After last season’s monumental meltdown, Texas fans were treated to a new-look Longhorn squad last week as they opened the year with a pair of easy victories in the 2KSports Classic. The Texas offense moved more freely, Jordan Hamilton seemed to be a completely different player, and the defense suffocated its first two opponents to the tune of a 34.3% effective field goal percentage.

Skepticism could still be found in all corners of the Burnt Orange Nation, and with good reason. After all, last year’s team looked unstoppable as it marched to a 17-0 start. But this week’s hot internet topic is the fabulous breakdown of the Texas coaching clinic by Scipio Tex of Barking Carnival, and it has some fans drinking the Kool-Aid once more.

In Scipio’s breakdown, we learned of Rick Barnes’ off-season dedication to overcoming his coaching shortcomings, namely by developing a coherent offensive attack. When pieced together with what we saw on the court last week, it all makes sense. What Barnes and Co. claim to have worked on has already translated to game-time action. But, fans are also well-aware of the glaring deficiencies this team has, and are also well aware of the fact that neither Navy nor Louisiana Tech could exploit those weaknesses.

Tonight, Texas will finally be pushed by a quality opponent in the Illinois Fighting Illini. Not only is Bruce Weber’s team much more talented than the aforementioned 2KSports whipping boys, but they are also the first challenge for a thin, undersized Texas frontcourt. The Longhorns certainly have the athletes to hang with the Illini — Vegas currently has the Horns as 3.5-point underdogs — but will they have the grit to pull off a tough upset?

By the numbers

While Illinois’ average tempo of 69.4 possessions per game is just 82nd in the country, there’s no doubt that they have the most success when pressuring opponents into mistakes. The Fighting Illini are forcing just over 18 turnovers per game, which equates to more than 21% of their opponents’ possessions.

Offensively, the Illini have been tough to stop. Their 59.7% effective field-goal percentage (a statistic giving added weight to 3-point buckets) ranks 25th nationally, while their eye-popping 63.2% success rate inside the arc puts them 13th in the country.

Statistically, the two offensive weaknesses for Illinois are found inside. They fail to attack the rim enough to earn many free throw attempts, getting to the line just 26.7% of the time they shoot the ball. When Illinois misses shots, they also are failing to grab a significant number of offensive boards. With just 29.8% of their offensive rebounding opportunities being capitalized upon, the Fighting Illini rank 214th nationally. Against a much-smaller Texas team, look for those numbers to improve tonight.

Meet the Illini

The Illinois team lives and dies with senior point guard Demetri McCamey. At 6’3″, 200 lbs., he’s a strong, stocky guard with prescient court vision. In a game against Purdue last season, McCamey dished out 16 assists, and this year is averaging eight per game through the first three contests. He’s quick enough to get to the rim, strong enough to finish there, and even has enough self-control to log a few assists each night after he’s already left his feet with the basketball. While Demetri is certainly one of the best point guards in the country this season, he’s also a quality scorer that leads his team with 14.7 points per contest.

Joining McCamey in the backcourt is sharpshooter D.J. Richardson. The 6’3″ guard was a teammate of Avery Bradley and Cory Joseph at Findlay Prep, and as both Longhorns are well-aware, he needs only inches of space to get off a quick three-pointer. After a season in which he was named the Big 10’s Freshman of the Year, Richardson has started off on the right foot, knocking down 46% of his long-range attempts in the first three games this year. When D.J. isn’t dropping long-range bombs, he can also be counted on to lock down the perimeter, where he is arguably the team’s best defender.

At forward, senior Mike Davis is making a big impact this season. He’s been a rebounding machine, snagging nearly a fifth of the team’s boards so far. Davis bulked up in the offseason in the hopes of being more physical in the tough Big 10 Conference, which could make him a difficult matchup for the Longhorns. Freshman Tristan Thompson and the platoon of Matt Hill and Alexis Wangmene will have to contend with this bruising style of play and keep Davis off the glass.

