Last night

Kevin Durant and the Sonics got over the hump, knocking off the Miami Heat 104-95. KD played 33 minutes in this one, scoring 18 points to go with five boards. On the night, he shot 50% behind the arc (3-for-6) and only 30% inside it (3-for-10). Interesting, no?

The Raptors were edged out at home by the Utah Jazz, 92-88. T.J. Ford just missed a double-double, dishing out eight assists while scoring 13 in his 32 minutes of play.

The Cavs and Magic needed an extra five minutes to decide a winner, but ultimately Orlando prevailed by a 117-116 count. Daniel Gibson saw the floor for 41 minutes, dropping in 16 to go with two assists, two rebounds, and two steals.

Royal Ivey did not play for the Bucks, who defeated the Memphis Grizzlies, 102-99. These two facts are in no way related. In all honesty, the Grizzlies are so awful that Royal could’ve played them 1-on-5 and won by about 30, but Coach Larry Krystkowiak didn’t want to embarrass Memphis that way. So, hooray for sportsmanship I guess.

The Lakers took out the Rockets in Houston, 93-90. With Kwame Brown back at full strength, Chris Mihm played for only a minute and a half and didn’t find the stat sheet. But Maurice Evans made the most of his ten minutes, scoring seven and grabbing a board.

LaMarcus Aldridge started strong and faded in the 4th quarter, but still finished the night with 15 points and nine rebounds. He also added a steal as the Trail Blazers fell to the homestanding Nuggets, 110-93.

Tonight

Apparently the Spurs and Mavericks are playing tonight, and that’s important for some reason. But there’s no Longhorns on the NBA’s schedule, so I’ll be blissfully ignoring TNT. San Antonio and Dallas fans, enjoy your e-pene battle.

A couple of close calls for ranked teams last night, but no major upsets. North Carolina held off Davidson after blowing a seven-point halftime lead, while Texas A&M used a second-half comeback to beat UTEP. As discussed in the comments on yesterday’s post, A&M’s clear weakness is the free-throw shooting of DeAndre Jordan (1-for-6 last night). It’s just a matter of time until the Hack-a-Shaq strategy is put into play against this guy.

The rest of the Big 12 fell on its face last night, with Okie State losing to UNT by 9, Tech falling to the Bearkats of SHSU, and Iowa State being toppled by the Bradley Braves. That’s gotta be good for the ol’ conference RPI.

An interesting link comes our way from the folks over at Bring on the Cats. It turns out that one stat overlooked amidst KSU’s 2-0 start and Michael Beasley’s stellar debut is the fact that the Wildcats have turned over the ball 47 times in two games. That’s right, they are averaging 23.5 turnovers in a pair of games against Sacramento State and Pittsburg State. And, even more noteworthy, new coach Frank Martin doesn’t give a shit.

Another link courtesy of long-time LRT reader Caradoc, in which we learn about P.J. Tucker’s time playing for Hapoel Holon in the Israeli league. Turns out, a nutjob threw a firecracker on the court on Sunday and the security guard who acted quickly enough to retrieve it lost three fingers for his bravery. I know this usually doesn’t happen at basketball games over there, despite the turmoil going on outside of the arenas. But still, let’s get P.J. home. Maybe he can join Kenton Paulino on the Austin Toros…

(That link from Caradoc also brings us to the shameless begging portion of this update. If you see an article that you think we’d find interesting, please send it along. Contact at longhornroadtrip dot com. We’ll show you the love.)

Tonight the Coaches vs. Cancer tournament hits the semifinal stage, pitting UConn versus Gardner-Webb in the opener (6 PM CST) and #3 Memphis versus Oklahoma (8 PM CST). Both games are on ESPN2. It’ll be a great chance to catch freshmen phenoms Blake Griffin and Derrick Rose, so tune in or set the Tivos accordingly. And an interesting fact on that Gardner-Webb/UConn tilt — since the Runnin’ Bulldogs weren’t expecting to beat Kentucky, these games at MSG are being sandwiched between those they had already scheduled. Now they will be forced to play five games in eight days, including a second one against UConn next Wednesday night.

ESPNU’s got basketball all day from Puerto Rico. Check out this stellar lineup — Houston vs. VCU (8 AM CST), Marist vs. Miami FL (10:30 AM CST), Temple vs. Providence (1:30 PM CST), and the College of Charleston vs. Arkansas (4 PM CST). Something tells me I won’t be wasting a sick day to watch these games.

