Thoughts, key points, projections, and more for Texas as it opens the hoops season tonight

Finally, college basketball season is here, and there is a different kind of buzz and energy around the Texas basketball program for the first time in a long time.

In what had to feel like an eternity for the newly-hired Shaka Smart, tonight he, after just over seven months at Texas, gets to put his team on the floor for the first time in games that count. And make no mistake about it, the extremely competitive Smart doesn't want his first result as Texas coach to be a loss no matter where it is.

Tonight, the Longhorns open the season thousands of miles away in Shanghai, China (9:00 p.m. on ESPN) against Washington in what will be the first regular-season college hoops game played in China. To get you ready for the season we discuss that, what to look for from Texas, recap some of the key discussion points from the preseason, and much, much more:

1) If you're going to get a glimpse of Texas for the first time tonight, don't expect the Longhorns to look identical to Smart's VCU teams. He's maintained throughout the offseason and preseason that he and his coaching staff are going to highlight the roster's strengths, which will make it look different than his recent teams at VCU. And based off the Longhorns' Texas Tip-off scrimmage and exhibition game against Tarleton State that prognostication is dead-on.

With a unique and deep frontcourt, the Longhorns will make it a point to pound the ball inside on offense no matter what bigs are on the floor, and will play lineups with two big men often. Smart has never possessed a roster with these types of bigs and this many of them, but as he's shown already, he has an offense in place to compliment them.

2) That being said, there are still components of Smart's past teams that you'll probably see. As Texas showed against Tarleton State, the press - both "diamond" and the man-to-man variety - are available to be used. How often it is used will depend on in-game situations and the opponent. It's something that's definitely still a work-in-progress for the Longhorns because there is some freedom given to the defenders regarding when to trap, and reps will improve players' pressing instincts, like when to encourage defenders into certain positions on the floor and passes and how to force turnovers.

3) What Smart hopes you see, that resembles his previous teams, sooner than later is a team that plays the way he wants to play, which focuses on a few things like the following: enthusiasm, confidence, aggression, activity level, and nastiness.

What will that look like visually? Big guys making multiple-effort plays (like closing out on a shooter on the perimeter, sprinting down the floor, establishing strong position early on offense, and demanding the ball). Guards, wings, and stretch four-types confidently taking open looks from anywhere, and making the extra pass when available. A confident, enthusiastic team on the floor that communicates and a bench that's engaged. The Longhorns getting their hands on passes to create deflections, going hard after loose balls, and crashing the glass.

If a Texas player wants playing time and wants to remain on the floor, he can achieve that by excelling at the things he controls like effort, attitude, and mental approach.

4) A main goal, maybe the main goal, for Smart is to develop a team that's connected, which focuses on the team fully understanding what goes into winning, and putting the team objective before any individual goal.

What stood out the most to Smart about his Final Four team at VCU was how connected it was. During the new Texas head coach's introductory press conference, he gave a great example of what being connected means:

"We had a point guard on our team that was about 5-foot-9 in Joey Rodriguez, but he thought that he was 8-feet tall. His belief in himself carried over to all of his teammates. So before the game, he was with the officials and the captains from the Kansas team at the center-circle. You guys probably remember the Morris twins that played for Kansas. They were the captains representing their team, and the Morris twins, I don't know which one of them it was, Markieff or Marcus, but one of them grabbed Joey. They're over a foot taller than him and said, 'You guys have had a great run, but it's about to end.' That was a mistake saying that to Joey. So that team had a certain swagger and belief about itself that, I think, you have to have to beat those kinds of teams. At the time, Kansas was 35-2. There are six guys from that Kansas roster that went on to play in the NBA, but on that day, we had a competiveness, a belief, and a connectivity that allowed us to beat them and reach the Final Four.

"To me, as a coach, what you're constantly trying to do is replicate that and that's what we're going to work towards here. I think that is very, very doable, but it takes a connected effort. It takes a group of guys that are willing to put the team agenda front and center and understand that if the team succeeds, everyone benefits."

5) As the Texas coaches continue to learn about their roster and see how that roster reacts to game experiences and adversity, don't be surprised if a lot of players earn minutes. In the recent past, Smart has stated that the team's depth and experience are strengths.

"It depends on the game. I like playing with good depth, but at the same time it has to be quality depth if you are going to use it," said Smart after last Friday's exhibition game. "But I do think that is one of our strengths on our team and we had two guys out tonight, so if you add those two guys into the mix then you feel like you have good depth. The philosophy is when guys come off the bench, they should have great energy. Then when guys get a break and they come back in, they should have really good energy and should be able to wear teams down with your aggressiveness and how hard you play. That is the theory, but you have to put it into practice."

6) "Those two guys" makes reference to senior forward Connor Lammert and junior big man Shaquille Cleare, who both sat out Friday's exhibition. According to reports, both are cleared for tonight's game.

7) At VCU, Smart's "four" man made a huge impact in the team's offense. Treveon Graham led VCU in amount of possessions used for four-straight seasons, and percentage of shots taken while on the floor for his final three seasons (freshman Terry Larrier allowed Graham to slide more to a wing role last season, but Larrier was used in a similar way, attempting 122 three-pointers). Specifically, that player was often able to play inside-out, and stretch the defense with his shooting ability. Lammert has a chance to play that kind of role this season.

Although his career numbers don't quite show it (29 percent from beyond the arc), the 6-10 lefty has the range and stroke to knock down triples in this offense at a solid clip (something like 34-37 percent). And he's going to be encouraged to let it fly when the quality look presents itself because that opens up both the interior scoring presence by making it tougher to double-team, and gives the surrounding guards and wings more favorable situations and spacing to work with.

