Box Score | Post Game Quotes
THE RESULT | EMBARRASSING | I had an incredibly long day yesterday and I had set the DVR for the game during my lunch hour and was thinking that maybe, just maybe, this team will show a little pride and make this game close. When I finally arrived home, and started the game, the first five minutes or so seemed like my wish had come true, but at some point after that I became embarrassed, in my own home, as to what was happening on television. No lie, I'm pretty sure that I actually put my head in my hands 3 or 4 different times.
If the writing wasn't on the wall after the Baylor game, where the team actually competed, it should be on the wall as of the end of the game last night and perhaps, thankfully, everyone saw what happened. Everyone saw that embarrassing effort.
Everyone.
And at this point, there's really no denying what has to happen and I think this truly puts a kink in the way things were supposed to go, which is that the men's basketball team would have a good to decent season, AD Gerald Myers could extend Pat Knight after he takes his team to the NCAA Tournament, and Myers could ride off into the sunset. That ain't happening and as Ryan Hyatt had alluded to earlier this month, there's a strong possibility that the search for the next athletic director has been put on hyper-speed. I wouldn't put it past anyone right now, but there seems like there's little chance that Myers would hire a new basketball coach before leaving, which would put the new athletic director in a bit of a bind and would be obligated to honor that contract. What looked like a May retirement may end up being a March retirement for Myers. Most, if not all, of the decent coaching hires occur in March, right after the season is complete.
The smart thing would be to speed up the process of finding a new athletic director, have him or her take the position in February, and then put them to work in finding a new basketball coach. I'm sure that a new athletic director would probably like to ease into a situation, but considering that men's basketball is supposed to be one of the programs that actually makes money for the university, it's an incredibly important hire.
Right now, the situation regarding the men's basketball program, is hopefully forcing the folks in charge to take an incredibly critical look at what's happening overall at Texas Tech. And although I'm sure that there are former coaches and employees that may deserve to be the next athletic director, I want nothing to do with any former coach trying to run a multi-million dollar business. Perhaps 10 or 20 years ago, this is the way athletic departments were run, but I would love nothing more than to see someone that can look at the current state of athletics and start holding some toes to the fire. And I should also clarify that I'm not a guy that demands results after one year. Personally, I like to give people a chance which is why I've been so lenient with Tuberville his first year. I think it's incredibly tough to judge whether or not a coach is going to be successful after one year and I think after the second year I think a fan can make an informed educated guess as to whether or not that coach will be successful or not. I'm probably in the minority here on the length of time to give a coach to figure things out, but that's what makes things interesting.
And despite my feelings about the basketball program, this doesn't at all mean that I think less of Pat Knight. I do think that PK is a good person, and I do think he runs the cleanest program in college basketball. I would expect that if PK ever gets the chance to be a head coach again, he'll never have a spot on his record as far as NCAA violations are concerned. And when UT's Rick Barnes speaks glowingly about PK, I think he means it. I do think PK works hard and I think he's been incredibly honest about what he needs to do at Texas Tech. Those are all things that I appreciate, but it's not enough.
I don't know if there's really any reason to break down the game. In a nutshell it's the same thing that's happened the entire year: Texas Tech was out-rebounded by 19; UT's 6'1" point guard Dogus Balbay had 4 offensive rebounds while the entire team had 7 offensive rebounds; Texas Tech shot 39% from the floor making zero 3-point shots; PG John Roberson, SF Mike Singletary, SG David Tairu and SF Brad Reese the 4 seniors that PK put his faith in by starting last night were 8 of 33 from the floor last night; and Texas Tech had 2 assists. That's right 2 assists for the night.