10 Thoughts on Texas Tech

BOX SCORE

If last Wednesday night was Markel Brown’s introduction to the nation (and 3 million YouTube views on one play IS an introduction to the nation) then tonight was his “hey guys look, I’m not just Torre Johnson 2.0, I can play” encore.

The sophomore poured in a career-high 30 points, seven boards, a steal, and a block with only two turnovers and two fouls and carried OSU all night.

The Cowboys took charge early and despite a few late mini-runs by Tech, were basically in command throughout (after Le’Bryan hit a three with 14 minutes left in the first half to make it 12-10, they never trailed again).

It helps when you go 33-35 from the free throw line and only cough the ball up eight times (and that Texas Tech is abysmal), but for this team to go on the road anywhere with its depth and conference road losing streak (ended tonight at 713 days), I’m calling it a great win.

Here are ten more thoughts from Tuesday night…

1. I give Cezar a pretty hard time but he gets after it every game even if the dramatics are a bit much sometimes. If Ford can reign him in he can be a terrific backup or middling starter for a tournament team someday.

2. OSU stopped attacking the rim in the second half. I say Tim Beckman is to blame for going into the prevent offense, Carson Cunningham says Les Miles. Either way it was disappointing to see. While we’re here, the more I watch Nash the more I realize he wasn’t meant to play the wing like he wants to (and Ford wants him to). Maybe that’s what he’ll be in the league, but he’s way too stiff and his body is way too big to not play down low in college.

3. Soucek, while possibly the most prolific fouler for OSU since Aaron Pettway is going to be a contributor for the next four years. You can just tell he’s got a sweet stroke.

4. The reason Markel Brown should play point guard for this team was evident at the end of the first half. There were 11 seconds on the clock and he was lingering around the middle of the court. All of a sudden he turned the jets on, got to the lane, ran into two guys, and turned around to kick it back out to a wide open Christien Sager (preferably this would be a different player) for a trey. Sager missed it, but do you know how many times I’ve seen Keiton take the air out of the ball and launch a 41-footer at the end of the half? Too many.

5. The announcers in this game said Oklahoma State’s staff told them Brian Williams is more athletic than Markel Brown. There’s no way this is accurate, is there?

6. With three minutes left I tweeted that the free throw percentage record in a game for OSU (minimum 20 attempts) was 96.3%. At the time the Cowboys were sitting at 96.8% and that went up after four more makes…until Cezar got fouled with .6 seconds left (are we serious?) and missed. They finished 33-35 (94.3%), good for 4th all time.

7. It’s difficult for me to put into words how amazing the Brian Williams/Markel Brown straightforward handshake is. Nothing crazy, outlandish, or 15+ steps…just shake hands and move on. It’s perfect.

8. When I look at the individual pieces of this OSU team, it seems like they should be about 10x better than they actually are. I was putting together my player power rankings today and just shaking my head the entire time wondering how this collection of basketball players is 10-11 in a bad Big 12. It just doesn’t make sense. I think OKC Dave might have the answer though…

9. Doug Bell and Stephen Howard (announcing crew) did a great job with this game. I can imagine it’s more than difficult to get up for an OSU-Texas Tech game in front of 87 fans in Lubbock, Texas without drinking a vat of Starbucks but they seemed to manage. Of course I might just be comparing them to that abomination we listened to on Saturday…

10. This stings, and I’m going to regret saying it, but I think Markel is going to make a run at Desmond’s “best dunker in OSU history” championship belt. I’m going to tell my wife to choke me out in my sleep tonight, the blog was fun while it lasted though.

Finally, how about a shout out to my boy Mason Cox for getting into Club Tril tonight. Also, I”d like to think Ford is giggling because he’s thinking “that guy we just put in has literally never played a minute of organized basketball before,” but he’s probably just happy abou the way Markel played…

Next game: at home against Baylor on Saturday in the rubber game between us and them (football and 2x hoops).