Texas Basketball: What to expect from 2019-20 Red Raiders

Expect this team to play with a nasty disposition

We often spend quite a bit of time talking about a football team’s demeanor but when it comes to basketball, we seem to discount that aspect of the game.  But this year’s team will be every bit as intense and probably a bit nastier than last year’s, which is saying quite a bit.

Norense Odiase was the tone-setter a year ago but that team featured quite a bit of mild-mannered personalities who turned it up to mirror Odiase’s mean streak when the situation called for it.  This year, there are a number of players that would stand out on any other roster as being the Norense Odiase of their campus.

Clarke, who spent the last three years at Virginia Tech, guards the ball on the perimeter in a manner that looks like a rottweiler knawing on a bone.  Holyfield is a player who attacks the boards with impunity and who brings an edge similar to Odiase’s in the post.

Freshman Jahmi’us Ramsey was lauded for his mean streak in high school.  It is most noticeable when he attacks the basket because when he gets to the rim, he finishes as if he wants to punish the rim.

Meanwhile, fellow freshman Terrence Shannon Jr. is already known inside the program as one of those players that go as hard in practice as he would in the Final Four.  He’s going to be a fan-favorite by the end of the year.

It isn’t that this team lacked an edge last year.  In fact, few teams in the nation could match Tech’s intensity.  But this year’s team is going to be down-right nasty.  Expect it to play like it is angry at all times.

That’s something that has to come from within given that the nation is no longer ignoring what’s happening in Lubbock.   Still, even without the disrespect card to play, Beard’s team is going to play angry and play mean at a level we haven’t seen from the program. Maybe they can teach the football team something when it comes to playing with an attitude.