AUSTIN — There’s joy in the 1-2 Punch in Austin.
Texas Longhorns junior center Matas Vokietaitis “relishes having a partner that can take some of the punishment off of him and help him in that vital area — in-the-paint rebounding,” head coach Sean Miller said Monday.
Junior forward David Punch “loves the fact that he doesn’t have to play the five often, and that he has a bigger guy in there with him.”
Pairing the two players was an intentional decision made by Miller and his staff during the offseason
in representing two of the three biggest priorities for the Longhorns — retaining V0kietaitis and adding a power four who could complement his skill set.
“They’re a great combination. They really are,” Miler said. “I think that they both are grateful that the other one is their teammate.”
Through the first three games of the season, the impact of Punch’s addition as it affects Vokieaitis is most apparent offensively in high-low offensive sets where the TCU transfer serves as an effective entry passer into the big Lithuanian.
What makes it so effective?
“Matas is ducking, the most physical dude in the country,” Punch said. “He gets open every time. I just call credit to him.”
Although the early stats for Vokieaitis are aided by the poor level of competition, there’s no denying his level of execution after three games — he’s averaging 21.3 points per game on 79.3-percent shooting. Of the 29 shot attempts by Vokietaitis, 11 are dunk attempts and 27 are classified as close twos, the most high-percentage looks in basketball.
“It’s making everything easier for me,” Vokietaitis said of Punch’s presence.
Because Texas was able to regularly get out in transition in Monday’s win over Grambling State, Vokietaitis was making runs to the rim to establish early post position, putting pressure on 7’2 Tigers forward Isaiah Miranda and getting him into foul trouble early.
Using Punch at the top of the key to make those entry passes in high-low action helps with the team’s spacing, allowing shooters to operate on the wing or in the corners to punish double teams against Vokietaitis — sending that extra defender is a much more dangerous proposition when the Longhorns are playing high-low, especially with the addition of knock-down shooters like freshmen guards Joe Sterling and Bo Odgen. Eventually, injured junior guard Mikey Lewis will join them.
In contrast, entry passes from the wing, where the Longhorns tried to get the ball inside last year, allow more effective weak-side double teams that are more difficult for the big man to pass out of, requiring a cross-court pass.
With wing Cam Heide playing the four position, Texas rarely used the action that Miller wants to be a key part of his offense — when the taller Nic Codie was in the game, the Horns ran it more often, but Codie played sparingly until late in the season and wasn’t as trustworthy as the steady Punch.
Now it can be a consistent feature. Not the only feature, as Miller pointed out Monday, but a consistent one.
Because defenses have to apply ball pressure to Punch to make those entry passes more difficult, it reduces the need for shot credibility from the perimeter to create that spacing Texas needs to allow Vokietaitis room to operate.
Punch shot 23.9 percent last year on 46 three-point attempts and has only taken on this season, missing it.
The Longhorns can also use high-low action with Punch and freshman forward Marcus Spears Jr., but Vokietaitis will be the primary beneficiary, allowing him more opportunities to get opponents in foul trouble and convert easy looks at the rim.
“He’s gonna hit you, so you’ve gotta hit him first,” Grambling State head coach Patrick Crarey II said. “The problem is he keeps hitting you and he’s like those old-school heavyweights that I grew up with that just keep hitting you and hitting you and hitting you. He can take any punch you give him, and he keeps hitting you.”
Last year, it was Vokietaitis delivering those blows as the sole frontcourt player. But now he’s got a Punch next to him to keep those blows coming.
