I wrote this last week taking a closer look at what was happening late in games with the Texas Tech offense in Big 12 play. In those games, Kansas, OU, and OSU, the Red Raiders struggled mightily to score points, and created very few "good shots" in the final two and a half minutes.
The problems could be boiled down to one issue, lack of decisive movement. Whether it be the ball handler, the screener, the cutter, no one seemed to be moving with an attempt to score the basketball.
Don't get me wrong, there are still issues offensively (watch the screeners on 95% of the possessions), but there was a noticeably different mentality in the final two and a halfish minutes that resulted in a huge win.
You can see the difference in the very first moments of this clip. McCullar gets the rebound off a miss, and just goes. He creates a fast break and easy basket out of nothing but decisive action. Texas is good defensively, especially protecting the paint, so McCullar does not give them the chance to get set, and more importantly, doesn't give Tech a chance to try and create a shot against it.
The next possession is not pretty, but I like the process and the fact that it still resulted in two points. Watch the movement, Peavy actually moves after setting a screen, Shannon tries to penetrate, McCullar is active on the baseline, Kyler forces the defense to collapse, and finds McClung who attempts the absolutely most absurd shot in the history of Big 12 clutch situations (Don't fact check me there). Compare this possession to some on the ones in my previous article, the movement is completely different, and achieves a different result.
The next possession results in a completely bogus foul, but you can see the difference in mentality. They aren't passing the ball around deep into the shot clock, they found a matchup they liked, and attacked it, early. You weren't seeing that at the beginning of conference play.
I put the steal and layup in here just because I wanted to watch it again. Total "laugh out loud" moment for me on my couch, hate the Ramey made that decision.....
I love everything about this last possession, result aside. Beard not calling a time out, McClung refusing the screen/switch (since he couldn't really score on Sims all night), McClung knowing what shot he wanted, getting to his spot, and nailing it. Compare this to the end of regulation against OSU, Kyler dribbled down with no plan and Beard was forced to call a timeout. Mac is totally in control and knows exactly what he wants. This is better than any potential play that could be drawn up.
Like I said in the beginning, the offensive issues are not magically fixed, but the decisiveness shown in the final two minutes last night will take this team a long way in reaching preseason expectations.
The problems could be boiled down to one issue, lack of decisive movement. Whether it be the ball handler, the screener, the cutter, no one seemed to be moving with an attempt to score the basketball.
Don't get me wrong, there are still issues offensively (watch the screeners on 95% of the possessions), but there was a noticeably different mentality in the final two and a halfish minutes that resulted in a huge win.
You can see the difference in the very first moments of this clip. McCullar gets the rebound off a miss, and just goes. He creates a fast break and easy basket out of nothing but decisive action. Texas is good defensively, especially protecting the paint, so McCullar does not give them the chance to get set, and more importantly, doesn't give Tech a chance to try and create a shot against it.
The next possession is not pretty, but I like the process and the fact that it still resulted in two points. Watch the movement, Peavy actually moves after setting a screen, Shannon tries to penetrate, McCullar is active on the baseline, Kyler forces the defense to collapse, and finds McClung who attempts the absolutely most absurd shot in the history of Big 12 clutch situations (Don't fact check me there). Compare this possession to some on the ones in my previous article, the movement is completely different, and achieves a different result.
The next possession results in a completely bogus foul, but you can see the difference in mentality. They aren't passing the ball around deep into the shot clock, they found a matchup they liked, and attacked it, early. You weren't seeing that at the beginning of conference play.
I put the steal and layup in here just because I wanted to watch it again. Total "laugh out loud" moment for me on my couch, hate the Ramey made that decision.....
I love everything about this last possession, result aside. Beard not calling a time out, McClung refusing the screen/switch (since he couldn't really score on Sims all night), McClung knowing what shot he wanted, getting to his spot, and nailing it. Compare this to the end of regulation against OSU, Kyler dribbled down with no plan and Beard was forced to call a timeout. Mac is totally in control and knows exactly what he wants. This is better than any potential play that could be drawn up.
Like I said in the beginning, the offensive issues are not magically fixed, but the decisiveness shown in the final two minutes last night will take this team a long way in reaching preseason expectations.
