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So far, this year’s Texas team hasn’t matched the defensive quality of a Sean Miller or even Texas’ previous coach, Rodney Terry-coached team.
Looking at Texas’ 7–3 record, they’ve feasted on low-quality home buy-game wins (Lafayette, FDU, Kansas City, Rider, Southern), but they’re 1–3 against top-100 teams—getting blown out by Duke and Virginia, losing a close game to Arizona State (their defense was trash), and beating NC State 102–97 (another trash defensive performance, but they hit 65% of their twos, 50% of their threes, and 85% of their free throws).
In other words, Texas’ offense is legit. They don’t have any analytic weaknesses, and a typical Sean Miller system prioritizes pace, movement, and unselfish play with multiple ball-handlers and facilitators rather than a true set point guard. The one difference this year is that there has been far more iso than in most of Miller’s offenses, but it’s working.
Defensively, there have been issues. Sean Miller runs a man-to-man scheme that prioritizes ball pressure without necessarily generating a ton of turnovers. The team has decent length, but four of Texas’ six minutes leaders grade as average-at-best defenders (Wilcher, Weaver, Heide, Pope), leaving the center rotation and big guard Tramon Mark as the team’s only reliable defenders.
I freakin’ love Dailyn Swain. After coming with Sean Miller from Xavier, Swain, long known as a dangerous athlete who makes winning hustle plays, has put it all together as an all-around two-way star. He’s reached career highs in assists per game (3.5) and is now shooting well enough from three (29% on 2.4 attempts) to avoid being a total perimeter liability. The Swain vs. Karaban matchup will be a ton of fun.
Starting center Matas Vokietaitis has been rock-solid as well. His efficiency and all-around impact have remained consistent regardless of opponent quality. The seven-footer finishes efficiently with both hands, is a gifted two-way rebounder, and shoots well enough at the line to avoid being a liability. Like Vokietaitis, backup big Lassina Traore is an excellent rebounder and disruptive defender. While Traore is not as polished offensively, both bigs operate almost exclusively down low, so don’t expect much spacing or passing from them.
Vokietaitis and Swain are clearly Texas’ usage leaders. If Swain or Heide are in foul trouble, sophomore power forward Nic Codie has gotten some run. He’s a floor-running athlete who crashes the offensive glass and scores on put-backs, but he doesn’t offer much else yet. Defensively, he’s still very green and hasn’t fully adjusted to top-level D1 play.
Sixth-year big guard Tramon Mark is another dangerous two-way weapon. Like Swain, he uses his length, strength, and size to punish smaller guards when playing the two, and he leverages his athleticism against slower 3s. He’s a shot-creator and a good secondary facilitator, though his three-point shot has struggled over the last two seasons. Expect Mark to match up with UConn’s best offensive wing at the 2 or 3.
Mark’s counterpart at the 3 is Camden Heide, currently KenPom’s most efficient offensive player in the country, powered by his elite turnover rate (13th nationally) and 61% three-point shooting. He stinks on defense, and he also plays minutes at the 4 when Swain sits. He’s best described as a big floor-spacer and an underrated offensive rebounder. When he’s open and the ball finds him, he’s not looking to pass.
In addition to Mark, seniors Jordan Pope and Chendall Weaver are returning guards.
Pope is an old-school combo guard who can serve as the team’s starting point guard or as an undersized 2 next to St. John’s transfer Simeon Wilcher. On the ball, Pope is steady, hard to speed up, and does a nice job limiting turnovers. His two-point percentage is down this year but was solid in his sophomore and junior seasons. Across both of his seasons at Texas, Pope has consistently rated as the team’s worst defender, making this a great opportunity for Demary to feast after his recent cold streak, especially given Pope’s smaller frame.
Simeon Wilcher has returned to more of the facilitating role he played as a freshman after being more score-first at St. John’s as a sophomore. He’s shooting well from three this year (45%), but he remains mistake-prone (just seven more career assists than turnovers) and has struggled to finish inside the arc (40% on twos). Despite his size and athleticism, Wilcher is not a strong defender and is also a poor rebounder. He’s another guy whose performance dips against better competition.
Returning to his role as a bench guard is Chendall Weaver, a high-energy off-ball secondary facilitator whose best attribute is slashing, drawing fouls, and getting to the rim. An excellent positional rebounder, Weaver is best described as an offensive glue guy. He has struggled defensively and has been a poor three-point shooter (26%) in three seasons at Texas after hitting 38% from deep at UTA as a freshman.
Similar to their win against NC State, Texas can get hot, but there are clear matchups for UConn to exploit, especially at point guard given Pope’s defense (let’s go Silas!) and Heide’s issues defending, particularly if he plays the 4 against Karaban. Considering the team’s defensive strengths lie in their frontcourt, it wouldn’t be surprising if UConn’s bigs are in a battle and Karaban has his hands full. That said, Karaban has done an excellent job maximizing his impact and efficiency in games like Illinois, Kansas, and Florida, where his usage was lower, but whenever he got the ball, good things happened.
