I posted this in some thread last night: But for untimely missed free throws, this Tech team is in first place right now. Even with that, no team is positioned better today than Texas Tech. They trail Houston and Arizona each by a game, but have beaten both - the path to the conference title is laid out for the Red Raiders, they just need to take care of business. Easier said than done, I know, but the path is there. There is even some room for a misstep, but my cardiologist would rather Tech not have any missteps.
I write everything in front of me with no malice towards Houston - they are a really good team, very tough, and very tough to play against.
Texas Tech is just tougher, and better, and younger. I'm going to start calling them Timbuk 3.*
That was some March basketball last night, on the road, with some extremely questionable officiating, and as Grant McCasland says, toughest team won. It's a February 1st game and we've tasted true "survive and advance" basketball for the first time this season. That was everything that is a Sweet 16 matchup.
How big was Eemeli Yalaho last night? Holy moly. Cast into the fire and came out shining, he was a real breath of fresh air. I thought he and Federiko Federiko combined to make a serviceable replacement for Toppin in every area save scoring. Yalaho was rough in spots but that comes with rust, and he worked through it pretty successfully. I have no doubt he is going to get some playing time going forward and as a Tech fan I'm perfectly comfortable with that. He got cooked by J'Wan Roberts a couple of times, but Roberts is 32 years old and Yalaho is an underclassman, and at the ultimate moment to end the game, Yalaho beat him. It only takes one play sometimes to put a glow on a good performance.
There's not enough good words to talk about Kerwin Walton. He was a starter at the beginning of the season, played himself completely out of the rotation, and recently played himself back into the rotation. There have been times this season where I've been nearly shocked to see him play, but man he has kept his head high and apparently worked really hard and it paid off last night for him, the team, and the fans. Kudos, sir.
The Red Raiders have had some good coaches in the Big 12 era but no team has started 8-2 in conference play. That UCF loss is not sticking in my craw any more, because this Raider team today is not that Raider team of December 31. They're not and there's no need to look back at it other than to use as a comparison to illustrate how this team has grown. Those two teams, Raiders Then and Raiders Now, are not the same team.
On the ejections, I'll pose this question: Name another team that could lose arguably their best player, and their head coach, on the road at Houston, and still win. I ran through the conference and the Top 25 and found none. All due respect and admiration to Jeff Linder.
Baylor rolls in on Tuesday, good teams will be ready to play - can't wait to see if Tech is ready to play.
*Not really, but it's kinda funny and all true. Well, funny to me anyway.
I write everything in front of me with no malice towards Houston - they are a really good team, very tough, and very tough to play against.
Texas Tech is just tougher, and better, and younger. I'm going to start calling them Timbuk 3.*
That was some March basketball last night, on the road, with some extremely questionable officiating, and as Grant McCasland says, toughest team won. It's a February 1st game and we've tasted true "survive and advance" basketball for the first time this season. That was everything that is a Sweet 16 matchup.
How big was Eemeli Yalaho last night? Holy moly. Cast into the fire and came out shining, he was a real breath of fresh air. I thought he and Federiko Federiko combined to make a serviceable replacement for Toppin in every area save scoring. Yalaho was rough in spots but that comes with rust, and he worked through it pretty successfully. I have no doubt he is going to get some playing time going forward and as a Tech fan I'm perfectly comfortable with that. He got cooked by J'Wan Roberts a couple of times, but Roberts is 32 years old and Yalaho is an underclassman, and at the ultimate moment to end the game, Yalaho beat him. It only takes one play sometimes to put a glow on a good performance.
There's not enough good words to talk about Kerwin Walton. He was a starter at the beginning of the season, played himself completely out of the rotation, and recently played himself back into the rotation. There have been times this season where I've been nearly shocked to see him play, but man he has kept his head high and apparently worked really hard and it paid off last night for him, the team, and the fans. Kudos, sir.
The Red Raiders have had some good coaches in the Big 12 era but no team has started 8-2 in conference play. That UCF loss is not sticking in my craw any more, because this Raider team today is not that Raider team of December 31. They're not and there's no need to look back at it other than to use as a comparison to illustrate how this team has grown. Those two teams, Raiders Then and Raiders Now, are not the same team.
On the ejections, I'll pose this question: Name another team that could lose arguably their best player, and their head coach, on the road at Houston, and still win. I ran through the conference and the Top 25 and found none. All due respect and admiration to Jeff Linder.
Baylor rolls in on Tuesday, good teams will be ready to play - can't wait to see if Tech is ready to play.
*Not really, but it's kinda funny and all true. Well, funny to me anyway.
