Not too much to this one, so I'll keep it pretty short...
-Tech got completely worked underneath the basket on both ends of the court for most of the night. Made a nice run on the offensive end in the last 10ish minutes where I thought the guards got a lot more aggressive, played a lot smarter, got foul calls, but the rest of it was bad.
*Norense Odiase and Tommy Hamilton no-showed this one tonight. Both looked out of sorts from the get go, and neither one contributed much of anything positive to the contest, unfortunately. Odiase got in a lot of foul trouble, had two shots blocked, and earned just one rebound. No points. Hamilton put up a goose egg on the offensive end as well, earning just a single rebound. You were going to lose that game 95 out of 100 times tonight if they gave you that little production on both ends against Bamba. Tech was helpless against the big man on the defensive end as well. When Texas comes to town in two weeks, both of these guys are going to have to play completely differently.
*I admit that I underestimated the mismatch there, especially considering I thought you'd get more out of Odiase and Hamilton. The guards were timid driving it in the first half, settling for a ton of half baked threes. It's the exact same thing that happened in Norman against Lattin. That won't fly. This team is at its best when they're aggressive to the basket and smart on when to kick it out to shooters if they can't grit up for a foul on a shot up, coming off a pumpfake or otherwise. They did that well for a good stretch in the last 10 minutes, but it was bad most of the game. This must change. Acuil will present similar problems in Waco if it doesn't, too.
*Niem Stevenson appears to continue to be lost on offense. He hasn't had any production of note in the last five games. He's been solid to great on the defensive end, but the offense has to come back, and it starts with better decision making.
*I thought Keenan Evans played one of his worst games as an upperclassmen tonight. He had four turnovers, missed open looks, and missed free throws. He's got to find a groove again from the three point line. He's 1-21 since the Baylor game from three. He'll bounce back because he's a stud, and hopefully that comes on Saturday in Ames.
*Jarrett Culver, Zhaire Smith, and Brandone Francis were the bright spots in the contest. None of them ever looked scared, and they all made big time shots in this game that kept Tech in it. Culver came a rebound away from a double-double, and Smith was three away himself. Those two freshmen flashed tonight. Which is unfortunate, because the seniors played poorly for the most part.
*It's one game, and this is a tough league. It's a mismatch down low to begin with, and when the guards are knocking down shots for Texas on top of Tech's bigs giving zero production, it was going to be a super tough one to win. Gotta get the one on Saturday in Ames now to tread water here.
-Tech got completely worked underneath the basket on both ends of the court for most of the night. Made a nice run on the offensive end in the last 10ish minutes where I thought the guards got a lot more aggressive, played a lot smarter, got foul calls, but the rest of it was bad.
*Norense Odiase and Tommy Hamilton no-showed this one tonight. Both looked out of sorts from the get go, and neither one contributed much of anything positive to the contest, unfortunately. Odiase got in a lot of foul trouble, had two shots blocked, and earned just one rebound. No points. Hamilton put up a goose egg on the offensive end as well, earning just a single rebound. You were going to lose that game 95 out of 100 times tonight if they gave you that little production on both ends against Bamba. Tech was helpless against the big man on the defensive end as well. When Texas comes to town in two weeks, both of these guys are going to have to play completely differently.
*I admit that I underestimated the mismatch there, especially considering I thought you'd get more out of Odiase and Hamilton. The guards were timid driving it in the first half, settling for a ton of half baked threes. It's the exact same thing that happened in Norman against Lattin. That won't fly. This team is at its best when they're aggressive to the basket and smart on when to kick it out to shooters if they can't grit up for a foul on a shot up, coming off a pumpfake or otherwise. They did that well for a good stretch in the last 10 minutes, but it was bad most of the game. This must change. Acuil will present similar problems in Waco if it doesn't, too.
*Niem Stevenson appears to continue to be lost on offense. He hasn't had any production of note in the last five games. He's been solid to great on the defensive end, but the offense has to come back, and it starts with better decision making.
*I thought Keenan Evans played one of his worst games as an upperclassmen tonight. He had four turnovers, missed open looks, and missed free throws. He's got to find a groove again from the three point line. He's 1-21 since the Baylor game from three. He'll bounce back because he's a stud, and hopefully that comes on Saturday in Ames.
*Jarrett Culver, Zhaire Smith, and Brandone Francis were the bright spots in the contest. None of them ever looked scared, and they all made big time shots in this game that kept Tech in it. Culver came a rebound away from a double-double, and Smith was three away himself. Those two freshmen flashed tonight. Which is unfortunate, because the seniors played poorly for the most part.
*It's one game, and this is a tough league. It's a mismatch down low to begin with, and when the guards are knocking down shots for Texas on top of Tech's bigs giving zero production, it was going to be a super tough one to win. Gotta get the one on Saturday in Ames now to tread water here.
