Texas Basketball: Can Matt Coleman be the Longhorns difference maker?

Texas Basketball has struggled to meet expectations in the last few seasons. Can Matt Coleman lead the team to tournament success?

Texas Basketball head coach Shaka Smart has come under a bit of pressure due to a lack of postseason success since he took over the program prior to the 2015-16 season. The Longhorns made the NCAA Tournament in 2015-16 (6-seed) and 2017-18 (10-seed), losing in the 1st round both times.

(Credit to KenPom and sports-reference for statistics and Big 12 Conference for GIFS)

Whether Smart’s job could actually be in jeopardy is unclear, but this year feels very important regardless. After finishing last season with an NIT Championship, the momentum seems to have carried over to this season thus far.

Matt Coleman

The Longhorns went on the road this past Saturday to a seemingly solid Purdue team and upset the Boilermakers 70-66. The MVP of the game was junior guard Matt Coleman, who posted 22 points on 7-12 shooting (4-5 from three) and added 7 assists. Coleman’s ability to lead the offense could be the key to Texas’s success or lack thereof this season.

The guard’s caliber of performance against Purdue looks like a bit of an outlier when compared to last season, and it’s too early to tell whether the junior is ready to consistently elevate his numbers. The guard only averaged 9.8 points in 2018-19 and scored at least 22 points once. Coincidentally, this came when he scored 22 points in a 72-68 home victory against, yes, Purdue.

Coleman also averaged only 3.4 assists, posting at least seven assists in a game five times (season-high of 10 against Iowa State). His 4-5 long-range shooting against the Boilermakers was a departure as well from his 32.6 percent shooting in 2018-19.

Playmaking

But maybe Coleman is just better this season and ready to take these next steps statistically. His playmaking ability is what has the potential to be his most valuable skill for the Longhorns, something he started to elevate towards the end of last season. Coleman posted a 21.8% assist rate for the season as a whole, but this rose to 27.0% in conference play (3rd in Big 12).

This ability was on full display against Purdue, particularly towards the end of the game. Coleman excelled in the pick-and-roll and seems to have developed a rapport with fellow junior Jericho Sims. Below, Coleman receives a screen from Sims, draws the help from Sims’s defender, Matt Haarms, then threads a nifty pass for an easy bucket.

The next possession, Coleman and Sims decide to run another pick-and-roll. This time, Boilermakers defender Sasha Stefanovic (#55) helps Haarms account for the rolling Sims (Haarms also has to deal with Coleman coming off the screen).

Coleman deftly identifies this extra help and finds Stefanovic’s man, Jase Febres, for an open 3-pointer. The guard is fully capable of scoring in these plays as well, and the Coleman-Sims pick-and-roll could become a staple for the Longhorns towards the end of games.

The 6-2 Coleman has shown flashes of being a “big-game” player, so it shouldn’t be too surprising if he is able to lead Texas to a tournament victory come March.

His career-high 25 points came in the program’s last tournament appearance against Nevada in 2017-18 (lost). The early signs suggest Coleman and the Longhorns will get another postseason opportunity this season.