Texas Tech Hoops | 5 Things (Week #12)

Another loss last night that leaves a bad taste in my mouth, but I cannot complain because I enjoyed watching it up until the final seconds. Texas Tech needs to keep battling going forward as no Big 12 team is counting them as an automatic win anymore. There is no quit in this squad, and for that I am proud.

1. Streaky Shooting | Texas Tech has a 46.6% Field Goal Percentage which is good enough for #5 in the Big 12 and #73 in the nation. But, we might be one of the most erratic shooting teams I have watched play basketball in a long time. Sometimes we come out on fire and hit everything and other times we cannot hit anything. The overall team takes on the characteristics of all the individual players combined, so it is no surprise. It is unpredictable who will have the hot hand consistently besides Jaye Crockett. Also, Dusty Hannahs has seemed to find his mojo over the last few games from downtown. It is a frustrating thing when we are shooting poorly, but a thrilling thing when we are make shots. While watching the Oklahoma and K-State game I have made it a point not to get angered when we miss many shots in a row because I know we will go on a scoring streak at some point in the game. We always do.
2. Turnovers | Two seasons ago we averaged 17.1 turnovers per game. Last season we averaged 14.7 TOPG. This season we are averaging 11.9 and that is translating into prettier basketball to watch being played. We still have our moments of stupidity that cause us to put our head in our hands, but they are happening less often. It can be aggravating to watch errant passes or silly traveling calls being made. What is even more bothersome is that they always seem to happen at the most critical times in the game. We must remind ourselves that we are watching a better brand of basketball, and are expecting to compete in games because we have a chance to win them. Last year our fans were struggling to find ways to cheer if we didn’t get beat by 20 points…
3. 2-6 Big 12 Record | This season we have only lost one Big 12 game by double digits. It was by 11 points to Iowa State, which we had tied the game with in the 2nd half. During conference play we had a couple of missed shots from our team at some inopportune times or else we would be sitting at a .500 record right now. Don’t forget that. Even though we didn’t win against WVU or UT, we came that close. I love watching the games this season because of the incredible feeling of hope that I get with believing we can go out and win any game we play.
4. Taking the Ball to the Hole | I have noticed that our team sometimes is out of sync when setting up the offense on a missed shot or defensive rebound. Earlier in the year I had written in one of my posts that I was a little worried we were not pushing the ball more and trying to drive to the basket. I am seeing the ball pushed a little more as the season has progressed, but our team isn’t the strongest at making those contested inside lay-ups. Sometimes we are saved by a foul call, but we have to get better at making the shots on our drives to the basket. I’m not talking just about fast-break points, it is also when we strike and drive to the paint for the bucket.
5. TCU on Saturday | To promote the last 2 home games Tubby Smith has been at the Student Union Building and given out free lunches to students. It has generated a buzz throughout the Texas Tech basketball world. I have become quite intrigued to see what he is going to do next, and wonder what it will be… is he going to do this every home game this season? Needless to say that I fully appreciate what Tubby Smith has done so far for this program. We are playing fun basketball and competing with all our conference foes. It must be great to be a student on campus right now and experience Tubby Smith and Texas Tech basketball. When I was a student I was privileged enough to experience the glory days of Bobby Knight basketball and our Red Raiders trips to the NCAA tournament. I’m sure Coach Smith understands what he is doing, but he is making passionate Red Raider fans for life right before our very eyes. I hope we have a great turnout for the TCU game because I honestly think we are going to pound them into the ground. Wreck ‘em Tech!