Latest / Talkin' Tech / 2022-23 Texas Tech Basketball Preview with Ryan Mainville
Transcript
- 0:39SPEAKER_04: Welcome in everybody to the Talk and Tech Podcast, Powered by the Nation, part of the Nation Podcast Network.
- 0:45SPEAKER_04: I am your host, Steven Rodriguez, my co-host Tristan McGonagall is here.
- 0:48SPEAKER_04: Tristan, it is nearly basketball season, my friend.
- 0:52SPEAKER_03: Absolutely, man.
- 0:53SPEAKER_03: And I'm still buzzing on football, but we're about to juice this up with the sport that has been flying high in West Texas.
- 1:02SPEAKER_04: Yes, we are.
- 1:03SPEAKER_04: We brought the man, the myth, the legend himself, Ryan Mainville, out of podcast retirement to come in and talk some basketball.
- 1:10SPEAKER_04: We're giving you a full preview of this year's team, what we lost, what we gained, how this team's going to look next year, uh, even some Big 12 stuff.
- 1:18SPEAKER_04: I mean, we're excited.
- 1:19SPEAKER_04: Uh, this is a great talk with Ryan.
- 1:22SPEAKER_04: Uh, he always is a great guest, super knowledgeable guy about basketball.
- 1:25SPEAKER_04: Um, but man, uh I'm I'm giddy.
- 1:28SPEAKER_04: I'm always giddy on basketball season, man.
- 1:30SPEAKER_03: You're a basketball guy.
- 1:32SPEAKER_03: This is your bread and butter when it comes to sports at the end of the day.
- 1:35SPEAKER_03: So let's talk some squeaky plur shooty hoops.
- 1:38SPEAKER_04: Let's absolutely do it.
- 1:39SPEAKER_04: Here's our talk with Ryan Mainville.
- 1:43SPEAKER_04: All right, we are here with Ryan Mainville for the second straight year to talk about Texas Tech basketball.
- 1:50SPEAKER_04: Ryan, what is up, man?
- 1:52SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thanks y'all for having me.
- 1:53SPEAKER_02: Excited to be back.
- 1:55SPEAKER_02: This is my first time in a on a pod in a while.
- 1:58SPEAKER_02: So uh grateful for you letting me shake off the rest a little bit and excited to be back for the uh second annual Ryan Mainville Talk and Tech appearance.
- 2:08SPEAKER_03: Well, two times in a row is officially tradition, so this is not the last time.
- 2:11SPEAKER_03: We're gonna drag you on contractually.
- 2:13SPEAKER_03: You have to come on, or else we have to find you.
- 2:15SPEAKER_03: I'm sorry.
- 2:16SPEAKER_03: Those are the rules.
- 2:16SPEAKER_02: There we go.
- 2:17SPEAKER_02: That's those are the rules.
- 2:18SPEAKER_04: You you gave us your oath at the at the beginning of the recording.
- 2:21SPEAKER_04: We all heard it.
- 2:22SPEAKER_04: But uh, but no, man, happy to have you back on.
- 2:25SPEAKER_04: Uh, you're obviously uh a very knowledgeable guy when it comes to basketball season and uh you know loved all the previous pods you were on.
- 2:33SPEAKER_04: We were upset uh to see you stop podcasting it.
- 2:36SPEAKER_04: We were just like, man, we gotta get Ryan on.
- 2:37SPEAKER_04: We got to bring him out of uh of of retirement here and uh and bring him on for the people to talk about the basketball team.
- 2:45SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm glad to be back.
- 2:46SPEAKER_02: I mean, I I missed it for sure.
- 2:47SPEAKER_02: There there's a special thing that comes when you're uh talking live and you can't walk back any of the terrible takes that you have about Daniel Boccio, but no need to say there will be none of that today.
- 2:58SPEAKER_02: We are all on the bocho train today.
- 3:00SPEAKER_04: Oh, absolutely, we're all on the bacho train.
- 3:03SPEAKER_04: I'm so far on the bacho train that I I can't, I couldn't stop if I wanted to.
- 3:09SPEAKER_04: But yes, let's get in.
- 3:10SPEAKER_04: Before we talk about this coming season, we have to kind of talk about a quick review of last year because I think everybody here really enjoyed last season.
- 3:19SPEAKER_04: Uh, all things considered, a 27-10 record going 12 and six in the Big 12, 18-0 home record, and a sweet 16 appearance.
- 3:28SPEAKER_04: I mean, you can't a lot of schools would be just pining for that.
- 3:32SPEAKER_04: Um, and Texas Tech achieved it in the first year of Mark Adams.
- 3:35SPEAKER_04: What were your kind of thoughts on last year's team and uh the whole ride and everything like that?
- 3:40SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I think going into the season, you looked at the roster and it felt like you were going to be good.
- 3:47SPEAKER_02: Like you had really good returners on your team, led by Terrence Shannon, Kevin McCullough, Marcus, Marcos Santos Silva.
- 3:54SPEAKER_02: Then you've got some vets that come in like Kevin O'Banner, Bryson Williams, guys like Davion Warren and Adonis Arms that kind of flew under the transfer portal radar.
- 4:02SPEAKER_02: And so you had that talent on your roster, but first year head coach is always kind of a coin flip.
- 4:09SPEAKER_02: And you really never know how things are gonna go, especially when you're playing in the Big 12, and especially when you've had the expectations that Texas Tech has developed over the years.
- 4:18SPEAKER_02: But I think when you look back and you say, all right, you know, first year head coach is gonna go undefeated in the Big 12 or undefeated at home, they're gonna finish 12th in the AP poll, they're gonna finish third in the Big 12, they're gonna lose in a nail biter to Duke in the tournament.
- 4:33SPEAKER_02: Like, I just don't know how much more you could ask for in an inaugural season for Mark Adams.
- 4:38SPEAKER_02: And so I think that season taught us a lot.
- 4:40SPEAKER_02: I think it showed some weaknesses, maybe especially on the offensive end and things that Mark Adams could do to address that in his second year.
- 4:46SPEAKER_02: And I think he's done that with some of his transfer portal additions and with the coaching staff.
- 4:51SPEAKER_02: And so excited for year two because year one definitely uh showed that the bar should be high because Mark Adams can coach.
- 4:59SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 5:00SPEAKER_04: I think uh everybody was excited and thrilled.
- 5:03SPEAKER_04: The whole ride for me was really fun.
- 5:05SPEAKER_04: I mean, obviously you had your your lows on some of the losses, and then you never want to see your team get kicked out of the tournament.
- 5:10SPEAKER_04: But man, you look back at it now that we're a few months removed, it really was a successful year.
- 5:15SPEAKER_04: Um, and really showed you that Mark Adams maintained and even made the culture better here um after losing Chris Beard.
- 5:23SPEAKER_04: So uh Tristan, what were your kind of thoughts on last year's team?
- 5:26SPEAKER_03: I mean, I thought y'all put it perfectly.
- 5:27SPEAKER_03: Uh, what kind of comes to mind with me is I don't know if I've ever experienced a more emotionally charged season as a fan in any sport.
- 5:35SPEAKER_03: Like I think emotions were incredibly high.
- 5:38SPEAKER_03: This from game one, and obviously you have peaks, uh peaks with uh in certain games that we you know you obviously don't even need to mention.
- 5:44SPEAKER_03: Um, but just to see the full-fledged buy-in from the fans that even though not a single game had been played yet, it was incredible to see.
