Grant McCasland (and me taking a video)
Got home and wanted to put together some thoughts for everyone who wasn't able to watch. I posted a handful of videos on RedRaiderSports Twitter and Instagram story, so check those out if you want.
- Texas Tech has some really good guards. Pop Isaacs, Joe Toussaint, Chance McMillian and Lamar Washington each bring something unique to the game and they all have different play styles. It's a fun combo of shooting, defense, ball handling, creating, driving, cutting, leadership. Guards win games in the NCAA tournament and I like what this group can do.
- Only 10 turnovers as a team against the Aggies is noteworthy. Not only is A&M long and athletic, they were full court pressing most of the game. And about half of those turnovers were just bad decisions or passes by Tech. Encouraging.
- Tech let it fly tonight. 34 three point attempts is notable. But they weren't last second desperation shots either. Most of them were very good looks for very good shooters. This offense is going to go fast and they're going to put it up. McCasland has said as much and through 1 exhibition he's telling the truth. Huge difference from the last few years.
- Texas Tech won fastbreak points 28-8. See bullet point above. Run, run, and then run some more.
- The crowd was really good (and loud). Very fun atmosphere today. I'd love it if Tech has one of these preseason scrimmages in DFW every year. Hell, just keep it at UNT with all of McCasland's connections there. Hope that keeps going.
- It starts with Pop Isaacs. Dropping 30 against a top 15 Texas A&M team and doing it on only 13 shots is very impressive. He also got the line 9x though he has to shoot better once he gets there (only 6/9). He looked much more comfortable, got to his spots and was able to knock down some shots to keep Tech in it early when the rest of the team was struggling. 3 steals and I remember at least two of those led to fastbreaks the other way. He was aggressive and the team really feeds off his energy.
- Chance McMillian is smooth. Only shot 5/13 but it felt like every time he put it up it was going in. Confident player. Tech ran some interesting sets for him specifically to get open shots, running around screens off-ball and stuff like that. Feels like something we haven't seen in years.
- Devan Cambridge is as advertised. He hit two corner 3's, and if he can keep that up it'd be huge because he wasn't known as a pure shooter coming in. But very athletic, active on defense, rebounding, slashing. Team high +14 today. There were stretches where he was playing as the small ball 5, too. Could be a nice wrinkle to throw at teams because the opposing center isn't going to be able to stay with him.
- Lamar Washington sophomore year jump? I think so. He played cool and collected while bringing his usual toughness and rim pressure. He was the first guy off the bench. He is likely your 6th man and I'm excited to see his progression continue. He airballed his only 3 point attempt from the corner but I know he's a better shooter than that and what he showed last season. There's still upside there.
- Warren Washington scored 0 points but 7 rebounds and 2 assists. He looks huge. He's going to get his opportunities. He fouled out in 22 minutes, many of those were ticky tacky IMO. Made some nice passes out of the post. Need to keep him healthy and out of foul trouble.
- Darrion Williams kind of quiet but again, fouled out in only 18 minutes. Texas Tech had 27 team fouls and that needs to go way down. I like Darrion as a combo 3/4 who can do it all. Major step up in competition for him coming over from Nevada and there could be an acclimation period.
- Joe Toussaint, we know what he is. Toughness, defender, distributor. He's not a good shooter nor is he efficient offensively, but he can still be a major key player on this team because of everything else he does well. 36 minutes led the team and he was a +12, which was 2nd highest on the team. Getting him late over Kansas State was a huge win.
- Kerwin Walton, Robert Jennings and Eemeli Yalaho also played. Walton went 1/2 from deep. Nothing else really notable from that group though. The team struggled when Jennings was in the game, Tech was -10 in only 7 minutes.
- We did not see KyeRon Lindsay, Drew Steffe, D'Maurian Williams or Jack Francis. Not sure if injury related or what.
- 10 days away from when the games really count. Can't wait.
