Great win! What a rough and rugged game - I loved it. What grit! What determination! Both teams really fought, so full credit to Tennessee but I'm more focused on Texas Tech. I will say thank you Vols for not giving up, for forcing Tech to elevate their game and fight, claw, and scratch the full 40+5 minutes.
Raiders never quit. A lot of guys only play well if the buckets are going in the basket but these Raiders gutted it out and got a hard, hard, hard earned win. Not sure how many previous Tech teams would have won this game. The championship game Raiders yes, but that may be it. This is the kind of win that can bring a team into laser focus, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming days and weeks.
You think Providence wants to play Tech again? Junkyard dogs live here.
So many thoughts and opinions but will follow the facts.
On McCullar, I've never been sold on him as a point guard. I just don't buy it. He can't handle the ball well enough, not nearly. Yet when I look up at the box score he had 5 assists and only two turnovers. In a game like this, that's pretty dang good. In fact his season numbers bear out that he can bring the ball up and get it where it should go, so I'm off base in my opinion (in my opinion).
I though the point guard would be Wilson, he's been great, but last night he was not ready. Last night's game was the Organic Chemistry of Tech's non-conference schedule, and guys who were not ready were exposed pretty quickly. Wilson could not handle the pressure but he had company because Santos-Silva and Nadolny were also not ready. Credit to Wilson on his defense last night, but he was not ready for Tennessee's defense.
On Obanor, kudos to Tech for finally looking for him and finding him. He had some good shot opportunities and for the most part those shots didn't fall. That happens. Obanor lives by the jumper, and sometimes dies by the jumper. He can shoot it, keep giving him the ball. He was 2-11 from the arc last night, but he'll have some game where he is 7-11 or so because things tend to even out.
I imagine Obanor, McCullar, and Shannon may still be sleeping because they were warriors the entire game and they played *hard*. It really was glorious to see. Shannon is a warrior and Tech's best player, so that's a good combination.
What's left to say about Batcho? What a breath of fresh air. He can run and jump at Big 12 levels and he's not timid. He's a freshman and he does freshman things like all freshmen do, but it's easy to see this guy is a gem. This is a guy that big NIL schools are going to come after, so prepare yourselves. He and Williams have a common problem, or trait as the case may be: They are post players without any post moves. Not uncommon in this era of basketball, that's just the way it is and that's the style these days.
My thoughts overall
Reading the game thread is kind of like football game threads, there are some really silly and comical comments. I'll just ask this, what open jumpers did Tennessee get? You can't name 5 because they didn't get 5 clean looks at the basket all night. The Vols have never seen defense like that. The Raiders were in the right place at the right time, nearly every single time.
I posted in another thread and it will be easy to find for anyone looking, free throws are going to cost this team games. Raiders better get on the right side of this sooner rather than later or they are going to drop some games they should win and this is not going to be a team with a lot of room to drop wins.
It's difficult to imagine the Gonzaga game could be tougher than this Tennessee game, I guess we will find out. I will be very interested to see how Tech plays and what they bring from this Vols game. I think this kind of physical face guarding works against Gonzaga, but they are plenty tough with lots of offensive skill.
I couldn't sleep last night after the game, I'm feeling that now.
Raiders never quit. A lot of guys only play well if the buckets are going in the basket but these Raiders gutted it out and got a hard, hard, hard earned win. Not sure how many previous Tech teams would have won this game. The championship game Raiders yes, but that may be it. This is the kind of win that can bring a team into laser focus, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the coming days and weeks.
You think Providence wants to play Tech again? Junkyard dogs live here.
So many thoughts and opinions but will follow the facts.
On McCullar, I've never been sold on him as a point guard. I just don't buy it. He can't handle the ball well enough, not nearly. Yet when I look up at the box score he had 5 assists and only two turnovers. In a game like this, that's pretty dang good. In fact his season numbers bear out that he can bring the ball up and get it where it should go, so I'm off base in my opinion (in my opinion).
I though the point guard would be Wilson, he's been great, but last night he was not ready. Last night's game was the Organic Chemistry of Tech's non-conference schedule, and guys who were not ready were exposed pretty quickly. Wilson could not handle the pressure but he had company because Santos-Silva and Nadolny were also not ready. Credit to Wilson on his defense last night, but he was not ready for Tennessee's defense.
On Obanor, kudos to Tech for finally looking for him and finding him. He had some good shot opportunities and for the most part those shots didn't fall. That happens. Obanor lives by the jumper, and sometimes dies by the jumper. He can shoot it, keep giving him the ball. He was 2-11 from the arc last night, but he'll have some game where he is 7-11 or so because things tend to even out.
I imagine Obanor, McCullar, and Shannon may still be sleeping because they were warriors the entire game and they played *hard*. It really was glorious to see. Shannon is a warrior and Tech's best player, so that's a good combination.
What's left to say about Batcho? What a breath of fresh air. He can run and jump at Big 12 levels and he's not timid. He's a freshman and he does freshman things like all freshmen do, but it's easy to see this guy is a gem. This is a guy that big NIL schools are going to come after, so prepare yourselves. He and Williams have a common problem, or trait as the case may be: They are post players without any post moves. Not uncommon in this era of basketball, that's just the way it is and that's the style these days.
My thoughts overall
Reading the game thread is kind of like football game threads, there are some really silly and comical comments. I'll just ask this, what open jumpers did Tennessee get? You can't name 5 because they didn't get 5 clean looks at the basket all night. The Vols have never seen defense like that. The Raiders were in the right place at the right time, nearly every single time.
I posted in another thread and it will be easy to find for anyone looking, free throws are going to cost this team games. Raiders better get on the right side of this sooner rather than later or they are going to drop some games they should win and this is not going to be a team with a lot of room to drop wins.
It's difficult to imagine the Gonzaga game could be tougher than this Tennessee game, I guess we will find out. I will be very interested to see how Tech plays and what they bring from this Vols game. I think this kind of physical face guarding works against Gonzaga, but they are plenty tough with lots of offensive skill.
I couldn't sleep last night after the game, I'm feeling that now.
