SB Nation - Mike Singletary

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 12.16.09

Seth C — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:53:28 -0000

Under Pressure: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that the men's basketball team is learning from previous pressure situations, and SF Mike Singletary thinks the team still has something to prove.

"We love to come in and be the spoiler, create upsets, just come in and surprise people," Singletary said. "This year it’s kind of different because we’ve been getting some recognition. We have the same mentality, but we have to come out and show people they’re not better than us."

And Singletary is ready to prove doubters wrong:

He’s heard people claim Tech is overrated. He’s heard it said about No. 23 Washington, which was ranked No. 12 when it lost 99-92 to Tech last month, a game that propelled the Raiders into the polls.

He said it doesn’t change anything.

"If they want to say Washington’s overrated, that we’re overrated, just let them talk," Singletary said. "We’ll prove them wrong."

Big 12 Power Poll: CT's Steve Walentik has his weekly Big 12 Power Poll and the Red Raiders check in at #4:

4. Texas Tech (9-0)
This week: at Wichita State on Saturday
The Red Raiders are off to their best start since opening 12-0 in the 1929-30 season. John Roberson has had a stellar start to the season, averaging 13.6 points and 5.7 assists. But the biggest reason for Tech's improvement has come from its collective effort defensively. Coach Pat Knight's team is holding foes to 63.7 points, a vast improvement over last season.

All-Americans: DE Brandon Sharpe was named to the Sporting News third team All-American team and Sharpe and RG Brandon Carter were also named to the AP's third team All-American team (also see Tall Mike's FanPost).

2010 Heisman Favorites: FoxSports Pete Fiutak runs down a list of Heisman hopefuls for the 2010 season and I'm not sure how some of you will feel about this, but QB Taylor Potts is named as the 18th most likely candidate and joins fellow Big 12'ers: UT's QB Garrett Gilbert at #14 (Gilbert will be good, but I don't think there's any way that he'll be that good as a RS FR); OU's QB Landry Jones at #17 (I'm curious if the OU faithful still believe in Jones); and TAMU's QB Jerrod Johnson at #19 (he should be higher than every one of these players based on what he did in 2009). I think Potts' inclusion is an indication that the mainstream media who probably doesn't follow the program closely and those that do as it appears the quarterback position may be at a crossroads during the offseason (a lot more on this later in the morning).

Post Game Thoughts :: Texas Tech 80, TCU 70

Seth C — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:37:03 -0000

More photos » by Tom Pennington - AP

8 days ago: Texas Tech guard David Tairu (13) celebrates with forward D'walyn Roberts (5) during the the final seconds of the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 in Fort Worth, Texas. Texas Tech beat TCU 80-70. (AP Photo/Tom Pennington)

Browse more photos »

SBN Box Score ::
FoxSports Box Score

The Result :: Workman Like: Maybe this is the sign of a pretty good team. Texas Tech was down by 14 at one point down by 5 at the start of the second half. The Red Raiders ended up holding TCU to 29 points in the second half, while scoring 44. I wish I could find some splits between the first and second halves, but I'd be willing to bet that TCU probably shot lights out in the fist, and the second half was all about the Texas Tech defense.

Follow me after the jump for storylines, stats and some video highlights of the game.

The Storylines ::

Roberts = Rebounding Machine: It was simply unbelievable to see PF D`Walyn Roberts with 19 rebounds. Simply an amazing total, but even better was that of those 19 boards, 9 were offensive. Roberts had a spectacular dunk (see the video highlights below), but it's nice to see Roberts get recognized for his workman like effort for this team.

Solid Bench: Remember when we were all wondering whether or not the JUCO's would make an impact. Well, I cannot say that we should all be sold, but the 3 JUCO's, SF Theron Jenkins, SG David Tairu and SF Brad Reese, combined for 27 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. That was your bench for last night (I'm curious as to why Nick Okorie only got 4 minutes last night. Anyone?) and outscored TCU's bench by 7. The additional depth that Pat Knight has on board is really something, and the 3 JUCO's are more than capable of making significant contributions this year.

Leaders Lead: PG John Roberson's good shooting continued last night, and led the team in scoring with 21 points on 7-11 from the field. Not only that, and I'm starting to think he turned the corner, is that Roberson had 10 assists and only 4 turnovers for the night. SF Mike Singletary also finished with 17 points, 5 boards, 2 assists and 2 turnovers. Singletary also had a good shooting night, 7-13, and only 2 turnovers while playing 34 minutes. These two are the leaders of the team, along with Roberts and it's nice to see these juniors lead this team moving forward.

Player Impact, Game Flow and Four Factors: I love these graphs from StatSheet and I hope you do too:

NCAA Basketball Stats

The Offensive MVP :: PG John Roberson: This has to be Roberson for the second time in a row. Again, 21 points, 10 assists and only 4 turnovers, while playing 40 minutes. There's something to this team shooting 52.5% for the game and Roberson having 10 assists and shooting well to boot.

The Defensive MVP :: PF D`Walyn Roberts: Another repeat MVP, Roberts work on the board was maybe the difference in the game as Texas Tech out-rebounded TCU by 15 (45 to 30).

