Box Score | Post Game Quotes
THE RESULT | DEFENSE? | That was really pretty nice. I must admit that I only watched the second half, I was required to make 2 trips to drop Christmas stuff at the storage building, eating away at my Texas Tech time. Still, I get the feeling that the second half was much like the first as the Islanders only had 18 points at halftime. No matter whether that was a result of TAMU-CC just not being able to shoot, or the Texas Tech defense actually being pretty good, that's a result I'm going to get behind no matter the reason. I've wanted this team to play defense and I'm just happy that the Red Raiders didn't play down to their opponent and just try and out-score Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
It was the second straight game where PG John Roberson did not play because of a team suspension, i.e. when the team feels like Roberson's attitude has changed, he'll play. I keep writing this, but I like how Pat Knight is giving the team some ownership in the team. It may not work out for PK in the end, but at the very least he's not putting wins above discipline.
LAJ's Courtney Linehan wrote after the game that SF Mike Singletary had a bad first half, and PK told him to stop taking those damned three-point shots:
"He wasn’t driving into trouble. He’ll drive and spin into two or three guys and they’re waiting for it and he’ll turn it over."He started off bad shooting threes, and we told him we didn’t want any more threes from him," Tech coach Pat Knight said. "That’s not his strength. He listened, started driving the ball and shooting mid-range jump shots and handled the ball pretty well, bringing it up to let David cut and move. He got to the free-throw line.
"He played how he can play. He’s got to quit trying to do things that he can’t do and just play within himself and play to his strengths. He did that the second half."
And the nice thing about this game was that it wasn't just about one player being dominant. It was about 7 or 8 players making contributions to the team. I much prefer team oriented basketball to just a couple of guys that try to do too much.
Head Coach Pat Knight
"I thought Jaye Crockett and Javarez Willis came off the bench and made good contributions today. Jaye scored some points, blocked six shots, and worked hard to get his rebounds. Javarez handled the ball well, made a couple of steals, and had four nice assists. It was a good game for both of them."
MVP | SG David Tairu Tairu was incredibly efficient and was a big part as to why the team had a substantial lead at half-time (18 Pts; 8-11 FG; 4 Reb; 2 Ast; 0 TO). Tairu is filling in at point guard and these aren't typical point guard numbers, but he's not turning the ball over and he's allowing the offense to work on it's own rather than forcing the issue on the break.
Analysis after the jump.
POST GAME THOUGHTS |
|
GUARDS |
I've already mentioned the outstanding play of Tairu. PG Jararez Willis played 28 minutes and for whatever reason, he looked so much more confident for this game (7 Pts; 3-6 FG; 2 Reb; 4 Ast; 2 Stl; 2 TO) especially offensively. I think the staff told him that he needs to be a little more aggressive offensively and it showed. SG Wally Dunn is not afraid to shoot the ball, but I think he's been given the green-light to shoot when he feels like he's open. Dunn is supposed to be a shooter and I've got no problem with this in that I think that PK will let Dunn know if he's not supposed to shoot the ball by sitting him on the bench. |
FORWARDS |
SF Mike Singletary had an excellent second half of basketball and a really solid line (17 Pts; 6-10 FG; 3 Reb; 6 Ast; 1 Stl; 5 TO). Singletary was the best passer on the floor, but he's also still prone to turning the ball over. He's the secondary ball-handler when Tairu is in the game, I guess by default. I don't necessarily like it, but it's been happening for quite some time, so expect this during conference play. SF Brad Reese had a quiet day (8 Pts; 3-8 FG; 2 Reb; 1 Ast; 2 Stl; 1 Blk; 2 TO) and he's been a little cold for two games in a row. If Reese is going to continue to start at shooting guard, then he needs to take his man on the block. PF Paul Cooper got the start but only played 15 minutes, only scored 3 points, although he did grab 6 rebounds. I still like Cooper's help-defense and defense on the pick-and-roll. It's really the way that the team should be playing the pick-and-roll and he essentially allows the other defender to continue to cover his man rather than switching on the screener. SF Jaye Crockett was the star off the bench and he was excellent defensively (6 Pts; 3-6 FG; 7 Reb; 1 Ast; 6 Blk; 0 TO). Yep, that's right, Crockett had 6 blocks yesterday. It was beautiful, but I will say that in conference play, it would be best if Crockett doesn't jump at every shot-fake. PF Robert Lewandowski had a solid game (6 Pts; 3-5 FG; 7 Reb; 1 Ast; 0 Blk; 0 TO). |
COACHING |
It's finally starting to come together a bit. And no, I'm not getting excited about a blowout win against a vastly inferior team, but I think the team and PK should get a little credit for playing solid basketball. TTU held TAMU-CC to 34% shooting from the floor, out-rebounded the Islanders by 5 and forced 17 turnovers. |
FOUR FACTORS
Fancy basketball glossary found here.