TRENDING FOR TEXAS TECH
Floor % | We rank very poorly in our overall team floor percentage being at 44.9% and ranking #331 in the country in this category. For those of you unfamiliar with floor % in college basketball I will explain, floor % = scoring possessions / overall possessions. This will tell you about a team’s ability to get the ball in the basket each time they get an opportunity on offense to try and score points. So out of 344 college basketball teams in the nation we are rank at #331, and this might be the biggest key to being 0-10 in Big 12 play. We can talk on offense about turnovers or anything else we want that contributes to the floor percentage; but the bottom line is if we don’t score when we get the opportunity then we won’t win games.
Turnovers | There was some positive this week with our guys that I am happy to write about, and that is that we moved out of the Top 5 in the nation in turnovers per game. We moved down to #6 in the nation in this category, and the goal for our guys this upcoming week should be to get out of the Top 10 in this category. Against Oklahoma State we had only 12 TO’s, and against Texas we had 15. Our overall average is now 17.2 turnovers per game, and I would like to see us finish with 15 turnovers or below for the rest of the season. Some people might say that the turnovers are down because defensively the teams we play are putting less pressure on us and allowing us to try and beat them with making us shoot lower percentage shots, and they might be right. But, looking for the positive we are not having as many errant passes and that is a start to a turnaround and shows the teams experience is paying off.
Fouls | We stayed the same in this category for this last week, averaging 21.8 fouls per game still. But, we did move up from #12 to #11 in the country in this category. We had 24 personal fouls against Oklahoma State, and 20 against Texas. The thing here that I have talked about is how if we are going to foul, make the fouls count. I don’t mean dirty, but be like K-State who is ranked at #33 in the nation in fouls per game. I would like you guys and gals to watch our game today against Kansas State and see what I have talked about previously here on DTN. They are a tough team that fouls a lot and makes their physical presence known. We seem to make fouls that aren’t tough, but just careless. I sometimes wish we had some defensive enforcers on the court that isn’t looking to hurt opponents but make the other team think twice when they brought the ball down the court on offense.
Fast Break Points | An exciting team that fans love to watch, and gets butts in the seats at games is a team that can play an up tempo style offense. The fast break is one of the most exciting plays to watch in college basketball, because more often than not it is going to end up with a dunk or an amazing layup that sometimes results in a chance for a three point play the old fashion way. Our guys have not been able to get fast breaks all season, and since the start of Big 12 conference play it is rare to see Texas Tech on any sports highlights capitalizing on the fast break. It all starts with a defensive rebound and a quick kick-out pass on the transition. Or it could be a steal with a quick kick-out pass or straight line to the basket. Needless to say this is what I miss most with watching our team this season, and to be honest I haven’t much of it in the last few years. We had 2 fast break points against Oklahoma State, and had 3 fast break points against UT. To give us some momentum in the games, and let our guys have fun with playing the game maybe we need to have a few opportunities to give them the green light to run-and-gun the ball at some possessions in the game. Instead we make them slow pace the ball and set up the offense every single time, and a lot of times we have to just put a shot up because the shot clock has been run down to below 5 seconds left in the possession. Or do you think it is good we just keep running the offense with our high-low strategy, and work it to perfection?
Losing Streak | We have started out 0-10 now in Big 12 play, and this hurts. This has to be the worst record we have ever started Big 12 conference play off at since the conference was formed in 1996. I for one have my hope alive that we will get some wins, but the outlook is pretty dim when you look at our schedule. I really do believe in the upcoming home games against OU and A&M we will get our 1st victory against one of these rivals. We need a win desperately, even more than last week, and every game we don’t get one it stacks another weight on our back. Let’s still rally behind our guys and cheer them on to victory no matter how bad times might get. Wreck ‘em Tech!
BIG 12 REPORT
Top Matchups in the Big 12 This Week
#4 Missouri vs. #6 Baylor | Saturday, February 11th. Baylor has already lost at home to Missouri, and has had some very tight games this season. But the only other team to actually beat them also this season is Kansas. Missouri has loss to K-State and Oklahoma State. I find that Baylor is the better team, and shows Missouri what it is like to lose in Columbia for the 1st time all season.
#6 Baylor vs. #10 Kansas | Wednesday, February 8th. Just as I stated above Baylor has only loss to two teams all season, and they are top 10 ranked teams in Kansas and Missouri. I think Baylor comes out looking for revenge this week and has two monster wins. Yes, they will beat Kansas in Waco.
Big 12 Player of the Week
Thomas Robinson | The Kansas junior forward is still in beast mode and by far the most valuable player on any team in the big 12 so far this year. He had 20 points, 17 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals against Oklahoma. Then he had 25 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 steal against Missouri. I don’t know how the Big 12 didn’t pick him this week as player of the week just because KU lost to Missouri, but he was the real Big 12 player of the week. Marcus Denmon didn’t average a double-double for the week.