The early signing period starts today and runs through November 21st. Bob Gibbons of Scout confirms the J’Covan Brown whispers that have been swirling, saying he would not be surprised if the Memorial High star signs with Texas this week. Other UT targets — Tyreke Evans, Wesley Witherspoon, and Jeff Taylor, Jr. — are all expected to wait until spring to sign.

Texas A&M looked solid in their opening round game of the Preseason NIT, dispatching Oral Roberts, 67-53. Freshman stud DeAndre Jordan looked like a manchild among boys, grabbing seemingly every offensive rebound in his 23 minutes on the floor and then flushing it with authority. Chinemelu Elonu had a great game off the bench and provided the announcers a great five-minute diversion while they discussed the merits of a nickname for the guy. But to be completely honest, the kid who caught my eye was senior Beau Muhlbach. He only played 11 minutes off the bench, but seemed to have an endless motor and a passion for the game. He’s the kind of guy you like to watch because you can tell the game is fun for him. It’s a shame he didn’t see more minutes under Billy Clyde Gillispie.

Remember Mercer, the Atlantic Sun squad that took out USC on the road last week? The Hollywood storyline ended far too soon, as they lost at home to Alabama, 90-83. Keep an eye on them in conference play come 2008, though. They were picked to finish fifth in the ASC by the media, but who wouldn’t love to see them rewrite the ending and earn that auto-bid to the Big Dance?

The preseason tournaments roll on, with Washington hosting Utah in second-round Preseason NIT action on ESPN at 9:30 PM CST. In other second-round action, Texas A&M hosts UTEP — the school they plucked Gillispie from — at 8 PM CST on ESPNU. But before all that, North Carolina and Tyler Hansbrough open the season at 6 PM CST on the Worldwide Leader.

Last night

Kevin Durant and the young Sonics still can’t find a way to win, as they fell to 0-8 with a 103-76 trouncing at hands of the Magic. KD played only 25 minutes in this one and scored ten. He’s still averaging 20.3 PPG on the year, but it seems that the grind of playing three of four nights a week has taken its toll, and coach P.J. Carlesimo has noticed. It was a smart play to get K-Smoove some rest in the blowout and hope that he’s fresh for tonight’s game.

Chris Mihm earned another start for the Lakers, but was quickly replaced by Kwame Brown and Andrew Bynum in the middle. The Westlake High product played only six minutes and went 0-for-3 from the field in the 107-92 loss to the Spurs. Maurice Evans came off the bench to provide 14 minutes, logging an assist, a block, and knocking down both of his free throw attempts.

The Trail Blazers moved above .500 with a 102-94 victory over the visiting Pistons. LaMarcus Aldridge played 36 minutes for Portland, earning his second double-double on the season with 22 points and ten boards. The big man was 9-of-16 from the field and made four of his six attempts from the charity stripe.

Tonight

T.J. Ford and the Toronto Raptors play host to former UT commit C.J. Miles and the Jazz. (6 PM CST, NBALP)

The Cavs and guard Daniel Gibson look for a win against the red-hot Orlando Magic. (6 PM CST, NBALP)

If the Sonics and Kevin Durant are going to get their first win sometime soon, this is the game to do it. Seattle continues their five-game road trip with a visit to Miami to take on the 1-6 Heat. (6:30 PM CST, NBALP)

Royal Ivey and the Bucks hope to bounce back from an absolute ass-kicking by the Spurs when they host the Grizzlies. (7 PM CST, NBALP)

Chris Mihm and Maurice Evans get some national airtime as the Lakers head to the Toyota Center to face the Rockets. (8 PM CST, ESPN)

LaMarcus Aldridge hopes to continue his solid week of basketball when the Trail Blazers head a mile high to face the Nuggets. (8 PM CST, NBALP)

Although Texas pulled away a 58-37 victory over UT-San Antonio last night, it felt like anything but a basketball game. The Roadrunners did absolutely everything to prove their mascot a misnomer, dribbling endlessly at the top of the key, then trying to drive or kick out for a three in the final five seconds of a possession. It made for disjointed, ugly basketball, and I can safely say that I’d never want to see this team on the schedule again…or at least not until they find a new coach.

Longtime readers know that I’m a big fan of Ken Pomeroy’s metrics, and this game was absolutely made for number crunching. I had mentioned in the pre-game that UTSA favors a slowdown game, but this was even more than that. UTSA coach Brooks Thompson seemed to realize that the only way to beat the Longhorns was to limit each team to a handful of possessions per half and just pray that his squad shot a better percentage.

