Obviously tough to draw any high-level conclusions off of one game in November where you’re missing both point guards against a mid-tier SWAC school like Bethune-Cookman, but here’s some thoughts off the first action for Texas Tech in 2024-25.
Texas Tech can shoot the rock: We saw the pieces last season in Walton, McMillian, Williams and others, but the Red Raiders might be a better overall shooting operation this season than last season based off the one game sample. The end to the first half was extremely impressive from a shooting perspective.
Toppin impressive in first action: Really liked what I saw from the New Mexico transfer offensively. Had a strong mix of touch from the mid-range, showed off some post ability and was effective en route to a double-digit night in his debut. It wasn’t a major factor, but Toppin showed off his athleticism and rim protection abilities, very long and athletic player that can jump with anyone. Very exciting.
Darrion Williams shows heightened aggressiveness: Not a surprise that D5 made a major impact on the game; it feels like everyone expected that to be the case this evening and will expect it to be the case all year. However, Williams came out with a fiery nature on the offensive end that he flashed last season, but it felt like you wanted to see it more often. Hope that this D5 is here to stay.
McMillian shaky as a ball handler: Obviously it’s tough to thrust one of your off-ball guards into the point guard role with Anderson and Hawkins out for the season opener. Thought that McMillian made some questionable decisions with the ball at times; it wasn’t a major deal.
Tech strong on the boards against athletic opponents: Tech dominated the rebounding battle here, wasn’t even a contest, and I thought that it was extremely impressive against not horrid competition. Bethune was athletic and physical, but it didn’t matter. Toppin, Federiko and Cambridge were all strong in this department.
Things to clean up defensively: Folks with greater knowledge than me will be able to paint the picture better, but Tech’s defense of ball screens was questionable, and it led to issues for the Red Raiders at points. Aggressively hedging the screens with Toppin and Fede hurt Tech from a rotation standpoint in the first half, and Tech somewhat seemed to go away from it in the second half. Tech seems to be more athletic than last season, and this isn’t the complete picture, so hopefully there’s room for improvement.
Overall, it was a really strong night. Hard to complain about a night where you beat last season’s single game high in threes and have a commanding lead for around 30 minutes. Fun start to the season, let’s do it again Friday.
Texas Tech can shoot the rock: We saw the pieces last season in Walton, McMillian, Williams and others, but the Red Raiders might be a better overall shooting operation this season than last season based off the one game sample. The end to the first half was extremely impressive from a shooting perspective.
Toppin impressive in first action: Really liked what I saw from the New Mexico transfer offensively. Had a strong mix of touch from the mid-range, showed off some post ability and was effective en route to a double-digit night in his debut. It wasn’t a major factor, but Toppin showed off his athleticism and rim protection abilities, very long and athletic player that can jump with anyone. Very exciting.
Darrion Williams shows heightened aggressiveness: Not a surprise that D5 made a major impact on the game; it feels like everyone expected that to be the case this evening and will expect it to be the case all year. However, Williams came out with a fiery nature on the offensive end that he flashed last season, but it felt like you wanted to see it more often. Hope that this D5 is here to stay.
McMillian shaky as a ball handler: Obviously it’s tough to thrust one of your off-ball guards into the point guard role with Anderson and Hawkins out for the season opener. Thought that McMillian made some questionable decisions with the ball at times; it wasn’t a major deal.
Tech strong on the boards against athletic opponents: Tech dominated the rebounding battle here, wasn’t even a contest, and I thought that it was extremely impressive against not horrid competition. Bethune was athletic and physical, but it didn’t matter. Toppin, Federiko and Cambridge were all strong in this department.
Things to clean up defensively: Folks with greater knowledge than me will be able to paint the picture better, but Tech’s defense of ball screens was questionable, and it led to issues for the Red Raiders at points. Aggressively hedging the screens with Toppin and Fede hurt Tech from a rotation standpoint in the first half, and Tech somewhat seemed to go away from it in the second half. Tech seems to be more athletic than last season, and this isn’t the complete picture, so hopefully there’s room for improvement.
Overall, it was a really strong night. Hard to complain about a night where you beat last season’s single game high in threes and have a commanding lead for around 30 minutes. Fun start to the season, let’s do it again Friday.
