During the first Big 12 coaches teleconference of the season, I found it noteworthy that Shaka Smart again highlighted sophomore big Kai Jones. The Texas head coach was asked what Jericho Sims and Greg Brown III can provide to the UT frontcourt together, and he made it a point to include the team’s taller Jones.
“I think those two guys along with Kai Jones have really demonstrated through five weeks of practice that they can really, really help our team in different ways,” Smart said. “Kai and Jericho have made we feel good strides since last year."
Interestingly, Smart mentioned the possibility of all three players playing together at the same time, and I’d bet it’s a lineup Texas has explored in practice fairly often.
“The thing to figure out… what we’re working on is how they can be most effective together - either two or three of them together at the same time - with considerations like spacing, shooting, ballhandling, decision-making… I’m proud of those guys for their development.”
If we’re listing the Texas frontcourt right now, it seems obvious the list begins with the trio of Sims, Brown and Kai Jones.
Speaking of Brown, he often enjoyed the ability at the high school level to simply run and dunk on people, which meant he didn’t have to showcase his full, all-around offensive skill maybe as much as some other highly rated players. What has his offensive skill and game looked like so far?
“Greg put a lot of time in on his footwork. I think he’s made a lot of progress with that since the spring,” responded Smart. “Room for growth there because we see that as a foundation for any player for being able to do all the other things you do offensively with the ball. Starts with footwork and readiness.”
I don’t think perimeter shooting will be a standout thing Brown is known for at Texas, but later in his high school career he put a ton of time into his shot mechanics and becoming a better perimeter shooting. So far, Texas is seeing a guy that when he’s ready with the proper footwork he can knock down open threes.
“When he’s in rhythm and he catches with good footwork and readiness, he’s a good shooter… very good contorting his body and finding different ways to finish and I think he’ll get to the foul line… continuing to working on decision-making when it comes to help defenders… that will be a work in progress,” stated Smart.
Defensively, I think Brown could make as much of an impact later in his career as he does on offense because of his length, elite athleticism, and help-side, shot-blocking ability. But as with any freshmen, even the elite ones like Jarrett Allen, Mo Bamba, and Jaxson Hayes, it takes actual games to begin truly understanding what type of effort, technique, etc. are required to truly make an impact.
“No. I don’t think he understands that,” Smart responded when asked about Brown understanding how much he can impact a game defensively. “We are working to convey to him… I think with those freshmen sometimes it requires the games to gain a better understanding of that. On defense, he’s going to learn very quickly when we get into the games the things that are defensive no-nos are truly things that can cost you baskets or get you taken out of the game. We haven’t had any games yet where the buzzer sounding and there is a sub. You can make subs in practice but that’s a whole other deal.”
Smart made note that Brown, “really, really has a competitiveness about him,” and thinks that as he gains game experience, he’ll eventually start to really improve like his previous one-and-done and other freshmen.
--- As for COVID-19, Smart admitted it would be naïve to think basketball won’t be impacted in some way like football has. He said he is aware of the challenges and they’ll try as best they can to keep guys healthy and will understand twists and turns are coming.
“The challenges are keeping the guys healthy, navigating different twists and turns in the year with whether it’s travel or other considerations just to try to stay out of harm’s way. As we’ve seen with football there are games that have gotten cancelled and the season certainly has been impacted. It’s naïve to think basketball would be any different.”
Later in the afternoon, Texas guards Matt Coleman and Andrew Jones met with the media over Zoom. We know, as Smart freely admitted recently, UT's veteran guards have stood out and will be what drives the team this season. But how often will those three - Coleman, Courtney Ramey and Jones - play together. Recently, Texas has used all three on the same lineup in practice...
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