Texas Basketball: Diagnosing Dylan Disu’s struggles from beyond the arc

One of the most pleasant surprises for new head coach Chris Beard and No. 14 ranked Texas basketball to start the season is the play of the former Vanderbilt Commodores sophomore transfer power forward Dylan Disu. As one of the biggest additions out of the NCAA Transfer Portal last offseason for Beard and his staff, Disu is an important part of the roster this season.

Disu is off to a solid start this season for Beard and the Longhorns. He did miss the start of the regular season due to injury issues. But he’s now played in six games thus far for the Longhorns as a key piece of the frontcourt unit off the bench.

The role that Disu is playing for the Longhorns is different than the one he was playing at Vanderbilt. Disu was used as more of a floor-spacing power forward at Vanderbilt that was more versatile on both ends of the floor than your traditional big man.

But in his first six games at Texas, he is playing more on the inside of the arc than he did at Vandy. Disu is attempting around 1.5 three-point attempts per game. Compared to the roughly five three-point attempts he took per game at Vandy in the last two seasons, he is sticking around inside the arc much more often at Texas.

Disu is also playing more minutes at the five with Texas than he ever did at Vanderbilt. That means that he often has to live inside the arc more often than he did in the last two seasons with his previous team.

Disu is shooting just 11 percent from beyond the arc this season. He’s made only one of his nine attempts from downtown in a cold slump in his first half-dozen games played with Texas. But some major changes to his usage and role at Texas could give some insight into this problem.

Texas basketball having Dylan Disu fit a new role at the outset of this season

These are some indications as to why Disu is struggling to find his shot from deep so far this season. Another is the fact that he is usually a slow starter in terms of finding his rhythm year in and year out.

Last season, it took around two or three weeks for Disu to really find his stroke from downtown. He usually comes out of the gates in terms of his shooting percentages from the mid-range and beyond the arc.

Given the fact that Disu missed roughly the first half-dozen games of the regular season, it makes sense that he is still trying to find his rhythm. Patience must win the day in this regard to let Disu find his shot.

Another change for Disu lies in the fact that Beard tends to run the offense around the perimeter through the guards only. Most of the forwards/big men live inside the arc to get some easier buckets inside and hit the offensive glass.

Meanwhile, Disu often posted up beyond the arc last season when he was getting minutes at the four. His three-point attempt rate was more than double at Vandy in the last two seasons what it is at Texas this year. It’s down around 23.7 percent so far this season.

Disu did prove last season, though, that he can shoot the three-ball at an efficient clip while taking less than 40 percent of his field goal attempts from beyond the arc. The difference is last season he was finding his spot earlier in the shot clock, giving time for the play to develop. That would also allow him to find his shot earlier in games than he is now.

This could be one adjustment to note for the Longhorns as the season moves along. If Disu is hot shooting from the mid-range and beyond the arc, let him get to his spot earlier in the shot clock than he is right now.

He’s often moving out beyond the arc as a last-ditch scenario when other options for the Texas offense are exhausted in the games he’s played in so far.

To some degree, Disu is just going to have to adapt his game to this new system under Beard where he’ll have to play more inside the arc. But if there are some possessions where he can find his spot earlier in the shot clock, that should be the move.

Moreover, one thing to consider here is the fact that are some tremendous improvements in Disu’s game since he is living inside the arc more often. He’s averaging nearly five blocks per 36 minutes and 20 rebounds, which are both good for career bests.

Disu is a tremendously efficient rebounder and a dramatically underrated rim protector, two aspects of his game he’s showing off for Texas out of the gates this season.

Given that Disu is also an underrated playmaker with the ball in his hands, he’s able to use his versatile skill set and good fundamental footwork to score near the basket. He’s registered a career-best 58 field goal percentage this season thanks to his ability to finish around the rim.

All in all, Disu is improving his game in a number of areas. One of the lagging parts of his game to start the season is his shooting from beyond the arc. But I believe letting him find his spots earlier in the shot clock while just letting him take time to get used to this new offensive system are two factors that will allow him to become more efficient as the season moves along.

Disu and the Longhorns are doing well to start conference play, sporting a record of 12-2 (2-0 Big 12) following their win on the road over the Kansas State Wildcats on Jan. 4. Next up for Texas is a meeting with the Oklahoma State Cowboys on the road on Jan. 8.