Texas Basketball: 5 Burning Questions for Remainder of Longhorns' Season
What once seemed like a promising season for Texas basketball has now been clouded by distress and doubt.
After starting the 2014-15 campaign with a 10-1 record, the Longhorns have dropped five of their last nine games and are now in danger of falling out of the AP poll for the first time this season come next Monday.
The 19th-ranked Longhorns currently possess an overall record of 14-6 record but are just 3-4 in the Big 12. If things don’t improve down the stretch, this team, which was ranked as high as No. 6 at one point, could be in danger of missing the NCAA tournament as well.
Texas has been experimenting with some defensive schemes as of late and the latter part of its schedule looks to be quite brutal. Can the Longhorns turn things around and get back on track? Let’s take a look at some of the pressing issues for the remainder of their season.
Will the Longhorns Find Their Shooting Touch?
Shooting just 43.7 percent from the field, the Longhorns are ranked No. 164 in the nation in that category. That’s not the place they want to be if they want to be a contender.
There is no doubt that this Texas team has talent, but when Cameron Ridley and Prince Ibeh—two centers—are the only two regular contributors who are shooting above 50 percent, that’s not enough.
Far too often, we see the Longhorns pound the rock near the perimeter for too long and hesitate to attack the basket. When they do, defenses pack the paint and force tough, contested attempts, knowing the Longhorns have trouble shooting from range. It’s difficult to generate points like that when a huge element of the offense is shut down.
It’s up to backcourt players like Isaiah Taylor, Demarcus Holland and Javan Felix to develop some consistent shooting to complement Texas’ strengths in the frontcourt; otherwise, the free fall of the Longhorns will likely continue.
Which Defense Will Barnes Stay With?
After watching his team get picked apart defensively by Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, Rick Barnes decided to employ zone defense for the Longhorns in the Jan. 17 game against West Virginia and saw it pay dividends.
Texas held WVU to just 24.1 percent shooting in that contest and TCU to 33.3 percent in the next one.
But just when Barnes and company thought they got the defense all settled in and figured out, Kansas and Iowa State broke down the zone as well, putting up 75 and 89 points, respectively, in the next two games.
So which defensive scheme Barnes will go with for the rest of the way will be an interesting element to watch.
On paper, the Longhorns should excel in the zone with their length in the frontcourt and speed in the backcourt, but the Jayhawks and Cyclones’ perimeter shooting proved good enough in those games to render the zone ineffective.
If Barnes wants to switch back to man-to-man, he has to consider the matchups again, and it will ultimately come down to the individual defensive efforts. But that’s something we haven’t seen consistently from the Longhorns this season.
Time is running out for Barnes to be experimenting, though.
Does Texas Have Enough on Its Resume?
Let’s take a look at Texas’ figurative LinkedIn profile for a moment. What would impress you?
The 27-point blowout win over then-No. 16 West Virginia at home seems legitimate at the moment, but a loss in the return game can easily shatter that feat and deem it a fluke.
How about the last-second road win at UConn? It looked great when it first happened, but with each bad loss suffered by the defending national champion, that win is beginning to lose more and more value.
Apart from those two, there is really nothing else you can point to and claim as a signature win, since Texas came up short in every other challenge against a good team.
Well, the good news (depending on how you look at the situation) is that Texas still has plenty of time to build up its portfolio with the Big 12 being so competitive this year.
The Longhorns will have a chance to play against six more ranked opponents during the remainder of the season. If they can string together a few impressive victories here and there, perhaps they will have enough to woo the selection committee.
Can Isaiah Taylor Return to Form?
When Isaiah Taylor went down with an injury in the game against Iowa on Nov. 20, he was averaging 15 points per game and shooting 53.3 percent from the field (50 percent from long range) through three games.
Since he returned on Jan. 3 against Texas Tech, Taylor has seen his numbers, especially his shooting percentage, decline drastically.
In the seven games he has played since coming back from the wrist injury, he is shooting just 35.3 percent from the field and 20 percent from beyond the arc.
Whether that’s due to Taylor not being fully healthy or just going through a shooting slump, it does not matter anymore. Texas cannot afford to have one of its best players struggle this much on the court.
If Taylor can somehow figure out how to return to the way he was playing when the season first started, then the Longhorns will get a huge boost in their production as well as their morale.
Can They Survive Their Schedule?
The Longhorns’ season pretty much rests on a five-game stretch from Feb. 17 to March 2, when they will face five currently ranked opponents.
The Big 12’s strength this season has been underrated for the most part, but the sudden emergence of the teams in this conference will have Barnes’ team in a bind in a few weeks.
Texas will take on Oklahoma (No. 24), Iowa State (No. 15), West Virginia (No. 17), Kansas (No. 9) and Baylor (No. 20) during that span and will play three of those games on the road (Oklahoma, West Virginia and Kansas).
The Longhorns have already lost to the Sooners, Jayhawks and Cyclones earlier this season. And barring any sudden and drastic improvements before Feb. 17, the chances of Texas coming out unscathed are slim.
On the bright side, picking up three or four wins during that stretch could propel the Longhorns and provide some tremendous momentum just before the postseason.
The fate rests in their hands.