- 5:52SPEAKER_03: Um, so and and like Ryan said, I don't I don't know how you could possibly ask for a better season from a first-year head coach and Mark Adams in.
- 6:00SPEAKER_03: So I I think that's I think it's the probably the one of the greatest seasons Texas Tech's ever had.
- 6:04SPEAKER_03: I mean, statistic like numbers-wise, it was, but then you pile on the storybook it was, the movie it was.
- 6:12SPEAKER_03: I don't know how you could have wrote it up better, in my opinion.
- 6:16SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's a good way of putting it.
- 6:17SPEAKER_04: I think uh everybody was emotionally charged, and uh during those Texas games, during some of the Kansas and Baylor games.
- 6:23SPEAKER_04: I mean, you just saw our fan base really come out and show up and uh show what we can do.
- 6:27SPEAKER_04: And you saw that from the 18-0 home record.
- 6:29SPEAKER_04: I mean, it was us in Kentucky that had that undefeated 18-0 record.
- 6:33SPEAKER_04: So uh that's a that's a pretty good company to be in.
- 6:36SPEAKER_04: But let's get into this year, let's get into 2022-23, because uh as tech fans, we are now extremely hyped to look at basketball season.
- 6:46SPEAKER_04: This is a nice change from when we got into into Texas Tech in 2014, Tristan.
- 6:50SPEAKER_04: But um, it starts with the coaching staff, starts with Mark Adams, year two of Mark Adams here at Texas Tech as the head coach.
- 6:59SPEAKER_04: Um, returning a couple assistants in Corey Williams, Sean Sutton, of course, is I it seems like that guy's never gonna leave Lubbock, which is great because he's a fantastic addition to this staff.
- 7:09SPEAKER_04: Uh Darryl Dora is also returning.
- 7:11SPEAKER_04: Uh, but you lose a couple assistants from last year's team.
- 7:13SPEAKER_04: Uh, one being Barrett Peary, who went off to UNLV, and one uh Talman Hester, who became a head coach at uh Louisiana Tech.
- 7:21SPEAKER_04: Um, you gained a couple new guys, Steve Green, longtime Lubbock, uh South Plains coaching legend of the JUCO ranks.
- 7:30SPEAKER_04: Al Pinkins returns back to Lubbock, uh, another great recruiter.
- 7:33SPEAKER_04: Um, and then Luke Adams, you know, a familiar guy, uh, I'd say Mark Adams' son has joined the staff.
- 7:39SPEAKER_04: Um, Ryan, for all these guys, this coaching staff as a whole, how do you see this coaching staff coming together compared to last season?
- 7:50SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely.
- 7:50SPEAKER_02: Well, I think we we saw a loss in a very specific person in Barrett Peary, who essentially functioned as the team's offensive coordinator last year.
- 7:58SPEAKER_02: And teams don't really like to use that terminology because basketball coaches are all over the court, they're having to specialize in a lot of different things.
- 8:05SPEAKER_02: But that was truly Barrett Peary's role, and that's exactly what Steve Green is going to be doing.
- 8:10SPEAKER_02: And that's really good news for Texas Tech basketball because Steve Green, I mean, if you've been in West Texas for the last couple of decades and you've watched a basketball game, you've seen the fingerprints of Steve Green on the basketball court, whether you realize it or not.
- 8:23SPEAKER_02: I mean, just an absolute offensive guru.
- 8:25SPEAKER_02: He's really worked on the perimeter.
- 8:27SPEAKER_02: I think that that's going to truly become one of Texas Tech's strengths as we look at, you know, just some of the weaknesses that they had last year.
- 8:35SPEAKER_02: I think perimeter play is definitely a big part of Steve Green's game.
- 8:39SPEAKER_02: And then with that, you've got a guy in Al Pinkins who who has a demonstrated track record of really, really developing backcourts.
- 8:45SPEAKER_02: And that's good news for Texas Tech as well, because I mean, there are some guards on this team, especially a couple of true freshman guards that have the potential to be really special.
- 8:55SPEAKER_02: And to have guys in the building that know how to develop that offensive talent is a really big thing.
- 9:00SPEAKER_02: And then a quick word on Luke.
- 9:01SPEAKER_02: I mean, I understand that these guys that can kind of come from the JUCO route can kind of get looked over and their roles can kind of be diminished.
- 9:08SPEAKER_02: And of course, there's the thing of like, oh, Mark Adams just hired his son, like who cares?
- 9:12SPEAKER_02: But ask anybody in the JUCO world who Luke Adams is and they will know.
- 9:16SPEAKER_02: Like, this is a guy that's very respected at that rank of the college basketball world.
- 9:21SPEAKER_02: He's going to be a great asset in recruiting the JUCO trail for the years to come.
- 9:26SPEAKER_02: And then just a couple of returners that I think are key to highlight here.
- 9:29SPEAKER_02: Um, mainly Darby Rich.
- 9:31SPEAKER_02: Um, just a guy that strength and conditioning coaches can kind of fly under the radar, especially Darby's kind of like a quiet guy.
- 9:38SPEAKER_02: You know, he posts on Twitter his guys to highlight them, but he's not standing on the bench flailing a towel around all the time.
- 9:44SPEAKER_02: Um, but Darby is a really, really big asset for this program.
- 9:49SPEAKER_02: And we're gonna get into some players that are returning and that I think will make a big leap this season.
- 9:54SPEAKER_02: And a lot of that is credit to what Darby has done with these guys, and so he's a big guy to have back in the building, and then just consistency across the staff is a good thing to see.
- 10:04SPEAKER_02: Corey Williams, obviously a great recruiter.
- 10:07SPEAKER_02: Rick Cooper is a guy that's really respected.
- 10:10SPEAKER_02: Sean Sean Sutton is a guy um that Mark Adams loves and who loves Texas Tech.
- 10:15SPEAKER_02: And so I'm excited about this staff.
- 10:17SPEAKER_02: And I think one thing that that really stands out is just the mutual respect that they all have for one another.
- 10:24SPEAKER_02: And that can kind of seem like a corny chemistry thing to talk about, but when you have staff in a room that are butting heads, it can be really difficult to create a comprehensive game plan.
- 10:35SPEAKER_02: And with this, I think we have a group of guys that really respect one another and want to win basketball games, and that can go a long way.
- 10:42SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 10:43SPEAKER_04: I think everything you said was pretty spot on there, talking about everybody.
- 10:46SPEAKER_04: Uh, I wanted to I wanted to kind of highlight because Steve Green and Barr Peary, I think they run they run pretty different offenses, but we also have a very different roster this year that we will get into.
- 10:59SPEAKER_04: Um, but what kind of offense has Steve Green really ran at South Plains over the years and and what is what is he trying to bring to Lubbock?
- 11:09SPEAKER_02: If you've watched the Golden State Warriors over the last couple of years, that that's really the closest comparison to what SPC has done over the past couple of years.
- 11:18SPEAKER_02: It's a lot of up tempo, it's a lot of run and gun, it's a lot of getting shooters open, which is big.
- 11:24SPEAKER_02: And that's really the big difference in Steve Green's offense and Barrett Peary's offense, is Barrett Peary's offense is so centered around getting ball handlers into the lane and then creating open looks and going from there.
- 11:37SPEAKER_02: Whereas Green is much more meticulous in creating play designs that are created around getting shooters open.
- 11:44SPEAKER_02: And so I expect the three-point attempts to go up this year and for the quality of those attempts to be better, because I think that his offense is really meticulous.