Game Highlights:

Post Game Thoughts :: Washington 92, Texas Tech 99

Seth C — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:40:44 -0000

More photos » by Geoffrey McAllister - AP

13 days ago: Texas Tech's John Roberson, left, scores in front of Washington's Venoy Overton during overtime in an NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Geoffrey McAllister)

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SBN Box Score :: TTU Box Score

The Result :: Tremendous: I really thought that this was a game that the Huskies would ultimately win, especially as they're picked to win the Pac-10, but there's something about playing on the road. Last year, Texas Tech was awful on the road, and in Texas Tech's lone road game, a very close win against SFA, indicates that almost no matter the opponent, playing on the road is tough. Nevertheless, it's still incredibly satisfying for this team to get this win. I've been one of the guys standing behind Pat Knight, I like his style, albeit he's certainly had some rough spots, but I can see the potential and I can see how players would want to play for him. He's still finding his way, and there are going to be some bad losses with this team, but I still like what he's doing.

The Storylines ::

Athletes, Athletes, Athletes: That was not your typical Bob Knight team. It took a season for Pat Knight to transform his team from a typical Bob Knight team (2008) to a team with much better athletes. I loved how the Texas Tech perimeter defense was basically able to switch with just about every Washington player, and that seemingly made it incredibly difficult for UW to get into much of rhythm outside as the Huskies were only 4-15 from the 3-point line. Perhaps the most impressive part was seeing the very long and athletic SF Brad Reese play the point on defense. That's a tough thing for a small point guard to have to around a long 6'6" player and that's not something that could have been done last year. I'd also add that Pat Knight had, for very long stretches of the game, no true post player (i.e. Darko Cohadarevic and Robert Lewandowski), instead opting for a combination of guards and smallish forwards that played really well. This smallish lineup still out-rebounded Washington 42 to 37, something that you just don't see from a typical Texas Tech team.

More storylines after the jump.

In Control Roberson: That's the PG John Roberson I want to see more of from this point forward. Roberson didn't force very much in the first half, taking only 3 shots, but dishing out 5 assists and turning the ball over only 2 times. He was truly a floor leader and didn't look for his shot until the second half, when I think he could sense the offense dragging a bit and scored 9 of his 25 points in the second half.

Transition Defense: With better defense comes better transition defense and Washington had only 6 fast break points for the entire game. It really didn't matter if it was Reese, G David Tairu, SF Mike Singletary, G Nick Okorie, SF Theron Jenkins or PF D`Walyn Roberts, all of these guys are buying into the defense and they are all getting back to man-up or are athletic enough to block shots and make it difficult for an opponent. This is a different team, perhaps not as good of a shooting team, but a different team athletically and it's pretty interesting to watch.

Washington is Pretty Good: I had no idea what to expect from the Huskies, I'm still working my way into basketball mode, but I thought that they were an athletically gifted team and some tremendous players. This is a good team, that's going to have to learn how to play on the road, just like every team in the country, but this is a really good win for this Texas Tech program. I watched a bit of the USC vs. Texas game afterwards and thought that the Longhorns are equally as athletic, but haven't yet figured out how to play as a team. I don't think that the Red Raiders are as athletically gifted as Texas, but the gap is much, much closer than it has been in previous years.

Game Flow and Four Factors: I love these graphs from StatSheet and I hope you do too:

NCAA Basketball Stats

The Offensive Co-MVP's :: PG John Roberson and SF Brad Reese: Roberson had a tremndous line (Pts: 25; Reb: 2; Ast: 7; Stl: 2; TO: 4) and kept Texas Tech in the game in the 2nd half. Reese (Pts: 17; Reb: 5; Ast: 1; Stl: 1; Blk: 2; TO: 2) was the key in the first half and was electric. I thought watching the game that it's been a long time since the Red Raiders had a 6'6" guy step up and hit 3-point shots the way Reese did. That's pretty fun to watch.

The Defensive MVP :: PF D`Walyn Roberts: Roberts' stat line isn't going to be too terribly impressive (Pts: 8; Reb: 5; Ast: 0; Stl: 0; Blk: 2; TO: 0), but I thought he did a pretty good job of battling inside. I have a feeling that the inside players may not have pretty stat lines for a good part of the season, but their play will be very important throughout the year.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 12.04.09

Seth C — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 12:02:03 -0000

More photos » by Geoffrey McAllister - AP

13 days ago: Texas Tech's Mike Davis, center, jumps on the back of teammate Brad Reese after defeating Washington in overtime 99-92 in their NCAA college basketball game Thursday, Dec. 3, 2009, in Lubbock, Texas. (AP Photo/Geoffrey McAllister)

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How About That: I'm as surprised as you guys about this win. We've talked about how this team is more athletic, and I think if there was ever a indication of that, it was last night, matching punch for punch with what I thought was an incredibly athletic Washington Huskies team. It was pretty cool that the Red Raiders got to storm the floor twice, and even Storming the Floor took note. I'll have some Post Game Thoughts later this morning.

Game Stories: Lots to choose from this morning (LAJ's Courtney Linehan and a notebook and DT's Mike Graham). PG John Roberson is proud of the way this team has come together:

"I’m just so proud of these guys," point guard John Roberson said. "We’ve got a lot of new players on this team, and to come together this quickly, I’m shocked."

And Roberson talks about the situation leading up to his stealing an inbounds pass that sealed the overtime win:

"In the huddle, the coaches were telling us to go 2-3 (zone)," Roberson said. "I was like, ‘No, we should go man. Pat had confidence in me, he listened to me and we ended up going man.