A constant double-double threat, Davis is averaging more than 12 points per game. But while he’s a great rebounder and a quality post defender, his favorite way to score is with the midrange jumper. Thompson and Gary Johnson are serviceable defenders away from the rim, but Hill and Wangmene often have difficulty when their defensive assignments pull them away from the paint. It will be interesting to see how the Texas frontcourt handles Davis on the defensive end.

The other Illini starting forward is Bill Cole, a scrappy player who earns praise from the coaches for his hustle. He’s not going to fill up the stat sheet — Cole is averaging just 3.7 points and 3.3 boards per game — but he’ll often be found diving to the floor for loose balls or setting screens to open up the Illinois scorers.

In the middle, Coach Weber relies on 7-foot, 1-inch Mike Tisdale. He can score at will, but was often criticized last season for incredibly weak defense. This year, he’s still not going to win any All-Conference honors for his work on D, but his length has an undeniable effect down low. Tisdale’s averaging 9.3 points and a team-leading 7.7 boards per game, while blocking more than two shots per game. Like Davis, Tisdale can knock it down in the midrange, and will again cause matchup issues for the Horns.

If having the 7’1″ Tisdale wasn’t enough for Weber and the Illini, freshman Meyers Leonard also checks in at 7-feet. He’s still a raw talent, but all high school scouts have been drooling over just how much raw talent he posseses. Leonard is only playing about 17 minutes a game off the bench, yet still averages four rebounds and more than five points per contest. For a Texas team that will likely struggle in the paint tonight, having a second giant on the bench is just one more edge for Illinois.

The Illini essentially run nine deep, with Brandon Paul being the busiest reserve. He’s playing more than 19 minutes a game, and is still the team’s third-leading scorer despite coming off the bench. He’s undoubtedly an explosive scorer that can change the fabric of any game, but his questionable decision-making is the thing holding him back. So far this season, the sophomore seems to be making better choices with the basketball. Texas has to hope, however, that they can pressure him into a few mistakes.

Also coming off the bench is freshman Jereme Richardson, who is making a quick impact. He’s the most-heralded recruit to arrive at Champaign-Urbana in years, and it’s likely just a matter of time until he usurps Cole for the starting role. He has incredible handles for a 6’7″ kid, leading to the inevitable “point-forward” label. His length enables him to grab a lot of rebounds when he’s not in the ideal position, and he should log his fair share of boards against Texas.

The final contributor for the Illini is forward Tyler Griffey, a sophomore in the mold of Cole. There’s only so many minutes on a team for the scrappy, “glue guy,” so for now Griffey’s impact is limited by Cole’s presence. In future seasons, he’ll likely slide right into that role. For now, though, he’s good for a few points a night.

Keys to the game

It’s a recurring theme throughout this game, and it will be a recurring theme throughout the season. This Texas Longhorn team is simply smaller in the frontcourt, and lack any real depth at those positions. Against Illinois, Texas must hold its own in the paint. They can’t let Illinois dominate the rebounding battle, and they cannot afford to give up a ton of easy points inside. If the Longhorns can somehow turn this into a battle of the backcourts, their odds for upset are much better.

Although the Illini are more experienced, they can often be careless with the basketball. They are averaging nearly 15 turnovers per game, coughing it up on roughly 20% of their possessions. If Texas can force Illinois mistakes, it will fuel the transition game and lead to easy buckets. The Longhorns scored 41 points off of turnovers in their first two games; if they can continue that trend, it will certainly make this game interesting.

Finally, Texas must stay out of foul trouble. Illinois is already deeper than Texas, and the Longhorns are thinnest in the frontcourt. Thompson, Gary Johnson, and Hamilton cannot be sitting on the bench for extended periods of time with foul trouble if the Longhorns are to have any hopes of winning this game.

A final DVR note

Since tonight’s game is the second of the semifinals, there is almost no chance that tipoff is actually happening at 8 P.M. central. We’ve put our best guess in the header bar at the top of this preview, but make sure to leave a lot of extra recording time as you set your DVR, VHS, or Betamax.

