Buffs hand Red Raiders seventh straight loss
BOULDER, Colo. — Marcus Relphorde was too busy watching Mike Singletary defend him from the left to see Mike Davis reach around from the right and pick off his dribble late in Saturday’s game. Davis broke down the court, ball in hand, and threw David Tairu a bounce pass under the bucket, setting up the shot that could have put Texas Tech within six points of Colorado.
Instead of scoring, though, Tairu lost control. The ball rolled out of bounds, and Colorado scored on its next possession to take Tech out of the game.
“Our problem is we had chances to cut into stuff and we either made a bad play or a dumb play,” Tech coach Pat Knight said. “… That’s just been the M.O. for three weeks.”
This time the result was a 101-90 loss to Colorado, the Red Raiders’ seventh consecutive loss. It locks in Tech as the No. 9 team in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, with a rematch against Colorado scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Knight assumed all responsibility for the string of losses, but had no explanation for what’s gone wrong as Tech dropped from 4-5 in conference less than a month ago to its final record of 4-12.
“I’ve done a bad job for three weeks,” Knight said. “I have got to figure out some way to turn it around. These kids have played hard, but it falls on me.”
Who’s playing the hardest? That’s likely Nick Okorie, who’s averaged more than 20 points over Tech’s last five games. Okorie tied his career high with 21 points against Texas on Feb. 20, then topped it with 28 against Nebraska on Feb. 27. He broke that mark again Saturday, scoring a game-high 34 at Colorado.
But even a second half in which Okorie scored 19 and Mike Singletary added 15 (he finished with 21) couldn’t make up for first half in which the Red Raiders failed defensively. Trailing just 12-9 after five minutes, Tech gave up six consecutive field goals, allowing Colorado to go on a 14-0 run. The Raiders went 6:45 without scoring a field goal and after just 11 minutes the Buffaloes owned an 18-point lead.
That held well into the second half, but with 12:37 left to play Tech began chipping it down, ultimately closing the gap to eight points when Tairu failed to score on Davis’ steal.
“It was too far of a climb,” Okorie said. “We couldn’t pick up enough points to catch up.”
While Tech will face Colorado having lost every game in more than a month, Colorado comes into
Wednesday’s match up on a 3-game winning streak. The Buffs defeated Iowa State on Feb. 27 and Nebraska on March 2 before closing their regular season against the Raiders.
While Saturday was their senior night, it was freshman guard Alec Burks who got accolades for solidifying the win. Burks scored 24 points, second behind Cory Higgins’ 30.
“To me, he should be the Freshman of the Year in the Big 12,” Colorado coach Jeff Bzdelik said. “I think that just says it all. He’s a very talented player. He coupled with Cory, I’ve heard people call them one of the best wing tandems in the nation.”
Tech will likely focus on Burks and Higgins during Wednesday’s rematch. A win will be the only way for either team to keep its season alive, but Knight knows even that motivation might not be enough.
“We’re just in a bad way right now,” he said, “and I don’t know how to get out of it.”
To comment on this story:
courtney.linehan@lubbockonline.com l 766-8735
terry.greenberg@lubbockonline.com l 766-8700
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wow our basketball team is horrible…..
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Please, just make it stop already.
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no good byes to pat till we get rid of myers and pat’s daddy
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Thank GOD the misery will end on Wed. GO Buffs beat TECH PLEASE FOR THE SAKE OF ALL RAIDER FANS!!!!!!
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Well, things were going great with the best start of a season in years—-right up until the end of December. Something must have happened at that time to let the air out of Tech. I wonder what it could have been?
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RR fan, I agree they were doing good at the startof the season something must have happened since then?
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Hey Courtney, would it hurt to include the team records. Or do you not know?
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Linehan is awful. She should be writing obits.
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I have been to 97 county fairs and 150 goat ropings, and never have I seen anything as awful as this team andthese coaches.
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Seven in a row- no spark-no defense-no coaching-I had hope for awhile but Pat has got to go-Pat just can’t hack it!!
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It is true! The best start in my lifetime.(maybe all time?) Something must have happened. What was it? Oh well, we were told to move on, may as well forget the past(sarcasm).
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What happened was that they quit playing Southland Conference and other assorted cupcake teams. They let that little bit of success go to their heads and when the Big 12 started, their true ability came out. Maybe they should be in the Southland Conference………………
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Knight said
“I’ve done a bad job for three weeks,” Knight said. “I have got to figure out some way to turn it around. These kids have played hard, but it falls on me.”
HOW BOUT FOR SEVEN YEARS?
