Gameday Thread: #7 Baylor (21-4; 9-3) at #11 Texas Tech (19-6; 8-4)

DanaDane said:

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Part of me feels like I'm drifting to the dark side and thinking the season may crater, but then I have to think with a level head and remember that Drew and staff have basically only had 3 days of practice and 1 game to figure out how to replace, rearrange and reformulate a huge loss at a key position, to go along with a few others who are playing but still don't appear to be 100%.

I'm gonna try to stay the positive route and say give Drew staff a couple of games to figure out a lineup and a mix that can be effective for the remainder of the season. It may be discombobulated Saturday, but I've got faith in Drew and staff to do their best to figure it out and put us on our best path forward.

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I'm trying to keep from overreacting too….but with JTT out I'm already starting to get Seth Russell injury vibes where I feel like for the rest of the season I'm going to be wondering what could have been.

I couldn't place who or what I was thinking, but you said it -- I feel like I did when I saw Seth go down.

boognish_bear said:

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DanaDane said:

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Part of me feels like I'm drifting to the dark side and thinking the season may crater, but then I have to think with a level head and remember that Drew and staff have basically only had 3 days of practice and 1 game to figure out how to replace, rearrange and reformulate a huge loss at a key position, to go along with a few others who are playing but still don't appear to be 100%.

I'm gonna try to stay the positive route and say give Drew staff a couple of games to figure out a lineup and a mix that can be effective for the remainder of the season. It may be discombobulated Saturday, but I've got faith in Drew and staff to do their best to figure it out and put us on our best path forward.

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I'm trying to keep from overreacting too….but with JTT out I'm already starting to get Seth Russell injury vibes where I feel like for the rest of the season I'm going to be wondering what could have been.

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Texas Tech is undefeated at home this year. This isn't one any of us should have been circling as a win. I thought we'd be better defensively than we were in the second half, but this was always going to be a really difficult game -- and would have been with JTT on the floor as well.

I'm worrying more about the Kansas game at home after watching our defense in this one. If we're giving up one easy basket after another to a Tech offense that is really pretty average, I shudder to think what kind of looks Kansas will get.

And the JTT injury probably knocked this team's ceiling from a championship to a Sweet 16 -- or an Elite Eight with good matchups. Most of us realized that when we saw him go down, even if we didn't want to admit it at the time. A team can only go through/lose so much.

We're all frustrated but we need to keep perspective..

It doesn't help that I'm watching Gonzaga blitz another patsy on their way to a #1 overall seed as we have to navigate the Bataan Death March that is the Big 12 nightly.

Have to keep telling myself it will payoff like last year.

Stefano DiMera said:

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We're all frustrated but we need to keep perspective..

It doesn't help that I'm watching Gonzaga blitz another patsy on their way to a #1 overall seed as we have to navigate the Bataan Death March that is the Big 12 nightly.

Have to keep telling myself it will payoff like last year.

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Why do you guys care so much about Gonzaga?

drahthaar said:

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SIC EM 94 said:

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GruntTuff said:

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No. And neither are we.

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I don't think we are without JTT. I do think Tech is Final Four caliber when healthy.

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Tonite they may have been. They hit us in the jaw from the get-go and we didn't respond like we did against horns. We're too young and without the maturity of last year's team. And no "Vital".

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Not sure about that we played through some tough hacking in the first half and they somehow got to the foul line 15 times and made most of them. Still can't wrap my head around that. We were up big at home on them too

drahthaar said:

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SIC EM 94 said:

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GruntTuff said:

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No. And neither are we.

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I don't think we are without JTT. I do think Tech is Final Four caliber when healthy.

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Tonite they may have been. They hit us in the jaw from the get-go and we didn't respond like we did against horns. We're too young and without the maturity of last year's team. And no "Vital".

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This team's just not as good as last year's. It was never going to be. That comparison really shouldn't even be made -- and it wouldn't be if this team hadn't overachieved at the beginning of this season while fully healthy.

Big-O!-Bear said:

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drahthaar said:

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SIC EM 94 said:

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GruntTuff said:

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No. And neither are we.