- 11:53SPEAKER_02: That said, I think there might be a little bit of a learning curve for the guards on this roster, especially the freshmen, just because it's a difficult offense to play, but that's why you play non-con.
- 12:03SPEAKER_02: That's why you're in the gym every day this summer.
- 12:06SPEAKER_02: That's why you have guys that that are working as hard as they are.
- 12:08SPEAKER_02: And so I think there are plenty of reasons to be excited about Steve Green's offense.
- 12:13SPEAKER_02: And I think if you have been following the scrimmages or the practices, there are guys that are buying into that.
- 12:18SPEAKER_02: Davion Harman is a guy that immediately comes to my mind as somebody who's just been playing really hard in transition this offseason.
- 12:25SPEAKER_02: And I think a lot of credit to that goes to Steve Green.
- 12:30SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 12:31SPEAKER_04: Um, Mark Adams, this is his second year as head coach here at Texas Tech.
- 12:36SPEAKER_04: The expectations are pretty high at this point.
- 12:38SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, you're coming off uh some great years with Chris Beard and then an and then an awesome year last year, sweet 16 run, everything like that.
- 12:46SPEAKER_04: What are your expectations for Mark Adams going into year two as a head coach?
- 12:50SPEAKER_04: Uh, how he goes about this team?
- 12:52SPEAKER_04: Uh, what are your kind of expectations for for Adams in year two?
- 12:57SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think a big part of year one is trying to find your voice and trying to figure out what kind of program you exactly want to build.
- 13:05SPEAKER_02: And that did not come without hurdles for Mark Adams last year.
- 13:09SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you know, very emotional season in the way that the schedule is structured.
- 13:14SPEAKER_02: You have some guys that leave the program, you have some coaching staff that leaves, and so you're just really trying to survive year one and lay a strong foundation.
- 13:24SPEAKER_02: Obviously, Mark Adams did much more than that.
- 13:26SPEAKER_02: He he showed that he can instill a culture in a program, he showed that he can lead a team, he showed that he can recruit, you showed that he can still play good defense when he's you know at the head of the bench.
- 13:37SPEAKER_02: And so I think year two, you have no reason to expect anything less from Mark Adams than than greatness.
- 13:43SPEAKER_02: I mean, the uh it truly just feels like the trajectory of Texas Tech basketball just continues to increase.
- 13:50SPEAKER_02: Like I think a lot of people on the outside looking in were saying, okay, Texas Tech is entering this new phase as a program.
- 13:56SPEAKER_02: There's probably going to be a decline.
- 13:58SPEAKER_02: They're probably not going to keep up the level of of consistency that they've had over the years, but I truly think that it's just going to keep going up for Texas Tech and Mark Adams.
- 14:08SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Tristan, what what are your kind of thoughts on Mark going into year two?
- 14:11SPEAKER_03: No, I couldn't agree more.
- 14:12SPEAKER_03: Um, we kind of already talked about how he nailed it this past season and really gave the fans what they were really dreaming of.
- 14:20SPEAKER_03: I mean, what what we were expecting and what we were hoping for were probably two different things, if we're honest with ourselves.
- 14:26SPEAKER_03: And he surpassed it.
- 14:27SPEAKER_03: He made it to the dreaming of uh part of it.
- 14:30SPEAKER_03: And uh that buys you a lot of goodwill, no matter really, no matter how this year goes.
- 14:34SPEAKER_03: But I'm with Ryan, I don't think we'll see a step back.
- 14:36SPEAKER_03: Um, and not only, you know, it's kind of becoming a thing with coaches where every year they have to reload, probably in this sport more so than any other at this point, just due to the transfer uh nature of this game now.
- 14:47SPEAKER_03: Um, but and it's not even just the players he's having to reload with, he's having to reload coaches like we kind of just went down with big ones of your key assistant coaches.
- 14:55SPEAKER_03: Um, but he brings in guys like Ryan was talking about that they they all seem to really trust each other and respect each other, and they're all coming from the same cloth.
- 15:03SPEAKER_03: Like these are all JUCO guys from the same sort of zone.
- 15:07SPEAKER_03: So you gotta feel like everything is cohesive in that locker room.
- 15:11SPEAKER_03: And I gotta say, I really like these uh uh community college, junior college coaches because I mean our headman is a legend in it, and he seems to translate that game no problem.
- 15:21SPEAKER_03: So I don't I expect all these guys to bounce up with it too.
- 15:23SPEAKER_03: And obviously, all these players are coming in, you know, this is this is a culture program, and they have to buy in to be successful.
- 15:29SPEAKER_03: And I have no doubt that these guys have got our boys right.
- 15:32SPEAKER_03: And I feel good.
- 15:33SPEAKER_03: I think obviously I think there's the expectation is obviously the tournament, and you got to get to the tournament to at least meet that first expectation, in my opinion.
- 15:40SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think uh hitting on the JUCO point is is really valuable and really key uh because those guys always have a chip on their shoulder, uh, whether it's players coming from there, whether it's coaches from those ranks, uh they just have a different kind of dog in them and a different uh kind of fight.
- 15:55SPEAKER_04: And I think that's what Mark Adams wants.
- 15:57SPEAKER_04: He wants fighters that are also basketball players.
- 15:59SPEAKER_04: That's what he said in Media Day.
- 16:00SPEAKER_04: So um we talked about roster turnover, and man, there's a lot of it.
- 16:04SPEAKER_04: There is a lot of this is a completely revamped roster.
- 16:08SPEAKER_04: I mean, uh, I think I broke it down on Twitter maybe last year at some point.
- 16:11SPEAKER_04: We've lost three starters every single year, Texas Tech Basketball since I think 2017.
- 16:15SPEAKER_03: Look at you grudge the numbers.
- 16:17SPEAKER_04: This time we lose we lose a lot.
- 16:20SPEAKER_04: Uh let's let's kind of break down uh the rosters or the the guys on the roster from last year that are no longer on the roster.
- 16:28SPEAKER_04: Um Bryson Williams.
- 16:29SPEAKER_04: Uh you got to talk about him first.
- 16:31SPEAKER_04: Uh obviously ran out of eligibility, uh, recently signed by the Los Angeles Clippers.
- 16:35SPEAKER_04: Um Adonis Arms, a guy that we all loved and embraced and came on.
- 16:39SPEAKER_04: He is now with the Phoenix Suns.
- 16:41SPEAKER_04: Uh Davion Warren as well.
- 16:43SPEAKER_04: He's with the G League College Park Skyhawks.
- 16:45SPEAKER_04: Marcus Sanosilva tried his shot at the NFL.
- 16:48SPEAKER_04: Uh, you know, we'll see how that career plays out.
- 16:50SPEAKER_04: He was cut from the Cleveland Browns, but uh man, we're hoping for the best for him.
- 16:54SPEAKER_04: Clarence Nadolny moved on.
- 16:56SPEAKER_04: Uh a little bit of a late uh roster leave there, going over to AS Monaco.
- 17:02SPEAKER_04: I believe he's signed to a preseason deal, is what I kind of read up on.
- 17:06SPEAKER_04: I'm not sure if you, but he's gonna try his his like playing overseas and doing that.
- 17:10SPEAKER_04: Uh, then you get your transfers.
- 17:12SPEAKER_04: Um, guys, that we we uh we were sad to see go, a little frustrated to see go.
- 17:17SPEAKER_04: Uh Kevin McCullough obviously moving on to Kansas.
