Joshua Mballa signs with Texas Tech
Mballa, a French 6’8 forward, signing with the Red Raiders was a surprising development. Considering the depth at the forward/power forward position, playing time is going to be a real battle.
However, Mballa is likely more of a project. While he may not make much of an impact this year, with time he could become a regular fixture in the starting rotation. For now though, we may get to see some flashes off the bench of the potential Mballa has.
Evans misses summer league due to rehab
Keenan Evans signed a two-way contract with the Detroit Pistons. However, due to the devastating broken toe he suffered and played through, he will not be able to participate in the summer league. After rehab though, Keenan will be able to quiet all the doubters with his ability to make defenders look silly on the way to the hole.
How do we define success following the program changing run to the Elite Eight?
If you ask the pundits, Texas Tech will fade back to back of the pack. The best two players in the program are gone, and the program graduated a big handful of senior contributors. But as a fan, what should we consider a success?
I say we should expect more success this coming season. Chris Beard is bringing in elite recruits, including big time transfers in Mooney and Owens. Elite freshman are on the board, and Kevin McCullar might be joing them.
But we can’t forget the pieces already present. Jarrett Culver was electric last year, and could really come into his own this season. And he’s got Francis and Moretti around to bolster the offense. Defensively, Odiase can continue to grind at the post and brings years of experience to help the new guys out.
To me, with all that is coming in to fill in the gaps a successful season should be measured by a top three in the conference finish, and a trip to the Sweet Sixteen. We know Beard’s system works, and we have talent coming into Lubbock unlike anything we have ever seen to fill in a still strong roster.
We may not quite be as close to winning the conference this season, but being considered a real competitor in the league should be expected. We should also all be excited for more post-season success. Times are changing, we need to expect this program to be good and be hungry for them to be great.
I don’t know if this team will as good as last years, but dammit I am excited to find out. Think we should aim higher or come back to earth, let us know in the comments!