Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 03.16.10

Preview with Gonzo Ball:  I did a Q&A with Gonzo Ball, I'm going to be in court most of the day today, so check in over there to see my answers to his questions.  I'll be posting GB's answers today at 9:00 a.m.

Learning About Pirates:  LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that the Red Raiders have a short time to learn everything they can about the Seton Hall Pirates.  Here's head coach Pat Knight with a summary:

"They have a good center who was at New Mexico State, Herb Pope, and it kind of revolves around him," Knight said. "They full-court trap and look to push the ball up. It's nothing we haven't gone against this year."

Looking to 2011:  DMN's Mike Graham writes that the Red Raiders are hoping that a NIT birth will lead to a NCAA birth in 2011:

"I talk to (Baylor's) Scott Drew a lot and he really thought the NIT really helped his team because he had a good nucleus coming back like we will [next year]," Knight said during the Big 12 coaches teleconference on Monday. "Just to get them that exposure, even if it's just one game, having a couple extra days of practice, the travel, playing a really good opponent like Seton Hall in the Big East. I think, no matter what happens in the game, it's going to help us get ready for next year."

Snip.

"They've been working for that all year. Everybody wants to go to some type of postseason, the NIT or NCAA. Because we haven't been to any postseason for two years, my guys are really excited."

Texas Tech (8-9) vs. Texas St. (8-6)
Location: Dan Law Field : Lubbock, TX
Radio: Affiliates

Outfield:
LF - Michael Reed (Sr.); CF - Barrett Barnes (Fr.); RF - MaModrick McGruder (Fr.)
Infield:
SS - Joey Kenworthy (Sr.)     2ND - Garrett Totten (So.);
3RD - Justin Berry (SO.)                                  1ST - Stephen Hagen (Jr.)
C - Jeremy Mayo (So.)
DH - Scott LeJeune (So.)

*Click on the score for boxscore. Texas Tech series preview (pdf).

Funeral Arrangements for Mark Austry:  Mark Austry was the former Texas Tech baseball player that passed away after finishing the Rock n Roll half marathon on Sunday and the official site has the details:

In lieu of flowers, the family has set up a college trust fund for daughter's Isabella (age 3) and Anna (age 1). To donate, please contact Britt Harper with Edward D. Jones in Seminole, Texas.

Memorial Fund For Isabella and Anna Austry
C/O Britt Harper
120 Southeast Avenue B
Seminole, Texas 79360
(432) 758-1688

Finding Consistency:  LAJ's George Watson writes that the baseball team must find some consistency before starting Big 12 conference play (which starts this weekend):

"We need to play a little better," Tech coach Dan Spencer said Monday regarding the TCU weekend. "We were down in all three games early against a good team on the road, and that's not a good recipe for winning. We had a lot of innings where we pitched well, we just gave up some big innings, and we've addressed that with the kids. It's hard to recover from (big innings) against good people, and that's all there is to it."

It all goes back to consistency.

The inconsistency bug had bitten all three phases of the Red Raiders. Last week it was the pitching that took the brunt of the blame. And to the staff's credit, the pitchers improved slightly, lowering their ERA from close to 7 to 6.51 coming out of the weekend. But it wasn't because Tech's opponents scored fewer runs.

Of the 25 runs scored by TCU this weekend, 12 were unearned, including the first five on Sunday thanks to a Jeremy Mayo passed ball on a strike three that could have helped Tech get out of the inning unscathed. Instead, another grounder followed by a couple of home runs led to five unearned runs in an 8-5 TCU win.

This time, it's the offense's and defense's turn to slide.

Excellent article, go read the whole thing.

Explaining the Leach Post-Game Videos:  LAJ's Terry Greenberg (hat-tip LondonRaider), the editor for the LAJ explains that the LAJ received word that the videos existed before OrangeBloods.com, but this was the reason for not publishing:

After Tech rallied to beat Baylor at Cowboys Stadium in the last regular season game, Leach ripped his team for a weak performance. In roughly seven minutes, he dropped the f-bomb 38 times and added in another 13 words you wouldn't say to your pastor.

Newsworthy?

No ... a football coach cussing out his team is not news.

And then Greenberg, who rightfully asks why was Chip Brown of Orangebloods.com was even making this request, and Greenberg's phone calls and emails have not been answered:

One Freedom of Information request asking Tech to release the videos was from orangebloods.com ... a University of Texas sports Web site and part of the rivals.com national network.

Huh?

Why would a UT sports-related site care about this?

My e-mail and phone efforts to ask the people who run orangebloods.com were not answered Friday.

You may not always like the coverage of the LAJ (I'm not one of those people), but I really appreciate what they've done here.  Bravo.

Game Change:  Hat-tip to jeffinhouston, the SMU vs. Texas Tech football game has been moved to Sunday, September 5th at 2:30 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN.  I say that this is good news, especially as Monday will be a holiday.

Tubs Sit-Down:  Sporting News Matt Hayes talked with Texas Tech head coach Tommy Tuberville.  Go read the whole thing, it's worth your time, but here's a snippet:

SN: It's never easy following the controversial end to any successful coaching era. This one at Tech was especially difficult. Has the transition been easier than expected?

TT: Kids are resilient. It's all about trust and belief. We've shown them what we expect and what can happen when we all are focused on the common goal and work together. We've been fortunate to have some success in this game, and that's really the best sales job you can give. Here's how we did it here, and here's what happened. Let's make that happen here.

ESPN Big 12 blogger David Ubben (hat-tip centexraider) read, I think, a little too much into Tuberville's comments regarding the type of quarterback that Tuberville wants in a quarterback:

"I think we're at the point now in the game where you've got to spread things out and get your best players, your fastest players, in space to win those individual battles. That's not saying we won't run the ball, but obviously we're going to throw the ball more than I'm used to. We're looking for a quarterback who can stand in the pocket and throw it, whereas in the SEC, you're seeing more and more of the type of quarterbacks who can throw it and run it."

First off, neither Taylor Potts or Steven Sheffield really ran the ball last year.  They were really both "stand in the pocket" type of quarterback.  Sheffield was obviously more mobile and had 20 rushes for -41 yards, while Potts had 24 rushes for -176 yards, most of those "rushes" were actually sacks.  In any event, I don't think that either quarterback is going to tuck the ball and run, that's not how the offense works . . . I think.  And that's the rub, there is no right answer until we see the offense in motion.  Lots of speculation, and that's good, but the truth of the matter is that we really don't know.