They won’t be so jump shot laden and an important reason why will be the added role of Damion James. Damion will take and make his share of 3’s, but he can pile up the buckets in a variety of ways. He hits the offensive glass with a vengeance and his athleticism allows him to finish at the basket quicker than his usually slower opponents. His mid-range game is very polished, yet was often forgotten because of the volume of shots D.J. and A.J. heaved. If Damion can be that special inside force, then the perimeter will be free for the likes of Abrams and Atchley to do their thing. More touches for Mason will mean more quality opportunities for the gunners.

Dogus Balbay, a Turkish point guard, will have a heavy say in how fast this team gels. He’s feisty, and that’s a positive trait, but the knock on him is his less than desirable shooting stroke. However as far as the 08/09 Longhorn team is concerned, all Balbay needs to do is facilitate the offense, and if he can do that, the offensive weapons on this roster should be strong enough to give any team a run for their money.

ESPN college basketball guru Andy Katz

Texas
Despite losing point guard D.J. Augustin to the NBA draft, the remaining Longhorns make Texas a solid threat to advance to the NCAA tournament for the 11th straight season. A.J. Abrams returns after backing out of the draft and could play either guard position, depending on the development of Turkish point guard Dogus Balbay, who missed last season with a knee injury. Underrated guard Justin Mason is back, along with starting interior players Damion James and Connor Atchley from last season’s 31-7 team that advanced to the Elite Eight. With such a deep returning backcourt, incoming freshman guards Varez Ward and J’Covan Brown won’t get much initial playing time.

source

Many folks would rather see about a dozen or so different teams ranked higher than the Longhorns, but for the sake of the experience factor in college basketball, the Longhorns deserve to be ranked pretty high. They return 4 starters from an Elite 8 squad.

The national media might fall asleep on Texas just because Augustin is gone, but reason tells me Texas will benefit from the expanded roles many of the players will be forced into.

Post from: EveryJoe

Texas at #2

Washington guard Ryan Appleby broke the thumb on his right hand and will be out of action for at least 6 weeks. Appleby was projected to start in the Huskies backcourt this season.

Texas guard Dogus Balbay is out indefinitely after injuring his right knee.

California point guard Jerome Randle could be out of action for a month or longer after undergoing a kidney biopsy.

Post from: EveryJoe

Injury updates: 11/2