Prior to the season, all of the hype surrounding the preseason top 10 Texas Longhorns stemmed from an absolutely loaded frontcourt and sophomore point guard, Isaiah Taylor heading into what was expected to be a season that led him to stardom.
Taylor was unquestionably the team’s top performer before going out with a fractured wrist in an early season matchup with Iowa, but the frontcourt as a unit; on the other hand, Texas’ big men have underperformed and failed to live up to the tremendous hype surrounding them.
Let’s start with Cameron Ridley, the team’s monstrous mass of a man in the paint that was expected to have his way as a junior. Through the Longhorns’ first eight games, Ridley has compiled only 7.3 points per game, which comes as a surprise, considering he was expected to become a go-to-guy in Austin.
You can credit the scoring deficiency to his lack of scoring opportunities down low, but there’s no arguing against Ridley going 13-for-32 from the field, if you exclude his 7-for-8 performance against an extremely undersized St. Francis squad.
But what comes as a larger surprise is his 3.3 rebounds per game this season. To this point, Ridley is yet to snag more than six rebounds in any game, and has only had four board combined in his last three outings, including a zero-rebound effort against Connecticut.
This just simply is an unacceptable output from a guy who was expected to head to the NBA after this season.
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Myles Turner has shown some glimpses of greatness, but has also had nights where he played passively as a scorer. Turner’s the team’s second leading active scorer with 11.4 per game, but he’s severely underperformed in the bigger games.
Turner had five points against Iowa and California, seven points against Connecticut and six points against Kentucky.
It’s understandable that he’s a freshman and is going to have his struggles, but when you’re the No. 2 overall recruit in the nation, failing to produce at a high level when the lights are brightest is another reason Texas’ frontcourt is yet to live up to their towering expectations.
Connor Lammert has arguably been the Longhorns’ most valuable big man thus far. He’s not much of a scoring threat as he’s scored no more than six points in six of his eight games, but he’s been an exceptional rebounder and facilitator this season for Rick Barnes, averaging 6.8 boards and 2.3 assists.
It’s hard to say Lammert hasn’t necessarily played well, but for a starting post presence on a team that was expected to have such great depth, his contribution as a scorer hasn’t been up to par.
Finally there’s junior center, Prince Ibeh, who seemingly hasn’t progressed much from his sophomore season. But in the case of Ibeh, you can argue that some limited minutes have been a huge hindrance to his contribution.
Ibeh is averaging only 10.9 minutes per game, but had a three-game stretch in the matchups prior to Kentucky where he saw a total of 12 minutes. But on the other hand, when you’re a 6-foot-10, 260-pound mass of muscle, you’re expected to contribute more than three rebounds per game.
You could chalk this overall lack of production to a multitude of things. Taylor’s absence is undoubtedly a reason the ball isn’t being dished inside more often. Jonathan Holmes being on the perimeter and taking more shots from outside keeps the looks away from the paint also.
But the most likely issue is the congestion in the paint allowing for fewer minutes. Turner has seen 19.9 minutes, Ridley’s seen 18.1 per game, Ibeh plays only 10.9, while Lammert leads the way with 24.8 minutes a night.
It’s arguable that the minutes are so balanced because nobody has pulled away and proven they deserve to be on the court, but it’s irrelevant when you consider they actually haven’t earned those minutes yet.
But the one thing for sure is Texas’ frontcourt hasn’t lived up to the hype thus far and it’s not even close. If the Longhorns plan on dethroning Kansas and becoming the new Big 12 champs, production in the interior is going to have to be dramatically increased.