"Everybody did a good job denying their man the ball, so I just read his eyes and knew no one was open. Nobody was open and I knew there was a guy up top and I knew (the ball) was going there and I just got a good break on the ball and ended up laying it up."

Pat Knight appreciates the fans:

"The students and the fans were incredible tonight," Knight said. "There’s no way we could do it without them. I just want to say thank you to them. I hope this team gained their respect and excitement even it wouldn’t have gone our way. I think these guys deserve to have crowds like that every night."

And SF Mike Singletary knows that this team cannot be satisfied:

"I think our challenge is to just not be satisfied," Singletary said. "TCU beat us last year, granted we’re a different team this year. We’ve got to go into TCU and come out and just not have a let down."

In Linehan's notebook, she said that the student trainers went around the dorms handing out flyers to students about last night's game and PK appreciates their efforts:

On Thursday the game ball went to four managers who over the course of three days went door to door in campus dorms delivering flyers advertising the game against No. 12 Washington. Coach Pat Knight said after Tech’s 99-92 overtime win that those managers, and the fans they helped bring in, made a major difference in the game.

"I’m not dumb," Knight said. "I coach basketball in a football state, so you get worried in the preseason what your attendance is going to be."

Knight Finding His Way: DT's Alex Ybarra writes about how it takes time for any coach to mold his team in that coache's manner and Pat Knight says that it takes time

Knight agreed: "I think each year with those guys, it’s gotten better. It’s not like we’re buddies and we sing kumbaya. There are a lot of days they don’t like me. But from a coaching standpoint of knowing what they can do basketball-wise and knowing what I want, I think we’re on the same page."

And PK also makes a call-back to certain girlfriends and not being satisfied with a win:

"Eighteen to 21-year-olds and everybody," he said, "people like (the media) on the internet talking about how great they are, and they read it and then their mom reads it and their dad reads it. Oh yeah, that and their beautiful girlfriends. You gotta worry about all that."

Washington Husky Links: Seattle Times' Percy Allen with a UW perspective of last night's win . . . TR's RRR with some post-game thoughts . . . DT's John Arnold with some great video after the game (it looks like he's having a great time) . . . DT's Edmund Rostran with a tremendous recap of the game with quotes from UW head coach Lorenzo Romar about how Texas Tech needs to get behind this program, and post game quotes from Mike Singletary (this is professionally done and kudos to Rostran for some good work):

This is a Keeper: LAJ's Don Williams writes that our Captain Mike Leach can now swing his sword, literally:

Texas Tech football coach Mike Leach on Thursday received gifts from Houston boosters, including this sword similar to the cutlasses used by pirates of legend. (Provided by Texas Tech) via images.morris.com

Here's Leach:

"It was funny because we were having a bit of a firm conversation with the team," Leach said, "and then all of a sudden these guys come in with swords and watches and a big double-T. It’s incredibly thoughtful, especially all the way out there in Houston where we’ve got incredibly loyal fans and alumni. It’s great to see these guys, who are huge friends besides."

AP All-Big 12: LAJ's Don Williams runs down the AP All-Big 12 Team, highlighted by RG Brandon Carter and DE Brandon Sharpe.

Congrats to Winn and Carter: RT Marlon Winn and RG Brandon Carter have been invited to play at the Pro Football Hall of Fame Texas vs. the Nation Challenge, which is set for 1:00 p.m. on February 6, 2010 at the Sun Bowl in El Paso.

Miscellaneous Links: Burn Orange Nation talks with Corn Nation about the Big 12 Championship Game (lots of good stuff here) . . . the DMN has their All-Big 12 team . . . Rivals.com's Jamie Newberg with an interesting look at recruiting by region and by state in comparison to being drafted by the NFL . . .

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 12.03.09

Seth C — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 12:01:39 -0000

Carol of Lights: This was last night and for those of you out of town, the Daily Toreador has a pretty cool slideshow as well as an accompanying article. My favorite might be the time-lapse photo in the article.

Game Tonight:
#10 Washington Huskies vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Television: ESPN2
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: United Spirit Arena :: Lubbock, TX
Preview: 10:00 a.m. post :: Game Day Thread: 5:00 p.m. post

Tonight's Promotion: The official site says that if you bring an unwrapped toy, you get at FREE general admission ticket. Go help some kids and go to tonight's game.

Big Test, Part I: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that the Red Raiders will have their first big test tonight, facing the #10 Washington Huskies and head coach Pat Knight wants to take this one game at a time:

Since the season is less than a month old, Knight doesn’t worry that Tech’s undefeated status will mess with his players’ mental preparation. He said the Raiders don’t talk about being off to their best start since the 1995-96 season, when James Dickey led Tech to a 28-2 finish.

"It’s an old cliche, ‘one game at a time,’ but it’s true," Knight said. "If you can go through the preseason undefeated that’d be great, but look at all the really good teams that already have one loss. You can’t put too much on it."

Big Test, Part II: DT's Mike Graham also writes that tonight's game is a big deal and SF Mike Singletary is excited about the opportunity:

"We’re real excited," Singletary said. "We’re real happy that we’ve got a big game at home and they’re a top team. I think the crowd is going to be really good for us, and playing at home is always an advantage."

Video Preview: DT's Jon Arnold also has a video preview of tonight's game, with commentary from PG John Roberson and SF Mike Singletary:

Washington Husky Links: Seattle Times' Percy Allen previews tonight's game and UW coach Lorenzo Romar had this to say about Texas Tech:

"They're probably more athletic than coach Knight's teams at Indiana," Romar said. "They're sound offensively. They are disciplined offensively. They're going to pressure you. They're going to bother you. They're tenacious defensively."

. . . SeattlePI's Todd Dybas also previews tonight's game and Washington PG Isiah Thomas is excited about the game:

"I can't wait for this game," Thomas said. "I love the road. I love these types of games. Everybody is against you, nobody wants you to win. The refs are against you, the fans..."

. . . make sure and check out SB Nation blog, UW Dawg Pound for more from the Washington Huskies' point of view . . .

Miscellaneous Links: Here are a few writers All Big 12 ballots, up first is Columbia Tribune's Dave Matter and SAEN's Mike Finger . . . Corn Nation's Jon Johnston takes a look under the statistical hood of both Nebraska vs. Texas . . .

Pulse of the Team :: Week 3

Seth C — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 16:00:17 -0000

The "Pulse of the Team" is a weekly or whenever-I-get-to-it post about the state of the team, what's going well and what isn't. The Pulse of the Team looks at the week that was, the week ahead, what's trending up, what's trending down and the current player impact, courtesy of StatSheet.

Last Week:

Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
W : 63-61 (Box Score)

Saturday, November 28, 2009
Samford Bulldogs
W : 74-53 (Box Score)

This Week:

Thursday, December 3, 2009
Washington Huskies

Slightly Improved Rebounding: This has been the first time that I've been able to write that the rebounding is improving. I'm going to take this opportunity to highlight last week's game against Samford and hope the team does as well. Against SFA, the team was out-rebounded by 4 (28-32). This team seems to have been much more focused on the rebounding issue as I've read player quotes from PF D`Walyn Roberts and PF Darko Cohadarevic mention that the rebounds must improve and I believe they are taking this to heart. Against Samford, the team was much better, grabbing 35 rebounds to Samford's 20, including 9 offensive boards by the good guys. Granted, anything to this date has been against relatively weaker competition (save Oregon St.), but that's about to change relatively soon.

Playing to Competition: I think the Samford game is an indication that Pat Knight is learning how to coach. I know that PK has adjusted his lineup according to the opposition previously, but against Samford, and a very small squad, PK had the players and confidence in those players to get the job done and secure a 21 point win. The combination of guards John Roberson, Nick Okorie and David Tairu played 100 of the 200 minutes available, which means that the remaining 100 minutes generally went to SF Mike Singletary (20), SF Brad Reese (24) and PF D`Walyn Roberts (27). PK went relatively small against Samford and I hope that's an indication that he has the players to play different styles and not play his best player in Singletary (although he did have 4 fouls), yet still grab a 20 point win.

Tough Road Ahead: There's not much to get down about with this team, but I'd just like to remind everyone about the upcoming non-conference schedule, the KenPom Rank is in parentheses:

12.03.09 :: Washington Huskies (14)
12.08.09 :: @ TCU Horned Frogs (126)
12.19.09 :: @ Wichita St. Shockers (78)
12.22.09 :: Stanford Cardinal (165)
12.29.09 :: @ New Mexico Lobos (13)
01.01.10 :: McNeese St. Cowboys (313)
01.03.10 :: UTEP Miners (27)

The average KenPom ranking of the first 7 opponents was 193.71 and the average KenPom ranking of the next 7 opponents is 105.14, and that factors in a really bad McNeese St. team that's dragging down the rest of the group. There's a reason to be excited about what's happened thus far and thus far the team hasn't lost a game that they should have won. It's only a little bit of progress, but it's progress nonetheless. We'll know quite a bit more about this team after the month of December.

The one thing that this chart doesn't show are the shooting percentages. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit concerned about PG John Roberson's 39.4% shooting, although as I've mentioned before he's always shot at that rate and was hoping that he could get that shooting percentage higher. Also under 40% is SG Nick Okorie (37.2%) and SF Brad Reese (39.0%) and I'm not as concerned about those 2 players because they do not seem to take the volume of shots that Roberson can. I'd love for Roberson to be more selective and I think that percentage improves.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.25.09

Seth C — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 12:03:49 -0000

More photos » by Sue Ogrocki - AP

25 days ago: Texas Tech defensive back Jamar Wall, right, reaches in to intercept a pass intended for Oklahoma tight end Trent Ratterree, left, in the fourth quarter of an NCAA college football game in Lubbock, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Browse more photos »

Friday Night Isolation: LAJ's Don Williams writes about the routine that the football program goes through each Friday night, which is going to the team hotel. DC Ruffin McNeill likes to isolate the team:

"I think you have to isolate the main core of the team,’’ said McNeill, the Texas Tech defensive coordinator. "They have got to be on the same page and have the same amount of football focus time as a group — as well as the coaches. It keeps us on the same page for a 48-hour period.’’

It was also fairly interesting to see Captain Mike Leach's comments regarding the proposed California legislation to outlaw (I like the word "outlaw") this practice:

"They act like it’s an unreasonable extravagance,’’ Leach said. "What about the burden on student-athletes having to go out there and perform in front of tens of thousands, furthermore, on national TV and not be able to put their best foot forward because they can’t get a good night’s sleep? It’s crazy. It’s crazy to the point I would like to meet the individuals in the Pac-10 that were foolish enough to propose it.’’

