Opinion: Texas tourney hopes rely on good shot taking, more Dylan Disu

For Texas to play winning offense, things have to change in the tournament.

The Texas Longhorns (20-12) await their NCAA tournament seed after an inconsistent season in Austin. The inconsistency could have something to do with how it is allotting its offensive opportunities.

The issue for Texas could lie in its offensive approach. One area that stands to improve is shot allotment. Lost in Wednesday’s loss to Kansas State was how many shot attempts each player received.

Guard Max Abmas scored 26 points but took 20 shot attempts for the game. Unfortunately, he didn’t get much help from fellow guard Tyrese Hunter, who followed a 30 point performance in the regular season finale against Oklahoma with an 0-for-7 shooting day from the field.

Texas forwards Dillon Mitchell and Dylan Disu combined for 14 shot attempts despite proving more reliable on the year. They went for a combined 8-for-14 on the day despite an off night for Disu. Perhaps the team might consider getting the ball to its higher percentage scorers.

The Longhorns lost to the Kansas State Wildcats (19-14) in their first and only Big 12 tournament matchup of the season. The Wildcats will likely be playing in the NIT after losing by 19 points in their next Big 12 tournament matchup.

If Texas doesn’t improve its approach it might be one-and-done again in March Madness.

Texas has more than one bad loss on its schedule. Its first few games in Big 12 play featured losses to West Virginia (9-23) and UCF (17-15). The aforementioned squads went 4-14 and 7-11 in Big 12 play. For the Longhorns, losses like those and Kansas State might have been the difference between a No. 6 or 7 seed and having to face a No. 1 seed in the round of 32.

In Texas’ win over Oklahoma in its regular season finale, the Longhorns took 12 three point attempts. They prioritized scoring around the basket and shot 63.5% from the field on the way to 94 points. Against Kansas State, the Longhorns went 26% from three-point range and saw a 10-point halftime lead vanish not long into the second half.

The strength of the Texas offense is its posts Dillon Mitchell and Dylan Disu. The Longhorns’ tournament approach could give an idea of whether or not they view their posts as their offensive strength.

Texas Tech runs away from Texas basketball in Austin, 78-67

Texas Tech stuns Texas on the court defeating the Longhorns by double digits.

It’s basketball season in Austin. The Texas Longhorns opened Big 12 conference play with a 78-67 loss to Texas Tech.

The Texas Tech Red Raiders ran away with the game behind a high scoring performance from Pop Isaacs. The Texas Tech guard put up 21 points behind a 3-for-5 three-point shooting night and 7-for-15 performance from the field.

Texas is facing the harsh reality of a poor transfer portal haul following the exit of several key players in the offseason. We were critical of the lack of movement by the team in the way of portal additions, and the lack of contributing Longhorns proved evident on Saturday. 54 of the team’s 67 points came from Texas guards Tyrese Hunter and Max Abmas and forward Dillon Mitchell.

The loss drops Texas to 11-3. The team certainly could have gotten off to a worse start, but has lost to perhaps every quality opponent it has faced this season. It isn’t the start we would have hoped to see from the team through 14 games.

Texas Tech, who went an abysmal 16-16 last season, proved to be the better team by a wide margin on Texas’ home floor. Longhorns head coach Rodney Terry has plenty to work on if this team is to make another NCAA Tournament run.

Texas resumes play on the road against Cincinnati on Tuesday night.

Troy Franklin officially breaks multiple Oregon Ducks receiving record vs. ASU

Step aside, Dillon Mitchell. There’s a new sheriff in town, and his name is Troy Franklin.

As Oregon Ducks’ wide receiver Troy Franklin continues to put up numbers, records are starting to fall in Eugene.

Earlier this week, we covered all of the school records that could be broken this season for the Ducks, and Franklin was among the leading candidates to get his name in the history books under several categories. That started on Saturday in the game against the Arizona State Sun Devils.

In the second quarter, Franklin officially passed the mark of 91 receiving yards, making it so he now has the most single-season receiving yards in Oregon history. The previous record was held by Dillon Mitchell, who had 1,184 yards in 2018 with Justin Herbert as his quarterback.

With a pair of touchdowns in the first half, Franklin also broke the single-season receiving touchdown record for Oregon, passing both Josh Huff and Jeff Maehl, who had 12.

Franklin also tied the career-receiving TD record at 24 with his second TD of the day.

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Texas forward Dillon Mitchell projects as key to team success

Texas hopes Mitchell flourishes in his second season in Austin.

Texas basketball is around the corner. The team starts its season with Incarnate Word on Nov. 6. One particular player figures to play a key role in the season.

Forward Dillon Mitchell is perhaps the biggest variable for the upcoming season. The sophomore came to Texas as the No. 2 small forward and No. 8 player in the 2022 recruiting class. The class produced several productive players in Alabama’s Brandon Miller, Baylor’s Keyonte George and Duke’s Kyle Filipowski among others.

Mitchell has yet to produce at those players’ level in his time at Texas. The sophomore forward averaged 4.3 points and 3.9 rebounds last season. The lower averages might be indicative of less opportunities because of the veteran roster around him. Now, much of that roster has left Austin and it’s Mitchell’s time to perform.

Texas is going to need him. There’s a significant void left by some of last season’s top scorers in Timmy Allen, Marcus Carr and Sir’Jabari Rice. With the opportunity ahead, we could see significant breakout from Mitchell. He will look to put it all together as the season starts.

Is Troy Franklin on pace to go down as Oregon’s greatest WR of all time?

Is Troy Franklin on pace to go down as Oregon’s greatest WR of all time?

One thing that we love to do here at Ducks Wire is go through the history books and compare current players to some of the greats that have come through Eugene in the past. Over the past couple of years, we’ve looked to see where Bo Nix might be able to rank among Oregon’s all-time best quarterbacks once his career in Eugene is over, as well as looking at the best rushing tandems in school history over the years.

