure on the opponent. This Texas team can score the ball when the three isn’t falling. That was not the roster makeup last season. Texas had to shoot the three well last season due to limitations off the bounce on the wing.

Keys to maximizing this season

Inside Texas believes there are some keys to Texas maximizing this season. Two of them haven’t changed, and won’t change. If Texas can hit 35-36% from the three-point line and 72-73% from the free throw line, this will be a very good offensive basketball team. The reason is Texas has the ability to score when the three isn’t falling this season. So when it does, the Longhorns can produce 80+ point games.

Three players are keys to maximizing. They are Dillon Mitchell, Arterio Morris and Dylan Disu. As impressive as Texas has been this season, they can get better. Mitchell and Morris are three games into regular season basketball at the college level. Mitchell will get more assertive on the offensive end, and continue to learn to play without early foul trouble. Morris will attack more off the bounce, get more comfortable on both ends and improve defensively. His improvement will be very key to maximizing this team. He’s a shot creator with NBA ability. He has to continue to work on being more careful with the ball off the bounce. Disu’s ability to stretch the floor is key on offense. He has it. And he’s more confident. It will be his ability to stay on the floor for longer stretches without getting into foul trouble that will determine his season, individually. All three guys can improve quite a bit throughout the season.

There is a lot more to dig into following the beatdown of Gonzaga and moving forward. Texas will likely see zone in the near future. An opponent that can handle the ball pressure will make for a different matchup for Texas. We can talk about it all. But more importantly for Texas fans, this team has a real chance.