10 Thoughts: Texas Tech

Photo Attribution: US Presswire

BOX SCORE

1. That win in Lawrence was like LeBron winning a title last year — you’re kind of fearful (or in our case, excited) for how much water sits behind the floodgates that were opened by LeBron’s first ring (OSU winning its first road game in two years).

OSU is murdering bad teams on the road now. They have a swagger. It’s a totally different feel than the team that took the court at Baylor or at OU just three weeks (!) ago.

It’s really pretty incredible how much confidence winning at Allen Fieldhouse can give a team.

2. I said after the Iowa State game that I loved how Mike Cobbins was rolling. Some of you thought I was blowing smoke (or whatever it is you think I do) but Carson is right about this:

Cobbins has taken #okstate to a different level.

— Carson Cunningham (@CarsonC5) February 14, 2013

He had 13 and 12 tonight, and let’s not overreact (I’m trying not to), but Cobb is taking care of business right now. Plus, if he’s going to draw big men out by canning that 12-footer…with Markel being able to cut back door…I mean…you guys have visited YouTube before, yes?

3. I loved the quote Matt Doherty offered up from Doris Burke in the first half:

You’re not playing the score, you’re playing the standard.

OSU has done such a great job in that area of late — and trust me, it’s not something that’s come naturally to Travis Ford’s teams. You aren’t playing a 20-point game against a crappy Tech team. No, you’re playing whatever the standard is for a team trying to be one of the 10 best teams in the nation. They did that last Saturday against Texas and they did it again tonight.

4. I can’t help but think Brian Williams running around and nailing threes is a good thing. The pieces around Markel and Smart right now make my want to foam at the mouth and make irrational future bets on NCAA tournament odds that I have no business making.

If OSU plays in the tournament like it did in the first half tonight…I mean…I know Tech is bad, but they aren’t that bad.

5. Matt Doherty was super critical of Nash but I really agree with what Nolan said (by the way, if you missed it, Nolan was tweeting from the @pistolsguy account for the second half of the game):

Announcers making a big deal of LB not scoring, but if he can be an efficient role player and we keep winning games, who cares?

— Pistols Firing (@pistolsguy) February 14, 2013

It’s so true — if Nash is cool with being third (or fourth or fifth) banana and just stays in his lane, then who cares? Now if we think he’s a detriment to the team’s energy and passion (and I’ll grant you that that’s a legitimate question) then we have issues. But let’s see how the next five games play out.

One thing I just don’t get: there was a play in the middle of the second half when he had a breakaway against Ty Nurse where he ran basically sideways from him and drew a lucky foul. Nurse is 6’1 185 lbs! Nash is 6’7 and built like a truck. I just don’t see the ability from him to attack people like a Markel Brown or a Marcus Smart. It’s not a dagger to this team, just something I noticed.

6. Is there anything better than Markel getting hot from deep? He really, really acts like he wants to be on that All-Big 12 first team, which he’s going to be if he keeps playing like this. 25 points on 11 shots?! That’s KD territory.

I would have RT this infinity times if I could have.

The evolution of Markel Brown’s jumpshot is amazing. Proves just how coachable he is now — and how much better he can still get.

— Kyle Fredrickson (@kylefredrickson) February 14, 2013

Loved this one too.

Mark3l Brown

— CowboysRideForFree (@CowboysRFF) February 14, 2013

7. I honestly feel bad for Tech fans. They did nothing to deserve this. Those squads and crowds that filled it up in the early to mid 2000s were just electric and this is basically the opposite of that. And it’s all Bob Knight and Billy Gillespie’s fault. They’re honestly like the poor man’s version of OSU in terms of hoops.

The Bob Knight Experiment (which forced Pat Knight era) set Texas Tech back a decade. Rowdy fan base w/ nothing to cheer for in a long time.

— Carson Cunningham (@CarsonC5) February 14, 2013

8. Speaking of people I feel sorry for — the announcers had it pretty rough tonight. First of all, ESPN makes them say the phrase “rivalry week” like 900 times on national television in a span of two hours, which is like asking you to ice your tongue down for 20 minutes then go say a legible sentence.

Plus, they ran out of things to talk about with like four minutes left in the first half. Nothing was out of play in the second half — we were hearing about Lubbock restaurants, high school recruits, Cobbins’ toes, players’ brothers — seriously everything.

9. A question I had early in the first half while I was on my way to being bored out of my mind watching scrubs finish the game: why are you allowed to move with the ball while out of bounds on a possession that didn’t end on a made basket? Everybody does it and it literally never gets called. Are Big 12 refs just that bad? Is it like a lane violation where it gets called once every 293 games? I need some answers.

10. Will Bedlam be fun on Saturday?

Like Nolan said…I’m not sure OU fans are going to enjoy what a well-rested Marcus Smart (he barely played the second half) in his first Bedlam home game in a sold out Gallagher-Iba for the Big 12 lead looks like.

At all.