What I want to do as we close out this bye week in Oregon’s 2023 season is take a closer look at wide receiver Troy Franklin. So far, through 5 games, he is on a historic pace, hauling in 32 catches for 535 yards and 7 touchdowns. He stands as one of the top pass-catchers in the nation in total yards, with the most receiving touchdowns in the Pac-12.

If Franklin can put up those numbers through five games, what might he be able to do for an entire season? That’s a question that really intrigues me.

Let’s try and project ahead, looking at the final 7 regular-season games (and potentially 9 games if the Ducks make it to the Pac-12 Championship, and a subsequent bowl game). If Franklin stays on this current pace, what would his season numbers and career numbers look like?

Let’s do the math.

Dillon Mitchell projected to go in first round of 2024 NBA Draft

The Longhorn forward returns for a second year with the hopes of improving his draft stock.

One of the biggest wins in recruiting for Texas in the 2022 class was landing five-star forward Dillon Mitchell. Continue reading “Dillon Mitchell projected to go in first round of 2024 NBA Draft”

Texas forward Dillon Mitchell to return for another season

Dillon Mitchell could be a focal point for the Longhorns after returning from exploring the NBA draft.

Texas basketball head coach Rodney Terry received huge news on Wednesday. Dillon Mitchell is coming back to Austin for another season. Continue reading “Texas forward Dillon Mitchell to return for another season”

Texas’ Dillon Mitchell showcasing shooting in pre-draft workouts

Mitchell recently worked out with the Trail Blazers and will compete in the combine next week.

Texas freshman Dillon Mitchell declared for the 2023 NBA draft last month, and the 19-year-old has been busy training with his agency in Los Angeles, California.

Mitchell left open the option to return to school next season when he announced his draft intentions on April 12. He recently took part in his first workout with the Portland Trail Blazers and was among the prospects invited to compete in the draft combine May 15-21.

The 6-foot-8 forward is highly touted for his athleticism and burst on offense, and ability to defend. He did the majority of his scoring in the paint and wasn’t known as a floor spacer, but is working to showcase that ability in front of teams.

I think that has been the biggest part. I’ve been putting a lot of work in and I think now just being able to show it and show that I can be more versatile — grab rebounds and push the ball myself; showing more parts of my game that maybe I wasn’t able to show. I think the main focus right now is just working on my jump shot.

Mitchell, a former five-star prospect from the Montverde Academy, averaged 4.3 points and 3.9 rebounds on 63.6% shooting from the field in 38 games. He scored in double figures six times, including a season-high 16 points on Dec. 27.

He is working out with his CAA Sports teammates, sometimes as many as three times a day. He believes that work is enabling him to take the next step as a shooter, which will ultimately help him at the next level either this year or next year.

Mitchell explained what else he brings to the court.

I think my athleticism is kind of what pushes me over the edge and my defense. Constantly being able to switch, working on being able to switch on guards, staying down on guards. I think my athleticism and defense is what pushes me over the edge. I just have to show the other parts of my game and if I am able to show that, I can just continue to work to be an all-around player.

After taking part in his first workout with the Trail Blazers, Mitchell has others on the schedule. He said he has visits planned with the Detroit Pistons, Indiana Pacers and Los Angeles Clippers.

He has until May 31 to withdraw from the draft and return to school.

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Damian Lillard watched Julian Phillips, others at Trail Blazers’ draft workout

Tennessee forward Julian Phillips was among the prospects that worked out with the Trail Blazers on Wednesday.

The Portland Trail Blazers held a pre-draft workout on Wednesday and had a familiar face in attendance to watch the group of six prospects: All-Star Damian Lillard.

The organization hosted D’Moi Hodge (Missouri), Trey Alexander (Creighton), Ben Sheppard (Belmont), Julian Phillips (Tennessee), Jordan Miller (Miami) and Dillon Mitchell (Texas) in the workout, which was its first ahead of the NBA draft on June 22.

Lillard has often popped in for draft workouts over the years. Last year, he was spotted after a session giving tips to AJ Griffin, who eventually went to the Atlanta Hawks with the 16th pick. He has even represented the team at the draft lottery.

The Trail Blazers enter the draft lottery on May 16 slotted fifth after finishing 33-49 this season. They also have the 23rd pick in the first round this year via the New York Knicks and the 43rd overall pick in the second round via the Hawks.

The prospects the Trail Blazers brought in on Wednesday are projected to be potential second-round picks, though, with over one month to go until the draft, those projections figure to change.

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Virginia transfer F Kadin Shedrick commits to Texas

Kadin Shedrick becomes Texas head coach Rodney Terry’s first transfer portal commitment.

Virginia forward Kadin Shedrick announced his commitment to Texas on Sunday night.

Shedrick becomes the first addition to Rodney Terry’s 2023-24 roster from the transfer portal. His announcement snaps a long offseason drought to bring in a player from elsewhere.

The Virginia player averaged 6.2 points and 3.8 rebounds for his team last season. Not surprisingly, the player who hails from Virginia head coach Tony Bennett’s system is known as an excellent defensive player. Albeit, he does bring an element Texas desperately needs in next year’s squad: Height.

At 6-foot-11, Shedrick would have been the tallest player on last year’s squad. He joins 6-foot-9 forward Dylan Disu on the front line for Texas. The Longhorns will hope to get rim protection from the veteran transfer, or at least good enough defense that prevents opponents from getting to the basket.

As for next season’s roster, the Longhorns are in need of two more impact scoring guards and the return of guard Tyrese Hunter and forward Dillon Mitchell. Keep an eye on Oral Roberts guard Max Abmas who is considering the Longhorns as his recruitment comes to a close.

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