For the second time in just three nights, the Texas Longhorns put on a defensive clinic at the Frank Erwin Center. While forcing 22 turnovers and blocking seven shots, they held Louisiana Tech to just 32.8% shooting en route to a dominating 89-58 win.

The game started off sluggishly, thanks in part to a whistle-happy crew of officials who handed out a combined 42 personal fouls and even had to stop the game to correct a gaffe on free throws following an intentional foul. With the choppy play and lethargic start for the Horns, the game was actually tied at 10 at the under-12 media timeout. Out of the break, Texas surged ahead with a 19-4 run over the next five minutes and never looked back.

The Longhorn victory was so certain, in fact, that all three walk-ons managed to see playing time for Rick Barnes in the final minute. Dean Melchionni even knocked down his first career bucket, a three-pointer, to bring what was left of a 5,619-person crowd to its feet.

What looked good

Through two games, the strength of the Texas team once again looks to be its defense. Off of the 22 turnovers they forced, the Longhorns were able to score 26 points. According to stat guru Ken Pomeroy, the Bulldogs coughed the ball up on more than 26% of their possessions, nearly seven full percentage points worse than their average a season ago.

When the Longhorns weren’t scoring off of turnovers, their half-court offense looked infinitely better than last year’s. Guards were attacking the paint, the team was moving the ball around with crisp passing, and players were setting smart screens for their teammates. There were even a few instances where it looked like the Longhorn big men were thinking a play ahead, anticipating the moves of the guards to better position themselves for entry passes or screens.

Even when Jai Lucas and Dogus Balbay were on the floor, Texas seemed to be spaced well and the offense didn’t bog down. After both players were much-maligned in 2009-10 for being offensive liabilities that allowed defenses to sag into the paint, seeing them as worthwhile, active members of the offense was refreshing.

Lucas still needs space to get off shots, and Balbay still won’t put it up until he’s within three feet of the rim, but both men seemed to recognize their strengths and weaknesses, and played to maximize their skills. This trend will certainly be worth watching against a skilled Illinois backcourt next Thursday night.

While Tristan Thompson was impressive in his first game versus Navy, against Louisiana Tech he truly shined. Thompson played well with his back to the basket, came up huge on defense with three blocks and three defensive rebounds, and looked like anything but a freshman in just his second collegiate game. As we’ve cautioned over the last few days, there will certainly be growing pains when T-Squared faces bigger, more-experienced frontcourt players. But he’s definitely further along in his development than anyone could have hoped.

Once again, Jordan Hamilton had a nice scoring night and looked very fluid with the ball. Last year, he would often force the issue from the wing and end up with frustrating turnovers as he tried to slash to the basket. In his first two games, though, his moves to the bucket are strong and smooth, and he knows how to get the defenders off the floor while still getting a clean look. This is leading to points in the paint and more opportunities from the line, where Hamilton was a solid 6-of-7 last night.

Those points in the paint are a big thing for a Texas team that often struggled to score just inches from the rim last season. Against Louisiana Tech, the Horns outscored the Bulldogs in the paint by a 48-30 count, giving Texas more than half its offensive output from very short range. One of the biggest concerns this season is an undersized frontcout, but so far this year, the Longhorns are holding their own down low. Whether it’s guards getting to the rim or big men making good moves near the hoop, Texas has had no troubles scoring in the paint.

Finally, we must note that on this night, free throws were actually a benefit for the Longhorns. Texas was 17-of-22 from the line, good for a 77.3% success rate. On Monday night, the Horns hit just 55.9% of their attempts, and they averaged a disgusting 63.3% mark last season. While we don’t think Texas is anywhere near shaking this monkey of its back, it’s reassuring that Thompson rebounded from his 4-of-10 free-throw performance against Navy to sink five out of seven last night.

What needed work

The most concerning thing from last night’s game was another terrible performance from behind the arc. Texas was just 4-of-16 from long range, and just 3-of-14 if you take out Melchionni’s garbage-minute attempts. Through two games, that puts the team at just 24.2% from long range, which is very bad news for a squad that really struggled against Navy’s zone in the first half on Monday night.

