Tech preps for second scrimmage
Pat Knight took it easy during last weekend’s closed exhibition game against Arizona State. He didn’t scout the Sun Devils. He rarely called plays. He didn’t stop the scrimmage to make adjustments and teach on the fly.
“I wanted us to get beat up a little bit and see if they can play without us coaching them,” Knight said. “Obviously, they can’t.”
This season Knight elected to skip the traditional open exhibitions against non-Division I opponents in favor of two closed-door sessions with other teams in Tech’s division. He used last week’s session with Arizona State as a chance to see what the Red Raiders could accomplish on the court. When Tech faces New Mexico State today, though, he plans to take a more traditional gameday approach.
“We’ll treat it like a game so they get used to what they’re going to have to go through next week from a scouting standpoint,” Knight said. “But I wanted one game where they just went in on their own against a good opponent to see how they can handle themselves.”
NCAA regulations prohibit teams from releasing scores and statistics from closed exhibitions, which do not count against a program’s RPI or record. But junior forward Theron Jenkins said after two weeks of beating up on his Tech teammates, it was nice to suit up against someone else.
“We’ve been working hard against each other in practice, but we basically know everything about each player on our team,” he said. “It felt good to play somebody different.”
Knight said he intentionally did not prepare the team for Arizona State’s ball screens or zone defense so he could assess the players’ existing skills.
About one fourth of the game looked good on both ends of the court. During the other three quarters, however, Knight saw some regression.
“For the rest they went back to some bad habits they had from last year or high school or junior college,” he said. “It was good. It gives us a week of tape to really get on them.”
Using that tape as a teaching tool led to several good practice sessions last week. Today the coaching staff will reassess the team’s progress based on its improvements during the last seven days.
Knight said he will continue to hold these closed scrimmages each year because the Red Raiders gain more from them than from beating up on a Division III or foreign team in an open exhibition.
And with Tech’s difficulty drawing a crowd even during Big 12 season, Knight doesn’t expect many fans would turn out for a preseason game.
“These closed scrimmages are the best thing for us because you go against Big 12 level competition,” he said. “You really get to see how your kids react before the season starts.”
Beside the scrimmage against New Mexico State, Tech has only four more days before beginning its season Friday against South Dakota as part of the three-day “Duel in the Desert” tournament.
“I’m excited; this season we have more to work with,” Knight said. “The kids have been great in practice.”
Yet he’s cautious about that optimism.
“We’ve got a lot of work, but that’s what the preseason’s for,” he said. “You want to do well in the preseason, but you can do well and then really screw up in the Big 12, and that’s what kills you.”
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Hello,
Tech fan from Fort Worth (and TCU grad to boot–family all went to Tech), I wondered in the Fort Worth-Dallas market if any games will be picked up other than the “Big 12″ Network…….I saw a schedule, and it said the TT Network also–is that available in the Metroplex area? Lastly, are games not available in the Fort Worth area able to be viewed online?
Just a diehard fan and wanting to view games.
Lastly, I noticed in Pat’s comments that Tech isn’t drawing well, EVEN in Big 12 play. For what reasons are folks not coming out, other than (Papa Bob Knight) isn’t courtside anymore. Just curious, as you have a beautiful Arena, great spirit in Lubbock, blah, blah, blah. Please educate me.
Even with my alma mater, TCU #6 in the Nation, and climbing, we still don’t draw but 33,000 to a home football game; of course, there are a LOT of sports and entertainment options in Fort Worth-Dallas area. Still, at #6, the 47,000 seat Amon Carter Stadium is not full. I still think the breakup of the Southwest Conference (I hate that) had and has alot to do with the fact that all the teams used to be able to carpool to one city to watch their teams–now it’s mostly a TV phenomenon.
Oh well, I’d appreciate some comments on TT basketball.
Thanks alot! Go Tech
P.S…..Dec. 8 in Fort Worth is the TT-TCU basketball game. You Tech fans come out to Fort Worth–keep the friendly rivalry going strong!
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The only way 15,000 fans are ever coming to United Spirit Arena — a great, great team. I don’t think even an above average team will fill that thing.
I just heard Auburn is downgrading from a 15,000 arena to a new one that seats 9,500.
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R. Robertson. I too live in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area (The Colony) and I was able to view the Texas Tech Network, on channel 52 I believe.
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Win games. Fill arena.
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i agree…until this basketball program to create a winning atmosphere they will never fill that arena up. more people go to the lady raider games than the men’s games simply because they have won a national championship.
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to tx tech basketball fan:
i did catch some games on channel 52 LAST year, but I guess I could have clarified about THIS year, what channel will games appear on, how often, blah, blah, blah?
i really look forward to watching the games, and i applaud whoever it is in sports marketing dept. to sell the tech games to a large alumni area such as Fort Worth-Dallas area. i remember early in Papa Bob’s early years coaching, that every game was on the tube in FW/D—not just a select few.
i really do blame the SWC breakup (chiefly TAMU and TU) who didn’t want to play such insignificant teams with small enrollments as Rice, TCU, SMU, etc……but, anyone a fan of a team in Houston, could drive to Fort Worth for a game easily. A fan in Austin could easily navigate to Dallas, or a fan in Lubbock could drive to Waco without much problem. Thing is, FW/D area is a prime recruiting area, and TAMU and TU were cowards for not wanting to play, say TCU, my alma mater, because a “little program” like TCU, could sneak up and bite them sometime……..I applaud Tech for maintaining the old SWC rivalries and traditions, ot Tech/TCU basketball games, and sometimes, football games….which the “other” state schools don’t want.