- 17:20SPEAKER_04: Terrence Shannon Jr.
- 17:22SPEAKER_04: is trying his bet in the Big Ten with Illinois.
- 17:24SPEAKER_04: Uh Malik Wilson going over to Houston.
- 17:27SPEAKER_04: Uh, your guy, Ryan.
- 17:28SPEAKER_04: I'm sorry.
- 17:29SPEAKER_04: The Buozo hive.
- 17:30SPEAKER_04: I I'm so sorry.
- 17:32SPEAKER_04: Chabu.
- 17:33SPEAKER_04: It never got buzzing.
- 17:34SPEAKER_04: No, it never quite got buzzing here, but he is gonna be a guy at Boise State, and we're we're rooting for him.
- 17:40SPEAKER_04: Uh Ethan Duncan also left uh pretty late on.
- 17:43SPEAKER_04: Uh, we don't know where he's transferring to, but hopefully somewhere where he can get to play in time.
- 17:48SPEAKER_04: Um Ryan, when you look at all the guys that we've lost from last year's team, uh, what is your first initial reaction to what is going to be difficult to replace?
- 17:58SPEAKER_04: And uh just just the overall thoughts on on the losses that we suffered this offseason.
- 18:04SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, first things first, as you mentioned, you got to start with Bryson Williams.
- 18:08SPEAKER_02: And you look at the numbers, and I mean, 14 points per game, four rebounds, uh, you know, 53% shooting from the field, those are good numbers.
- 18:17SPEAKER_02: Uh but you turn on the film and Texas Tech was a completely different team when Bryson Williams was off the court than when he was on last year.
- 18:26SPEAKER_02: Uh and that's gonna be by far uh just the most difficult hole to fill this year.
- 18:32SPEAKER_02: And I mean, you've got a great load of candidates um in in your front court, but Bryson Williams is a professional basketball player.
- 18:41SPEAKER_02: There's no doubt in my mind about that.
- 18:44SPEAKER_02: He he was consistent, he was versatile, he played his heart out every single night, and he was just a guy that played basketball at a different caliber than a lot of people in the best conference in basketball.
- 18:55SPEAKER_02: And so that's definitely gonna be, I think, the hardest gap for you to fill.
- 19:00SPEAKER_02: And then you look at the wings, and I mean you're losing three, maybe four, if you want to kind of throw Davion Warren into the wing type role, guys that were playing big minutes for you last season.
- 19:10SPEAKER_02: Obviously, you know, the two mainstays being Terrence Shannon and Kevin McCullough.
- 19:14SPEAKER_02: Um, those are gonna be interesting losses to watch play out.
- 19:18SPEAKER_02: I think if you've been monitoring either of their stories throughout this offseason, they've made it pretty clear that they wanted to go somewhere where they could kind of play a different style of offense.
- 19:27SPEAKER_02: And I think when you look at what Steve Green is trying to do and what Mark Adams has shown that he wants to do, I think that's probably for the best because I think that this is not gonna be a team that runs ISO ball for for 40 minutes a night.
- 19:39SPEAKER_02: This is gonna be a team that's gonna try and spread the ball around, they're gonna create open shots, the ball's not gonna stick.
- 19:45SPEAKER_02: And so um it's understandable that those guys uh don't buy into that.
- 19:49SPEAKER_02: And I mean, like, truly, it truly is.
- 19:52SPEAKER_02: I understand that guys want to go pro and want to have the ball in their hands as much as possible, but I think that Texas Tech definitely finds itself with some holes on its roster, but that they've done a good job at plugging those through the transfer portal and also through the incoming class that they've signed.
- 20:08SPEAKER_02: And so I think that there's still some TBDs with how these kind of exiters will be replaced and how those spots will be filled, but I do think that there should be a sort of cautious optimism about it.
- 20:22SPEAKER_02: I mean, when you're talking about losing two guys who have been in your program for a long time, a guy who was a college basketball mainstay and is now playing professional basketball, it's hard to be optimistic about that.
- 20:34SPEAKER_02: But I truly think that there are an abundance of reasons for you to be excited about that.
- 20:41SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 20:41SPEAKER_04: Tristan, the emotional part of this, losing the transfers.
- 20:45SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, there was obviously uh when when Twitter, when Twitter hit, when Kevin McCullough decided he was going uh to Kansas, uh a lot of our fan base reacted in a very negative way.
- 20:56SPEAKER_04: Um, what what are kind of your thoughts from the emotional state of Texas Tech fans thinking about Kevin McCullough transferring to Kansas and uh and Terrence Shannon, specifically those two guys transferring to other Power Five schools?
- 21:08SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's a good question, too.
- 21:09SPEAKER_03: It's uh it you were that one really rocked us.
- 21:12SPEAKER_03: Uh the guy I think they're really you're having two different conversations, in my opinion, though.
- 21:17SPEAKER_03: Um, I think the Kevin McColler one was obviously that's a gut punch.
- 21:21SPEAKER_03: That was that was bored.
- 21:22SPEAKER_03: That was like that had Chris Beard flavors.
- 21:25SPEAKER_03: Um, you're not that mad about leaving.
- 21:28SPEAKER_03: Obviously, you're you're you're you're you're you're your mind's blown because you know he's a legacy player, he's been you're he's been Texas Tech basketball for years now.
- 21:37SPEAKER_03: Um, and then you go to the national champion and her conference rival Kansas, and you're not gonna you're not gonna be received well.
- 21:45SPEAKER_03: And I think tech fans have every reason in the world to be very upset about it, be pissed about it, and give him hell when it comes to Lubbock.
- 21:52SPEAKER_03: I think that's absolutely great.
- 21:54SPEAKER_03: I think that's that's the nature of the game, and you're not exempt from it.
- 21:57SPEAKER_03: And I think that's how it's gonna go.
- 21:59SPEAKER_03: That All the goodwill you brought, you you bought from the fans that you know we gave you while you're a Texas Tech Red Raider goes away when you leave go to the Kansas Jayhawks.
- 22:08SPEAKER_03: It does.
- 22:08SPEAKER_03: And you know, we can be thankful for what happens while you'll see the great memories.
- 22:12SPEAKER_03: But dude, now that's that's that milk has gone sour now.
- 22:16SPEAKER_03: So but and uh but when we talk about uh Terrence Shannon, you saw a completely different reaction.
- 22:21SPEAKER_03: Like everyone was just kind of like, you know, TJ, go and find whatever's right for you because you know this past season things did feel off with him.
- 22:29SPEAKER_03: And if is it just me, or am I just is this just a vibe thing?
- 22:32SPEAKER_03: So no, definitely.
- 22:33SPEAKER_04: I mean, we we talked about it in last year's preview how Terrence Shannon was gonna be the guy for Texas Tech.
- 22:38SPEAKER_04: And now we didn't know how Bryson Williams was going to be in a Texas Tech uniform taken over as you know, kind of your mainstay of the offense, but we were all expecting Terrence Shannon to be that guy, and whether it was due to injuries or uh really just not finding his spot in the offense, I think uh we were all kind of disappointed with overall, and I'm sure TJ was too with his role on this team.
- 22:58SPEAKER_04: And so uh, Ryan, I don't know what your thoughts are on TJ's last year and him transferring everything like that.
- 23:05SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I think it was it was obvious if you watch Texas Tech basketball throughout last season that TJ and the staff were not on the same page um in a variety of different times and ways.
- 23:18SPEAKER_02: I think that there's just a difficult thing to kind of enter the season and expect that you know you're you're gonna be the guy.
