Open Game Day Thread | Texas Tech vs. Iowa St.

would also add a true center

And although there are some good teams out there that play freshmen, I would be hard-pressed to find a team with less experience. Only 3 players returned from last year’s team – just 1 senior and 2 sophs. The roster includes 7 true freshmen. Of the four transfers, only one has played significant minutes. Throw into that mix a new coach. It’s like starting from scratch. Most of the team is learning to play at a new level and even the returnees are learning a new system.

I have come to the conclusion that there is no point in trying to measure the success of this team by wins and losses. It appears BCG is trying to teach and to get the team to play up to his expectations; winning is secondary. Today’s game was a good example. The starting lineup was typical: Petteway, Nurse, Lew, Willis, Tolbert. Petteway only played 3 minutes. (This is not uncommon for him. He plays the fewest minutes of any “starter” I’ve ever seen.) Nurse played the entire first half and none the second half. Tolbert played just 14 minutes, little if any in the second half. Willis and Lew played the entire game. Crockett came off the bench for just 2 minutes. Two walk-ons (Lammert and Adams) played all or most of the second half.

Clearly, Tech did not have its best team on the floor for much of the game (and I am not aware of any injuries). So, I assume BCG is disciplining and trying to get some players’ attention. He may be more interested in shaping the team and program for the long term than stealing a couple meaningless wins this season. If this is correct, I have no problem with the approach. But the season could be even more difficult than I had thought.

It was good to see Lew have a nice game. And Lammert did a good job – especially for a freshmen walk-on.