Happy Christmas (War is...Oh, Wait)

Last night, the Trail Blazers and Sonics played a Christmas night ballgame in Portland wherein the home-standing Blazers wore their road unis and the visiting Sonics wore their...road unis. The result was a red and green combination on the court that we found hideous and unnecessary until Benji pointed out that it was Christmas, and red and green are generally accepted as Christmas colors. We felt stupid. But honestly, Christmas to us just means a day when everything is closed, so we didn't feel that stupid.



In any event, KD scored 23 points in a losing effort for Seattle. He was only 8-20 shooting the ball, however, bringing his season field goal percentage to 40.5%. So that stat may be some cause for concern for The Man Who Stole Texas' Heart. But on the whole, the fact that Kevin is still averaging 20 points an outing after 28 games in the League can only be encouraging, especially when you consider that the kid still has 5-8 years before he really hits his prime. He's good.

On the subject of basketball, by now we have all had plenty of time to reflect on the fact that the Michigan State game didn't go well. What we have to keep in mind is the following: first, Michigan State is very good at basketball. Second, the Horns were 11-29 from 3-point range, and against good competition we're not the kind of team that can overcome an off-night from downtown. And third, it was our first loss of the season! This is a really fun team to watch, and they're going to win a whole bunch more games before this year is over.

On the other hand: check out the box score from the Michigan State ballgame. Look particularly at the far right column, which shows playing time for each individual Longhorn. That, friends, is a scary sight. Texas' starting five can play with anyone in the country, but we are seriously hurting in terms of bench contribution. Depth is an integral component to a successful run deep into March, so here's hoping Ricky B can develop that young talent sooner rather than later so that those kids are poised to play serious minutes this season.

One final thought: watch on Dec. 29 for the first day of Post-Football Basketball Season, when most Texas fans will finally turn their (our) full attention to roundball. Turn on the TV at 11 AM CDT, tune it to ESPN2, and watch the basketball Horns take on another solid (albeit less solid) Big Ten opponent in Wisconsin. The Badgers' only two losses this season are to highly-ranked Duke and Marquette.