MBB Film Breakdown Mondays: Max Abmas reminds me of...

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Texas landed an absolutely massive transfer portal piece this summer in Oral Roberts guard Max Abmas (pronounced AZE-miss), a Dallas Jesuit grad (Go Rangers) who lights it up in the regular season, but always seems to turn it up a notch when it comes NCAA Tournament time (though he did struggle against Duke in last season's tournament).

However, if you'll remember the 2021 NCAA Tournament, the ORU Golden Eagles, a 15-seed, upset 2-seed Ohio State in the first round behind 30 points from eventual Texas Tech transfer Kevin Obanor and 29 points, three assists, and five rebounds from the now-Longhorn Abmas.

But the fun didn't stop there.

Oral Roberts became just the second-ever 15-seed to make a Sweet 16 at the time (St. Peter's did it in 2022, and even passing the Golden Eagles up by making a highly improbable Elite Eight). In the next game against the 7-seed Florida Gators, Abmas once again went off, this time for 26 points, seven assists and two boards en route to an 81-78 upset.

While he had put up pretty crazy scoring numbers, this 2021 NCAA Tournament put both him and Kevin Obanor on the national basketball map. No doubt about it, Max Abmas is an incredibly important addition for the Longhorns this year, hopefully doing an admirable job filling the Marcus Carr role of microwave scoring guard (though Abmas is significantly more efficient; he may be a better player in all honesty, as much as I love Carr's game and contributions to the program).

Here are Abmas' stats from last year.

Remember, Abmas stands just 6'0, but has essentially unlimited range from deep – watch a couple of these shots below. Mid-Court Max pulls up from nearly 28 feet on this attempt, snapping the net easily. Note the quickness of his release as well as his ability to get set immediately. He has a (relatively) high release point as well. The form is beautiful.

In the one below, he comes off of a pin-down screen and nails a 23-footer from the top of the arc. The fadeaway is important for an undersized guard like Abmas, making the shot more difficult to contest. The release is so clean; he has essentially flawless mechanics. The consistency on his followthrough from shot to shot makes him near automatic when he's feeling it.

Averaging 21.9 points per game last year on an extremely efficient 0.436/0.373/0.919 from the field (including 9.4 attempts from deep/game), Abmas is a volume scorer with efficiency. It's a rare combination of skills that reminds me of a specific player that went through the college ranks a few years ago...we'll get to that.

Watch the fake here to get the defender completely off his feet. Abmas flies across the court to the opposite corner, catching the pass from his teammate before absolutely fooling his opponent with a super subtle move. The defensive player goes flying, leaving Abmas with a wide-open look from three, as the Ohio State player can't recover in time.

Remember the electricity of those BYU basketball teams from around 2008-2010, starring dynamite scorer Jimmer "The Threat" Fredette? It was right around the time I started loving NCAA basketball, so those teams were integral to my interest in the college game. I'll always appreciate Fredette's absolutely monster scoring prowess, as he was one of the best to ever do it in college. "Look at me, you don't need cable." - 2 Chainz

He had an absolutely insane senior season, putting up an outrageous 28.9 points per game. Even in Abmas' best scoring season (sophomore year), he averaged 24.5 points. Still incredibly impressive of course, but Jimmer was doing it in a better conference (MWC – 5.76 SOS rating Fredette's senior year; ORU had a -2.84 SOS rating last year).

While Abmas isn't the NBA prospect that Fredette was (if you'll remember, Fredette went 10th overall...it didn't work out that well), he plays a similar role, and while he won't put up 25 points per game next season on a team that has multiple scoring options, he can still be an absolutely dynamic player for a Longhorns program trying to keep the momentum rolling after last season's Elite Eight.

Anyway, here are Fredette's stats from his senior campaign. He was pretty good I'd say.

While they're similar players, Fredette is better at a few things than Abmas is – he's a better driver and finisher at the rim, he's a better athlete, and he was a better three-point shooter (though not by a lot). Before I get crucified in the comments for implying Abmas will win NPOTY, I want to emphasize that this is not what I'm saying.

