*** Official #16 Texas Tech vs #4 IOWA STATE Game(Day) Thread ***

[AuH2O]

I'd imagine they're also coached/trained to not go off all emotionally charged in press conferences like "I'm ******* shattered, this is unacceptable". Leave that kind of stuff to the head coach. But they are indeed much more publicly level-headed about such things than us fans for sure.

Being even keeled and consistent is the culture and that’s TJ. As much as we might want TJ to get pissed and lose it against officials, that’s not his style. The result of that is our players are even keeled. This is probably also a big reason why our guys don’t get rattled when a game is going poorly, or they hit a rough patch in the season.

 

[AlaCyclone]

They are 100-1

It’s extremely unlikely, it’s not about picking them in a bracket.

However, the whole point of this conversation is that they are a VERY dangerous team, at 100-1

They have proven to beat VERY good teams at home AND on the road, with and without Toppin.

Factor in the style of play suits historically teams that CAN (not will) go on deep runs….at 100-1

Just had this same conversation with my wife about TT - minus the odds part.-*

*EDIT* Ha! Ha! Right after I posted this, my wife came back and said "Texas Tech would be a VERY good pick."

Worse teams have gone on a Final Four run for sure.

 

[AuH2O]

This is a philosophical thing, but I like that TJ is that way. FWIW, that is the way John Wooden was at UCLA. Not saying he is John Wooden, but a coach doesn't need to be on the refs all the time to be successful. Never have been a fan of fire-breathing coaches - although, I gave Johnny Orr a pass, because he was our fire-breather. L:ike I said, it is a philosophical thing, not a right or wrong thing.

I also saw McCasland spazzing on his players. Some coaches can pull that off. Some turn into a Fran hawk team that lost their **** and melted down in every tough moment and faded every time a rough patch hit.

It’s not as simple as lose your **** on the refs but also demand that your players don’t lose it when **** gets rough.

 

[1SEIACLONE]

ISU is a very good team, one of maybe 6 teams that can win the title, but there is a gap between the top 3 teams, Duke, Arizona and Michigan and the other three teams, UCONN, Houston and us. What separates the top three teams and the bottom three is the top three have had fewer stretches where they struggled to score. That was our problem in the losses to KU, Cincy, TCU and BYU, we struggled to knock down shots, yesterday that was not our problem overall, sure the guards struggled but we did hit 8 three pointers and shot 70% from the FT line 19 of 27. We won the rebounding battle, and the turnover battle, plus the points of turnovers. We lost because TT was not shooting good but great, 14 three pointers, 58% total for the game.
Sometimes you just have to tip your cap and give the other team credit for playing a great game, especially on the road.

 

[GoSTATE71]

Our guards went 1 of 11 from three point distance today, Heise didn't attempt one. Tamin was 0-3 and Toure was 0-4. So our starting backcourt was 0-7 from distance today. Compare that to TT, out of there 5 guys that shot a three today, they all hit at least one. 1-2, 3-5, 6-10, 2-8 and 2-4. A few of them were wide open shots, but many we defended half way well and they still hit the shot.

For us to advance in the B12 tournament and the dance, we have to shoot better from 3. We cannot rely on Milo and Jefferson to carry all the load there, Toure and Lipsey have to start knocking some of them down or we will not last long in either tournament.

To be fair TJ pretty openly criticized the fact Toures guy didn’t even need to guard him today and that they need to find a solution to that. If he’s saying that publicly you obviously know Toure is hearing it in practice.

 

[rosshm16]

McCasland looks like a psychopath during games.

Good coach evidently though.

 

[GoSTATE71]

I'd imagine they're also coached/trained to not go off all emotionally charged in press conferences like "I'm ******* shattered, this is unacceptable". Leave that kind of stuff to the head coach. But they are indeed much more publicly level-headed about such things than us fans for sure.

They’re more pissed than fans I can assure you that. The issue with this team despite being a full season basically now is they are so inconsistent, slow starts are a problem it’s like they don’t play until they get absolutely punched in the mouth at least against decent teams minus Houston/KU/Purdue games

 

[clonehome]

So I guess the top 10 wins over Kansas and Houston didn't matter. Or the fact that we have been ranked in the top 10 nearly the entire season (which means quite a few basketball experts think we are pretty da## good) and we are challenging the school record for wins. Yep, certainly overhyped. Good Lord.

