Double-T Nation Report Card: Wichita State 69, Texas Tech 72

by Seth C on Dec 4, 2008 5:35 AM CST in Basketball Comment 4 comments

A tale of two halves in Texas Tech's 72-69 win over Wichita State (boxscore). Lots of good things to talk about in the first half (good perimeter defense, scoring inside and good hustle), but the second half (cannot rebound, block out, or score inside). Consistency is a tough thing with so many new faces and with Junior Knight trying to find a good mix and trying out some players.

LAJ's Jeff Walker recaps the game as well and had this from Junior Knight:

"I’ll give them credit. I loved them in the first half and I loved them in the last minute," Knight said. "Those other 19 minutes in between, that’s something we’ve got to work on. It just shouldn’t have gotten to that point. … So, I’ve got to give them the credit that they hung in there."

Offensive MVP: Roberson/Voskuil I couldn't choose between the two of them. Without their outside shooting, there's no way the Red Raiders stay in the game.

Defensive MVP: Robert Lewandowski No one really stood out, but I'll give it to Lewandowski because he looks like a legitimate big man who can do a few things on both ends of the court. Once he adds a little weight, he's going to be pretty good.

BACKCOURT
B	A really good effort by the backcout tonight. John Roberson (20 pt; 4 rb; 5 ast; 3 TO) and Alan Voskuil (20 pt; 3 rb; 2 ast 1 TO) led the team and it wasn't even close. Other than Singletary's big shot, Voskuil and Roberson did all of the heavy lifting tonight, however there's got to be a little more diversity offensively. Nick Okorie (8 pt; 1 rb; 1 ast 2 TO) seemed like he was pressing offensively, and part of that may be because he's not quite acclimated to the motion offense. Okorie needs to let it happen naturally. Tyree Graham (1 rb; 1 ast; 2 TO) looked rushed tonight as well and after two early turnovers, he saw a few minutes in the 2nd half, but that was it.
FRONTCOURT
C-	Mike Singletary (13 pt; 0 rb; 1 ast; 2 TO) deserves a ton of credit for absolutely sinking the game-winning shot. When I saw Singletary play in the Future Games he didn't hesitate to be on the perimeter, and so it's no surprise to me that he looks comfortable out there. Robert Lewandowski (4 pt; 4 rb; 1 ast; 2 blk) has a good post-game and if you haven't seen him play, you'll be pleasantly surprised. He's somewhat old-school with a hook shot, but he's no where close to being Jack Sickma or Mark Eaton. He's athletic and tall and has some good post moves. This is something to be excited about. Michael Prince (3 pt; 4 rb; 1 ast; 1 TO) also provided a good spark off of the bench and I'll probably say this until Prince plays his last game, Prince needs to shoot the ball. That's about it for the frontcourt other than D'Walyn Roberts (4 pt; 1 rb; 1 ast; 1 blk; 2 TO) being inconsistent. Trevor Cook, Darko Cohadarevic, and Damir Suljagic all contributed very little and part of Cook's problem was foul trouble, and Cohadarevic is still having problems on the defensive end of the court. Bottom line, Texas Tech needs quite a bit more from it's froncourt.
COACHING
B	There were a couple of things that I wouldn't mind seeing corrected. I understand that Suljagic may not fit what Junior Knight is trying to do, and he's not the most gifted player offensively, but he is by far Texas Tech's best post defender and rebounder. If the team is having trouble gaining rebounds (WSU had 16 offensive rebounds) then it may be time to give Suljagic more than 3 minutes. Not having a true post game really showed how big a problem that can be in the second half. I would have liked to have seen Singletary get the ball on the block a couple of times, or even Lewandowski. Anything to maybe draw a foul and slow down WSU's roll. I did think the team looked very prepared playing man defense against WSU and the zone looked fairly effective as well.

Up Next: December 13, 2008 - Texas Tech Red Raiders @ Lamar University - 8:05 p.m.

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Comments

I missed the game

but rebounding has been a concern for a couple of years. I know tht JK is trying to solidify his lineup, so I’m trying to be patient. But IMO, good rebounding is a fundamental, not scheme related.

It seems we are reliant on hot shooting right now. When they are falling, things are good, but when they are not, we aren’t doing a very good job of maintaining possession and giving ourselves 2nd chances.

by NM99 on Dec 4, 2008 9:12 AM CST reply actions 0 recs

good writeup

at Lamar is a dangerous game

by Will McDonald on Dec 4, 2008 3:04 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

absolutely

they are better than their KP rating would indicate, IMO

by NM99 on Dec 4, 2008 9:28 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

Pressure

Wichita State stepped up the full to three-quarter court pressure in the 2nd half and it really seemed to fluster the guys. Instead of getting it past half-court, they would try t force something and either tuen the ball over or make a bad pass.
One thing I would really like to see is more discipline in shooting defense. It seems the whole team loves to jump at the first head fake they get, inevitably foul the opposing player and send them to the free throw line. This is representative of a team Senior Knight would LOVE to play against since he seemed to really drill the pump-fake into the player’s heads.
I also noticed that the defense wasn’t playing with its usual high level. There was much less full-court pressure than they’ve shown in earlier games.
It is a win, though, and I can’t discount that. There was still a good amount of energy and what seems to be a very deep bench.

by TracySaulRulz on Dec 4, 2008 3:34 PM CST reply actions 0 recs