- 23:26SPEAKER_02: And by all means, he should have expected to be the guy.
- 23:29SPEAKER_02: The problem is that you bring in a guy who's an NBA player, and that's a difficult thing to adjust to, to kind of set back those expectations and say, hey, all right, this guy is gonna score the majority of our points, and I'm gonna have to fill in where I can, and that's gonna be that.
- 23:44SPEAKER_02: And you know, I don't think he's wrong for feeling that way.
- 23:47SPEAKER_02: Um, but I definitely do think that, you know, this marriage wasn't gonna last.
- 23:52SPEAKER_02: I think it makes sense that he's at another school now.
- 23:55SPEAKER_02: I think I probably would have felt pretty confident in saying that um, you know, December or January of of last year, just given how the season was playing out, given how rifts were being portrayed, how frustrated he was on the court at times.
- 24:09SPEAKER_02: And then McCullough, like Tristan, man, I agree with you.
- 24:12SPEAKER_02: I think that's what makes college basketball so great, is that you you mix college basketball in West Texas and you end up with some of the craziest people on earth.
- 24:22SPEAKER_02: You end up with some people that are insanely loyal and passionate.
- 24:26SPEAKER_02: And by all means, Kevin McCullough is is loved in Lubbock, but he's also gonna receive hell on January 3rd, and he should.
- 24:34SPEAKER_02: Um, and and that's what makes this sport great, and that's why I love it.
- 24:38SPEAKER_03: For sure.
- 24:38SPEAKER_03: Way to perfect perfectly put that.
- 24:40SPEAKER_03: Like it's it's absolutely a Lubbock West Texas thing.
- 24:43SPEAKER_03: Just the insane over-the-top loyalty we have for Tex Tech.
- 24:46SPEAKER_03: And whenever you you turn your back on it, it feels like you're spinning in our pace.
- 24:49SPEAKER_03: So it really pisses us off.
- 24:51SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the for sure.
- 24:53SPEAKER_04: The last thing I want to talk about with these uh with the players that we lost, you're losing some real culture guys.
- 24:59SPEAKER_04: I mean, from Bryson Williams and and Kevin McCullough and you know, the guys that really produced on the court, you're also losing guys like Marcus Sanosilva, who was here uh as a transfer.
- 25:08SPEAKER_04: Uh, you're losing a guy like Clarence Adolney, who stayed through uh the Chris Beard stuff, a guy in uh Adonis Arms who came in and really bought into the culture and became one of uh the mainstays and who you who you see as a Texas Tech basketball player.
- 25:24SPEAKER_04: Um, what does that do for Mark Adams, not having those experienced uh players, those veterans on your roster?
- 25:31SPEAKER_04: How does that how could that affect this team going into next season?
- 25:36SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it forces somebody to step up.
- 25:38SPEAKER_02: And what's gonna be unique about this year is you've got Kevin O'Banner, who by all means is a very vocal leader.
- 25:46SPEAKER_02: He's quiet, but he's vocal.
- 25:48SPEAKER_02: He knows how to lead a locker room, he knows how to get under your skin, he knows how to inspire you to win.
- 25:53SPEAKER_02: And so I think that that immediate gap is filled by KO.
- 25:57SPEAKER_02: But then you've got two guys who are relatively new to the program that have seemed to have stepped up this past offseason.
- 26:03SPEAKER_02: One of them is Davion Harman, who by all means has become kind of the outspoken leader for this team and has just been a voice and a competitor day in and day out.
- 26:14SPEAKER_02: And I think that's been really good for this team.
- 26:16SPEAKER_02: And then you have a guy in Jalen Tyson, who I think you know is going to be a great basketball player and who is kind of finding his voice as a as a leader and a you know, a team guy, but I think he comes with like a little bit of extra jazz because of the Chris Beardrift.
- 26:34SPEAKER_02: And that feels silly, but to say, like, man, I get it.
- 26:38SPEAKER_02: Like I've been on the other side of what you guys are feeling, and I understand it.
- 26:42SPEAKER_02: And so now let's let's come together and let's go kick his ass.
- 26:46SPEAKER_02: Like that's exactly what you want to do.
- 26:48SPEAKER_02: And so I think that that's something that can kind of get overlooked, but it's a big thing, and I think that it can go a long ways.
- 26:56SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's a that's a good way to put it.
- 26:58SPEAKER_04: Let speaking of KO, because he's your main returner, he's your one starter that's coming back from last year's team.
- 27:03SPEAKER_04: Uh, he's a guy that I don't really I think I don't think I really expected him to come back and use that extra year of eligibility that he got, but you know, he did, and he's really bought into Texas Tech and uh become your main guy, your returner, uh to and your main culture guy.
- 27:20SPEAKER_03: Uh better Kevin.
- 27:22SPEAKER_04: He is now nicknamed Better Kevin, uh, due to Kevin McCullough making his decision.
- 27:27SPEAKER_04: But um, Kevin O'Banner, what does he bring?
- 27:30SPEAKER_04: Um, why did he come back?
- 27:32SPEAKER_04: And uh how important is he to this team?
- 27:35SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, I'll just start with the leadership thing again.
- 27:38SPEAKER_02: I mean, this is a guy that's played in March a lot, and he's played really good basketball in March.
- 27:43SPEAKER_02: And so this is a guy that knows what it takes to win when the lights are brightest, and that's the really big deal, especially when you're dealing with a lot of new guys on the team, guys that haven't been in the tournament, guys that haven't even played college basketball.
- 27:54SPEAKER_02: That's a big deal to have somebody that's been on that stage, and then, you know, just looking at the numbers from last year, there's a big drop off from where he was at at Oral Roberts, and of course, that can be expected.
- 28:05SPEAKER_02: You know, the summit league is not the big 12, and so there's a learning curve.
- 28:09SPEAKER_02: And you know, I think that there were a lot of shots last year that could have gone down for him and just didn't, but you're looking at a 13% drop in his three-point percentage.
- 28:18SPEAKER_02: Look, man, this guy's not a 33% three-point shooter, he he's just not.
- 28:23SPEAKER_02: And regardless of what happened last year, you know, you can have slumps that are season long.
- 28:30SPEAKER_02: I I don't know what it was that that caused him to shoot that low, but I would be very, very surprised if it happened again.
- 28:36SPEAKER_02: And then with O'Banner, too, I think the thing is is that we saw last season where something just flipped for him and the shots weren't going down from deep.
- 28:43SPEAKER_02: And so he said, Okay, I'm not making these shots, so now I'm gonna go on the block.
- 28:47SPEAKER_02: I'm just gonna bully dudes, I'm gonna go get every single rebound that I can, and I'm gonna either draw a foul or put it back in the basket.
- 28:54SPEAKER_02: And that kind of attitude is what can make a fifth-year senior like this guy so so important.
- 29:00SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, I don't think Kevin O'Banner will lead this team in scoring.
- 29:03SPEAKER_02: I I don't think that he's gonna be, you know, Big 12 player of the year caliber.
- 29:08SPEAKER_02: I know that a lot of people have high expectations for him.
- 29:11SPEAKER_02: I think he's gonna be a great player, though, and I think that he's going to be an absolutely pivotal part of this team.
- 29:17SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I love that answer.
- 29:18SPEAKER_03: Whenever, whenever I think of KO, I truly think team captain.
- 29:21SPEAKER_03: Like, that's the first thing that comes into my head.
- 29:23SPEAKER_03: Like that he is the most important player on this team.