Looking at Texas’ 7–3 record, they’ve feasted on low-quality home buy-game wins (Lafayette, FDU, Kansas City, Rider, Southern), but they’re 1–3 against top-100 teams—getting blown out by Duke and Virginia, losing a close game to Arizona State (their defense was trash), and beating NC State 102–97 (another trash defensive performance, but they hit 65% of their twos, 50% of their threes, and 85% of their free throws).
In other words, Texas’ offense is legit. They don’t have any analytic weaknesses, and a typical Sean Miller system prioritizes pace, movement, and unselfish play with multiple ball-handlers and facilitators rather than a true set point guard. The one difference this year is that there has been far more iso than in most of Miller’s offenses, but it’s working.
Defensively, there have been issues. Sean Miller runs a man-to-man scheme that prioritizes ball pressure without necessarily generating a ton of turnovers. The team has decent length, but four of Texas’ six minutes leaders grade as average-at-best defenders (Wilcher, Weaver, Heide, Pope), leaving the center rotation and big guard Tramon Mark as the team’s only reliable defenders.
I freakin’ love Dailyn Swain. After coming with Sean Miller from Xavier, Swain, long known as a dangerous athlete who makes winning hustle plays, has put it all together as an all-around two-way star. He’s reached career highs in assists per game (3.5) and is now shooting well enough from three (29% on 2.4 attempts) to avoid being a total perimeter liability. The Swain vs. Karaban matchup will be a ton of fun.
Starting center Matas Vokietaitis has been rock-solid as well. His efficiency and all-around impact have remained consistent regardless of opponent quality. The seven-footer finishes efficiently with both hands, is a gifted two-way rebounder, and shoots well enough at the line to avoid being a liability. Like Vokietaitis, backup big Lassina Traore is an excellent rebounder and disruptive defender. While Traore is not as polished offensively, both bigs operate almost exclusively down low, so don’t expect much spacing or passing from them.
Vokietaitis and Swain are clearly Texas’ usage leaders. If Swain or Heide are in foul trouble, sophomore power forward Nic Codie has gotten some run. He’s a floor-running athlete who crashes the offensive glass and scores on put-backs, but he doesn’t offer much else yet. Defensively, he’s still very green and hasn’t fully adjusted to top-level D1 play.
Sixth-year big guard Tramon Mark is another dangerous two-way weapon. Like Swain, he uses his length, strength, and size to punish smaller guards when playing the two, and he leverages his athleticism against slower 3s. He’s a shot-creator and a good secondary facilitator, though his three-point shot has struggled over the last two seasons. Expect Mark to match up with UConn’s best offensive wing at the 2 or 3.
Mark’s counterpart at the 3 is Camden Heide, currently KenPom’s most efficient offensive player in the country, powered by his elite turnover rate (13th nationally) and 61% three-point shooting. He stinks on defense, and he also plays minutes at the 4 when Swain sits. He’s best described as a big floor-spacer and an underrated offensive rebounder. When he’s open and the ball finds him, he’s not looking to pass.
In addition to Mark, seniors Jordan Pope and Chendall Weaver are returning guards.
Pope is an old-school combo guard who can serve as the team’s starting point guard or as an undersized 2 next to St. John’s transfer Simeon Wilcher. On the ball, Pope is steady, hard to speed up, and does a nice job limiting turnovers. His two-point percentage is down this year but was solid in his sophomore and junior seasons. Across both of his seasons at Texas, Pope has consistently rated as the team’s worst defender, making this a great opportunity for Demary to feast after his recent cold streak, especially given Pope’s smaller frame.
Simeon Wilcher has returned to more of the facilitating role he played as a freshman after being more score-first at St. John’s as a sophomore. He’s shooting well from three this year (45%), but he remains mistake-prone (just seven more career assists than turnovers) and has struggled to finish inside the arc (40% on twos). Despite his size and athleticism, Wilcher is not a strong defender and is also a poor rebounder. He’s another guy whose performance dips against better competition.
Returning to his role as a bench guard is Chendall Weaver, a high-energy off-ball secondary facilitator whose best attribute is slashing, drawing fouls, and getting to the rim. An excellent positional rebounder, Weaver is best described as an offensive glue guy. He has struggled defensively and has been a poor three-point shooter (26%) in three seasons at Texas after hitting 38% from deep at UTA as a freshman.
Similar to their win against NC State, Texas can get hot, but there are clear matchups for UConn to exploit, especially at point guard given Pope’s defense (let’s go Silas!) and Heide’s issues defending, particularly if he plays the 4 against Karaban. Considering the team’s defensive strengths lie in their frontcourt, it wouldn’t be surprising if UConn’s bigs are in a battle and Karaban has his hands full. That said, Karaban has done an excellent job maximizing his impact and efficiency in games like Illinois, Kansas, and Florida, where his usage was lower, but whenever he got the ball, good things happened.
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