Texas as a team

Posted on 17. Mar, 2009 by JF in 2008-2009

The NCAA Tournament selection committee, whether it was their intention or not, has created quite the compelling match-up with the #10 seed Minnesota Golden Gophers taking on the #7 seed Texas Longhorns. The two teams began the season with vastly different expectations, but ended their seasons in a strikingly similar fashion. By Gopher standards, sneaking into the NCAA tournament is a good season, even if the season ended on a gradual decline. For the Texas Longhorns, this must seem like something of a lost year. Just one year removed from an Elite Eight appearance and only a few months removed from a top five ranking, Texas began to slip in the Big 12 season, and was in danger of not making the tournament at all before turning things around just enough to make the NCAA Tournament.

The Longhorns started the season ranked #8 in the country. After two easy tune-ups, they beat Saint Joseph’s in the opening round of the Maui Invitational, but lost their next game to Notre Dame (then a top ten team) in overtime. That close loss was the only blemish on their record for the next month as they won six games in a row including victories over UCLA and Villanova. Their ranking climbed as high as #5, but that ranking didn’t last long as they lost to Michigan State in Houston. They narrowly beat Wisconsin in Madison, but later lost to an Arkansas team that turned out to be horrible, were blown out at Oklahoma, and then lost three straight road games at the end of January and the beginning of February to Kansas State, Missouri, and Nebraska. What looked sure to be a successful season was in danger spinning out of control. On February 21 they beat Blake Griffin (literally) and Oklahoma to push themselves off the bubble and into the NCAA tournament, eventually finishing the regular season with a 20-10 record. The season by most objective standards was not a complete disaster (and still considered enviable by fans of many forlorn teams) but it was disappointing for one of the elite teams in the Big 12, especially considering the great start.

The Big Ten has been much maligned for its slow style of play, but Texas doesn’t exactly race up and down the court. They only average one more possession per game than the Gophers. While they don’t get many more possessions, they do use them better, averaging .4 more points per possession. Like the Gophers, they are much more successful when shooting inside the three point line. The Longhorns make 48% of their two pointers, but their shooting percentage plummets when shooting from the outside, and is actually (though barely) worse than Minnesota’s. Their poor outside shooting tends to be less of a factor though, as only 24.2% of their shot attempts come from behind the three point line. At the free throw line they shoot a poor 67%

Obviously, the Longhorn’s offensive prowess does not come from their shooting skills. Instead, they avoid turnovers and are an excellent offensive rebounding team. They commit turnovers on 18.2 percent of their possessions (the Gophers commit turnovers on almost 22% of their possessions), and rebound 39% of their missed shots. Texas is something of a cross between Wisconsin and Michigan State, without the boredom and the sloppy play.

Defensively, Texas is just below Minnesota’s level, giving up .1 points more per possession than the Gophers and plays primarily man-to-man. Their opponents shoot 43% inside the three point line (30th in the country) and 34% from long distance. They force turnovers 20% of the time, which is slightly below average. While they block 14.3% of their opponents’ shot attempts, they steal the ball only 9.2% of the time (#218 nationally). Despite gaudy individual rebounding numbers, as a team they are very average, and give up offensive rebounds on 33% of their opponents missed shots.

The Longhorns and Gophers, on paper at least, are interchangeable. However, it remains to be seen how statistically similar teams from very different conferences will compare on the court. Tomorrow we will take a final look at what is sure to be a fun first round match-up, and even venture a prediction or two.

Related posts:

  1. #20 Minnesota vs. Indiana: The right team at the right time
  2. Barnblurbs 3/16/09: Still as excited as Kevin Payton
  3. Gophers lose in the first round, and the season ends as expected
  4. Gophers trying to continue success while the Longhorns hope to salvage their season
  5. Game 5 Mini-review, Game 6 Preview: Gophers vs. Texas A&M

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