- 29:25SPEAKER_03: And from a morale standpoint, and like you said, I really like that you, you know, he he you talk about how he adapted.
- 29:31SPEAKER_03: And I think one thing that stood out to me about KO is the guy plays hard.
- 29:34SPEAKER_03: Like the guy, the guy plays all game, like he is in it, you know.
- 29:39SPEAKER_03: Um, no matter no matter what he's doing on the court.
- 29:42SPEAKER_03: And another thing that pops up in my head anytime I bring up KO, this is dumb, but Steven says he will never ever deny Kevin O'Banner a shot.
- 29:51SPEAKER_03: There's no shot in the world that Steven loves more than Kevin O'Banner's.
- 29:55SPEAKER_04: He could he could air ball 10 in a row and I still want him to shoot it.
- 29:58SPEAKER_04: He's just got that, he's got that pure shooting form that really gives you confidence.
- 30:02SPEAKER_04: And like you said, Ryan, he's not a 33% three-point shooter.
- 30:06SPEAKER_04: He's not.
- 30:06SPEAKER_04: What I'm most excited about Kevin O'Banner is seeing him with the true point card.
- 30:10SPEAKER_04: We didn't have that on last year's team, at least not playing big minutes.
- 30:13SPEAKER_04: Uh, you know, Kevin McCullough Adonis Arms played a lot of your ball handling, you know, uh main facilitator type roles.
- 30:19SPEAKER_04: I'm excited to see him with a Davion Harman or a Pop Isaacs or even Lamar Washington in here uh because he, yeah, Kevin O'Banner struggles to create his own shot.
- 30:29SPEAKER_04: But if he has those playmakers playing with him, getting him open looks, uh, finding him underneath the basket when he's wanting to play bully ball, uh, it's gonna be really important for this team uh going into next season.
- 30:41SPEAKER_04: And uh yeah, KO is probably not gonna be your leading scorer, but he's gonna be a consistent guy that's gonna give you 12 to 15 points, hopefully, and give you hopefully 10 rebounds a game.
- 30:50SPEAKER_04: Uh, if not, you know, he's battling up against when Dawes gets back and Bacho.
- 30:54SPEAKER_04: So um KO, I think, is is a really important piece to return.
- 30:58SPEAKER_04: And this team would not be the same going into this year without him.
- 31:02SPEAKER_04: Um, the other two uh fun returners, I will say, uh, guys that have uh are looking to take the leap in the second year of this program, uh, both transferred in last season.
- 31:13SPEAKER_04: Daniel Boccio and KJ Allen.
- 31:16SPEAKER_03: Um redemption time, Ryan.
- 31:18SPEAKER_04: Yeah, your guy, everybody's guy, Daniel Bacho.
- 31:22SPEAKER_04: Uh Mark Adams claimed he is the most improved player on this Texas Tech roster.
- 31:26SPEAKER_04: And we're gonna find out pretty immediately uh with Fardos' injury how good Daniel Bacho has gotten over the offseason.
- 31:34SPEAKER_04: Um, Ryan, your thoughts on on Bacho going into the year, his role and everything.
- 31:39SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, I wouldn't utter a single negative word against him at this point because it just keeps coming back to bite me.
- 31:46SPEAKER_02: But truly, I I cannot be more excited about what Daniel Bacho is gonna look like next year.
- 31:54SPEAKER_02: I mean, we truly could be talking about one of the most impressive offseason improvements in Texas Tech basketball history.
- 32:01SPEAKER_02: Like, I truly do think we're gonna see it.
- 32:02SPEAKER_02: I mean, we're talking about a guy that remember, he he was out of playing competitive basketball for about two years before last season, and he gets on the court and it's like, who is this seven-footer that's had two different knee surgeries and is moving like a wing out on the perimeter, defending ball handlers?
- 32:20SPEAKER_02: This is not natural.
- 32:21SPEAKER_02: And so now you've got him fully healthy all off season, working with the trainers, working throughout practices, working against guys that um are new to the program and are gonna try and bully him around a little bit.
- 32:35SPEAKER_02: And I think he's just been refined.
- 32:37SPEAKER_02: Um, he he's even more athletic than he was last season, which feels insane.
- 32:42SPEAKER_02: Like, I don't know what this guy's athletic ceiling is, but I still don't feel like we've reached it.
- 32:47SPEAKER_02: And the offensive game is just wild.
- 32:50SPEAKER_02: He's just got an absolute Swiss army knife of an offensive game for a guy his size.
- 32:55SPEAKER_02: It doesn't make sense.
- 32:56SPEAKER_02: Um, I think we're gonna be able to see him making good passes out of the post.
- 33:01SPEAKER_02: I think he's gonna be able to take the ball out of the mid-post a little bit more than just the low post.
- 33:06SPEAKER_02: And then I think his pick and roll game is gonna be widely improved.
- 33:09SPEAKER_02: And so I'm really excited to watch Daniel Bacho play basketball this season, especially at the front end of the year with with Dawes missing some time.
- 33:18SPEAKER_02: And then you've got a guy in KJ Allen who, you know, I think a lot some people had high expectations for him coming into last season.
- 33:26SPEAKER_02: You know, I was kind of skeptical, especially after watching the first couple of games.
- 33:30SPEAKER_02: It was like, all right, this guy's not exactly in Big 12 shape yet, but the athleticism is there.
- 33:36SPEAKER_02: Who he is as a player is there.
- 33:38SPEAKER_02: So take some time to get that out of him and then see what happens.
- 33:41SPEAKER_02: And you, if you've seen any picture of him this offseason, it's like, who is this guy?
- 33:46SPEAKER_02: Like this is not KJ Allen.
- 33:48SPEAKER_02: This guy's lost like 30 pounds.
- 33:50SPEAKER_02: I mean, he looks incredible, and I think that's gonna be a big, big factor into him getting more playing time this season.
- 33:58SPEAKER_02: I still don't know exactly what his role will look like.
- 34:00SPEAKER_02: I think he's gonna be really fighting with Robert Jennings for some of those minutes, but in terms of a guy that you can just send out on the pick and roll, like he's gonna be a force in that because he's quick and he's strong and he's athletic.
- 34:13SPEAKER_02: And so that's a guy that I'm excited to kind of see just how his body change is gonna be reflected in the way that he plays on the court.
- 34:21SPEAKER_04: Yeah, these are the two guys to me.
- 34:24SPEAKER_04: This is where you look at Darby Rich and see how good he is at his job.
- 34:28SPEAKER_04: Uh KJ Allen uh looks like a sculpted human that uh just I mean, he looks incredible.
- 34:35SPEAKER_04: He really does.
- 34:36SPEAKER_04: Go, I just go look at his uh his Monday Madness jumping over.
- 34:40SPEAKER_04: I think it was uh Corey Williams Jr.
- 34:42SPEAKER_04: uh doing that, you know, uh windmill over top of him.
- 34:45SPEAKER_04: He looks he looks awesome, and I think he could really be uh a guy off the bench that plays some really key, uh, a really key role for you.
- 34:52SPEAKER_04: Bacho, I mean, I am expecting a huge leap from him, and I think everybody is at this point.
- 34:57SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, Jeff Goodman said in the in the uh scrimmage that we had that he was the best looking player for Texas Tech.
- 35:04SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, I'm I'm looking forward to those two big lineups that that Adams is ready to throw out when Dawes gets healthy and have Bacho and Dawes in there.
