Texas Basketball: Position grades through first half of non-conference slate
Shooting Guards
Most of the attention for the shooting guards for Texas basketball are going to fall on one player. Senior guard Kerwin Roach II is the team MVP so far, and he’s setting career numbers in most significant offensive categories. Roach II almost single handedly won the Horns the first round mathcup against UNC on Thanksgiving Day.
The other player that gets some looks at the two this season is the former transfer guard Elijah Mitrou-Long. As a player that mirrors some similar skills to that of Roach II, Texas basketball fans rightly held high expectations for the impact Mitrou-Long could make. Early struggles from Mitrou-Long shooting from the field and creating his own offense is a worrying sign.
However, Roach II leads the team in points per game and assists. He’s posting 18.6 points per game, 5.4 rebounds, 4.6 assists, and 2.6 steals. The big development in Roach II’s game as a senior is his defensive presence. He’s on pace to set a career high in steals which allows extra offense to be created for himself.
If Mitrou-Long can start at least hovering around the point of a productive volume-scorer off the bench, shooting guard can keep the Horns afloat in the Big 12. Mitrou-Long is barely shooting above 30 percent from the field and is turning the ball over too much for the usage rate he’s getting off the bench.