rebounding and dunks, but he’s
a monster rim protector who
blocked 13.6 percent of shots in
limited minutes last season.
Rim protection is where the
Texas defense thrived, leading
the nation in block percentage
(20), giving them the second best
2-point defense, surrendering just
41.2 percent. They shouldn’t see
too much off a drop-off despite
losing Holmes and Turner, and
it will be interesting to see how
Smart adapts to having such an
elite rim protection core. His
VCU squads were rarely great at
blocking shots, especially since
Smart regularly went small to
ratchet up the pressure.
players, but it does have three fourstar recruits who can provide depth
behind the veteran incumbents.
Eric Davis, a shooting guard, looks
to be the best of the bunch and will
try to provide spacing alongside
Javan Felix. The team shot just
33.8 percent on 3-pointers last
season, right around the national
average, and will need to do better
to improve on the 52nd-ranked
offense.
With Myles Turner and
Jonathan Holmes no longer using
the majority of frontcourt minutes,
Prince Ibeh may finally get his shot
after playing spotty minutes in his
first three seasons. Ibeh may not
offer much offensively other than
“Taylor
should
thrive
in
Smart’s NBAstyle offense.”
Regardless of their on-court
performance, Texas will be one
of the more intriguing teams as
they progress through the season,
simply to see how Smart’s system
translates to the Big 12. The team
isn’t starting completely from
scratch, as they have the talent,
depth, and experience to be one of
the best teams in the country this
year. Texas fans are used to regular
season success and will measure
Smart’s success o