SB Nation - Darko Cohadarevic

Game Preview :: Texas Tech Red Raiders vs. Wichita St. Shockers

Seth C — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 18:00:27 -0000

INFORMATION:	Detail
OPPONENT:	Wichita State Shockers (9-1, 0-0)
LOCATION:	Charles Koch Arena : Wichita, Kansas
DATE:	December 19, 2009
TIME:	7:00 p.m. CST
TV:	None
RADIO:	Affiliates
GAME CAST:	Fox Sports

Wichita State: The Shockers haven't really played anyone other that Pitt, where they lost on a neutral court, 55-68, and creamed Iowa, 74-57. That's not a knock (Texas Tech has only played Washington and Oregon St.) so it's hard to determine what exactly the Shockers actually are. What we do know is that the Shockers have been fantastic defensively, ranking 37th in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency and have held opponents to 43.8% eFG% (anything below 50% is pretty good). That's really good. One other note, the Shockers and Red Raiders have both played TCU. WSU handled the Frogs 80-68, a 12 point win at home, and the Red Raiders beat the Frogs by 10, 80-70, on the road.

Texas Tech: The focus of the team has been an improved defense and that's certainly been true for the best part of the year. And despite the improved defense, the Red Raiders are also playing at a decent level offensively, shooting 51% eFG%. Leading the way are Texas Tech's most important players as John Roberson (51.7%), Mike Singletary (48.3%) and D`Walyn Roberts (61.2%) are all shooting at fairly high rates.

Wichita State: Much like Texas Tech, the Shockers are a fairly balanced team, but sophomore G Toure` Murry (6-4/194) is averaging 13.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.8 steals a game. Murry is doing a ton for the Shockers this year, but junior F/C J.T. Durley (6-7/240) is second on the team in scoring and averages 11.0 points and 3.9 rebounds. Just keep in mind that the Shockers have seven players who average at least 7 points a game this year. Just think balance.

Texas Tech: PG John Roberson has been on a bit of a roll the last two games where he's averaged 23 points on 61.9% shooting. Roberson's shooting percentage overall, 44%, isn't outstanding, but it is an improvement on past years where his shots have seemed questionable and typically not in the flow of the offense. Seems like the Washington game (doesn't that seem like ages ago?) and the TCU game, Roberson took what the defense was giving him. That's a good sign for Roberson and the entire offense.

Wichita State: Pretty tough to find much fault with either team here, but in WSU's only loss of the year, against Pitt, the Shockers were out-shot at the free throw line 30-18. Other than the free throws and the fact that Pitt shot slightly better from the field, I think it may have been the fact that Pitt simply wore down the Shockers.

Texas Tech: In these early games against non-conference opponents that may not have quality big men, PK has reduced the minutes given to Darko Cohadarevic and Robert Lewandowski (only about 8 minutes a game, compared with 2008 where Lew had almost 16 minutes a game). I know that PK is playing the guys that he thinks can and will get the "W" but I also tend to think that PK has to be somewhat careful not to eliminate the big guys prior to Big 12 play. The conference has quality post players and Darko and Lew need to be ready to play.

Post Game Thoughts :: Washington 92, Texas Tech 99

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

More photos » by Geoffrey McAllister - AP

17 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)

Browse more photos »

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.

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

about 1 month 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."

Pulse of the Team :: Texas Tech Basketball, Week 2

Seth C — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:00:13 -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:
Thursday, November 19, 2009 : Northwestern St. Demons : W : 94-75
Saturday, November 21, 2009 : Lamar Cardinals : W : 77-54

This Week:
Tuesday, November 24, 2009 : @ Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks
Saturday, November 28, 2009 : Samford Bulldogs

Well-Rounded Offense: I think it's important to have a go-to scorer and I think the Red Raiders have one in Mike Singletary, however, it's nice to have 3 guys, including Singletary, scoring in double-figures and 3 guys within in 1.5 points of all scoring in double-figures. David Tairu (10.8), D`Walyn Roberts (10.6), Darko Cohadarevic (9.4), John Roberson (9.2) and Nick Okorie (8.5) are all making contributions on a consistent basis. As is the case with any team that struggles, it's usually about consistency and I think I'll take a wait and see approach, but there's definite improvement.

More Time for Reese and Jenkins: This isn't to say that neither SF Brad Reese or SF Theron Jenkins don't have their faults. They do. Reese tends to settle for the 3-point shot a bit much (3 for 12 for the year) and Jenkins may be a little careless with the ball, but I'd still like to see both Reese and Jenkins get more minutes. I was really impressed with their length and athletic ability when I was able to watch against NW St. and their style of play and athleticism will come into play against Big 12 opponents.

Roberson's Shooting: For John Roberson's 3 year career he's shot 42.2%, 37.9% and this year, it's 38.6%. During Roberson's freshman campaign, I thought that because he was a freshman, he struggled. When Roberson was a sophomore, I thought that it was because he was asked to do too much. And now, I'm not sure what alibi I want to create. Roberson has historically not shot the ball well and at some point, Pat Knight will need to limit his shots and ensure that guys like Tairu and Okorie perhaps get more shots while Roberson becomes a pure point guard.