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Yes- the CONFERENCE season was awful. What I think happened is pre conference they PLAYED basketball. In the Big 12 you have to WORK in the half court. Same thing happened to UT somewhat. These kids have to become a TEAM and conference isnt hully gully ball. Theres enough talent to start in a different direction. TECH can be entertaining LIKE THE FANS HAVE INSISTED but TECH cant ever win a Big 12 Championship in Football or basketball IF THE CANT PLAY DEFENSE……in FB they have to run more/ in BB they have to set up more plays. Cant all be “EXCITING”
No I am not an expert but I watched alot of games…….IF THE TECH FANS WANT WINNING TEAMS THEY HAVE TO ALSO SHOW UP AT HOME GAMES and QUIT being so negative. Firing a coach….funny I thought thats what P.O.ed so many of you guys ?
GRADES:
TEAM – C minus
Coach – D
Fans- F
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Sorry Pat just wasn’t ready for this level of coaching, he should have learned at a place like SW Missouri State, NOT TEXAS TECH in the BIG 12 for his first coaching job! Thats just dumb
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The misapplication of Okorie for 96% of the season is enough in and of itself to discharge this coach.
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If you want to see GREAT basketball, get yourself over to LCU Rip Griffin Center today at 3:00pm. #1 ranked in the nation Howard College from Big Springs takes on #2 ranked in the nation Midland College. Although this is for the NJCAA Region V Championship, this is for all practical purposes the NJCAA National Championship game!!!! I guarantee you will see many of these guys playing at the next level (Division I), maybe even Tech will recruit a few. See you there!
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All the posters last season said just wait until this year.
How many millions do we need to keep paying Pat Knight?
Nobody has to perform for their keep with Myers & Hance & Bailey watching taxpayer dollars. In fact those that DO perform – like Mike Leach- get canned for filling up the stadium.
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rapid, what p,o’d the fans was not the firing of the coach but the firing of a good coach that was able to fill the stadium at around 55000 capacity. with meager resources as compared to the powerhouse big 12 schools. without the support of the admnistration. Thats what made us mad. Heres the way the grades should actually read:
Players=confused
Head Coach=ineffective
Fans=disappointed yet again
Dear Pat, please put the players name on the jersey once again.
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Knight assumed all responsibility for the string of losses,
Enough said
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Meyers does have the cohonies to fire Pat, He is scared of Bobby.
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How about resigning Pat??
With all that accepting of responsibility..
Return your millions back to Myers and apologize to the fans..
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This team is horrible. It is time to blow this up and fire Pat. Over inflated record early on with one quality win.
Question: What good is a coach in waiting tag here? The excuses I have heard is that Pat had to get his type of players, change the offense, etc. What a mess.. Isn’t a coach in waiting suppose to maintain stability, consistency, recruiting, etc? He has been involved with this since Bobby showed in 2000. I don’t want to hear the whining that he had no say in anything.. bs. This is embarrassing and only allows for more years to slip by. We have lost 3 years now and it will be more.
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I hope Meyers is looking for a new coach right now. Pat is broken. You can hear it in his voice and his body language. There will be no excitement or season tickets bought next year without a new coach.
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Bernie, Good post…better than mine I must admit.
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Everyone calm down. TT will beat Colorado on Wednesday…Kansas on Thursday…A&M on Friday…and K-State on Saturday!!!!! Tournament here we come!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Really though, it’s enough with Pat Knight. HIRE TONY BARBEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Time to hire another coach or Pat needs to resign or Tech will continue to lose millons of dollars and what fan base is left, time to fire Myers or tell him to resign he and hance are responsible for this whole fisco, they are in charge of the athletics and we all know Myers is not in charge, Hance is, show some class and resign and responsiblity and man up, maybe sfter all these buffons are gone they can hire good coaches and get better players, if not you might as well ,FORGET IT,
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Remember Sean Sutton at Okla. State? He took over for his dad, Eddie who was successful for many years. Pat may have thought he could do better than his friend, Sean. However …………….
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Here’s a question for everyone screaming to fire Knight. What would you have done differently to win more conference games. Be specific. Would you change the line-up? 4 out & 1 in motion? 3 out and 2 in motion? Change the role of certain players in the motion scheme? Anyone can rant and rave. It takes someone who actually knows something about the game to comment on specifics.
I ask the question because Coach Knight does not have the depth of DIV I Major Conference (Big 12, ACC, Big East, etc.)talent to win in the Big 12. He has 2-3 players at this level and they are average. His bench depth is DIV I mid-major caliber at best. You can knock him all day long, but he just doesn’t have the players – PERIOD END OF STORY! You can thank his dad for that one! Several years of poor recruiting killed the program. This is the real reason BK retired mid-season.
Give PK two more seasons to weather the storm BK sailed us into. Tech was a tad better this year, and that was in a Big 12 conference that was much better this year from top to bottom. Tech will be somewhat better again next year (6-10 to 8-8 in conference) and probably a NIT bid. The following year will be the tell-tell year as key seniors graduate. PK then has his and only his recruiting classes to play with. If he doesn’t win and go .500 in conference play, I’ll agree that he needs to go.
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Roid-
Who’s responsible for acquiring talent–Pat is.
How long has he been on staff? 7 years
Time’s up-let’s get somebody who has proven success as the head guy.