After so many years after the breakup, I pose this question to TECH fans (and I am one, despite being a TCU grad), that do loyal Tech sports fans relish the drive to Ames, Iowa, Lawrence, Kansas, or Lincoln, Nebraska, when the “intra-state” rivalry the SWC had was easy for all the teams to follow their teams? (I include Arkansas in the “intra-state” as they were once proud SWC members. Just curious what y’all thought.
GO TECH !
Do you also think we are getting enough REAL players now to compete? If anyone remembers Decence White, from California from a couple years back? I thought he was a player, a little undisiplined, yes, but Tech BBall needs these type of players who can just flat out play. I thought when he left Tech lost a good, potential star-type guy by his Senior year. Guess he and Papa Bob ran cross ways with each other. What happened to the kid from North Carolina, the guard, I think Tyree was his name? Thanks for your comments!
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Just looked at Tech’s pre-Big 12 Conference Schedule. I didn’t see Anton High School or Tulia HS on there! Oh wait, they’re on next years’. How pathetic that a Div. 1 program can play so many home games against such poor competition. One thing for sure, there will be plenty of people disguised as empty seats in attendance. “Announced attendance at today’s game, 10,431″! LMAO
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How is 10, 431 fan considered to be funny?
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What Freddie doesn’t understand is in college basketball the teams are better from d1 to d3 and so on. More talent across the board makes it better for the sport. So playing a d2 school or whatever isn’t a bad thing.
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K-State beat (Div. 1) beat Pittsburg State (Div. II) 36 points Saturday nite and pulled the starters soon in the 2nd half; KU beat a Div. II school last week about 50 points; I’m sure these Div. ll schools would argue with you. The difference is KU & KSU invite smaller schools to play in front of a lot of people, pay them a nice sum to help in their AD, then beat the crap out of them. The little schools don’t mind (too much) getting killed so they can play for a little money and so mom and dad can see them play. These were exhibition games; Tech plays these cupcakes and it counts on their record.
Tech fan: Tech always reports “tickets sold” as attendance figures, not actual rears in the chairs. If 2,000 people show up for a game and Tech gives away (but they are not used), ticket holders don’t show up, etc. another 8431 tickets, what is the actual attendance. Not 10,431! Next time you go to a game, guesstimate the crowd numbers then see the attendance figures given the media. It will show “tickets sold”, which is not bodies in the chairs. How do you think the Tech women’s program says it is near the top in women’s basbetball attendance every year; they report tickets sold, etc. not people who are actually in the seats. Attendance does not equal tickets sold!
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If I provided my Knight-Knight opinion it would not be very nice. I only wonder how much longer…..
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Freddie exhibition games do not count toward your record…..once again you prove to me your basketball knowledge.
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Tech’s games are not exibitions; KU and K-State’s were. What is your point? Where did you read in my comments anything about an exibition game counting on a team’s record? Go back and read the post again only this time, turn your cell phone off and read S L O W E R!!! Tech vs. LCU was an exibition too. That won’t show up on either’s record but it carries a lot of negative vibes at Broadway & University.
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Exhibition games don’t count on your record!? They count for something. Read the posts under the Tech-LCU game. Curry better start putting Anton and Tulia HS’s on her schedule like Knight is going to do! She won’t be around long enough to put anyone on the schedule!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Hey TT BB fan. The print media stated “attendance 6576″ at the Tech-LCU game. If there were 6576 fannies in the chairs there last night then you saw the sun rise in the West this morning!!!!! LOL
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Well, to re-phrase my original question to you Tech fans from someone in Fort Worth who gets next-to-nothing about Tech basketball here:
When Papa Bob was coaching, were the plentiful fannies in the seats because only of Pape Bob’s “mystique”, that he could snap in a moment and folks show up just to see what he would do next? I know he’s a great coach, no doubt about it.
But, each subsequent year Papa Bob is removed from coaching the Tech men, will attendance continue to decline? In contrast, TCU has 6,000 enrollment in Fort Worth, which has 800,000 in the city, 4 million in the area, lots of entertainment choices, and Lubbock has quite a bit fewer entertainment venues, so…….even with a large city as Fort Worth, still only maybe 2,000 show up for a Men’s basketball game. Still seems like the folks of Lubbock would show, even if not affiliated with Tech formally.
Lubbock has what, 200,000 population, and Tech has about 30,000 or more enrollment. No matter how bad Tech basketball might be “appearing” to some to be, why don’t more folks show up for Men’s basketball?
If no turnaround is in sight, will Gerald give Pat the boot? Seems Gerald was THE ONE INSTRUMENTAL in opening talks to bring Papa Bob to Lubbock in the first place, and agreeing to the “Coach of the future” tag. Gerald wouldn’t fire Pat would he? If he did, who then could turn it around? Billy Gillespie? Nolan Richardson? Some under-the-radar guy?
Hope this can start a dialogue. Anyone know the answers or have opinions on these questions? Thanks.
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