Those struggles against the zone D were a continuation of last year’s trend, where the Longhorns couldn’t even successfully attack the zone defenses of schools like Rice and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. Fortunately, this year’s team is moving the ball well and attacking the rim, as we mentioned earlier.

The main concern, though, is that if Texas has a tough night where they have trouble with driving and ball movement, the Horns will settle for three-point attempts. That’s a recipe for disaster when your team percentage is hovering just a few points above the Mendoza line.

The other thing that stuck out early in last night’s game was Hamilton’s tendency to turn into a black hole. This happened many times last year, and Jordan often forced up shots to the team’s detriment. Fortunately, this season he is scoring the ball with greater efficiency, so that shoot-first mentality hasn’t been a problem. Once again, the concern is what happens when the team runs into adversity. If Hamilton tries to take the entire team on his back and abandons the team’s commitment to ball movement, the Texas offense could look disappointingly similar to last year’s.

Finally, our last note is regarding the foul situation. This early in the year, it’s easy to blame the choppy play on officials with a whistle addiction. Texas was playing physical basketball, as Louisiana Tech coach Kerry Rupp pointed out in the post-game interview. But if the high number of fouls turns out to be the norm rather than an anomaly for this Texas team, the lack of depth could be a huge problem. When the Horns are facing teams like Kansas State and Michigan State, having Alexis Wangmene and Lucas playing a ton of minutes in place of foul-plagued starters will proven disastrous.

Looking ahead

The Longhorns head to New York City for their next two games, where the four host schools of the 2KSports Classic face off at Madison Square Garden. Texas opens with a tough game against Illinois on Thursday night and will face Pitt or Maryland just 24 hours later.

There are a lot of good things that we’ve seen from the Longhorns in these first two games, but the team’s true colors will show in next week’s big tests. If this young Texas team can hold its ground at the Garden, fans can start to get excited for a special season. For now, we have another long week of waiting and asking questions.

Fresh off their season-opening victory over Navy, the Texas Longhorns return to the hardwood again tonight in their second opening round match-up of the 2K Sports Classic. This time out, Texas will tangle with an enigmatic Louisiana Tech team loaded with newcomers.

Meet the Bulldogs

It won’t just be Longhorn fans who are getting their first look at the Louisiana Tech team. Even Bulldog fans will see a lot of unfamiliar faces wearing their school’s red and blue.

Olu Ashaolu and DeAndre Brown are the only returning starters, and they chipped in a combined 21.3 points per game last season. The other four Bulldogs who were on last year’s roster managed just a combined 4.8 points per game. Louisiana Tech coach Kerry Rupp will be relying heavily on transfers and untested freshman this season, so the team could have quite a few miscues in their season opener tonight.

During Rupp’s first two years in Ruston, the Bulldogs played a dreadfully slow style of basketball. The coach was working with very untalented players and had to limit possessions to keep his squad in games. Despite the slowdown efforts, LaTech still only won 21 games in those two seasons — just six victories came in Rupp’s debut year — as the coach slowly rebuilt the program.

Last year, his system finally produced results. The Bulldogs won 24 games, finished 4th in the WAC, and qualified for the post-season CBI Tournament. Magnum Rolle, an LSU transfer, even landed in the NBA, where he’s now averaging about six minutes a night for the Indiana Pacers. The building blocks for success have clearly been laid on the Ruston campus. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, though, the Longhorns are a little tougher than most WAC foes.

What we’re watching

As always, these early-season game previews don’t contain our “Keys to the Game,” but rather things to keep an eye on. With the Longhorns still forming their team identity in November and December, and the only true “key” to victory being the ability to show up on time, we find this is a much more valuable approach.

Tonight, we’re interested to see how the Texas half-court offense looks. Against Navy, the half-court offense was bogged down against the zone during the first 20 minutes. Once the Horns started to run the floor and the guards starting probing the Midshipmen’s D, things opened up and the points flowed freely.

