Red Raider Basketball Notes:
LAJ's Jeff Walker previews today's game against OU. FWST's John Miller also has his game preview. DMN's Tim MacMahon reminices about the lovefest between Coach Knight and OU. Make sure and check out Crimson and Cream Machine for the OU perspective.
SEN's Tim Griffin provides us with some insight on the Big 12 in his Big 12 Insider and has a number of Tech notes.
The Minnesota Timberwolves' Mark Madsen had an interesting blog posting about the method that the Phoenix Suns play:
Mike D'Antoni has changed the way basketball is played in the NBA. (On a side note: He and I jawed a little bit during the game during a stretch when I was pushing for a technical foul for the Phoenix bench when they really protested a call. He heard me calling out to the officials: "Give them a technical" and then he yelled at me to "just play basketball." It was a little heated for a second then it just died down. I got his point and he was probably right.)
But Phoenix's new style has impacted everyone from the refs to NBA coaches all the way to professional scouts. The big bruising players are still effective in the NBA, but speed and shooting are at a premium now because of the success of the Suns and the way they have shown you can win with leaner, faster players with high skill levels. I think D'Antoni's style is showing the pros and colleges a new and exciting way to play the game. I can tell you firsthand that playing against the Suns is fun for us as NBA players, win or lose, because you know it's going to be uptempo and there's going to be a lot of scoring. You know you'll be playing against one of the best teams in this league.
I hate getting ahead of myself, but look closely at the recruits for next year? Do you think that the Knights are ahead of the recruiting curve? Other than De Bem, next year's recruiting class sounds like a Phoenix type-team, long, lean and with basketball ability. Just keep all of this in mind.
Red Raider Football Notes:
The LAJ's Don Williams does his usual good job of allowing the fans to get to know the Texas Tech latest commit, Sam Fehoko. I had no idea that the kid's only played 2 years and I had to go back and re-read this part:
Seriously, 22 1/2 sacks? That's a ton of sacks for 8 games. I have my doubts if Fehoko will play linebacker, unless it's in a 3-4 situation. This is of course assuming that these 40 times are accurate (a 4.7 for Fehoko). I've always advocated that Tech move towards a quicker defense in general, especially at the linebacker position, but I'd hate to expose Fehoko if his fastest time in the 40 is 4.7. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited about Fehoko, he makes plays and sometimes that's the biggest stat you can consider.
Collegefootballnews.com, via Fox Sports, gives us all an early preview of the Big 12 and is predicting that Tech is the 40th best team in the nation (we'll see about that).
In Texas v. the Nation news, Sigmund Bloom of Footballguys.com/DraftDaddy.com says that Keyunta Dawson was hurt in the 2nd day of practice but didn't detail the extent of his injury and Robert Johnson is apparently at the head of the Texas WR class. Go ahead and read the article, it's really well done and I'm sure you've got nothing else to do on a Saturday morning.
Who are the Red Raiders participating in the Super Bowl on Sunday?
- Indianapolis
-
- Dylan Gandy
- Montae Reagor (Injured Reserve) See here for why.
- Chicago
-
- Dwayne Slay (Practice Squad where they list him at linebacker)
Red Raider Baseball Notes:
Today's opening day for the baseball club, after being delayed a day due to the weather. The LAJ has a preview of the series between Tech and SFA. The LAJ's George Watson also has a great article on super sophomore, Roger Kieschnick. DMN's Brian Davis has a preview of the Big 12 baseball season.
Non-Tech Related News:
In non-tech related news, here's Conan O'Brien beating Serena Williams in Wii tennis.