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The record speaks for itself & Thank God for Nebraska!!!
Enough Said
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Well said techalum, There is no excuse for Pat, he has been here since day one. End of Story.. he has responsibility in our “lack of talent and recruiting”
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Roid,
Basketball is not Football. It isn’t near as hard to bring in 7-8 players to build a winner as it is 40-50. It is much easier to compete w/ the “Big Boys” in BB as compared to FB.
As a former college BB assistant, what I would do differently is made sure I brought in better players over the past 7 seasons by convincing them we were putting together a Top team in a Top conference and they could be a part of it. I would also have tried to do everything to not lose control of the players as I tried to mold them into a more cohesive group.
Easier said then done, but you asked & that is basically what has to be done to build a winner. It is not rocket science. He just hasn’t done it & it seems it is time for a change. He is paid over a million a year & we need to expect more!
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Lousy finish to another lousy season.
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Amazing! You people just don’t get it!
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Outsider,
Ok, I’ll be the first to admit I don’t get it. Clue me in.
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Want a real coach ??
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I hear you guys, but still believe we give him two more years. I believe BK is primarily responsible for this batch of players. Regardless of what anyone says, many players did not want to play for BK which killed recruiting. PK has only had two seasons with BK out of the recruiting picture. The Big 12 was exceptionally tough this year. Rick Barnes even had a tough year. I do agree he never should have been paid $1.5 million. Let’s fire Myers first.
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Roid,
Bob Knight had more wins then any coach in history. Yes, alot of players did not want to play for him, but through the years alot wanted to. You can not use that as an excuse and a reason to retain the younger Knight. All you really need is 7 & 8 good players to buy into what you are doing and fill in with 4-5 others and you should have a team that competes. When you make over a million dollars a year, more should be expected.
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What is it that makes you think next year will be any different? There is no great recruit coming in. There is no great recruit committed for the year after that.
Pat will have basically the same team back next year and yes, as seniors they will probably be a little better, but then what – after next year’s seniors are gone?
Catastrophy.
We need to get someone in that can recruit.
Insanity is when you keep doing the same thing and expect a different result.
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Roid, the only guys Pat Knight seems to recruit is middle-of-the-road JUCO transfers. That doesn’t cut it in a major conference like the Big 12. There’s too much turnover every year on the roster and you never get any kind of continuity.
Last year’s class…David Tairu, Theron Jenkins, Brad Reese…all JUCO guys
2008′s class…Darko and Nick Okorie
Out of 8 guys who get regular minutes this year, FIVE of them are JUCO transfers. There’s your problem.
Tony Barbee down at UTEP has built a solid team and is on the way to the Tourney this season. He was ranked the #3 recruiter by Rivals, and recruiting is Tech’s major problem. Why shouldn’t they go after Barbee?
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And one more thing, Roid…you say this “batch” of guys is mainly from Bob Knight. That’s wrong. The only guys you can attribute to Bobby are John Roberson and Mike Singletary, who clearly are their best players. The other guys who get playing time on this team are all from Pat Knight’s tenure…Okorie, Darko, Jenkins, Reese, Tairu, Lewandowski, Davis.
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Well, I’m going to have to back up from my previous statements from a few weeks ago : that we should give PK a chance. The game Saturday was pathetic from every aspect ! It looked like a team that has quit on its coach and a coach that has given up ! Sorry Pat, but I now think its time to go !
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You guys make good points, but I’m sticking to my guns for PK and another couple of years. Here’s where I’m coming from and why. Back in the early 1980s, I played college baseball on a team that had been down and was terrible for my first two years, better in year three and pretty darn good in year four. The program contnued to be solid for the next seven years under the same coach. Since his departure for greener pastures, the program has experienced brief ups & downs with no consistent runs. I guess one’s experiences shape one’s beliefs.
I believe we can all agree that we want competitive athletic teams. I received my Master’s degree from Tech and have been a fan ever since.
Guns Up!
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Roid, I would have less of a problem sticking with Pat Knight if he had some sort of track record. But he has ZERO experience as a head coach, so I have nothing in his past to point to and say, “look, he did it there…just give him time and he’ll do it here”. Based on his credentials, he should have never been given the job in the first place, and he’s shown me absolutely nothing to think he’s going to turn it around in another couple of years. Maybe he’ll be a good head coach one day, but not now. He needs to go to a lower level conference and gain some experience there, where the pressure and expectations aren’t nearly as high.
Tony Barbee is a young, up-and-coming head coach who has proven he can succeed…give him the job at Tech.
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Pat! How about an inside game? Both of your big men scored a big goose egg!
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Coah Knight was partially right. He said he had done a bad job for 3 weeks. He really has done a bad job for 2 years. Now is the time to get rid of him and maybe he will take Myers an Hance with him somewhere else. They could even tak e Alberto (I can’t remember) Gonzales with them also. That will help Tech cut their budget.
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Insanity rules in Lubbock.
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