- 35:11SPEAKER_04: Um, but yeah, uh Tristan, Daniel Bacho, how important is he to you personally?
- 35:16SPEAKER_03: It's just kind of it's just kind of funny to watch the guy you kind of expected to just be the the goofy tall fan favorite that the crowd goes crazy for whenever you put him in when you're blowing out a team, you know.
- 35:27SPEAKER_03: But he's really looking like he's taking on a big role, like y'all keep uh pointing out.
- 35:31SPEAKER_03: And you know, a sad thing is is this is no longer like the most French team in the country now that uh his time kick Clarence and Dolney has has run for the money overseas.
- 35:42SPEAKER_03: But dude, uh it's just great to have a tall force, you know, because it seems like lately, you know, even though we were a pretty big team last year, but it it'll be great to have a guy that truly fills that role and can do so much more.
- 35:56SPEAKER_03: So I'm really excited to see the fan favorite become a fan favorite in a different way.
- 36:01SPEAKER_03: So not just a goofy guy.
- 36:02SPEAKER_03: Now he's actually a real key piece.
- 36:04SPEAKER_03: And I'm really excited about it.
- 36:06SPEAKER_03: And it's just it's so great because now he's Ray Turner.
- 36:08SPEAKER_03: Now he's a veteran for us.
- 36:09SPEAKER_03: So we get to watch his career go.
- 36:10SPEAKER_03: He's only a redshirt sophomore.
- 36:12SPEAKER_03: So who knows how long we got the uh the French fry, you know?
- 36:14SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Daniel Boccio is not Russell Chewa, you know, Daniel Boccio is not Vlad Golden.
- 36:20SPEAKER_02: Daniel Boccio is take twice.
- 36:22SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Daniel Bacho is gonna be so much more, man.
- 36:25SPEAKER_04: And I'm so excited.
- 36:27SPEAKER_04: Go look at last year's uh game.
- 36:28SPEAKER_04: I think it was at West Virginia, that dunk he had at the end of the game where he was running the floor.
- 36:32SPEAKER_04: You just saw what Daniel Boccio could be.
- 36:34SPEAKER_04: Uh, and I'm expecting a lot more of that this coming season.
- 36:37SPEAKER_04: Um, specifically, so we do have another returner.
- 36:40SPEAKER_04: He's kind of a returner, transferred mid-year.
- 36:42SPEAKER_04: You mentioned him earlier, Ryan.
- 36:44SPEAKER_04: Uh, this guy could be your most important player this season.
- 36:47SPEAKER_04: Um, and I don't think that's an overreaction by any means.
- 36:50SPEAKER_04: Jalen Tyson coming in uh home, coming home, I should say.
- 36:54SPEAKER_04: Uh committed to Texas Tech uh out of high school, decommitted, went uh followed Chris Beard to uh UT, decided, hey, that kind of sucks.
- 37:03SPEAKER_04: Uh, I'm gonna go back uh back home to Lovick and uh and and you know rejoin the staff I should have been here in the first place.
- 37:10SPEAKER_04: But Jalen Tyson, how important is he to Texas Tech in 2022-23?
- 37:16SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, in all honesty, I think he's he could be the best player on this team.
- 37:20SPEAKER_02: Um, in terms of what he has from an offensive skills standpoint, it it's really rare.
- 37:27SPEAKER_02: It it's really not something that Texas Tech has come across very much in recent years.
- 37:32SPEAKER_02: Just a guy that's a pure three-level scorer, his shot is better than I think a lot of people were expecting, and even where it was at in high school, um, he's from Plano, which is where I'm from.
- 37:43SPEAKER_02: And so I got to watch a lot of his high school games, and just the package that he has, it is really, really impressive.
- 37:52SPEAKER_02: Just a true score.
- 37:53SPEAKER_02: That's what he does.
- 37:54SPEAKER_02: He can put the ball on the floor, you know, pull up jumpers, he can catch and shoot, he can get to the rim.
- 38:00SPEAKER_02: And then I think what what's kind of evolved this offseason is his on-ball defense has gotten a lot stronger.
- 38:06SPEAKER_02: He's gotten really good at defending on the ball, which was a weakness for him, it seems like, throughout the offseason, but that's something that seems to be turning a page.
- 38:14SPEAKER_02: And then he's a lot more comfortable getting to the rim.
- 38:17SPEAKER_02: And if those two things kind of keep hold, I would be very surprised if we're not looking back, you know, a year from now and saying, yeah, J Jalen Tyson was the best player on this team.
- 38:29SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
- 38:29SPEAKER_04: Do you do you have any do you have any uh insider info potentially on uh his his whole mentality towards transferring from Texas mid year, coming back to Texas Tech, his his maybe relationship with Chris Beard, do you have anything on that?
- 38:45SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, I mean I could speculate and and say, you know, I think that when you're trying to pull a guy away from a program and to come with you somewhere else, you're gonna talk a big game.
- 38:58SPEAKER_02: And when you don't deliver on that, it it fractures relationships.
- 39:02SPEAKER_02: And to kind of have the the retrospective of saying, all right, well, that wasn't as advertised, but I I value the relationships that I built at this place, I value the relationships that I built in Lubbock, and I like I think part of it too, and again, this is just speculation, but man, people were pissed when when Jalen decommitted, and rightfully so, like it sucks to lose a guy like that, but there's gotta be part of you that looks at that and goes, Who are these people?
- 39:30SPEAKER_02: Like Texas Tech fans are crazy, and I mean that that's just not kind of the attention that you're gonna get playing playing for the University of Texas.
- 39:39SPEAKER_02: I feel very comfortable saying that.
- 39:40SPEAKER_02: And so, yeah, I mean, I think you you want to play for a staff that you trust that that's honest with you and that values their relationship with you, and then I mean the fans in West Texas speak for themselves.
- 39:53SPEAKER_03: I I love the way Ryan talks mess, like he's just this even-tone guy, he just he just like obliterated ET, but um, and and and gassed up Texas Tech.
- 40:03SPEAKER_03: I just gotta say, Jalen Tyson, we forgive you.
- 40:06SPEAKER_03: Um, and I think Ryan really hit he kind of definitely uh went off what I was gonna go say as well.
- 40:10SPEAKER_03: Is I think a lot of front tech fans were really frustrated about, you know, perhaps the turn the program was gonna take with Chris Beard bailing.
- 40:17SPEAKER_03: That you know, Chris Beard was going was the recruiter, and now he's taking his his players with him, but him coming right back to us, just boomeranging right back around.
- 40:26SPEAKER_03: I think that just kind of reinforces our confidence in the staff that's saying no, it wasn't just a one-man show.
- 40:32SPEAKER_03: We have the superstar coach that uh can do all can do all that and then some too, and really build the relationship.
- 40:38SPEAKER_03: So I think that's what I think that's definitely what Jalen Tyson represents.
- 40:41SPEAKER_03: He like really represents the shift between the two coaches that we we uh definitely made it out alive, you know what I mean?
- 40:49SPEAKER_04: Yeah, that's a good way to put it.
- 40:50SPEAKER_04: Uh, I'm excited for Jalen Tyson, everything that he's gonna bring to this program.
- 40:54SPEAKER_04: Um, uh despite what Darby Rich says to the Talk and Tech podcast on Twitter, uh, I think he's an auto-starter.
- 41:01SPEAKER_04: Um, and and really excited to see him next year and how he develops as a as really one of the main keys pieces and one of the main guys on this team.
