It’s Not Pretty, But Texas Tech is Winning Basketball Games
The Red Raiders are 6-2 on the season with losses to a ranked Creighton team and a ranked Ohio State team, but the season doesn't seem to be going great. Maybe it's the 18-0 run they gave up to Georgetown before finishing them off or the struggling 35 minutes with Nicholls before finishing them off. Maybe it's just that this team is full of freshmen and transfers that haven't played together before.
Amongst the rough patches, there have been some obvious bright moments.
For one, Texas Tech freshman Pop Isaacs scored a career-high 24 points with five 3-pointers in six attempts last night against Nicholls. Bright spot. The young point guard also looks like an incredible leader just eight games into the season.
Through this point in the season, Daniel Batcho has been the best player on the Texas Tech team. He had 14 points and nine boards last night and is averaging 13 points and more than eight rebounds a game. Obvious bright spot.
Last night, another freshman shined. Lamar Washington didn't make a single shot from the field but had seven rebounds, five assists, and 12 points at the free-throw line. Bright spot.
Davion Harmon and Jaylon Tyson have also had games where they look like solid Big 12 players.
Those bright spots have been dulled by games where the bench just completely forgets to show up. Still, 5-0 at home and the only two losses were to ranked teams. I can't quite put my finger on the specific problems of this team, but it just feels a little off.
To me, a lot of those little problems improve with time and experience together on the floor.
Some of those problems also disappear when the stars of the team play like stars. One of those for the Red Raiders is Kevin Obanor. The Red Raiders super senior is leading the team in scoring but didn't look like a star until the second half against Nicholls when he went beast mode. In my opinion, Obanor needs to be in beast mode or become 'tournament Obanor' the entire Big 12 season for this team to reach their potential.
Last year, it was Bryson Williams who went to the next level when Big 12 play came around.
This year, it has to be Obanor.
The Red Raiders return next Tuesday against Eastern Washington at the USA before traveling to Houston where they’ll play Jackson State at 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 17 at the Delmar Fieldhouse. They'll be favored by at least 12 until they get into Big 12 play, but they were favored by 22.5 over Nicholls and didn't take the lead until the final minutes.
It's not going to be easy for Texas Tech to figure this out, but what's new in that respect for Texas Tech basketball? It seems like this is a conversation we have every year around this time before the Red Raiders go at or above .500 in Big 12 play and get into the NCAA Tournament. That's a long way off right now, but it's becoming the standard at Texas Tech.