 

[bosco]

When was the last time we saw that effort for 40 minutes? When that's the question being asked you can't call that an identity.

Earlier in the year. Past seasons. That's the identity that TJ wants.

 

[Raiders70]

That kind of thing will suck the home fans right out of a game too. Even a fanbase that appreciates good defense like ours does now. Neutralizes the home court advantage to a degree.

Agree but that crowd tried like hell to will that team back into the game. You just can't keep getting down double digits to quality opposition and expect to rally back and win just because your at home.

 

[clonehome]

So I guess the top 10 wins over Kansas and Houston didn't matter. Or the fact that we have been ranked in the top 10 nearly the entire season (which means quite a few basketball experts think we are pretty da## good) and we are challenging the school record for wins. Yep, certainly overhyped. Good Lord.

Which guard can consistently make shots among Lipsey, Toure, Heise and Batemon? This team is offensively challenged. The negative reactions to my post are in denial. If we face a team in the 2nd round that comes out on fire like Ole Miss did last year we won’t have the firepower to match them.

I hope we beat Arizona but if we don’t we will finish 2-4 against the top teams in the conference and 2-2 against the middle.

 

[Goclones1727]

I think we’ve set the record for the number of dribble hand-offs in a college basketball season. Our offense is beyond pathetic sometimes. Unbelievably easy to guard.

 

[Raiders70]

Batemon 's been getting more playing time at the expense of Toure. I approve this, but Batemon hasn't been shooting good either. I would start him though and hope he shoots his way out of this 2 game funk.

I think it more likely Batemon shoots better going forward. His missed shots aren't that far off. Most of Toures shots aren't even close to going in.

 

[AlaCyclone]

Agree but that crowd tried like hell to will that team back into the game. You just can't keep getting down double digits to quality opposition and expect to rally back and win just because your at home.

The crowd sounded fantastic all game on the TV.

 

[riceville98]

A couple thoughts as I was at the game:

- McCasland was a wild man all game long and should have had at least 1 Tech. Refs took way to much guff from him.

- This loss is on coaching. TTU live off the 3 and are the best shooting team in the league from there and we let them have tons of shots from 3 and many of them were wide open. TJ plan always is about the paint. Score in it and don't let the other team into it. That plan played right into TTU's favor and they took advantage. The plan needed to change yesterday and it didn't. That's on TJ.

- Until now I havn't been a believer in the TJ wall but, this game changed my mind. We looked slow and tired. It's been a thing for a few years now. It needs to be looked at.

 

[rosshm16]

Until now I havn't been a believer in the TJ wall but, this game changed my mind. We looked slow and tired. It's been a thing for a few years now. It needs to be looked at.

Same. Always this time of year, with the possible exception of 2024, we look slow and unathletic. Maybe we are just slow and unathletic.

 

[ClonerJams]

Same. Always this time of year, with the possible exception of 2024, we look slow and unathletic. Maybe we are just slow and unathletic.

I would say Toure and Batemon are both athletic. Hopefully that bodes well for next year

 

[CycloneVet]

Like who? BYU and TT have been the most athletic teams we've played. Houston is built similar to us.

KU is pretty athletic but their perimeter shooters aren’t as good as Techs or BYUs. The ones we have problems with are athletic shooters that seem to be hitting everything that day. They don’t need to be open by much, and if you get caught a little in a screen they kill you.

 

[Cyhig]

Sorry if this was already discussed, but should Batemon start over Toure? Teams are starting to not guard Toure on the offensive end of the court. Although Toure is an elite defender, playing 4 vs 5 on offense is not helping the team

Batemon obviously can shoot the ball much better than Toure. His defensive play has improved quite a bit this season. I personally think overall the team is better with Batemon seeing more minutes.

What do others think? Should Batemon start over Toure?

 

[riceville98]

Same. Always this time of year, with the possible exception of 2024, we look slow and unathletic. Maybe we are just slow and unathletic.

I still like the guys we have. I don't think it's a player problem. I think they need to be managed better so that we have enough gas in the tank fir the games that matter most.