Offense Struggles . . . A Bit: It's not much, and there's really not much to complain about, but per KenPom, the Red Raiders rank 252nd in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency. It's a bit worrisome and having not seen the team play much, it doesn't sound as if this is too troublesome. In any event, I'd rather have the offense catch up as the season goes along.

NCAA Basketball Stats

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 11.19.09

Seth C — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:08:12 -0000

McCarthy Interview: As always, I try not to push off-topic articles on you guys, but if you enjoy Cormac McCarthy then you'll enjoy this interview in the Wall Street Journal.

Wall and Williams Back: LAJ's Don Williams writes that seniors CB Jamar Wall and LB Marlon Williams returned to practice yesterday and QB Taylor Potts took a majority of the snaps. Also, RB Aaron Crawford and IR Cornelius Douglas were out during yesterday's practice.

Tough OU Defense: DT's Alex Ybarra writes that the Oklahoma defense is still incredibly tough and head captain Mike Leach believes that it is because the Sooners are fundamentally sound:

"The biggest thing they do is the basic sound defense, the ultimate basic fundamental defense," Tech coach Mike Leach said. "They go out there with great fundamentals and energy. I think they do that as good as anybody."

And OU DT Gerald McCoy has this about the Texas Tech offense:

"Tech offense is Tech offense," he said. "It doesn’t really change much. You gotta be ready for it. They’re gonna get numbers. They’re gonna get a lot of points. We just gotta prepare for it. We’ve been playing pretty well on defense, so we’re just gonna try and continue to do that this week."

Oklahoma Sooner and Big 12 Links: Oread Boom Kings (Kansas Jayhawk blog) has some of the backstory between KU head coach Mark Mangino and the athletic director . . . TR's dedfischer with an gameplan for the Texas Tech offense . . . Tulsa World's John Hoover writes his OU notebook and DT Gerald McCoy has a suggestion for Texas Tech fans:

"They throw tortillas?" McCoy said. "They better not throw me one. I'll be hungry. I'll eat it."

Actually, if Red Raider fans want to throw food, McCoy has a menu suggestion.

"They need to throw chicken," he said. "Hey, if they threw fried chicken — shoot, I'll provoke 'em on purpose. Aaahhh! Chomp!"

. . . Ha! . . . The Tulsa World also has a know the foe feature . . . NewsOK's David Ubben writes his OU football notebook as Bob Stoops stands by his former assistant, Mark Mangino . . . NewsOK's Jake Trotter writes that Big 12 spread offenses have taken quite a hit by the Oklahoma Sooner defense . . . LAJ's Adam Zuvanich features OU QB Landry Jones . . .

Game Tonight: Northwestern St. Demons vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders
Time: 7:00 p.m. :: Location: United Spirit Arena
Preview and Game Day Thread: Scheduled for 3:00 p.m. post

Cohadarevic Answers Critics: LAJ's Courtney Linehan sits down with PF Darko Cohadarevic who hopes to answer his critics with better play this year. As an aside, after reading this article, I'm not real sure what to make of Darko. I see him as a bit defensive and hard-headed. Here's a bit from the article:

That’s where the bad reputation began. He admits he didn’t really understand or care about the system coach Pat Knight drilled in practice. On rare occasions when he did pay attention, he says he got conflicting messages from different coaches, became frustrated and never quite understood what they were asking of him. By the time he settled into the Red Raider program, the season was wrapping up.

I'm trying to process all of this and for those of you who question signing JUCO players, this is certainly a feather in your cap. But then Darko wins me back with this:

"I’ve got to buy into this motion offense more," Cohadarevic said. "I’ve got to do other little stuff besides scoring: setting screens, rebounding, having deflections, helping people get open."

I really want to see all guys succeed and I hope like hell that Darko does "buy into" the motion offense and man-to-man defense, but it seems like a shame that we're even having this conversation.

Demons Hit the Road: DT's Mike Graham writes that the Northwestern St. Demons left from Natchitoche, LA on Tuesday and arrived in Lubbock on Wednesday (layover in Arlington). G Nick Okorie expects that the Demons will be very athletic:

"I expect for them to be really athletic," Okorie said. "We just have to stay focussed, the thing that can beat us is ourselves. The single thing we pretty much have to do is play defense and if we play defense we’ll win the game."

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.

Double-T Nation Daily Diatribe :: 10.29.09

Seth C — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 10:57:29 -0000

Next Week: I really hate looking ahead, but I thought I'd let you guys know that I intend on catching up a bit next week on football and basketball recruiting, basketball in general and a some more general looks at the football program. That all seems a bit ambitious, but the intent is for me to get to as much of this as possible, try to focus on the major sports and then go from there.

Stick Around: It's strange, but at the rate DTN is currently heading, DTN will eclipse the 1,000,000 visitor mark sometime next month and all of that credit goes to you guys. Once football season ends, the traffic on DTN slows down quite a bit and I know that basketball doesn't have the same following as football, but I'd love for you guys to stick around for the basketball season, tell me I'm foolish for liking Pat Knight and having unreasonably high expectations for this basketball team.

