Texas Tech Rolls Northern Arizona, 88-68 | Post Game Thoughts

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Star of the Game: Robert Turner | Whoa, I wasn’t expecting that. This was my first game to be able to see Turner in action and for those of you who have stayed away from this team because of poor point guard play for years . . . well. I think you need to check out Turner. He was feeling his shot and making it, but he wasn’t forcing his shot. Turner made 8 of 11, including 5 of 6 from three-point range, plus 4 assists and no turnovers. Go ahead and add in a steal for good measure.

Three Takeaways:

1. I Don't Know How This Will Work Out, But This Was Fun To Watch | The offense was flowing and it was really fun to watch. It wasn't being dominated by one particular player, as it was about passing and finding the open shots. It was really fun to watch. As mentioned above, Turner isn't going to dominate the ball, but he is going to be the point guard and run the team. I think that this was a problem that Josh Gray had last year. This is going to be a really fun team to watch if they can make their shots like they did last night from beyond the arc.  SG Dusty Hannahs finished 5 of 9 from the field and 4 of 7 from the three-point line. I just don't remember Hannahs feeling that confident in his shot last year and that helps a ton for the entire offense.  That sort of confidence just wasn't something that this team had last year and that was a ton of fun to watch. I'll take 12 of 22 from the three-point line every day. For the game, the team shot 58.3% from the field, including 54.5% from the three point line. This was a very visually appealing style of basketball and I'm not predicting 30-0 and I'm sure there will be a drop-off in playing in conference play, but having a point guard that can do what Turner does, which is run the team, makes things really enjoyable to watch.
2. Took Care of the Ball | For the game, this team had just 10 turnovers and no player had more than 2 turnovers for the game. This was a game with lots of passing and a lot of movement. Just a very pretty game and I don't really recall a "pretty" game for quite some time.
3. Big Men Step Up | Just a very nice game with Jordan Tolbert (6 of 8, 12 points, 7 boards, 2 assists, 2 TO's and 1 block) and Jaye Crockett (6 of 7, 12 points, 4 boards, 3 assists) doing some good things on the block and in a mid-range capacity. Tolbert had a terrific post move where was in control and had some fakes and scored easily. He didn't just have to dunk the ball. He's worked on his moves. Dejan Kravic is still figuring things out offensively and it is noticable, but he's a smart guy and he'll figure it out. Tolbert still has to work his outside shot and I think that's good to add to his game. He needs to get comfortable outside.

Highlights: