Well that was deflating. Ugh.
Any one game though, you never know what is going to happen. Texas Tech I thought did most things that a team needs to do to win. You don't see this as often as people think about it, but some very poor rebounding is half the reason Tech lost last night. The small half to be sure, but still a big factor. Rebounding is one of the most misunderstood and over valued stats, but it played last night for sure.
Road life in the Big 12 is tough.
For the most part I thought TCU just played harder. In my head it felt like Texas Tech was trying to get started but it just never really happened, some credit for that has to go to TCU.
I'm not going to pile on here but I'm going to point out that Federiko Federiko could really help this team by being ready to catch a pass, catching a pass, keeping the ball high, and going to the rim with purpose. Going into a shot does not mean the shot is made, so concentrate on making the shot. He did have one really nice block out last night, he may have had more than one but one really stood out - so good job there, keep it up, do it more often.
The one thing I thought really hurt Tech the most, more than all the dumb rebounds they surrendered like sheep, was the complete and utter lack of respect for free throws. GO TO THE BASKET PLEASE. Force the action, dictate the play. Red Raiders let TCU dictate play and the result is a 3 point loss in a game that for 35 minutes I did not feel Tech was going to win.
You have got to go toward the basket to pick up fouls, period. If you are passive then there won't be any fouls. Texas Tech shot 8 free throws last night. Eight. If you are going to shoot 8 free throws then you better make every one of them, and you should count on losing anyway. Force the action, dictate play. If you are going down and least go down playing your game. If you play your opponent's game then you are much more likely to lose no matter who the opponent is.
Christian Anderson got a good taste of Big 12 road life last night. He was abused pretty heavily in the first half, but I thought he gritted his teeth and had a better second half. He was on the court at the end, which he should have been. I know we are all high on his future, and we should be.
If at any time you find yourself confident of a win, for this team in this season, please recall UCF and now TCU. The UCF loss is worse overall, but this TCU loss looks like a November game. Come on, man.
Fortunately, this game is an outlier. For the most part this season Tech has dictated play and forced the opponent to play Tech's game. That wasn't the case last night and they lost, so remember the feeling, regroup, get focused, and win out. I think they can win out, and after last night I think they have a better chance to win out. For one, there is now one less game to play. Second, this loss should leave an unfriendly taste in their collective mouth. I know it does for me.
I've got bad news for West Virginia. BAD, BAD NEWS.
Any one game though, you never know what is going to happen. Texas Tech I thought did most things that a team needs to do to win. You don't see this as often as people think about it, but some very poor rebounding is half the reason Tech lost last night. The small half to be sure, but still a big factor. Rebounding is one of the most misunderstood and over valued stats, but it played last night for sure.
Road life in the Big 12 is tough.
For the most part I thought TCU just played harder. In my head it felt like Texas Tech was trying to get started but it just never really happened, some credit for that has to go to TCU.
I'm not going to pile on here but I'm going to point out that Federiko Federiko could really help this team by being ready to catch a pass, catching a pass, keeping the ball high, and going to the rim with purpose. Going into a shot does not mean the shot is made, so concentrate on making the shot. He did have one really nice block out last night, he may have had more than one but one really stood out - so good job there, keep it up, do it more often.
The one thing I thought really hurt Tech the most, more than all the dumb rebounds they surrendered like sheep, was the complete and utter lack of respect for free throws. GO TO THE BASKET PLEASE. Force the action, dictate the play. Red Raiders let TCU dictate play and the result is a 3 point loss in a game that for 35 minutes I did not feel Tech was going to win.
You have got to go toward the basket to pick up fouls, period. If you are passive then there won't be any fouls. Texas Tech shot 8 free throws last night. Eight. If you are going to shoot 8 free throws then you better make every one of them, and you should count on losing anyway. Force the action, dictate play. If you are going down and least go down playing your game. If you play your opponent's game then you are much more likely to lose no matter who the opponent is.
Christian Anderson got a good taste of Big 12 road life last night. He was abused pretty heavily in the first half, but I thought he gritted his teeth and had a better second half. He was on the court at the end, which he should have been. I know we are all high on his future, and we should be.
If at any time you find yourself confident of a win, for this team in this season, please recall UCF and now TCU. The UCF loss is worse overall, but this TCU loss looks like a November game. Come on, man.
Fortunately, this game is an outlier. For the most part this season Tech has dictated play and forced the opponent to play Tech's game. That wasn't the case last night and they lost, so remember the feeling, regroup, get focused, and win out. I think they can win out, and after last night I think they have a better chance to win out. For one, there is now one less game to play. Second, this loss should leave an unfriendly taste in their collective mouth. I know it does for me.
I've got bad news for West Virginia. BAD, BAD NEWS.