Bryce Saldi Benefit: DMN's Brandon George posted a short post about Bryce Saldi (playing for UNLV at the time), who suffered a brain injury while skateboarding this past summer and Bryce's cause has been chosen by the Pro Player Foundation as the feature benefit in their golf tournament. If the name Saldi sounds familiar to some of you, John Saldi started for Texas Tech for 4 years, 2002 through 2005.

Unnamed Source Talks, Declares Doege Starter: FWST's Dwain Price talked with an unnamed source who confirmed that QB Seth Doege is the starter. I'm giving Price the headline here, rather than ESPN or some other outlet, because he actually has a quote from the source:

One source said: "I don't think (Doege starting against Kansas) is a surprise.''

21st Commitment: LAJ's Don Williams (thanks to pcrawttu for the FanShot) details the 21st commitment to the Texas Tech Red Raiders from Olive Branch, Mississippi's Eric Lawson, a 6-6/320 guard/tackle. Here's the obligatory recruit site profiles: Rivals, Scout and ESPN. Unfortunately for all of us cheapskates, ESPN is now a subscription based site, so there's no longer any free information out there, other than the very reliable Mr. Williams. Here's Lawson:

Lawson said he’s not sure if he would visit other schools, but considers his commitment solid.

"I like the vibe I’m getting from the coaches and the staff at Texas Tech,’’ he said.

In the meantime, he’s doing what he can to be a better offensive lineman and a better college prospect. That’s the idea behind his slimming.

"I had been trying to lose the weight,’’ he said, "because my coach told me it’d be better if I lost a little bit so I can get a little faster.’’

I'll update the recruiting sidebar next week.

Kansas Jayhawk Links: LAJ's Adam Zuvanich writes that DB Chris Harris' second chance is paying off for the Jayhawks . . .KUSports.com notes that Kansas QB Todd Reesing has struggled in KU's past 2 losses . . . Kansan.com's Jayson Jenks writes that the young Kansas secondary will be tested this week . . .

Big 12 Links: Absolutely wonderful article from Corn Nation's Corn Blight, don't get a physical after a loss . . . Rock M Nation's Bill C.'s Beyond The Box Score Week 9 picks (Red Raiders beat spread?) . . .

Pat Knight Visits Purdue: IndyStar has a note that Pat Knight and the Texas Tech staff visited Purdue's head coach Matt Painter, more or less an opportunity to exchange ideas as head coaches:

"He is a good friend of mine, and it was good to see him," Painter said.

"I've always admired what his dad (Bob) has done and what Pat has been able to do as an assistant for his dad and then taking over at Texas Tech. They always send me tapes when I ask for stuff.

"It's what coaching is all about, sharing ideas. They just wanted to come up and see some other people do some things . . . maybe just pick up a drill."

Bob Knight's Birthday: LAJ's Courtney Linehan writes that the basketball team and staff celebrated Bob Knight's birthday. Go check out Linehan's post for pictures of the event. I'd also add that BK spoke to the team and referenced two things that I'd love to see happen this year regarding PG John Roberson and PF Darko Cohadarevic:

For his part, Knight issued the team some words of wisdom. He warned that the best players he ever coached got just as excited for throwaway games against low-major teams as they did to play Duke. He ribbed John Roberson, who he recruited to Tech, saying the Red Raiders would be successful if Roberson stopped dribbling. And he asked, in his own special way, that Serbian-born Darko Cohadarevic continue to work on adapting to the American style of basketball.

Kinda cool in that practice ended with the teams playing the staff in what looks like a game of dodge-ball.

KNOW THY ENEMY: Texas Tech Red Raiders

BracketCat — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:00:27 -0000

Are you still pissed off about Saturday night?

Well, have no fear, because the football team shall be avenged on the hardwood.

Click the jump for a preview of a basketball team with some of the laziest-looking media photos you ever will see, and one whose season prospects don't look so hot...

The Coach

Pat Knight
Third Season (sort of*)

18-26 (7-19)

Knight begins his second full season as the Texas Tech head coach and his ninth season on the Red Raider basketball court.

As a collegiate player and nearly nine seasons as an assistant coach, he was on the sidelines as a player or a coach for 308 of Bob Knight's 902 career wins.

*Knight became the head coach following the 20th game of the 2007-2008 season.

The Departures

Starters

Michael Prince (15.6 minutes per game, 3.8 points per game, 2.8 rebounds per game)
Alan Voskuil (35.7 minutes per game, 14.1 points per game, 4.1 rebounds per game)

Reserves

Rogdrick Craig (6.7 minutes per game, 2.6 points per game, 0.8 rebound per game)
Tyree Graham (14.3 minutes per game, 3.9 points per game, 1.7 rebounds per game)
Esmir Rizvic (10 minutes per game, 1.3 points per game, 1.6 rebound per game)
Damir Suljagic (8.8 minutes per game, 2.4 points per game, 1.5 rebound per game)

The Veterans

		#4 Corbin Ray Sophomore Forward 6-7 \| 225 Katy, Texas Ray saw his first action as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis, in which he played seven minutes, scored two points and grabbed three rebounds. He played in 17 games during the season, started against Sam Houston State, averaged 5.7 minutes per game and 1.6 points per game for the season, played 14 minutes in the home game against Texas A&M, had a season-high five rebounds over East Central University, and had his best showing in the win over New Mexico, in which he played 10 minutes and scored 10 points, was 4 of 6 from the field, and canned two 3-pointers.

		#5 D'walyn Roberts Junior Forward 6-7 \| 200 Dallas, Texas Roberts started the first 19 games for the Red Raiders; played in each game during the season and had 21 starts; averaged 16.5 minutes per game, four points per game, and 3.6 rebounds per game; played 20+ minutes in 13 contests; played 35 minutes at Lamar, made 7 of 8 field goal attempts, and recorded his season-high of 14 points; scored in double figures in six games; was perfect from the free-throw line six times for a combined 13-for-13; registered a double-double in the win over Stephen F. Austin, with 11 points and 11 rebounds; was second on the squad with 21 blocks for the season; and shot .545 from the field for the season.

		#10 Wally Dunn Junior Guard 6-4 \| 194 Midland, Texas Dunn saw his first action as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis, in which he played eight minutes, had a rebound and scored 5 points. He played in 14 games during the season as a walk-on, played a season high of 12 minutes against East Central University, scored 16 points on 6 of 8 field-goal attempts and 4 of 5 3-pointers, shot .588 from the field and made .500 of his 3-point attempts, and had no turnovers for the season. Dunn graduated from Midland College, where the Chaparrals were the 2007 NJCAA National Champions. He was a redshirt his freshman season. The team garnered conference championship honors in 2007-2008, and he played in 32 games as a sophomore and averaged 4.3 points per game.

		#15 Robert Lewandowski Sophomore Forward 6-10 \| 240 Overland Park, Kan. The freshman from Blue Valley West High Sschool played and scored in the first game of the season against St. Francis. Lewandowski scored two points, made a block, and had three rebounds in his eight minutes on the court. He played in 32 games for the season and started 19 times; averaged over 15 minutes per game and played 20+ minutes in 13 contests; averaged 6.6 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game for the year; shot .581 from the field for the season; scored in double figures 10 times, with 8 of those games during conference play; recorded his season-best of 20 points at Texas A&M, when he made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts and had four rebounds in the game; had a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) at Oklahoma State; grabbed 5+ rebounds in 10 games; and led the squad with 23 blocks.

		#21 John Roberson Junior Guard 5-11 \| 165 Plano, Texas Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (2009) U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District 7 (2009) Roberson and Alan Voskuil were the only players on the 2008-2009 squad to start each game during the season. He was the leading scorer on the team, with 13.9 points per game, and second on the team with 35 steals for the year. Roberson's 212 assists top the previous single-season mark of 182 assists, set by Jason Martin during the 1995-1996 season. He was the assist leader for the Big 12. His 13 assists at Texas A&M were one shy of Stan Bonewitz's single-game record of 14 assists, set against Fresno State in the 1996-1997 season. Roberson's 6.4 assists per game for the season now are the best among all Red Raiders. His 71 3-pointers rank eighth among all Red Raiders in a single season. His 201 3-point attempts equal Bonewitz's mark in the 1997-1998 season and are fourth on the all-time single-season list. Roberson's 35.2 minutes per game were second on the squad. He played 40 minutes in five games; was second on the squad in free-throw percentage (.829), making 97 of 117 attempts; was perfect from the line in 15 games, totaling 58 for 58; averaged 3.5 rebounds per game and had at least five rebounds in six games; established a career high of eight rebounds at Iowa State; had a double-double performance at Texas A&M, with 13 assists and 20 points; and scored 20+ points in five games. Roberson's 33 points at UTEP were a career-best and made him the 36th Red Raider to score 30 or more points in a game, earning him All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and USBWA All-District 7 honors.

		#23 Nick Okorie Senior Guard 6-1 \| 195 Houston, Texas Okorie started his career as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis. He played 19 minutes and scored 16 points. Okorie played in 29 games during the season and had 19 starting spots. He missed four games due to an ankle injury; averaged more than 25 minutes per game and played 30+ minutes in eight games; played 36 minutes at Texas and at Iowa State; was perfect from the free-throw line in nine games, totaling 40 of 40; was third on the team with 21 steals; averaged 3.1 rebounds per game; and grabbed 5+ boards in nine games. His scoring average of 11.3 points per game was fourth among squad members. Okorie scored 15+ points in nine games, with six of those games against conference opponents; sank 10 of 10 free throws and had 17 points against Kansas; scored 24 points at Oklahoma and at Texas; averaged 16.3 points per game over the last 10 games; and started nine times.

		#24 Trevor Cook Senior Forward 6-9 \| 241 Coppell, Texas Legends Classic All-Tournament (2008) Cook was awarded his undergraduate degree in May 2009. He played in 14 games during the season and had eight starts, but missed 19 games due to a back injury. Cook averaged 14 minutes per game and played 25+ minutes in three games, and was perfect from the free-throw line in four games, totaling 16 for 16. His eight rebounds against East Central University equal his top mark from the previous season. He had 13 blocks in his abbreviated season, averaged 7.6 points per game, scored in double figures six times and had 20 or more points in two games. His 24 points against Pittsburgh mark his best scoring performance as a Red Raider, and he was selected to the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team for his performances against Pittsburgh and Mississippi State.

		#31 Darko Cohadarevic Senior Forward 6-9 \| 242 Belgrade, Serbia Cohadarevic played his first game as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis. He played 12 minutes, grabbed two rebounds and scored four points. Cohadarevic played in 26 games and started twice; averaged nearly 11 minutes per game and had five games in which he played 15+ minutes; was perfect from the free-throw line in four games; averaged 2.2 rebounds per game and had at least five rebounds in five games; scored double figures in three contests; had 12 points against East Central University and against Stephen F. Austin; and scored 10 points and had six rebounds in the win over Texas A&M in the opening round of conference championship play.

		#32 Mike Singletary Junior Forward 6-6 \| 217 Humble, Texas Second Team Academic All-Big 12 (2009) Big 12 Championship All-Tournament (2009) Singletary was one of four players to play in each game during the season. He had four starts and averaged 23.1 minutes per game; played 30+ minutes against six opponents; was perfect from the free-throw line in four games; attempted more free throws than all other teammates (187) and made more free throws than all other teammates (136); had three games in which he made 34 of 40 free-throw attempts; was the leading rebounder on the team, with 5.8 boards per game; had three games (Centenary, Kansas and at Iowa State) of 10+ rebounds and 12 games with at least seven rebounds; and had double-double performances against New Mexico, Kansas and at Iowa State. His 12.2 points per game were third on the squad and he scored at least 15 points in 13 games, averaged 18.2 points per game over the final nine games of the season, was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Second Team, and gained Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team honors after scoring 60 points in two games (Texas A&M and Missouri). Singletary made 21 of 33 attempts during those two games. He set a Big 12 Championship scoring record with 43 points in the opening round game against Texas A&M (the previous record was 38 points by Marcus Fizer of Iowa State vs. Baylor in 2000). His 43-point game equals Dub Malaise's 1966 performance against TCU as the fourth-highest scoring output in Texas Tech history. Singletary led the biggest rally in Big 12 championship history, erasing the Red Raiders' 21-point, second-half deficit and taking Texas Tech to an 88-83 win over Texas A&M (the previous record was 20 points by Texas two seasons ago). He scored 29 consecutive points for the Red Raiders, with no other Tech player scoring, to become the NCAA's No. 2 consecutive-points scorer, behind Temple's Bill Mlkvy's 54 consecutive points against Wilkes on March 3, 1951.

My thanks to the Texas Tech sports information department for the photos and most of the information for the bios.

The Newcomers

#1 Brad Reese
Junior Forward
6-6 | 189
Laurel Hill, Fla.

Reese played two seasons for Jay Powell at Gulf Coast Community College in Panama City, Fla. He started all 30 games in his first season with the Commodores, played 30 minutes per game, and averaged 16.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game on the 18-12 squad.

Reese was named the Panhandle Conference Freshman of the Year. As a sophomore, Reese was named NJCAA Player of the Week (Jan. 7) as he powered GCCC to three wins, which included a pair of 30-point performances. He started 32 of 33 games as a sophomore, and averaged 16.4 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on the 24-9 squad, which earned him All-Panhandle Conference First Team honors in his second season.

#2 Mike Davis
Freshman Guard
6-2 | 185
Houston, Texas

Davis played for Willie Patrick III as a senior at Phillis Wheatley High School, but previously played at St. Pius X, where the Panthers were in the TAPPS 6A Final Four in his junior year.

As a senior, Davis averaged 24 points per game over four games to lead the Wheatley Wildcats to the Whataburger Tournament title in Fort Worth from Dec. 29-31. He also earned MVP honors at the tournament.

The Wheatley Wildcats were 32-5 in Davis' final season and he was selected Co-MVP for District 22-4A. He averaged 23.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and five assists per game as a senior, and was selected to the TABC All-Region (3) Team, the TABC 2009 All-Star Team and the TABC Class 4-A All-State Team.

#13 David Tairu
Junior Guard
6-3 | 180
Temple Hills, Md.

Tairu played two seasons for Steve Green at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas. The Texans (30-5) claimed the NJCAA National Championship in 2007-2008 in Hutchinson, Kan. He was named All-Conference in 2007-2008, averaged 14.4 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in his freshman season, scored in double figures 29 times, led the 2008-2009 squad with 17.5 points per game and a 27-4 season, was named to the National Junior College third-team All-American squad, was voted the Most Valuable Player in the Western Junior College Athletic Conference and also named to the Region 5 team, and was selected to the 2009 NJCAA Men's All-Star team.

#20 Theron Jenkins
Junior Forward
6-6 | 211
Flowood, Miss.

Jenkins played two seasons for Marty Cooper at Itawamba Community College in Fulton, Miss. In his two seasons, the Indians were 49-13. As a freshman, he played in all 34 games and averaged 7.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. ICC captured the division, state and regional championships in its 30-4 season.

Jenkins averaged 13.3 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and played in all 28 games in his second season. The ICC Indians were 19-9 and won their third-straight north division title for the first time since 1974.

#30 Jaye Crockett
Freshman Forward
6-6 | 186
Clovis, N.M.

Crockett played for J. D. Isler at Clovis High School. The Wildcats were 29-2 in his junior season. The Purple and White completed the season as the Class 5A State Runner-up.

Crockett averaged 20.9 points and 10.4 rebounds per game as a junior, and was the only junior named to New Mexico's first-team all-state squad. Clovis won the 2008-2009 district championship on the road at Hobbs.

As a senior, Crockett scored 31 points in his final game to become the second-leading scorer in Clovis High School history. He averaged 29 points and 12 rebounds, and earned all-state first-team honors, as a senior.

The Analysis

Although Texas Tech returns several starters and even more returners, I'm not sure this is a team that many teams in the conference should fear. The chief reason for that is the departure of Alan Voskuil, the sharpshooter who fueled the upset win over Kansas with his many treys.

Now that Voskuil has graduated, it will fall to Mike Singletary to provide most of the Red Raiders' scoring. His ridiculous 43-point outburst against Texas A&M in the Big 12 Tournament singlehandedly won the game and nearly broke Michael Beasley's/Denis Clemente's Big 12 single-game record.

That game was a freakish deviation from the mean, though, as Singletary only averaged 12.2 points per game and hasn't yet shown that he is capable of being a 25- to 30-point scorer night in and night out. But he will have help in trying, in the form of honorable-mention All-Big 12 point guard John Roberson. Roberson has established himself as one of the best point guards in the league and should provide the Red Raiders with the leadership presence they need in the backcourt to challenge most Big 12 teams.

Guard Nick Okorie and forward Trevor Cook both were banged up at various times last season, but now both are healthy and look to secure starting spots in the Tech lineup. I predict that Robert Lewandowski, an Overland Park native, will step up in the post as the fifth starter, after Tech lost a slew of Eastern European big men to graduation last year.

Predicting the reserves is trickier, and that's one of the reasons I think Tech will struggle in 2009-2010. D'wayln Roberts started several games last season before being demoted, and he seems like a sure bet to net some serious playing time. David Tairu is a highly touted juco prospect who probably will have a big impact, too. But it drops off after that.

Corbin Ray started one or two games, but is not a particularly impressive player. Nor is Darko Cohadarevic, the only remaining Serbian on the roster after the Eastern bloc exodus of 2009, who is Tech's only other sizable, experienced option in the paint.

Tech is so thin that I have penciled in true freshman Mike Davis as the backup point guard, if that tells you anything. Brad Reese, like Tairu, is a juco player who probably will factor in somewhere, but he doesn't really project strongly to a certain position right now. Other players who probably won't be a factor, unless injuries pile up, are Wally Dunn, a walk-on guard of little consequence; Theron Jenkins, and incoming juco forward; and Jaye Crockett, a raw forward fresh out of high school.

Projected Starting Lineup


John Roberson	Nick Okorie	Mike Singletary	Trevor Cook	Robert Lewandowski
1	2	3	4	5

Projected Top Reserves


Mike Davis	David Tairu	D'walyn Roberts	Corbin Ray	Darko Cohadarevic
1	2	3	4	5

The Final Verdict

When your team looks as though it only can field a serious lineup of 7-8 players, in terms of functional, athletic depth, and you play in the Big 12 South, a good season probably is not in your near future. That seems to be the case for Texas Tech. Yes, they showed some drastic improvement at the end of last year — upsetting Kansas at home (a game I greatly enjoyed watching), mounting the frenzied comeback against Texas A&M and nearly knocking off Texas in Austin — but how much of that simply was due to the hot hands of Voskuil and Singletary?

If that's all that it was, Tech will struggle in a deep Big 12 and Pat Knight's seat will be plenty toasty by the end of the season. But if Tech added some underrated pieces and the rest of the team continues to improve, it potentially could move up the pecking order a few notches. I don't see it happening, though. To me, the Red Raiders look like a less talented version of Baylor: a team that is dangerous if it is knocking down the threes, but otherwise is somewhat toothless.

Predicted finish: 10th

Best-case scenario: 8th

Previously on KNOW THY ENEMY...

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Iowa State
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Double-T Nation Basketball Review // Center

Seth C — Wed, 27 May 2009 13:00:16 -0000

Center

Robert Lewandowski; 6-10/240; Sophomore

Positives: There's a ton of good things to say about Lewandowski, considering he played a fairly major role on this team as a true freshman. The stat sheet is going to show a guy that only averaged 6.6 points a game and 3.7 boards, but the truth of the matter is that early in the season Lewandowski saw very little time, but as Big 12 action started, so did Lewandowski, averaging 2 points a game in December, but averaging 7 points a game in March. The key here is that Lewandowski actually looks like a player. He's got nice moves in and around the basket, including back to the basket moves. I thought Lew did a better than decent job of rebounding for the time spent on the floor and I'm truly excited about how he progresses next year.

Negatives: It's tough for me to pull too many negatives for Lewandowski, although I'll say that I think being a fairly athletic 6-10 center, he should be a better rebounder than 3.7 a game. I'm looking for Lewandowski to average close to 7 boards a game next year and despite playing good low post defense, I think with time he's going to have fewer silly fouls and hopefully be a more effective defender. I'd also like for Lewandowski to extend his range a bit, perhaps free throw line, just to have that in his arsenal and make opposing bigs come out and guard him.

Darko Cohadarevic; 6-9/242; Senior

Positives: I'm going to try and stay as positive as I possibly can, however, Cohadarevic struggled mightily coming from junior college. I was expecting a relatively polished post player with a European game, i.e. good passer, good outside shooter, and a little defense, but that's not what we got. I know this is the positive portion of the review, so I'll say this . . . I think Cohadarevic has quite a bit of pride and I think he knows that he's got to improve significantly over the summer. My biggest hope is that he's working on his game every day, because he now knows what to expect. I recall reading that Cohadarevic has a little bit of a chippy side to him, which would have played out well if he were good for more than a few minutes a game, but if he wants to back up his attitude on the court, he's got to improve his play.

Negatives: Absolutely nothing like I expected. I've mentioned a number of things in the preceeding paragraph, but Cohadarevic needs to improve his defense significantly. Darko tends to foul too much. Improve outside shooting, passing, and simply his overall game. I'm trying really hard not to be overly critical of Cohadarevic, but the truth be told, I think he saw time last year because of the injury to Trevor Cook. Had Cook been healthy, I think you actually see very little of Darko. I have no doubt that Cohadarevic knows he has to get better and I'm sure that Pat Knight knows this too.

		#4 Corbin Ray Sophomore Forward 6-7 \| 225 Katy, Texas Ray saw his first action as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis, in which he played seven minutes, scored two points and grabbed three rebounds. He played in 17 games during the season, started against Sam Houston State, averaged 5.7 minutes per game and 1.6 points per game for the season, played 14 minutes in the home game against Texas A&M, had a season-high five rebounds over East Central University, and had his best showing in the win over New Mexico, in which he played 10 minutes and scored 10 points, was 4 of 6 from the field, and canned two 3-pointers.

		#5 D'walyn Roberts Junior Forward 6-7 \| 200 Dallas, Texas Roberts started the first 19 games for the Red Raiders; played in each game during the season and had 21 starts; averaged 16.5 minutes per game, four points per game, and 3.6 rebounds per game; played 20+ minutes in 13 contests; played 35 minutes at Lamar, made 7 of 8 field goal attempts, and recorded his season-high of 14 points; scored in double figures in six games; was perfect from the free-throw line six times for a combined 13-for-13; registered a double-double in the win over Stephen F. Austin, with 11 points and 11 rebounds; was second on the squad with 21 blocks for the season; and shot .545 from the field for the season.

		#10 Wally Dunn Junior Guard 6-4 \| 194 Midland, Texas Dunn saw his first action as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis, in which he played eight minutes, had a rebound and scored 5 points. He played in 14 games during the season as a walk-on, played a season high of 12 minutes against East Central University, scored 16 points on 6 of 8 field-goal attempts and 4 of 5 3-pointers, shot .588 from the field and made .500 of his 3-point attempts, and had no turnovers for the season. Dunn graduated from Midland College, where the Chaparrals were the 2007 NJCAA National Champions. He was a redshirt his freshman season. The team garnered conference championship honors in 2007-2008, and he played in 32 games as a sophomore and averaged 4.3 points per game.

		#15 Robert Lewandowski Sophomore Forward 6-10 \| 240 Overland Park, Kan. The freshman from Blue Valley West High Sschool played and scored in the first game of the season against St. Francis. Lewandowski scored two points, made a block, and had three rebounds in his eight minutes on the court. He played in 32 games for the season and started 19 times; averaged over 15 minutes per game and played 20+ minutes in 13 contests; averaged 6.6 points per game and 3.7 rebounds per game for the year; shot .581 from the field for the season; scored in double figures 10 times, with 8 of those games during conference play; recorded his season-best of 20 points at Texas A&M, when he made 10 of 15 field-goal attempts and had four rebounds in the game; had a double-double (10 points and 10 rebounds) at Oklahoma State; grabbed 5+ rebounds in 10 games; and led the squad with 23 blocks.