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I don't think we are without JTT. I do think Tech is Final Four caliber when healthy.

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Tonite they may have been. They hit us in the jaw from the get-go and we didn't respond like we did against horns. We're too young and without the maturity of last year's team. And no "Vital".

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Not sure about that we played through some tough hacking in the first half and they somehow got to the foul line 15 times and made most of them. Still can't wrap my head around that. We were up big at home on them too

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In both games, Tech buckled down on defense, stopped our penetration and we really didn't have an answer.

Unfortunately, this team's offense goes as Akinjo goes. Teams that can keep him in front of them are going to give us fits. Fortunately, Tech is one of few such teams in the country.

bear2be2 said:

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Big-O!-Bear said:

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drahthaar said:

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SIC EM 94 said:

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GruntTuff said:

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No. And neither are we.

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I don't think we are without JTT. I do think Tech is Final Four caliber when healthy.

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Tonite they may have been. They hit us in the jaw from the get-go and we didn't respond like we did against horns. We're too young and without the maturity of last year's team. And no "Vital".

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Not sure about that we played through some tough hacking in the first half and they somehow got to the foul line 15 times and made most of them. Still can't wrap my head around that. We were up big at home on them too

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In both games, Tech buckled down on defense, stopped our penetration and we really didn't have an answer.

Unfortunately, this team's offense goes as Akinjo goes. Teams that can keep him in front of them are going to give us fits. Fortunately, Tech is one of few such teams in the country.

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Agree

IowaBear said:

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No they're not good enough offensively. Right draw and they could maybe reach the E8. Personally think they'll be out R2

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Yeah they are. They don't shoot that well and still beat good teams (and we are a good team they've beaten twice -- a damn good couple of wins from them) because with the exception of a couple games their defense jst clamps down.

It's cliche' but defense does indeed travel, and if they can play the defense they did in the second half tonight they'll be just like their 2019 was. I still can't believe they lost that game against UVA when all they had to do was foul and that trophy would have been theirs. That loss was all on Beard.

Tech's problem is they don't get to take the refs with them to the NCAAs

vanillabryce said:

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Did you see us play when we didn't have him?

Drew asks Akinjo to do things that no one else on our team can do.

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Yes. He didn't play at West Virginia and we won by 9 even though West Virginia's guards drained multiple shots with a hand in their face.

He also didn't play at home against Kansas State and we won by 25 points.

So yes, I have seen us play when we didn't have him. He had a couple of JV High School turnovers and the coaches should have sat him and talked to him.

bear2be2 said:

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drahthaar said:

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SIC EM 94 said:

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GruntTuff said:

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No. And neither are we.

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I don't think we are without JTT. I do think Tech is Final Four caliber when healthy.

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Tonite they may have been. They hit us in the jaw from the get-go and we didn't respond like we did against horns. We're too young and without the maturity of last year's team. And no "Vital".

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This team's just not as good as last year's. It was never going to be. That comparison really shouldn't even be made -- and it wouldn't be if this team hadn't overachieved at the beginning of this season while fully healthy.

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This team was 15-0 and ranked number one before the injuries started. Last year's team never dealt with injuries. Let's keep that in perspective.

BUCANDOIT82 said:

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bear2be2 said:

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drahthaar said:

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SIC EM 94 said:

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GruntTuff said:

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No. And neither are we.

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I don't think we are without JTT. I do think Tech is Final Four caliber when healthy.

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Tonite they may have been. They hit us in the jaw from the get-go and we didn't respond like we did against horns. We're too young and without the maturity of last year's team. And no "Vital".

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This team's just not as good as last year's. It was never going to be. That comparison really shouldn't even be made -- and it wouldn't be if this team hadn't overachieved at the beginning of this season while fully healthy.

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This team was 15-0 and ranked number one before the injuries started. Last year's team never dealt with injuries. Let's keep that in perspective.

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This is a really good team. Last year's was a historically great team.

Even fully healthy, this team isn't close to as good as last year's was. That it overachieved to start the season doesn't change that.