Results tagged “basketball”

With its announcement of the complete schedule for the upcoming season, the Texas men's basketball team left little to be desired, as the calendar includes dates with three of 2009's four national semifinalists.

Kevin Durant will be returning to the hardwood of the Frank Erwin Center this October, this time as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The former Longhorn All-American and Naismith Player of the Year will lead the Thunder against Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and the San Antonio Spurs in an NBA preseason game.

University of Texas junior swingman Damion James will declare himself eligible for the 2009 NBA Draft but does not plan to hire an agent, he announced today.

But if you just have to see the 2008-09 Texas Longhorns take the court one (or two, or three…?) more time(s) this season, you’ve still got plenty of time to fly, drive, or hitchhike your way to Greensboro, North Carolina for Thursday’s matchup with the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

But as conference play begins, Texas remains on a collision course with their familiar foes from across the Red River for Big 12 superiority, as Blake Griffin has led Oklahoma to a 12-1 record and No. 4 ranking, although Baylor could be poised to play spoiler as Texas and OU look to extend their run of dominance over the rest of the Big 12. In the meantime, here are a few things to watch throughout the conference season.

For an Austin market that has long been deprived of a professional sports franchise, and particularly since the downfall of our beloved Ice Bats, the Toros are a diamond in the amateur rough. Former Toros are now making names for themselves in the NBA (Ramon Sessions is averaging 15 points per game with the Milwaukee Bucks), and several players currently with the team have previously spent time in the NBA (Marcus Williams finished last season with the L.A. Clippers). Overall, 60 former D-League players made NBA rosters this season.

But in the absence of a superstar, this year’s squad will have to embrace a team mentality, relying on chemistry and effort in order to match and exceed the program’s success in recent years. While perhaps not the most marketable squad that coach Rick Barnes has ever fielded, this could be deepest of his tenure at Texas, and can boast several strengths to compensate for the loss of D.J. Augustin.

Abrams is the Longhorns' leading returning scorer, having averaged 16.5 points per game last season. He declared for the NBA Draft in April, but later decided to return to Texas for his senior year. James led the team in rebounding a year ago, averaging 10.3 boards per game to go with 13.2 points.

The Austin Toros of the NBA Development League will be hosting tryouts for local players this Thursday in Austin and in San Antonio on October 26. Successful participants will be invited to the Toros training camp in November, with the possibility of making the team’s opening-day roster when they host the Utah Flash on November 28.

The non-conference schedule is highlighted by a December 4th home matchup against UCLA, which was ranked No. 2 nationally last season when they were defeated by the Longhorns at Pauley Pavilion. The game finalizes a home-and-home between the teams as part of the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood series.

Former Texas point guard D.J. Augustin was selected as the ninth overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Bobcats Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Augustin’s selection makes Texas the only school in the nation to have had a player taken in the top ten in each of the last three NBA Drafts, joining former Longhorn standouts Kevin Durant and LaMarcus Aldridge.

As Texas' career leading three-point shooter, Abrams declared for the draft in late April along with point guard DJ Augustin, but maintained his NCAA eligibility by not hiring an agent. Augustin is widely projected as a mid to late lottery pick.

The Longhorns' starting backcourt of D.J. Augustin and A.J. Abrams have each signaled their intentions to enter the NBA draft, according to the Statesman.

After cruising through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, the second-seeded Texas Longhorns earned the chance to play the rest of their games in the cozy confines of their home state.

Both the Texas men's and women's teams are set to begin play in basketball's big dance: the NCAA tournament. The Longhorn men are the No. 2 seed in the South Region, and they take the floor against Austin Peay at 2 pm today at Alltel Arena in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Texas' women's team is the No. 8 seed in the Greensboro Regional and opens against Minnesota at 8:30 pm Sunday at the Arena at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn.

The Texas Longhorns put their seven-game winning streak on the line tonight at Kansas State in a matchup of two of the Big 12's top men's basketball teams.

The home stretch of the basketball season begins in a big way tonight for the Texas Longhorns, who host the fourth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks in a nationally televised game (ESPN, 8 pm).

Photo by @n@bou on flickrThe Longhorn volleyball team carries a 20-match win streak into the opening round of NCAA tournament play tonight against Texas State at 6:30 pm at Gregory Gym. Texas (24-3) is ranked third in the country and is the top seed in their region of the tournament. The Longhorns are led by five first-team all-conference players -- Juliann Faucette, Ashley Engle, Destinee Hooker, Michelle Moriarty and Lauren Paolini -- as well as...