In Texas' exhibition against Tarleton State, the Longhorns went with a small lineup fairly often because of Lammert and Cleare's absence. That allowed freshman Tevin Mack and junior Jordan Barnett, both traditional wings, to fill the "four" spot. What we noticed was that those players would take the ball out, and would often trail the ball up the floor as a trailing shooter that could spot-up for a quick look before getting into offense. Lammert should be used in this way as well.

An underrated passer, the San Antonio native can and probably will also be used to facilitate offense from places like the elbow and occasionally put the ball on the floor.

8) The freshmen trio of Mack, Kerwin Roach, Jr., and Eric Davis, Jr. is going to play, and probably a lot.

"I think it's what those freshmen have earned," Smart said last Friday when asked about that trio entering the contest very early. "Those guys have been really good in practice now, They're freshmen and they have a long way to go, particularly on the defensive end. They've got so much to learn, but they have been three of our better players, particularly offensively, for the past five weeks since practice started."

Although there will certainly be ups-and-downs, like with any freshman, for that group, it doesn't lack confidence. At all. And it really competes with a noticeable level of energy and aggression. Throw in that all three of them can knock down an open triple, and they're the perfect ingredient for a veteran roster.

9) Isaiah Taylor is the guy at point guard, but he's going to play off-the-ball some as well. Think about how many guards Texas has that could realistically bring the ball up the floor and get Texas into offense: Javan Felix, Davis, Jr., Roach, Jr., Demarcus Holland, Taylor, and Kendal Yancy. That's a lot of versatility, and it also makes for a lot of quality perimeter presence that can space the floor, and drive the basketball with the ability to finish or kick out to another shooter.

10) A career 78-percent shooter from the free throw line, Taylor's two-point (41 percent) and three-point (28 percent) percentages are going to improve. He has the stroke and the touch. Now, he'll have an offense that features much better spacing and a system that encourages confidence and taking the open shot. Part of the reason why Taylor's two-point percentage is so low is that he'd often end up in isolation situations at the end of the shot clock and attempted so many contested runners, and layups.

That being said, the Longhorns and Taylor are going to be most successful this year when he takes the floor with the mindset of using his skills to get everyone around him good looks. So although he'll have the chance to incorporate an improved jumper much more often than the past, his assist rate, which was 44th nationally last season (No. 2 among Big 12 players during conference games), needs to remain high. Considering what's now around him and how high it was in a limited system last season, it's not crazy to think he could make a run at the nation's best assist rate.

Look for Smart to also try to bring more of the nasty, assertiveness and leadership out of Taylor as well.

11) If Cameron Ridley can continue to play like he has in the preseason, the senior is going to have his best season as a Longhorn. Not only is Ridley in improved shape (able to get off the floor noticeably quicker), but he's playing with more confidence right now, which, along with nastiness, is a huge key for him.

12) Prince Ibeh is an improved offensive player that can make a low-post move, and has flashed the ability to face-up and blow by defenders. He's also shown the ability to kick the ball out to shooters too. Don't immediately assume he's purely a defensive guy only, even though that's where he's strongest. Smart and Texas want Ibeh to simply fly around all the time - crash the boards, challenge shots all over the place, sprint up the floor in transition.

13) A lot of Longhorn fans don't know much about Cleare, who redshirted last season after transferring from Maryland. This story should fill you in.

14) Texas shot 12-of-30 from beyond the arc in its exhibition contest. That number was partially affected by the lack of two big men and the inclusion of smaller lineups, but 25 attempts per game seems about right. Texas averaged 18 attempts from the land of three last season.

15) Tonight's opponent for Texas is Washington, who is projected to finish near the bottom of the Pac-12. The Huskies have just one returning starter, and will depend heavily upon seven freshmen and one JUCO newcomer. So obviously, they're extremely young with just one senior on the roster - Andrew Andrews, a 6-2 guard that can fill it up from deep. The Huskies like to push tempo on offense, but really struggled defensively last season (16-15 record with no postseason berth).

Of the players that played minutes for Washington last season, only Andrews, and sophomore Donaven Dorsey returned.

16) In past years, it's been a little difficult for Longhorn fans to jump on the hoops train. With high expectations last season after a surprising 2013-14 campaign, the Longhorns fizzled to an unattractive finish, which then resulted in a coaching change. Understandably, Texas fans have exercised more caution than optimism in recent years.

But this year, it's okay to be excited about basketball, Longhorn fans. Really, it is.

The Longhorns are probably going to hit a bump or two against a pretty tough non-conference schedule that includes No. 1 North Carolina, No. 20 Connecticut, a Texas A&M team that just missed the top 25, and a ridiculous amount of travel early in the season. And Texas will have to battle against a Big 12 slate that features three top 10 teams (Kansas, Iowa State, Oklahoma), No. 22 Baylor, West Virginia (ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches Poll but unranked in AP poll), a talented Oklahoma State squad, and TCU and Texas Tech programs that are no longer pushovers.

However, this Texas team has a chance to be good; maybe even really good. Is it going to take time for Texas players to adjust in a new system and for Texas coaches to mold their group the way they want? For sure. But the Longhorns have depth, experience, talent, and a new lease on life. They also are coached by one of college's brightest stars, who builds up and grows his teams throughout the season.

It's almost impossible to believe the Longhorns won't be noticeably better than last season. They basically returned their entire roster, added three talented freshmen pieces in need areas, and have a coaching staff that seems to be just what the hoops doctor ordered. In terms of predictions, this feels, at least right now, like a Texas team that could finish around 12-6 in a brutal Big 12, and with around 23-24 wins after the Big 12 Tournament. Projections are just that and potential is just that. But the ability for this Texas team to accomplish that is definitely in there. The surest bet is that the product on the hardwood will look different, and will be exciting to watch.

Now, we finally get to see Smart's Longhorns in action, as his era of Texas hoops truly begins tonight.