Fredette's stats ARE better than Abmas', but that being said, Jimmer had one of the highest usage rates I've ever seen on a college team. 0.378 is a unheard amount of time for one guy to have the ball. Those are James Harden, Luka Doncic usage numbers.

While Abmas' rate is still pretty high itself at 0.277, he just hasn't had the ball as much as Fredette did. This is a partial explanation of the separation in points per game as well.

Either way, player comparisons are often an inexact science, so nailing them to the T is not always the point. Mostly, it's trying to envision what the best role for a player is on a successful team. BYU in 2010-11 was a three-seed, so having a ball-dominant shooting point guard can be a strategy that works in college, especially if that player is an efficient scorer, like Abmas is.

Watch the similarities in these clips below. The first one is back-to-back deep threes, one from Jimmer, one from Mid-Court Max. Note the distance from which they're shooting. The range is so valuable for creating space on the offensive end.

Here's another interesting side-by-side of their ability to drive the ball. Though neither is particularly an "above-the-rim" athlete, they're both pretty good finishers, and both pretty good at getting into the lane.

Due to these skills, they both get/got to the free-throw line often – Abmas with 5.1 attempts per game (0.919 FT%) and Fredette with 7.6 (0.894 FT%). Naturally, Fredette was going to get to the stripe more due to his outrageous usage rate, but Abmas does a good job getting attempts himself.

For example, in the Florida game in the 2021 NCAAT, Abmas went a perfect 12/12 from the line. Shooting a 0.919 FT% is super impressive in itself, but the mental focus to hit 12 free-throws in a row en route to a massive upset in the tourney is indicative of his mindset. He's a humble guy, but he's a killer on the court.

Pushing the pace and pulling up from three is another thing that both Fredette and Abmas love to do. They're fantastic catch-and-shoot players, but they also have the ability to shoot off the bounce. Watch them force their respective teams into transition below before decelerating, often causing a defender to backpedal, creating open space for an easy look.

The fact they can hit from so deep increases the lethality of the pull-up. It makes it even more difficult to determine when they're going to stop and pop. Defending quick guards with skillsets like these can be very difficult for the average college defender.

In this next clip, take a look at their catch-and-shoot abilities. They are absolute snipers off of the catch, even more so than they are off of the dribble. Watch how confident their shots are – there is no doubt in their minds they're going to hit every attempt they take.

This is actually part of a certain problem that each player had, which was shot selection, The absolute belief in their ability occasionally led to bad attempts. But honestly, this flaw is pretty negligible given the difficulty of the shots they regularly hit. It's an occasional issue that you just put up with when you have an extremely talented scorer.

It's not a perfect comparison, but I do like the similarity in roles that each player has in an offensive setting. Given the lacking size, wingspan, and athleticism, defense is neither player's strong suit, but given the defensive strengths Texas has in Tyrese Hunter, Dillon Mitchell, and Kadin Shedrick (Dylan Disu is getting better there, as well), I don't think it will be a massive issue.

In general, last year's team had better defenders in Arterio Morris, SirJabari Rice, Marcus Carr, and Timmy Allen. This year, they lost quite a bit of defensive talent, but are possibly set up to be even better on the offensive end. Plus, the rim protection Shedrick can provide supplemented by Disu's secondary post defense will make it difficult to score in the paint.

The Max Abmas acquisition was the most important of the offseason for the Longhorns. Desperately needing offensive firepower to replace what he lost, Rodney Terry went after a guy he knew would fit seamlessly into the team and culture.

Will Texas be as good as last year's team? It's possible – of course, making the Elite Eight is a crapshoot in itself. I can tell you though that this team, especially when they add a certain portal player whose commitment is seemingly imminent, has the potential to match last year's results.

I'm pretty bullish on this team already – I'm very excited too see how the next two roster spots fill out.

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@KeenanWomack on Twitter.