Texas Basketball: 3 struggling players that must step up in February

Tyrese Hunter, G

There is no single Longhorns player that had a more disappointing start to the first half of the Big 12 slate than sophomore guard and the reigning Big 12 Newcomer of the year Tyrese Hunter.

Among the starters in Big 12 play for the Longhorns, Hunter ranks at the bottom in terms of win shares per 40 minutes (.035), player efficiency rating (11.1), and true shooting percentage (44.7). Those three advanced metrics really show how many different areas Hunter has struggled in of late.

Despite Hunter’s struggles, though, Terry and the Longhorns continue to show a lot of faith in him throughout Big 12 play. According to Sports Reference, Hunter is the only Longhorn to have played at least 30 minutes in each of the last five games.

It’s clear that this coaching staff is going to continue to ride with Hunter through the highs and the lows. If that is going to be the case, Hunter obviously needs to turn a corner in the very near future.

But how exactly will Terry and the Longhorns go about fixing Hunter’s game for the remainder of the season?

This is definitely a topic that we could cover entirely in a separate article. However, there are some tweaks here and there that Hunter can make to his game that could at least help him marginally improve his offensive efficiency.

First off, I think Hunter should reduce the number of drives to the lane that he attempts each game.

Look, I get it, Hunter is a point guard. He is playing the role that you would expect to try to drive the lane and get to the rim.

The issue for Hunter is that he was never the most efficient scorer near the basket. In fact, among Big 12 guards, Hunter has ranked in the bottom third in points per possession on layups at the rim in each of the last two seasons (per Synergy).

Hunter seems to have trouble fighting through contact and finishing at the basket. Instead of trying to finish through contact, Hunter can work the pick-and-pop or drive-and-kick game since Texas has a plethora of capable catch-and-shoot threats from the mid-range and beyond the arc.

And if you look at the games early in the season where Hunter was scoring at a pretty insane clip, including his 26-point outing in the win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs, he was taking more spot-up looks from the mid-range and deep.

I have to think that Terry is trying to get Hunter to assimilate more in the traditional offensive sets that he likes to run (i.e. dribble drive off a high ball screen and pick-and-roll).

Where Hunter can thrive is in the pick-and-pop and spot-up shooting game. You can play a two-man game with him, which can allow him to get some extra space in a structured offense to hit looks from the mid-range and from beyond the arc.

In the last two seasons, the play type where Hunter ranked in the highest percentile among Big 12 guards in terms of points per possession was spot-up shooting.

Another area where I would like to see Hunter make some tweaks is with his shot selection. He’s attempting too many closely contested shots from the mid-range and in the paint, along with too many dribble jumpers (roughly 33 percent of his field goal attempts are from these two shot types).

Despite roughly one-third of Hunter’s field goal attempts being contested shots and dribble jumpers, only about 24.8 percent of his points are coming in those situations. Hunter also ranks in the bottom-third percentile among Big 12 guards in those shooting situations.

Hunter needs to be more decisive with his shot selection, especially when he’s got space to pull up from the mid-range and deep. If he can get those spot-up field goal attempts off quicker, that will prevent him from getting into situations where opposing defenders can close out and contest on him effectively.

That’s where he will be at his best in terms of shooting efficiency.

Moreover, I would also like to see Hunter more locked in on the defensive end of the floor. We’ve seen too many occasions recently where Hunter doesn’t seem to be fully engaged on and off-ball on defense.

The good news is that he looked more motivated defensively in Texas’ big 76-71 win over the No. 11 Baylor Bears on Jan. 30. Hunter posted three steals in that game, which ties a season-high that he set in the loss to the Kansas State Wildcats on Jan. 3.