		#21 John Roberson Junior Guard 5-11 \| 165 Plano, Texas Honorable Mention All-Big 12 (2009) U.S. Basketball Writers Association All-District 7 (2009) Roberson and Alan Voskuil were the only players on the 2008-2009 squad to start each game during the season. He was the leading scorer on the team, with 13.9 points per game, and second on the team with 35 steals for the year. Roberson's 212 assists top the previous single-season mark of 182 assists, set by Jason Martin during the 1995-1996 season. He was the assist leader for the Big 12. His 13 assists at Texas A&M were one shy of Stan Bonewitz's single-game record of 14 assists, set against Fresno State in the 1996-1997 season. Roberson's 6.4 assists per game for the season now are the best among all Red Raiders. His 71 3-pointers rank eighth among all Red Raiders in a single season. His 201 3-point attempts equal Bonewitz's mark in the 1997-1998 season and are fourth on the all-time single-season list. Roberson's 35.2 minutes per game were second on the squad. He played 40 minutes in five games; was second on the squad in free-throw percentage (.829), making 97 of 117 attempts; was perfect from the line in 15 games, totaling 58 for 58; averaged 3.5 rebounds per game and had at least five rebounds in six games; established a career high of eight rebounds at Iowa State; had a double-double performance at Texas A&M, with 13 assists and 20 points; and scored 20+ points in five games. Roberson's 33 points at UTEP were a career-best and made him the 36th Red Raider to score 30 or more points in a game, earning him All-Big 12 Honorable Mention and USBWA All-District 7 honors.

		#23 Nick Okorie Senior Guard 6-1 \| 195 Houston, Texas Okorie started his career as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis. He played 19 minutes and scored 16 points. Okorie played in 29 games during the season and had 19 starting spots. He missed four games due to an ankle injury; averaged more than 25 minutes per game and played 30+ minutes in eight games; played 36 minutes at Texas and at Iowa State; was perfect from the free-throw line in nine games, totaling 40 of 40; was third on the team with 21 steals; averaged 3.1 rebounds per game; and grabbed 5+ boards in nine games. His scoring average of 11.3 points per game was fourth among squad members. Okorie scored 15+ points in nine games, with six of those games against conference opponents; sank 10 of 10 free throws and had 17 points against Kansas; scored 24 points at Oklahoma and at Texas; averaged 16.3 points per game over the last 10 games; and started nine times.

		#24 Trevor Cook Senior Forward 6-9 \| 241 Coppell, Texas Legends Classic All-Tournament (2008) Cook was awarded his undergraduate degree in May 2009. He played in 14 games during the season and had eight starts, but missed 19 games due to a back injury. Cook averaged 14 minutes per game and played 25+ minutes in three games, and was perfect from the free-throw line in four games, totaling 16 for 16. His eight rebounds against East Central University equal his top mark from the previous season. He had 13 blocks in his abbreviated season, averaged 7.6 points per game, scored in double figures six times and had 20 or more points in two games. His 24 points against Pittsburgh mark his best scoring performance as a Red Raider, and he was selected to the Legends Classic All-Tournament Team for his performances against Pittsburgh and Mississippi State.

		#31 Darko Cohadarevic Senior Forward 6-9 \| 242 Belgrade, Serbia Cohadarevic played his first game as a Red Raider in the season opener against St. Francis. He played 12 minutes, grabbed two rebounds and scored four points. Cohadarevic played in 26 games and started twice; averaged nearly 11 minutes per game and had five games in which he played 15+ minutes; was perfect from the free-throw line in four games; averaged 2.2 rebounds per game and had at least five rebounds in five games; scored double figures in three contests; had 12 points against East Central University and against Stephen F. Austin; and scored 10 points and had six rebounds in the win over Texas A&M in the opening round of conference championship play.

		#32 Mike Singletary Junior Forward 6-6 \| 217 Humble, Texas Second Team Academic All-Big 12 (2009) Big 12 Championship All-Tournament (2009) Singletary was one of four players to play in each game during the season. He had four starts and averaged 23.1 minutes per game; played 30+ minutes against six opponents; was perfect from the free-throw line in four games; attempted more free throws than all other teammates (187) and made more free throws than all other teammates (136); had three games in which he made 34 of 40 free-throw attempts; was the leading rebounder on the team, with 5.8 boards per game; had three games (Centenary, Kansas and at Iowa State) of 10+ rebounds and 12 games with at least seven rebounds; and had double-double performances against New Mexico, Kansas and at Iowa State. His 12.2 points per game were third on the squad and he scored at least 15 points in 13 games, averaged 18.2 points per game over the final nine games of the season, was named to the Academic All-Big 12 Second Team, and gained Big 12 Championship All-Tournament Team honors after scoring 60 points in two games (Texas A&M and Missouri). Singletary made 21 of 33 attempts during those two games. He set a Big 12 Championship scoring record with 43 points in the opening round game against Texas A&M (the previous record was 38 points by Marcus Fizer of Iowa State vs. Baylor in 2000). His 43-point game equals Dub Malaise's 1966 performance against TCU as the fourth-highest scoring output in Texas Tech history. Singletary led the biggest rally in Big 12 championship history, erasing the Red Raiders' 21-point, second-half deficit and taking Texas Tech to an 88-83 win over Texas A&M (the previous record was 20 points by Texas two seasons ago). He scored 29 consecutive points for the Red Raiders, with no other Tech player scoring, to become the NCAA's No. 2 consecutive-points scorer, behind Temple's Bill Mlkvy's 54 consecutive points against Wilkes on March 3, 1951.