Coach Barnes seems to be returning to the offenses of the Brad Buckman days, having his big men set interior screens instead of relying primarily on ball screens for the guards at the perimeter. With Tristan Thompson and Gary Johnson working hard down low, this is definitely a solid plan of attack. Still, it’s imperative that Thompson, Alexis Wangmene, and Matt Hill learn to react quicker to double-teams on the blocks.

Once again, we’ll have an eye on the backcourt rotation. All four guards split the minutes evenly against Navy, and with another easy win expected tonight, it might be more of the same. But with questions surrounding the roles of J’Covan Brown and Jai Lucas, it will be interesting to see how they fare tonight and how Barnes handles their substitutions.

Finally, we’ll be watching to see if Cory Joseph lights it up. On Monday night, he made quick moves with the basketball and looked confident on the court. Unfortunately, his shots weren’t falling as usual and he finished with just four points on 2-of-7 shooting. Joseph is known for being not just a point guard, but also a long-range marksman. It’s just a matter of time until he impresses Texas fans with a D.J. Augustine-like performance. Will tonight be his first time to burst into the spotlight?

Last-minute promos

With plenty of tickets still available, the Texas Box Office is offering $6 tickets for tonight’s game. Simply click that link, print out the coupon, and buy your end-zone mezzanine tickets for just six bucks.

I can hear you now. “End-zone mezzanine?!?” you’re screeching incredulously at your computer. Oh, don’t fret, dear readers. This is fall basketball in Austin, Texas. Even a mezzanine ticket is good for lower-level arena seating. Just pick your seats wisely, and take care to be polite if you get bounced from your first choice.

For those who can’t scrounge up 24 quarters from between their couch cushions, the game will once again be available on ESPNU and on the radio through the Longhorn Sports Network. (Check here for radio affiliates.)

For Texas fans beaten down by a horrid football season that seems interminable, last night’s tipoff of the 2010-11 basketball campaign was a welcome sight. The Longhorns cruised to yet another opening-night victory — the 11th in Rick Barnes’ 13 years on the Forty Acres — as they pulled away in the second half for an 83-52 win over Navy.

As always, the things we think we learned about teams in November and December rarely seem important by the time March rolls around. While glaring team flaws tend to be season-long issues, breakout performances against North Dakota Technical College can’t be fawned over. It’s likely that some Longhorn fans may be overly giddy following last night’s win, but just eight months after Texas came unglued in the national spotlight, restrained optimism is probably the best reaction.

In yesterday’s game preview, we posed three questions worth thinking about during the opening game. With 40 minutes and a W in the books, let’s re-examine those nagging questions…

1) Who will be the leader? – With a 26-point, 10-rebound night, Jordan Hamilton threw his hat into the ring in a big way. The sophomore was hustling all over the floor, getting rebounds from the wing and generally making smarter decisions than he did as a freshman. There is no doubt that Hamilton needed to have a big summer for the Longhorns to succeed this year, and it appears that he put in the work. Jordan didn’t press things or force up dumb shots, and he seemed much more confident on the floor than he did last season.

In addition to Hamilton, Gary Johnson put in another steady performance, earning a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. While he is not nearly as emotional a player as Hamilton, it seems that the quiet, scrappy forward is going to take charge this season. In the post-game press conference, even J’Covan Brown agreed. “Last year, I couldn’t tell you who was leading,” Brown said. “One day it was one person, one day it was another. I don’t think anybody’s going to take [Johnson’s] job.”

There’s no doubt that last year’s team had chemistry and leadership issues. The second-half meltdown at Connecticut in January was a microcosm of the season as a whole, with the Longhorns looking disheveled and desperate, lacking a strong figure to carry them through adversity. When that adversity inevitably comes calling this season, Texas fans must hope that Hamilton and Johnson can rally the troops.

2) How will the frontcourt come together? – A weird day ended in appropriate fashion, as Coach Barnes told reporters at the post-game press conference that they were “leaning towards” redshirting big man Clint Chapman. Just hours after the announcement of Shawn Williams‘ transfer, the news came as a shock. A shirt for Chapman means the Texas frontcourt consists of just Tristan Thompson, Johnson, Matt Hill, and Alexis Wangmene. Foul trouble or injuries could spell absolute disaster.