Dr. Dog played a ramshackle set of rock to a more or less appreciative audience (many of which brought to mind Deadheads of the '60s, '70s and on) at the Parish on Thursday night. Their songs could have used a plastic surgeon to give them at least the superficial appearance of the tight melodies and songwriting of the 'Beatlesesque' moniker they've been awarded in some reviews. The true standout of the evening were openers...

The Wonderful Harmonizers came together in Huntsville, TX, in 1959--that's nearly 50 years of singing gospel music together. Perhaps most impressive, though, is the fact that they still sound great, playing tight Ray Charles-style gospel R&B with just a touch of Texas swing. They're playing fairly early in the afternoon on Friday, so you have even more reason to beat the crowd and arrive early. The Wonderful Harmonizers Huntsville, TX Latest Release: I'm Lookin', 2000...

We at the Gothamist network would like to express our heartfelt wishes to the people of Minnesota in the days after their tragic bridge collapse. We're not trying to discount the severity of the accident by making note of it in opposition to our usual -Ist lightheartedness - we just wanted to take a moment and recognize those affected last week. After the Minneapolis bridge collapse, Bostonist did a little research and found that Massachusetts...

A teenage boy walks into DJ Dojo, a small record store in South Austin, and asks, "How much are your turntables?" Manuel "DJ Manny" Muniz greets him with a smile and tells him the turntables aren't for sale - but, he says, there's a studio with turntables in the back of the store. Manny and his coworker, Javier "DJ Bigface" Arrendondo, both teach one-on-one turntable lessons and produce demo CDs for a modest fee...

We would like to say that our tardiness is due to the NCAA Basketball Championship game. Of course that didn't happen until 8pm Monday night, so let's just blame it on "preparation" for the game. You know how it is. First you buy all of the booze, and then you start drinking all of the booze. It finally ends tragically when you eventually turn the game off and force everyone to watch Press Your...

Kevin Durant, the University of Texas freshman basketball phenom, was announced today as the Division I Player of the Year by the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC). Racking up an impressive 903 points this season, Durant set the Big Twelve single season scoring record. He is also second all-time in the NCAA Freshman scoring records and third all-time on the NCAA Freshman rebound list. Durant is the first freshman, as well as the...

Hall of Famer and Lady Longhorns coach Judy Conradt resigned earlier this week after 31 seasons at UT. MTV is in town this week filming for a special on alternative spring breaks. The Austin crew will be focusing on the "Anti-Death Penalty Alternative Spring Break" activities going on at UT. State Rep. Garnet Coleman has put forth a bill in the Lege that would supply free condoms to Texas inmates. Warning to City of...

So, maybe you’re kind of a sports fan. Or maybe the word “fanatic” just doesn't quite capture how much you love sports. Maybe you don’t like missing really awesome games that you could be watching instead of, say, cleaning the lint trap in your dryer. But how do you know when you’re missing such a game? You can’t be scanning sports listings all day, scouring the internet for information about your favorite teams or...

Austin's answer to the New York Film Academy, Austin Filmworks is a unique technical school entirely devoted to the development of filmmaking craft and aesthetics. AFW's debut production, Fall To Grace, screens tonight at the Regal in Arbor Hills--for those of us eager to support the local film scene, it's a can't-miss. Created by two of Austin's leading theatre talents--the film was written and directed by the State Theater Company's Mari Marchbanks and produced...

Pending a vote by the Austin City Council tomorrow, Congress Avenue Bridge is to be renamed in honor of Ann Richards, Texas' 45th Governor who passed away in September. [Excerpted from our previous post] From humble beginnings in Waco, Texas, Richards went on to attend Baylor University on a debate scholarship, later marrying high school sweetheart David Richards and settling in Austin. She began her political career by campaigning for such respected Texas Democrats...

On Tuesday, the American -ists will be celebrating democracy and hitting the polls, letting politicians know what they really think. It just made us wonder: if it were up to the -ist-a-verse, what would we be voting for? Londonist votes for better skincare, alternative spaces for art, cute little birds and the men who keep them, and concrete. Lots of concrete. Shanghaiist votes for one of the Bee Gees and Air Supply (it's a double-ticket),...

The Bound Stems have one of those names that triggers flashbacks to 10th-grade biology, but the sound is quite a bit more pleasant than the click click click of Mr. Wright scrawling away at the chalkboard. In fact, the Chicago-based outfit plays low-key indie rock of the stripe that one might expect to hear providing atmosphere at Spiderhouse. Apparently the guys in the band played on the same high school basketball team -- charming,...