Selection Sunday is a big day for basketball teams across the country, but it’s only a brief reprieve for coaching staffs before they must press onward with preparing for their next opponent. Once the brackets are announced, calls are made to small schools around the country, looking for film for this year’s random opponent from the Big Sky or Metro Atlantic or Big Central Northwestern East Valley Conference.

For fans, the hunt for information can be similar. Minutes after seeing their team’s name pop up on CBS or ESPN, thousands of fans fire up the internet and hunt for message boards and stats related to their next opponent. Here at Longhorn Road Trip, I’m going to make it easy on New Mexico State fans. Texas supporters who were late to the party might also find this a great guide to their new, young team. And hell, this might even be helpful to those folks who like to over-research their brackets.

Obviously the star of the team is freshman phenom and Player of the Year candidate Kevin Durant. A 6-foot, 9-inch swingman with freakish talent, KD sports a wingspan over seven feet. His range is limitless, as he can sink a ten-foot jumper or nail a three with a defender in his face. He’s also good at posting up in isolation or against the double team, usually kissing it in off the glass. And, of course, if you give him the lane, chances are good that a highlight dunk is on the way.

Critics have tried knocking K-Smoove’s defense, and while he does sometimes overhelp on the ball or leave a man open while coming over a screen, he was named to the Big 12 Conference’s All-Defensive Team. KD’s long arms give him the advantage of being able to come up with blocks even when beaten on the play, and he controls a ton of rebounds that most players wouldn’t have a shot at. When a team is having a cold shooting night, Durant is often the man limiting their possessions to one-and-done.

As fantastic as number 35 is, the real key to Texas’ offense is freshman point guard D.J. Augustin. As D.J. goes, so go the Horns. He can slash to the basket for a sick reverse layup, but is most valuable in finding passing lanes when it seems there aren’t any. His 6.7 assists per game are fourth in the nation.

Augustin is also very good at getting himself to the line, where he is an 83% shooter. It seemed that every time the Longhorns were in a tough spot on the road against a hostile crowd this season, it was Augustin who would drive to the bucket, draw the foul, and quiet the crowd with a pair of swished free throws. And while earlier in the year D.J. would often continue to attempt to attack the rim even when the defense was denying it, he seems to have matured to the point that he will pull it out and try to reset the offense.

If teams want to slow down Texas, they need to get Augustin on the bench. When he was out of the game against Kansas on Sunday afternoon, the Jayhawks made their biggest runs.

The other most consistent scorer for Coach Rick Barnes is shooting guard A.J. Abrams. Only a sophomore, Abrams is the oldest starter and the only player on the team who played significant minutes last season. He has one of the quickest releases I’ve ever seen, and is absolutely deadly as a catch-and-shoot three-point specialist. Unfortunately, A.J. also has a tendency to take a lot of running floaters off the dribble, and rarely finds success. He is most effective coming off of curls and screens for the Horns.

Abrams’ main liability is his defense. For starters, he is listed at a generous 5-foot, 10-inches, which allows taller guards to easily shoot over him. He also has a tendency to get beat off of the dribble by quicker guards. A.J.’s defense has improved somewhat throughout the season, as Barnes challenged him with the toughest assignments in the homestretch of conference play. A team with quick guards will certainly present a problem, however.

An emerging star for Texas is Damion James, who was named Gatorade Player of the Year in the state of Texas for his senior season. James has a sweet mid-range jumper, and is becoming a defensive presence in the middle. He’s blocked at least one shot in thirteen straight games, including four against A&M in College Station. James’ weaknessses are his conditioning and tendency to pick up fouls quickly.

The fifth starter for Coach Barnes is Justin Mason, an Amarillo product who has been struggling lately. Jay May was producing admirably on the defensive end for much of the year, but has seen his minutes decline over the last three weeks as both his offense and defense have tailed off. If Mason can return to form, he is a viable scoring threat that makes teams pay for focusing too much on Durant and Augustin.

The Texas bench is relatively thin, making this team vulnerable against an opponent with quality depth. The first man off the pine is usually redshirt sophomore Connor Atchley. While not a superstar by any means, Atchley is a serviceable frontcourt reserve. Unfortunately, he has also been slumping for as long as Mason. Atchley is susceptible to the ball fake, but still manages to get his blocks each game. He has a sweet three-point stroke, but does not seem to have much confidence in it. If Atchley scores very much, it will be off of easy layups and putbacks.

During last week’s Big 12 Tournament, a new man provided significant minutes off the bench to relieve the overworked backcourt. Senior transfer guard Craig Winder came in and provided a spark in all three games, ratcheting up the defensive intensity and showing hustle all over the floor. The only downside with Winder is that his breakneck pace sometimes results in stupid fouls — he has fouled on three-point shots on three or four ocassions this year — and poorly-chosen shots taken too early in the possession.

The other bench players for Texas do not generally provide a ton of minutes, and all are youngsters. Big man Matt Hill has only been healthy for the last four games after missing over a month with a stress fracture. With the lack of quality minutes for Hill this year, it is tough to give a definitive book on the kid.

Dexter Pittman is a massive freshman who has lost over 70 pounds since reporting to campus this summer. The sudden weight loss means that his conditioning isn’t quite up to par, so he usually doesn’t see the floor against high-tempo, high-pressure teams.

J.D. Lewis is the other guard option off the bench for Texas, but rarely sees the floor. He will come in solely to spell Abrams or Augustin, or in late game situations where a three might be needed.

By looking at the stats, we can see that Texas has one of the most efficient offenses in the country, scoring 122.1 points for every 100 possessions, adjusted to reflect opponent strength. Their defense leaves a bit more to be desired, as their adjusted defensive efficiency checks in at 59th nationally.

The biggest weakness of the Texas defense is guarding the perimeter. Although the Longhorn defense has improved since getting absolutely torched from three-point range by the Kansas State Wildcats, they still have problems shutting down the three in late-game situations. Both Texas A&M and Kansas exploited this in the last two weeks of the season, and a hot three-point shooting team could cause problems in the NCAAs for the Horns.

That’s about as exhaustive as I’m going to get with the team, considering we’ve got to hit the road in about seven hours. If you have any more questions about the Longhorns, feel free to leave them in the comments. I’ll try to get a response out when we pull into rest stops with wireless access.