Influencing Academics: DT's Jon Vanderlaan writes about how Leach has positively affected the academics since he's been the head coach:

"I’ve got more degrees than I use. Than I know what to do with, really. And at one time more than I could afford," he said. "There’s no question you should have high academics. And there should be no excuse for not graduating people."

Despite the occasional temptation to be territorial between academics and athletics, Leach said, he supports the academic departments because it is another part of the university that enhances the quality of life for the students.

"I think attention to the university in general is very positive," he said. "For example, if someone looks to Tech for engineering or something like that and gets excited for our football team, that helps me. Just like if someone gets excited for the football team and looks at our math department, that helps our math department."

I love that this program graduates players and holds players accountable for their grades. Very proud of that.

Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams' notebook has the note that RG Brandon Carter will play in the East-West Shrine Game, which is scheduled for January 23, 2010 in Florida . . . a number of players were honored by being named to the academic All-Big 12 team:

First-team honorees were those with a grade-point average of 3.2 or higher. From Tech, those were linebacker Bront Bird (business major), cornerback Taylor Charbonnet (general business), safety Cody Davis (business), defensive tackle David Neill (human development and family studies), guard Mickey Okafor (pre-dental), tackle Chris Olson (general business), quarterback Taylor Potts (pre-physical therapy), flanker Alex Torres (general business) and inside receiver Austin Zouzalik (general business).

Second-team honorees were those with a GPA between 3.0 and 3.19. From Tech, those were kicker-punter Donnie Carona (general business) and defensive end Brandon Sharpe (human development and family studies).

. . . DC Ruffin McNeill talks about DB Trent Nickerson and LB Chris Wallace each getting a play during Saturday's game against Oklahoma because of their commitment to the team:

"Senior, great leader,’’ McNeill said Tuesday. "Great enthusiast on the sideline. He’s a guy who knew his role on the football team, accepted his role and took it to another level. He always has great support for whoever’s playing on offense, defense or special teams. He’s been a scout-team guy for us and gave us great looks.’’

Baylor Bear and Big 12 Links: Waco Tribune's John Werner writes that the Bears are bowing out earlier than expected, but in grand style at Jerry's World . . . the SAEN looks at the 8 teams that have a shot at playing the Alamo Bowl . . .

First Non-Conference Win on the Road Since 2006: That's all you really need to know. The game looked well in hand for a good part of the first half and second half, but the SFA Lumberjacks came storming back in the second half. This is the sort of game that we would have talked about had Texas Tech lost the game, even if it was close, but with a 1 point win, I don't know that we'll be talking about this game in a month. If this game were a loss, it would be discussed until the end of the season. As far as game-play is concerned, G David Tairu didn't have a huge game, but he did his the 3-pointer that put the game away. There was a point late in the game where Tairu chastised SF Mike Singletary for taking an ill-advised shot late in the game, when Tairu was incredibly open. It's interesting to see that dynamic with Tairu being one of the new guys but feeling comfortable correcting his teammates. Tairu is probably the most fundamentally sound player I've seen for Texas Tech, on both sides of the ball. I'd be completely fine if the offense ran through Tairu as I think he has the makeup to be that sort of player.

The thing that bothers me the most is that I'm not sure that this team has a guy that knows how or wants to set up his teammates. Right now there's a lot of one-on-one and not much offensive flow. I'm struggling as to why this team, which has a core players who have been around for 3 years, can't figure out how to get guys involved. Offensively, this team is frustrating so long as there isn't one guy willing to take the team on their back.

Defensively, there were frustrating points for sure. Singletary and Roberson still have their defensive lapses and I think there was 4 points that Singletary gave up because he simply lost his man under the basket . . . twice. I thought that for the most part, Tairu, PF Darko Cohadarevic, SF D`Walyn Roberts and SF Brad Reese all looked good defensively.

Darko's Big Night: LAJ's Courtney Linehan focuses on Cohadarevic leading this team with 18 points and 3 boards. Here's head coach Pat Knight on his depth and the play of Darko:

"Lew and Corbin, they gave us some good minutes, then Darko got his stuff together on the bench, came back in and played well," Knight said. "I think that’s the best thing, if your kid’s struggling, the bench is almost like brain surgery."

And Darko knows that he must rebound better:

"I should go for boards more," he said. "This should not happen again."

Linehan has a notebook with this quote from PK:

"It’s huge. They say you can’t take anybody lightly on the road, even after you built a big lead you think it’s over, but they’re able to hang on like that," he said. "We got down early, came back, got the lead, got a big lead, let them back in. It will help us prepare for the Big 12."

. . . PF Corbin Ray returned after suffering a concussion in a pre-season scrimmage . . . Darko takes some of the blame on himself for trying to post-up too much rather than screen for teammates:

"After I hit the 17-foot jumper, I thought for a second, they’re not guarding me. Then after I got the post move under them they fouled me and I realized they cannot guard me low because I’m technically sound. I realized I’ve got to post up. Later on I got lost a little bit, I posted up too much, and the coaches wanted me to down screen away, down screen, flare screen to get other guys open, but I got caught up in posting up too much. I can take the blame for them catching up our 15-point lead because of that."

