Game Preview :: Stanford Cardinal vs. Texas Tech Red Raiders

| INFORMATION: | Detail |
| OPPONENT: | Stanford Cardinal (5-5, 0-0) |
| LOCATION: | United Spirit Arena : Lubbock, Texas |
| DATE: | December 22, 2009 |
| TIME: | 7:00 p.m. CST |
| TV: | None |
| RADIO: | Affiliates |
| GAME CAST: | Fox Sports |


Stanford: The Cardinal are struggling both offensively and defensively and aren't particularly effective on offense or defense. Stanford is ranked 314th in the nation in offensive rebounding percentage and if there was ever a time for the D`Walyn Roberts and the Red Raiders to crash the boards tonight's game may be it.
Texas Tech: The Red Raiders continue to perform reasonably well on offense and defense. Perhaps this is an indication of the defense continuing to make improvements, the Red Raiders are 28th in the nation in defensive turnover percentage, 24.8%, which is really good. Essentially, the Red Raiders are forcing a turnover on almost 25% of their opponents' possessions, which is really good.

Stanford: G/F Landry Fields (6-7/210) is the stud player for the Cardinal. Fields is averaging 23 points a game, 8.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals. Fields is the guy for the Cardinal and fellow G Jeremy Green is averaging 15.5 points and 4.0 rebounds a game. The Cardinal start two 6-9 players, Andrew Zimmermann and Jack Trotter and I'll be interested to see how Roberts and Cohadarevic match up with these taller players and if Pat Knight plays his bigger lineup, which includes Lewandowski.
Texas Tech: I don't know if I'm giving G David Tairu enough credit for how he's played and shot for most of the year. Just to clarify, Tairu is shooting 59.5% from the field and an eFG% of 66.8%, which is just off the charts for a guard. Perhaps the most frustrating on Tairu's end is his minutes as he's averaging 22 minutes a game, but it seems as if he could steal minutes away from PG John Roberson, but PK seems to play Roberson heavy minutes early in the season which may hinder Roberson's play late in the year.

Stanford: The Cardinal have struggled on the road and on neutral courts thus far this season, losing both of their away games (San Diego 64-77 and Northwestern 62-70). The Cardinal also lost at home to Oral Roberts, on a neutral floor to Kentucky, and at home to Oklahoma St. Stanford has quite a few close games, but away from the comforts of home, the Cardinal are struggling.
Texas Tech: I have no doubt that both SF Mike Singletary and Pat Knight understand the turnover situation. At some point his offensive play will not out-weigh his need to be on the court if he is a defensive liability and turns the ball over at his current 26.4%. I love what Singletary brings to the table on a lot of fronts, but this is certainly a situation to watch
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2 comments
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Comments
Must Win
uggh…that Wichita State game was a tough swallow but I’m glad it was just a 2 point loss and not in double digits like what it looked like at half-time.
For this game, Tech needs to open the game aggressively.
This one of those games where if Tech really WANTS to stay in the Top 25, then they need an impressive win over a legit conference team. And when I mean impressive. I mean 20+ pts.
OSU barely survived Stanford and almost lost that game. Pat Knight needs ot remind his team that OSU has the exact same record as Tech, and if they really want to prove to the nation that they are better than OSU then they need to win with more heart and more points.
Defense needs to step up b/c they have been slacking the past 3 games, and D-Rob needs to transform into the Rebounding Bog Monster he is.
This is a Must Win game for Tech. Especially going into their road-test against undefeated New Mexico. I want the Raiders to win that Lobo game so bad by at least 8 pts or so…but I honestly don’t think it will happen unless Raiders figure out how to get their defense back into shape like it was at the beginning of the season and STOP turning the ball over.

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