Fortunately, Hill and Wangmene proved themselves adequate reserves for the Horns. Granted, their performances came against a service academy, a far cry from the frontcourts Texas will see in conference play. But both men had far fewer mistakes than we’ve seen in previous seasons, and Wangmene even contributed offensively. Alexis’ eight points were a welcome sight after two seasons in which he averaged only two per game.

Thompson, meanwhile, warmed up quite nicely after some early-game hiccups. He couldn’t seem to handle a pass or dribble the ball in his first few minutes, but he finished the night with twelve points and seven boards. He ran the floor nicely, which is going to be huge for a team that demonstrated just how good they can be when the tempo is pushed.

Yes, the Texas bigs had some defensive lapses. And yes, all of them seemed completely befuddled by the idea of a double-team. But compared to some of the nightmare scenarios Texas fans have been dreaming up for this Longhorn frontcourt, last night’s slightly-above-average performance was oddly reassuring.

3) How deep is the bench? – Coach Barnes used every scholarship player at his disposal, except for the possibly-redshirting Chapman. Hill and Wangmene combined for 27 minutes, while each of the other seven Longhorns saw the floor for at least 22 minutes. Barnes experimented with quite a few lineups, resulting in a few eyebrow-raising combinations that lacked offensive punch.

Minutes in the backcourt will be interesting to track this season. Last night, the four guards played nearly identical minutes — Jai Lucas had 24, while Cory Joseph played 25, and Brown and Dogus Balbay posted 23 and 22, respectively. While beating a team soundly, it’s easy to spread the PT and give everybody their orange slices at halftime. But when things get tough later in the season, how will Barnes tweak the rotation? In the past, he’s been seemingly unwilling to give Brown much of a rope. Fans can only hope that this year the sophomore guard gets more time to shine.

A few other things worth nothing:

Transition defense was sorely lacking at times against the Midshipmen. On a Rick Barnes team, that simply won’t fly, and it was clear that the head coach was not at all pleased by the lax effort. With seven minutes to go in the second half, Navy had one fast break bucket where not a single Longhorn made an effort to stop the ball. Barnes immediately called a timeout and replaced Brown and Wangmene with Hill and Hamilton. There were other instances which weren’t quite as glaring, but it was clear that Texas had some issues picking up assignments in transition.

For the second year in a row, Texas is pushing the pace. And that is a very, very good thing. This team has far too much talent and athleticism to be bogged down by an anemic half-court offense. Last season, the Longhorns averaged 72.6 possessions per game after averaging between 64 and 68 per game over the previous six years.

Last night, the Longhorns ran an up-tempo game even more in the second half, and the results were fantastic. Texas outscored Navy 54-32 in the final 20 minutes, shooting over 57% in the half. In a much slower first half, Texas was stifled by the Navy zone, hitting only hit 41.7% of their shots from the field, including a frustrating 1-of-9 from behind the arc.

Finally, it must be mentioned that once again the Longhorns struggled from the free throw line. They hit just 56% of their free throws, including a 2-for-4 night from the typically-steady Brown. The upside, however, is that Texas’ free-throw rate improved dramatically. Measured as free-throw attempts per field goal attempts, the Horns’ FTR was 57.6%, a shocking increase from the 40% rate they had last season.

As a point of comparison, consider last year’s Kansas State team. The Wildcats were runners-up in the Big 12 Championship and advanced to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament while making just 67% of their free throws. What kept KSU afloat, however, was a free throw rate north of 50%. While the Wildcats missed a lot of free throws, they were at the line far more often than their opponents. With this year’s Texas team, it appears there is a dedication to getting to the rim, which often leads to the charity stripe. That’s one good way for the Horns to overcome these pathetic free throw percentages.

The Longhorns will be back in action again tomorrow night, wrapping up the opening round of the 2KSports Classic with an 8 P.M. home game against Louisiana Tech.