The teams played at a pace of 47.4 possessions, but the Longhorns played at an incredible 122.4 efficiency. For those unfamiliar with Pomeroy, this means that for every 100 possessions, Texas would score 122.4 points. If you wanted to counter the effect of UTSA’s slow pace and project this out for an “average” Texas game, the numbers would look much better. Using last year’s pace of 69.7 possessions per game with last night’s efficiency, the Longhorns would’ve been expected to score 85 points. So, don’t let the score fool you.

In the first half, Texas struggled enough to make UTSA’s tactics pay off. They were only 8-of-23 from the field and seemed content to play four men around the perimeter, leaving only one rebounder down low. The shorter Roadrunners benefited, and won the first half battle on the glass by a 17-10 count.

But in the second twenty, the Longhorns came out firing on all cylinders. They hit the boards with enough intensity to overtake the rebounding battle by a 19-18 count within minutes. (They would go on to edge the Roadrunners on the glass 29-27 for the game.) Their shooting percentage went through the roof as well, jumping to over 54% for the second frame. With the Longhorns finally scoring at will, UTSA’s slowdown gambit only served to keep the game closer than it should’ve been.

D.J. Augustin looked solid once again, leading the way with 19 points and four assists. He did play every minute of the game, though, which is something that will be much more difficult for him to pull off in the rigors of conference play. The sweet drives to the lane were still a part of his repertoire, as D.J. had at least two highlight-reel layups that I can remember.

Damion James showed off his outside shot, hitting jumpers from just a few feet inside the arc. The only complaint I had with Damion’s performance was an aversion to playing inside. With the Horns sporting a three-guard lineup for much of the night, there was no reason why James should’ve been hanging out around the perimeter, leaving Connor Atchley as the only inside presence. Damion needs to attack the rim more often and assert himself on the offensive glass. He had nine rebounds on the night, but only two of them came off of Longhorn misses.

While the Longhorns are still giving up a lot of height by playing Justin Mason as a third starting guard, he fought hard for rebounds and played well offensively. Jay-Mase scored 12 points on the night and grabbed five rebounds, three of them offensive.

The Longhorns showed a lot of quality ball movement last night, which is very good with Mason in the game. Last year, he would sometimes turn the ball over by trying to do too much with the dribble or hanging on to it too long. This team seems to realize that quick passes can help to find the open man or open seams, and I hope to see more of it this year.

For the freshman, Alexis Wangmene and Clint Chapman saw some quality minutes with Gary Johnson and Dogus Balbay unavailable due to injury. I really like Chapman’s motor, as he seems to be such a quiet, unassuming guy that harbors a tenacious side. He grabbed four rebounds in seventeen minutes on the floor and really got after it, even on plays where he’d already lost position. Wangmene also looked good in the short spurts we saw him, but it was tough to get a good read with only 12 minutes on the floor (and most of that wasted time as UTSA guards dribbled possessions out near half court).

I expected more from Connor Atchley, but as I mentioned earlier, he was often stranded down low in the first half. And even at 6’10”, the kid can’t be expected to pull down every rebound against the entire UTSA squad as the rest of the Longhorns hang out at the three-point line. To be fair, Connor seemed to recognize what was happening and would try to tap out some of the rebounds to his teammates. But often that wasn’t successful, and the Roadrunners controlled the loose caroms. It will be interesting to see what opens up for Connor if and when Damion decides to play down low in the three-guard sets.

Dexter Pittman didn’t see much action as he found himself in coach’s doghouse pretty quickly. Dex lost rebounding position against the shorter, smaller Roadrunners, and didn’t do what he was supposed to do on the set plays drawn up for him. He grabbed two offensive boards in his five minutes of action, but otherwise did not make an impact.

I liked a lot of the new things I saw from this team last night. In particular, I like seeing Atchley on the floor for inbounding plays, and not trapped under the basket. Many will remember that the pressure from New Mexico State in Spokane caused a ton of problems on the inbounds plays. In that game, the Aggies constantly forced Atchley perilously close to a five-second call with suffocating inbounds D. But last night, he was the escape option, using his long arms to pop out at the top of the key for the high lob when all of the cuts were covered. That is an excellent use of our personnel, and I’m glad to see it happening.

As I mentioned earlier, there was a lot of quick ball movement from this year’s team, as well. There seemed to be more off-the-ball screening, too, which really flowed nicely with the snap passes and the three-guard lineup. All told, it just looked more like an offense, which is something that Texas fans aren’t that used to with defensive-minded Rick Barnes at the helm. It will be interesting to keep an eye on how the offensive game plan evolves throughout the year, particularly in regards to the lack of an inside game last night.

The Horns now enjoy three days off before starting play in the Legends Classic on Friday night. Tip will be at 7 PM CST from the Erwin Center against the Aggies of UC-Davis. See y’all there.