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.20.09

Seth C — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:58:47 -0000

Too Early: LAJ's Don Williams asks if the 11:30 a.m. kickoff is too early, but IR coach Lincoln Riley says that early or not, the start of the game is not an excuse:

"I think it’s just kind of a copout if you use it,’’ Tech inside receivers coach Lincoln Riley said. "I can think of several good night home games we’ve had, but I can think of us going to Kansas last year, playing an early game, and playing well.’’

Riley said early kickoffs can be a benefit in the sense that players have no down time to kill the way they do for a night game, when they have all day to think about it. But he also acknowledges that there’s a body-clock adjustment since the Raiders’ normal practice time is late afternoon.

"I think all of a sudden, when you’ve got to do something early in the morning, there’s an adjustment,’’ he said. "It’s just those guys being mature and handling it, understanding they have to get their mind right and get everything going before an early kickoff.’’

More news, notes and links after the jump (and I'm doing this in order to keep NM99's Keys to the Game near the top of the page).

Third Straight in Lubbock: DT's Alex Ybarra writes that the Red Raiders are looking to win their third straight against OU in Lubbock. OU RB DeMarco Murray knows it can get crazy in Lubbock:

"We know the past two times we’ve been down there we’ve lost," said OU running back DeMarco Murray. "Last year we beat them here at home, but it’s always a crazy time when playing down in Lubbock. Their fans are pretty crazy. I think we need to be immune to it and settle down."

Football Notebook: LAJ's Don Williams notebook has a few more updates on a couple of players. RB Aaron Crawford is out with an undisclosed injury and WR Jacoby Franks is not on the dress roster for a variety of reasons:

Wide receivers coach Dennis Simmons said Tuesday that Franks was in the doghouse for what he termed "a variety of reasons.’’ The sophomore receiver isn’t a starter but has been Alex Torres’ backup all year, catching 24 passes. Simmons planned ahead by working Lyle Leong at both outside receiver spots this week.

Freshman Focus on Bullitt and Cobb: LAJ's Don Williams weekly feature of players who have redshirted this year or not on the two deep continues with safeties Terrance Bullitt and Daniel Cobb. Here's safeties coach Carlos Mainord:

"I think they’re both really dedicated football guys," Mainord said this week. "I know Cobb was when he came out of high school and being from a military family, he’s really a great young man. And Bullitt, coming from his background, with his dad playing ball (at Texas A&M) and his brother playing ball (at Texas A&M and in the NFL), they’re both special in those ways, and that’ll really help them as they come along."

Snip

"Bullitt will have to put on a little more weight, be a little stronger (in the upper body)," Mainord said. "Cobb will have to continue to work on his speed. But I think they both can be good players. They’re both smart guys, and I think they can be good players."

Oklahoma Sooner and Big 12 Links: Genius. Black Heart Gold Pants - Ivan Maisel Is An Ungrateful Little Twit . . . Rock M Nations Bill C with the Beyond the Box Score week 12 picks (Texas Tech beats the spread but not the Sooners! OMG!) . . . NewsOK's David Ubben writes that OU's DeMarco Murray is getting quite a few more touches as the season progresses and Ubben has a notebook full of good information . . . Rivals.com's Olin Buchanan with a preview of the Big 12's games . . .

Northwestern St.: 75, Texas Tech 94
SBN Boxscore

Raiders Whip Demons: I forgot that this game was on ESPN360 and so I only caught a good part of the 2nd half. This was my first opportunity to watch the team and I'll say that this team is significantly more athletic than previous versions of our Red Raiders. I was fairly impressed by the length and athletic of ability of SF Theron Jenkins and SF Brad Reese, which in turned lent itself to just about every Texas Tech defender on the perimeter to switch and do a fairly decent job of either recovering or keeping their man in front of them.

I'll try to post this chart after each game, again from StatSheet, regarding the 4 factors of the game:

NCAA Basketball Stats

Again, another solid shooting effort from the team and another good defensive effort, although you would prefer to see the opponent eFG% to be lower than 50%. Also, a dominating performance on the boards, including 13 offensive rebounds. The player of the game was SF Mike Singletary who scored 25 points on 8 for 11 from the field, 9 for 9 from the free throw line, 5 boards, 4 assists, 3 steals and 3 turnovers. I should also mention the play of D`Walyn Roberts who had a double-double for the night, grabbing 11 boards and scoring 11 points for the evening.

Game Recaps: LAJ's Courtney Linehan (and notebook) and DT's Mike Graham. Pulling a few quotes after last night's game, all from Linehan's articles.

Pat Knight on PG John Roberson (2-9 FG, 4 points; 6 assists; 1 turnover):

"In the past when his shot wasn’t falling, he tended to mope a little bit," Knight said. "(Thursday) he just kept playing. I thought he was great. It wasn’t like he was taking bad shots. There’s going to be nights, I don’t care how good of a scorer you are, it’s going to go in and out. But if you play defense I’ll keep you in the game."

SF Mike Singletary on the flow of the game:

"We started off slow, real, real slow," Singletary said. "We weren’t attacking the bucket; we were just playing lazy. That’s the reason the game was close like that. Then with about 6 minuted left, Coach (Pat Knight) brought us in, we were in the huddle, and said we got to get it going. There’s no way they should be in the game with us."