After a season in which Texas fell from No. 1 in the nation to the depths of the unranked and suffered a first-round exit in the NCAA tournament, questions surrounded the team’s future. Just eight months later, most remain unanswered as we rapidly approach the tip-off of the 2010-11 season.

The graduation of seniors Damion James, Dexter Pittman, and Justin Mason left the team without experienced leadership and opened a gaping hole in the frontcourt. Avery Bradley‘s decision to enter the NBA Draft after his freshman year, coupled with the transfer of guard Varez Ward, means this Texas team could see a drop-off in its perimeter D. And with today’s stunning transfer announcement from redshirt freshman swingman Shawn Williams, the picture becomes even murkier.

We’ll get to an in-depth look at the team during the off-day tomorrow, but tonight we pose three questions as the season approaches. All deal with identity, as the 2010-11 Longhorn basketball team is as enigmatic as any Texas squad in recent memory.

1) Who will be the leader? – If Texas is looking for senior leadership this season, there’s very little experience to draw on. Only Gary Johnson and Dogus Balbay have seen significant playing time, and with the addition of freshman star Cory Joseph to the mix, Balbay may see a decline in minutes this year. It’s rare to find a vocal team leader who isn’t a key player.

Johnson may be the most-likely candidate, but there’s also hope that Jordan Hamilton or J’Covan Brown can mature into team leaders in their sophomore seasons. Hamilton starts the year on the Wooden Award’s Preseason Top 50 list, and certainly showed flashes of brilliance last season, such as his 27 and 24-point performances on the road against Oklahoma State and Missouri. Brown also had some standout moments in 2009-10, but has a reputation for losing his cool and for frustrating his head coach. Both players could definitely take the reins this year, but will have to overcome their proclivity for taking ill-advised shots.

Then, of course, there are the two star freshman. Both point guard Corey Joseph and forward Tristan Thompson were McDonald’s All-Americans, and both come to the 40 Acres with mountains of hype behind them. The transcendent freshman who can instantly lead his team is a rare thing, however — although each year there seems to be one or two in the nation with the NBA’s new age requirements. It’s believable that Joseph or Thompson could be the calm, confident leader of the Longhorns come March. But for the next few months, we expect a few growing pains.

2) How will the frontcourt come together? – Without James and Pittman, the Texas frontcourt is still a mystery. Thompson arrived in Austin with a reputation as a steady post defender who was developing his offensive game nicely during his senior year. In the tough Big 12, however, it’s difficult for a freshman big man to instantly make an impact, so it’s likely we see Thompson stay at his natural power forward position.

The result of that decision, though, is that Matt Hill, Alexis Wangmene, and Clint Chapman will have to pick up the slack at center. Combined, those three players averaged just 4.6 points and 4.3 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game last season. Departed seniors James and Pittman, on the other hand, combined to average 28.4 points and 16.2 boards in 49.4 minutes. While Hill has impressed during summer workouts, to say these big men have their hands full could be the understatement of the year.

3) How deep is the bench? – At the start of last season, it was a commonly accepted fact that Texas’ biggest problem was finding minutes for all of their talented. Thanks to injuries and an inexplicable meltdown, that problem quickly disappeared. This season, it’s still unclear just how many Longhorns will be key contributors. Thompson, Brown, Hamilton, and Johnson will unquestionably be called upon for most of the minutes. And while it’s not yet known how Joseph and Balbay will split time at the point, both will certainly be key contributors.

The real mystery surrounds the role of bench players like guard Jai Lucas and big men Chapman, Hill, and Wangmene. Based on what we’ve seen in the past, none of those four players is ready for the spotlight. But at the same time, there’s no way Texas will survive with just a six-man rotation. Tonight we’ll be looking to see just how far down the bench Rick Barnes is willing to go, and just how often he calls on those reserves.

If you’re in the Austin area, come down to the Drum for the season opener tonight. There are still many tickets available, and packages for this game and Wednesday night’s contest against Louisiana Tech are available for as little as $10. For the out-of-town folks, ESPNU will be carrying the tip at 8 P.M., or as soon as Pitt and Rhode Island wrap up their season opener.