Texas Tech

[saxonburgcat]

What were they before that though? I hadn’t even heard anything about their program prior besides the little circus sideshow Knight brought for a few years.

James Dickey did a respectable job at TT for a few years and then they fell off the map. RMK came in and turned them around but gave up the program to his son, which was a disaster. After that came Billy G, Chris Walker and Tubby. TT was basically a dumpster fire until Chris Beard came in and turned them around.

Tubby might have done okay had he stayed at TT instead chasing money at Memphis. Many of us thought Tubby would flop at Memphis. That was a match made in Hades.

 

[Catfan in Tn.]

Tubby's overall record was 46-50. He finished 19-13 in his final year. His best finish in the conference was 7th. There really wasn't a turnaround under Tubby. TT made the NCAA's once in 3 years under Tubby and had a hasty exit.

Take it up with Chris Beard he’s the one that said it.

 

[saxonburgcat]

Take it up with Chris Beard he’s the one that said it.

Coaches say a lot of things. Doesn't make it true.

 

[Catfan in Tn.]

Coaches say a lot of things. Doesn't make it true.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tw...h-started-texas-techs-program-turnaround/amp/

 

[saxonburgcat]

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.tw...h-started-texas-techs-program-turnaround/amp/

Thanks for linking! For the lazy, this is the relevant quote:

But ask Beard about that, and he’ll be the first to tell you he didn’t take over any type of cellar dweller.

“We inherited a good situation,” he said.

Beard didn't exactly say that Tubby turned it around but just that Tubby left him with a good situation. Yeah, nobody would argue that Tubby didn't leave him with a decent team. But, nobody is going to call that a turnaround until Beard came in and did the job that Tubby could never have done. At least one writer would agree with me:

http://www.startribune.com/tubby-sm...d-door-for-texas-tech-s-resurgence/507866652/

 

[BlueVelvetFog]

They’re a three seed so I don’t know if it’s considered a “Cinderella Team” in the traditional sense but I find it pretty incredible since they’re a football school with no basketball success at all, really. Plus, no team in the Big 12 outside of Kansas has won a championship since 1946.

With the exception of Duke, Creighton, Xavier, Georgetown etc...

Spoiler:

Theyre all football schools”

 

[UK90]

Their interior defense is outstanding. A lot of length up front.

Not really. At least not unusually so. Size wise, their starting lineup goes 6'2", 6'3", 6'5", 6'8" 6'10", and their two main subs are only 6'3" and 6'5". Owens is the only true "big" getting significant minutes for them.

They just seem bigger because of the way they play. As prior posters have said, they just swarm on anyone who gets the ball near the paint, yet somehow manage to instantly recover and close out when the ball gets passed back outside, and their defensive rotations are nearly always perfect. Beard just seems to be a superb defensive coach.

 

[KingOfBBN]

With the exception of Duke, Creighton, Xavier, Georgetown etc...

Spoiler:

Theyre all football schools”

Don’t understand? I was saying no other Big 12 team has won the title outside of Kansas.

 

[BoulderCat_rivals187983]

Lubbock isn't bad if you can put up with the extreme weather conditions, dust storms, scorpions and rattlesnakes. A place that game us Buddy Holly can't be all that bad, lol.

I’ll agree with that last part.

 

[anon_q409idbs5m40a]

I’ll agree with that last part.

A friend I know used to work as a wildlife biologist. Said he went on a snake hunt in Sweetwater which is also in West Texas and watched a crew pull out over 200 rattlesnakes from a den. Apparently, they migrate to rocky areas in the arid regions of West Texas and hibernate.

 

[HerrosHeroes]

Hunter exposed their peremeter weaknesses.

 

[Mojocat_rivals48469]

Do you think they are better than our shot blocking stifling defensive team of 2015?

They ended the year as the best defense in the history of Ken Pomeroy’s efficiency ratings. Before this year Kentucky’s 2015 team had been the best D. And I thought Saturday vs Michigan State that was about right - Tech just simply covered the entire floor in a way you rarely see. I thought it may in fact be the best defense I’d seen. Monday didn’t look the same, Virginia was able to move the ball around in a way others had not. (Monday changed my perception totally of Virginia-they looked as good as any team I’d seen all year, especially in offense.) By the way, part of that might be lack of prep time - really good coaches always do better in the Thur/Fri game of the tournament than the Sat/Sun game, since they only have 36 hours to get their teams ready...

Kentucky’s 2015 defense was simply a terror around the basket...but had some weakness on the perimeter. Neither of the twins was athletic enough to cause a lot of trouble on defense. Lyles wasn’t a great defender in space. Booker had a hard time spelling defense. We were so good in the paint the perimeter hardly mattered, except in 3 games (off top of my head) where the other team spread us, pulled our bigs out, and diced us. Georgia should have beaten us in Athens. Notre Dame could easily have beaten us in the Elite 8. And Wisconsin, the best offense ever at Pomeroy, did beat us finally. We really missed Poythres in those games...

 

[KingOfBBN]

A friend I know used to work as a wildlife biologist. Said he went on a snake hunt in Sweetwater which is also in West Texas and watched a crew pull out over 200 rattlesnakes from a den. Apparently, they migrate to rocky areas in the arid regions of West Texas and hibernate.

That sounds like the most terrifying scenario imaginable to me. Haha

 

[cal=8]

Beard does give Tubby credit for turning the program around.

I heard there were 3 players recruited by Tubby on their roster. I also heard one of the asst. Coaches was an asst to Billy Clyde when he was here. (not sure that's true) Too bad they weren't 5% tougher than Virginia.

 

[anon_q409idbs5m40a]

That sounds like the most terrifying scenario imaginable to me. Haha

I saw him again today and he told me that rattlesnakes also liked to nest underneath houses in West Texas since they were made of pier and beam. Said it was nothing to pull 25-30 from under a house. That would most likely ruin one's day.

 

[UK Dude]

Tariq Owens was playing on a bad ankle and fouled out early. That probably hurt Tech defensively.

 

[NoDef]

They must be coached really well defensively. They have brought in a couple of transfers and have a lottery pick projected higher than anyone we have. They did lose to last place West Virginia in the conference tournament, but got hot at the right time. The PG played above his numbers in the tournament too.