Vorstellung » right mindset and compete with them, win or

AUSTIN, Texas -- With reports swirling that Texas power brokers may be moving to oust him after this season, Longhorns coach Charlie Strong says hes heard the rumblings and is engaged -- as always -- with the principal boosters.I know the guys to keep in touch with, and I do, Strong told ESPN.com on Monday. Theyve been great and always want to know if theres anything they can do to help. Now, I dont go to dinner with those guys, so Im not going to be seen in public with them. Im not a member of their country club and I dont play golf, so I dont go play golf with them. But I pick up the phone and call them, keep in touch.Strong, in his third season at Texas, is 13-17 in his first 30 games. The Longhorns are 2-3 after their third straight loss Saturday, a 45-40 defeat to the rival Oklahoma Sooners.All the while, just down the road, Houstons Tom Herman is the name many are floating as a potential replacement for Strong.They want the same thing I do, to see this program continue to make strides, Strong said of the Texas boosters. We need to finish strong, where were on an upswing. We dont want to be going backward, and were not.Strong said he feels the fans frustrations, but he remains confident that hell return the program back to national relevance.I thought it would be faster. I thought I would turn it faster, and boom, then wed take off, Strong said. But what happened is once you get into it, you start realizing you dont have a quarterback, you dont have this, you dont have that. So it comes back to you have to go recruit.As badly as were getting beat up out there by some people, and despite some of the things that are being said, were still getting great players. We just have to learn to win some of these close games were losing and be more consistent. Its coming, and everybody in our locker room will tell you the same thing.Strong said hes received nothing but support from his bosses at the university as well as those key power brokers. Both Texas president Greg Fenves and athletic director Mike Perrin came out in support of Strong last week.What I look at is that we have a team thats making strides and not going backward, Strong said. Now, we havent won like we want to, but I look at where were heading and know well get there because I believe in the kids so much that I know its going to happen.The Longhorns have fixed their offensive problems from the first two seasons and are averaging 41 points per game, but theyve also given up 45 or more points in all three of their losses this season. Strong took over the defensive playcalling duties last week against Oklahoma, but the Longhorns still gave up 675 yards and 45 points.The problem on defense is the deep ball, and we can get that fixed, Strong said. If we have to, we wont go with any more bump-and-runs, back our corners off and make people throw the ball in front of us. Right now, whats killing us are the chunk plays. Its killing us because teams arent driving the ball. Its a home run.Strong was asked Saturday after the Oklahoma loss if it was desperation time for the program. He told ESPN.com Monday the only way he would feel desperate is if the Longhorns lacked talent and werent recruiting well. He likened Texas situation now with where Butch Jones and the No. 9 Tennessee Volunteers were last season.Were in pretty much the same position -- hes a year ahead of me, Strong said. And look at where they are right now. 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RIO DE JANEIRO? -- At least one member of Australias traveling party believes it would be a mistake to give the early darlings of the mens basketball tournament zero shot at an upset Wednesday night when the Boomers take on the highly favored United States.Its always possible, mate, Australia assistant coach and former NBA championship-winning center Luc Longley said Monday after an impressive 95-80 win over Serbia moved the Americans next opponent to a surprising 2-0 in Group A.There are no impossibilities in basketball.Yet it should be stressed that Longley, like all of Australias players, is realistic about the challenge ahead, even after their stirring victories over a top medal contender in France and a Serbian squad that finished second to the United States in the 2014 FIBA World Cup.The only thing Longley was prepared to guarantee about Wednesday nights game at the Carioca Arena 1 in Rio is that the Australians will try to make it as scrappy as possible, with Matthew Dellavedova leading that charge at point guard and physical big men Andrew Bogut and Aron Baynes in the frontcourt.That should be the first thing we write on our whiteboard every game: Lets not be fun to play against, said Longley, who has moved into coaching after a playing career that featured three rings with the Chicago Bulls in the Michael Jordan era.I think coming into the tournament, everyone would have looked at us and said, Were not looking forward to that game. Thats certainly the way the players want it to be. Its our brand of basketball. Its really the only way we have of punching above our weight class.The level of physicality in the matchup pitting Milwaukees Dellavedova against his former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Kyrie Irving will naturally get a lot of attention in the buildup to tipoff, but Dellavedova also happens to be coming off what might be his finest offensive performance in a national team jersey: 23 points and 13 assists (with zero turnovers) agaainst Serbia in support of Patty Mills team-high 26 points.ddddddddddddhis is the first time in Olympic mens play that Australia has managed a 2-0 start. In the quarterfinals of the 2012 Summer Games in London -- with Bogut unavailable because of injury -- Australia was typically feisty and made its presence felt, but ultimately couldnt prevent a 33-point defeat.Its the ultimate test, Bogut said of facing the United States, which will match him up against former teammates Klay Thompson and Draymond Green -- as well as Harrison Barnes -- for the first time since Bogut and Barnes moved on to the Dallas Mavericks in the wake of?Golden States acquisition of Kevin Durant.Theyre the best team in the world, best players in the world, so I think if we go out there with the right mindset and compete with them, win or lose, well be happy with that, Bogut continued. If we go out there and were intimidated by them and try and get our shoes signed before the game and a signed jersey, were in the wrong mindset.Serbia coach Sasha Djordjevic, after watching Australia pull away late for another double-digit win on top of the Aussies impressive 21-point rout of Tony Parker-led France, said the front-line trio of Bogut, Baynes and David Andersen is second to none in the whole tournament in terms of intensity.They plan man basketball, said Serbia center Miroslav Raduljica, who scored a team-high 25 points Monday.Put a million dollars on it and youd probably get a dollar back if you bet on em, Bogut said of Team USA. So its a great challenge for us. It really gets us in a mindset of seeing what we gotta do to make our offense better and our defense better.Said Andersen, who played parts of three seasons in the NBA: Its like a Hail Mary I suppose youd call it. But were gonna go out there and give it our all and try to shake up the world. ' ' '