Head coach Pat Knight wants the team to focus on defense:

"I was not pleased with our defense the first half, but the kids had a great weekend," Knight said. "Everybody’s been sitting around telling them what a great start. We were a little full of ourselves to start the game, so you have to battle that. I think they thought it was going to be easy for us."

"I like where we are offensively but I don’t pay much attention to it because I want to establish us as a defensive team," he said. "There aren’t going to be nights where you score points like this in the Big 12, so you better be able to guard somebody."

Preview and Game Day Thread :: Northwestern St. Demons vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders

Seth C — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:00:14 -0000

INFORMATION:	Detail
OPPONENT:	Northwestern St. Demons (1-0, 0-0)
LOCATION:	Lubbock, TX :: United Spirit Arena
DATE:	November 19, 2009
TIME:	7:00 p.m. CST
TV:	TTSN
RADIO:	Affiliates
GAME CAST:	Fox Sports

Game Day Stat:

Northwestern St.: The Demons dismantled East Texas Baptist State 77-54, which is their only game of the season. Statistically, the Demons were good against a lesser opponent and the scary part is that as small a school as NW St. actually is, there's still a fairly significant talent gap between them and other schools.

Texas Tech: We've talked about stats ad naseum, but to throw one more out at you, the hot start that G David Tairu is experiencing is pretty remarkable as he is shooting 81.8% from the free throw line, 51.9% from the field, 55.6% from beyond the arc. Tairu's true shooting percentage is 65.1% [PTS/(2 * (FGA + (0.475 * FTA)))], which is remarkable in itself, but is still behind the hot starts of Darko Cohadarevic (66.6%) and D`Walyn Roberts (69.2%).

Players Focus:

Northwestern St.: G Damon Jones led the Demons in scoring in their first game with 16 points appears to be the team leader, although G Charles Clark appears to be a jack-of-all-trades, scoring 8 points, 10 boards, 3 assists and 3 steals.

Texas Tech: SF Mike Singletary didn't get a ton of mention after the 3 wins last week, but the thing that I've preached about Singletary's progression as a player is scroring, rebounding and making positive plays each and every night. Singletary had 15, 14 and 15 points in his first 3 games. If he can give this type of production, while cutting down on turnovers, then he's going to be a valuable player for the Red Raiders in that he's consistent and he can create his own shot.

Needs Repair

Northwestern St.: <sarcasm>The Demons only managed 54 rebounds in their first game, and out-rebounded ETB only by 9 boards.</sarcasm>

Texas Tech: Defensively the Red Raiders have been good, but are sitting at a lowly 6.7 steals per game. Before the conference starts, I'd love to see a more aggressive nature to the defenders and force these types of turnovers by the opposition.

GO RAIDERS . . .

Texas Tech Basketball Preview :: Depth Charts and Looking Ahead to 2010 and 2011

Seth C — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:30:29 -0000

Texas Tech's Mike Singletary celebrates Texas Tech's 88-83 win over Texas A&M during an NCAA college basketball game at the Big 12 men's tournament in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, March 11, 2009. Singletary scored 43 points. Via cache.daylife.com

View full size photo »

With the football bye week, DTN is taking this opportunity to look at the men's basketball team. Earlier this week, DTN took a look at the preseason storylines and preseason team MVP's and today, DTN takes a look at the depth chart and the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes.

Preseason Depth Chart

Point Guard	Shooting Guard	Small Forward	Power Forward	Center
John Roberson (5-11/165; JR)	Nick Okorie (6-1/195; SR)	Mike Singletary (6-6/217)	Brad Reese (6-6/189; JR)	Robert Lewandowski (6-10/240; SO)
Mike Davis (6-2/185; FR)	David Tairu (6-3/180; JR)	Theron Jenkins (6-6/211; JR)	D'Walyn Roberts (6-7/200; JR)	Darko Cohadarevic (6-9/242; SR)
	Wally Dunn (6-4/194; JR)	Jaye Crockett (6-6/186; FR)	Corbin Ray (6-7/225; SO)
			Trevor Cook (6-9/241; SR)

This is an extremely rough estimation of where I could see things shaping up this year. Guessing as to a depth chart is a somewhat risky proposition because there are so many players that could flip-flop between positions and there are a number of players that fit a 6-5 to 6-7 range and could play multiple positions. I still think that at the end of this process, Pat Knight will play the players who play defense first, or at least that's my hope.

Follow me after the jump for a look at each position as well as a look at the 2010 and 2011 recruiting classes and the JUCO conundrum.

Positions:

Point Guard: The problem with this team is that the one true point guard is actually Roberson and I'm not sure if Pat Knight would agree with me, but Davis shouldn't play very much, especially when you have guys that can swing from shooting guard to point guard in Okorie and Tairu. If Davis play, it should be primarily in a backup role on a very limited basis. I do think that Davis is a guy that will push the ball and is a true threat to get to the rim. I like his upside (I like everyone's upside), but he shouldn't see a bunch of time.

Shooting Guard: This is where things get a bit sticky. I think Okorie and Tairu are essentially replacable players in that I think they'll do the same thing, but differently. Okorie represents an upgrade in athleticism at the shooting guard over Voskuil from last year and I think that Okorie can fill those scoring shoes, although his biggest problem is that he doesn't have the true shooting guard height, but in today's 3-guard offense, that's not a huge concern. Tairu and Okorie were backcourt mates at South Plains College and I think they work well together. Tairu is supposed to be more defensive minded, although he can certainly score.

