Box Score | Post Game Quotes
POST GAME THOUGHTS |
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GUARDS |
Your starting guards were PG John Roberson, SG David Tairu and PG/SG Mike Davis. I hesitate to call Davis a shooting guard, but he was out there and it was a coaching move that I fully endorse. We'll get to the "why" later in the coaching, but Davis did start and I now know why head coach Pat Knight likes Davis so much . . . he competes and he plays tough scrambling defense. Not the best athlete out there, but he was really good on-the-ball defending SFA. Roberson had a tough night shooting, only 5 of 16 from the field, but he did hit some big shots late in the game. Roberson also had 6 assists and only 2 turnovers and although his shot wasn't falling, I don't want Roberson to stop shooting the ball, especially when there are so few offensive options on the floor. Tairu was relatively quiet on the night, but he continues to not just shoot from the outside, but he had 7 points on 3 of 5 from the floor, and I remember at least 2 of those baskets coming off of Tairu not settling for the outside shot and taking the ball to the basket. PG Javarez Willis played 15 minutes and I'm convinced that a lot of schools missed out on a really good player. SG Jamel Outler saw just a handful of minutes and didn't do much, but it looks like he'll get a handful of minutes each game and PK will see if Outler is going to be hot from the field, if not, he'll see the bench. Overall, this group did a much better job on the guards outside. SFA shot only 27% from the 3-point line and the guards and big men did a much better job stepping out against the SFA ball-handler on pick-and-rolls. |
FORWARDS |
PF Robert Lewandowski was the best player on the floor last night and it wasn't even close. Big Lew finished with 20 points (9-9 FG; 5 RB; 2 BLK). Lewandowski was really good and getting excellent position in the post and Lew should credit his guards, mainly Roberson for setting him up to succeed. Lew showed good footwork and patience inside. Good stuff. SF Brad Reese got the start and he had a pretty quiet night (7 PTS; 3-8 FG; 5 RB; 1 AST; 1 BLK), but he contributed. Reese isn't your guy that's going to go compete for rebounds, he's just not that type of player, but I wish he would. SF Mike Singletary sat for the first 15 minutes or so before getting into the game. Kudos to PK for playing the only card he has available for players, which is playing time. Singletary responded by going inside for the most part and scoring near the basket (11 PTS; 5-8 FG; 9 RB; 3 AST; 1 STl; 2 BLK; 1 TO). He wasn't a liability on defense and he gave good effort. Maybe this is where Knight is at with Singletary, you recognize his faults as every player has some, but if he gives good effort on the defensive side of the ball, then he'll play. PF Jaye Crockett didn't get as much time as he did the other night, but like Willis, he's going to be good for a long time. I would have liked for him to get more time, only 8 minutes, but he also fouled quickly when he was in the game. |
COACHING |
The biggest problem with last night's starting lineup was that Texas Tech was starting a really short lineup, but Knight did it with a purpose as he benched Singletary for the first 15 minutes. This led to a huge disparity in rebounding in the first half and forward. SFA held a 24 to 13 rebounding advantage in the first half and then held SFA to 14 rebounds in the second half. That's not necessarily great, but Texas Tech was killed in the first half on the rebounding ledger. With PF Paul Cooper and PF D'Walyn Roberts both out for the time being, this team needs Singletary to be better and more specifically better inside. Knight has a really small bench, especially inside as Crockett is really your only inside guy that he can bring off the bench at this time. I think the more time that Crockett gets now, the better he'll be in conference play, but there may not bea more athletic player in the Big 12 than Crockett. And I'm guessing that Knight let his team have it in the first half, in addition to being beat on the boards, SFA shot 48.4% in the first half and only 33.3% in the second half. And on the offensive side of the ball, Texas Tech settled for shots in the first half, shooting 41.4%, but was really good in the second half, shooting 63.0% in the second half. Texas Tech shot a ton of inside shots in the second half, and they should have given the way that Lewandowski was playing. |
More good-strong after the jump, including the MVP, Four Factors and Player Impact.
MVP | Robert Lewandowski Played a terrific game, was very impressed with his footwork. Lew was tired in the second half and his conditioning needs to get better, but this type of performance is why I think that Lew can be a difference-maker.
FOUR FACTORS
As mentioned above, Texas Tech was killed on the boards in the first half and as a result, it played out on offensive rebounds. But Texas Tech did an excellent job of shooting the ball in the second half. The other really good thing is that there were only 7 turnovers for Texas Tech, which is why you only saw a 10.9% turnover percentage for the Red Raiders.