Small Forward: This is where the logjam begins. Singletary and Jenkins are similar players from a physical standpoing, although I'd guess that Singletary has an edge on Jenkins based on his previous work on the Big 12. This team is littered with 6-5 to 6-7 small forward types and if Jenkins doesn't get time at the small forward spot I'm not sure he sees much time at all. Crockett is a project and I'd love to see him redshirt this year. He was a great scorer for his New Mexico squad and supposedly he is still growing. Let him take a year to learn and get bigger.

Power Forward: Again, mid-ranged athletes and I'm struggling to find the minutes. The only other solution would be if the centers didn't get all of the time at center and PK goes with a relatively small lineup. That really hurts from a rebounding perspective, but we'll see. In any event, I think Reese plays the power forward position in name only. He's truly a small forward, but I get the impression that he's more well-rounded than Jenkins and he's not afraid to mix it up offensively or defensively. Roberts continues to be a player that has all of the talent in the world, but has just never been consistent enough to get consistent minutes. He has all of the tools, except for a few extra pounds, to be a tremendous forward in the collegiate level. I'd love it if Roberts developed a low-post game over the summer. Ray is another combo forward and he has the bult to play power forward against most collegiate power forward, but I do worry a bit about his quickness. The one thing that I was impressed with Ray was his athleticism and shooting touch. Pretty nice for a forward. Cook gets on the list here simply because I still have questions about Cook's back, which kept him out all last year. Until I see him on the floor this year, I'm not going to count on him.

Center: I'll fully admit that Darko had a very rough first year on the college level. There were times that he couldn't his the backboard on shots, he worked hard, but was a liability defensively, and sometimes made really bad decisions on the floor. I've been praying, every night, that Darko has turned the corner. PK needs a big guy inside to go along with Lew and if Darko can give PK 10 to 15 minutes a night of good solid basketball, I'll be happy. I mentioned earlier in the week that I'd really look for Lew to make a jump in terms of his ability to contribute at the Big 12 level. He has good size, good mobility and a tremendous attitude. I think Lew wore down a bit as the season progressed, but he gave PK very solid minutes at the center position as a true freshman. Expect big things from Lew.

2010 Commits:

Player	School	Ht/Wt	Rivals	ESPN	Scout
Paul Cooper	Gulf Coast JUCO	6-8/260	-	-	1
Javarez Willis	Pinkston HS	5-11/170	-	82	1
James Outler	Bellaire HS	6-4/180	3	87	2

I think this class is essentially finished. There are 3 seniors on this year's team: Darko Cohadarevic, Trevor Cook and Nick Okorie. I'll have more on this below, but getting Cooper, a big man who apparently rebounds, is going to be big for PK because there's very little frontcourt depth behind Lew. Willis is spending the year at a prep school after failing to qualify from high school and having a guy that is a year more mature is an advantage for the Red Raiders. James Outler is a true shooting guard with athleticism, something that Texas Tech has not had in quite some time (I'm calling both Okorie and Tairu combination guards, not true shooting guards).

2011 Commits:

Player	School	Ht/Wt	Rivals	ESPN	Scout
Kevin Wagner	Estacado HS	5-8/145	-	40	1

This is about a good start to a class that I can envision. I'm very excited that PK was able to get a local player to commit to his program, and not only is it great that Wagner is local, but he's immensely talented. The 2011 class is going to be one of the bigger of the Pat Knight era because there are currently 7 juniors on this team, which means there should be 7 scholarships available (although I seem to recall something about a limit to the number of scholarships given out in a 2 year period). In any event, there will be plenty of holes to fill in this class, but the nice part is that all of the freshman from the 2009, 2010 and probably JUCO's of the 2011 class, will be more than ready to contribute to this team.

JUCO Conundrum:

I'm right there with you guys in terms of the issue as to how appropriate it is to sign JUCO players versus high school players. I've always thought that there's a balance that a coach has to weigh, which is winning quickly to satisfy a fanbase versus taking the time to build the program. Most coaches, Pat Knight included, tries to do both. I have no idea how long PK has on his contract and I'm guessing that if the losing continues, his leash may not be very long, which means that I can understand why he would go the JUCO route. If Knight goes only the high school route, then he could go through a period of really bad teams before making that eventual jump.

I have no doubt that Knight feels the pressure to win now, which is why I think you see an influx of JUCO players on this year's squad. He needs to show improvement and that he can get the job done. Quite a bit hinges on his 2009 recruiting class and their ability to contribute immediately. If you want to use a footblal analogy, Leach has utilized the JUCO player more often than not, especially to help build his program. It is a risky move, but it can pay off some times (McKinner Dixon of 2008 was unbelievable, but couldn't keep it together to play in 2009 vs. Daniel Howard and Brandon Sharpe, who have both been tremendous players and people for the football program).

We all need to watch the 2011 recruiting class and if there are 7 spots available, the ratio of JUCO players to high school players should tell us quite a bit about where Knight believes the program is. If PK is signing 1 JUCO player for every 2 high school players, like the 2010 class, then I'm okay with that. But if the ratio is more 1:1 then I think there's real concern about where things are going and his long-term strategy.