- 41:08SPEAKER_04: Uh, Tristan, you want to kind of talk about uh the guys we brought in, uh the guys that are gonna be new to the roster um in 2023.
- 41:17SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
- 41:17SPEAKER_03: So this is the exciting part, right?
- 41:19SPEAKER_03: This is where things are actually new.
- 41:20SPEAKER_03: This is where actually people can come and learn a thing or two from not Steven and I, Ryan Mainville, since Steve and I are not intelligent people.
- 41:27SPEAKER_03: Um so we're gonna start out with, I mean, you can't not bring this guy up first.
- 41:33SPEAKER_03: It's Fardaw's AMAC.
- 41:35SPEAKER_03: I mean, this guy is a phenomenon coming into Lubbock, definitely the biggest transfer coupe of the whole season, one of the one of the most coveted players in the entire country.
- 41:44SPEAKER_03: That little old Texas Tech was able to reel in.
- 41:47SPEAKER_03: So, I mean, we gotta start there, right, gentlemen.
- 41:49SPEAKER_03: What do y'all what do y'all think about our our our new very, very tall boy, but in but moves like a very small boy, Fardaw's A Mac.
- 41:55SPEAKER_03: What do we think there?
- 41:56SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think yeah, Dawes is a is a huge pickup.
- 42:00SPEAKER_02: I mean, a guy that's been playing college basketball for a minute, I think that he's really undervalued just in the ways that people have looked at him from a transfer standpoint because of where he was playing basketball before Texas Tech.
- 42:14SPEAKER_02: But this is a guy that just has dominated the low post in college basketball for the past couple of years.
- 42:21SPEAKER_02: And, you know, the injury sucks.
- 42:23SPEAKER_02: It it really, really hurts.
- 42:24SPEAKER_02: And to have a guy that, you know, is gonna miss some time, it's a bummer because this is a guy that was trending towards having a really good offseason and a guy that showed an increase in athleticism, he showed an increase in his ability to score around the rim.
- 42:39SPEAKER_02: He was attacking the basket really well, and then I mean the foot injury happens and it's a huge letdown.
- 42:46SPEAKER_02: But I think that Dawes is still in for a massive role on this team.
- 42:49SPEAKER_02: I think that as soon as he's back and he's healthy, uh, the the starting job is his.
- 42:54SPEAKER_02: You know, this this probably isn't going to be a Tyler Shuck, Barron Morton situation with Daniel Boccio, although I do think that Boccio will obviously continue to be a centerpiece of this team.
- 43:06SPEAKER_02: But I mean, Fardoz AMAC is a power five starter.
- 43:08SPEAKER_02: I I think that's clear and obvious if you've watched him play basketball um for the past couple of years.
- 43:14SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm extremely excited for for Dawes to come in.
- 43:17SPEAKER_04: Um, yeah, the foot injury is disappointing.
- 43:20SPEAKER_04: Um, and and on bigs, it's especially disappointing because you hate to see lower leg, foot, anything like that.
- 43:25SPEAKER_04: It's ruined a lot of careers, but I don't think this is one of those.
- 43:28SPEAKER_04: I think it's just gonna keep him out for a good while.
- 43:30SPEAKER_04: Mark Adams mentioned um the start of Big 12 play at the latest is when he will be back.
- 43:37SPEAKER_04: Um, so you know, we could see him, I don't know, middle of non-con.
- 43:41SPEAKER_04: I know they were getting a uh uh another scan on everything and uh seeing where he was sometime this week.
- 43:46SPEAKER_04: But um, yeah, he's uh he's a guy who averaged 19 points a game and almost 14 rebounds a game.
- 43:51SPEAKER_04: Uh yeah, it was at Utah Valley State, but uh he also he also shot 43 and a half percent from three, and he didn't shoot a lot of them, but Man, for a guy that's nearly seven feet tall, uh, it's an extremely uh good trait to have, uh, being able to shoot outside.
- 44:09SPEAKER_04: He was doing some stuff in some of that Utah Valley film that I just haven't seen in a long time in college basketball.
- 44:15SPEAKER_04: I mean, some of this off-the-dribble floaters for a guy his size uh while still maintaining a great post-game, uh, he's really gonna be a valuable piece uh when he does come back.
- 44:25SPEAKER_04: And he's as soon as he comes back, he's gonna uh, you know, you hope you're in a good spot as a team at that point.
- 44:30SPEAKER_04: But um, man, I think he's really gonna take you to that next step, that next level that you want to be.
- 44:36SPEAKER_03: And I think a special little bonus you get with this guy is not only are you getting a basketball player, you are getting a personality.
- 44:42SPEAKER_03: I think I think he's been a ton of fun to watch on Twitter, right?
- 44:45SPEAKER_03: The way he's been interacting with the fans and the community, he just seems like a really fun dude that's already really bought into Texas Tech and Lubbock in West Texas.
- 44:53SPEAKER_03: And as tech fans, we adore that, we're suckers for that.
- 44:57SPEAKER_03: So I just like to toss that in.
- 44:58SPEAKER_03: I mean, the shout out to uh Coach Beans for the for the recruitment on that one.
- 45:03SPEAKER_04: So we salute you, we salute you, Coach Beans, for your hard uh work and your effort to get Fordos here to Lubbock.
- 45:10SPEAKER_03: Uh but um on the moving on to the next one.
- 45:14SPEAKER_03: Um, this I was really surprised with the way uh Ryan Mainville was already really talking this guy up.
- 45:20SPEAKER_03: And that that's what excites me to bring this guy up is this Davion Harmon.
- 45:23SPEAKER_03: Um, Ryan seems to really, really dig this guy, talking about how he's already stepping up to be a bit of a leader role there.
- 45:29SPEAKER_03: Um, we tech fans should be pretty familiar with this guy.
- 45:31SPEAKER_03: We've seen him before, and he's been around the block a few times.
- 45:34SPEAKER_03: So, what do we think about bringing in our guy Davion?
- 45:37SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm really intrigued by him.
- 45:39SPEAKER_02: And part of that is because I don't really know exactly what he's going to do next year, but I know that exactly whatever it is is going to work because that's just kind of the basketball player that he's proven to be throughout his career.
- 45:52SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, I wouldn't I wouldn't go out on the limb of saying, you know, he's a true point guard.
- 45:57SPEAKER_02: I think that he's got some good playmaking ability.
- 46:01SPEAKER_02: I don't think that he's necessarily a true point guard in the way that it's typically thought of.
- 46:07SPEAKER_02: But that said, I think that he gets to play alongside guys that will share the ball handling responsibilities with him, will be a really good thing for him.
- 46:15SPEAKER_02: I think that the shot can be better.
- 46:17SPEAKER_02: I think that it will get better.
- 46:18SPEAKER_02: I think we saw some improvement last year at Oregon, even in the midst of a really bad, you know, kind of season for the ducks.
- 46:25SPEAKER_02: I think that that's something that will be uh definitely an increase and a step up from a year before.
- 46:30SPEAKER_02: And then with Dave John Harmon as well, I just the athleticism is something to take note of.
- 46:36SPEAKER_02: Uh, just the way that this guy has been able to work in transition is really impressive.
- 46:42SPEAKER_02: And the defense is better.
- 46:43SPEAKER_02: He's a guy that's been practicing hard, who does not take a playoff, who's just been playing with a lot of grit, he's really bought into that Texas Tech culture.
- 46:51SPEAKER_02: And so, you know, Davion Harman, I think he's a bit of a question mark on offense for me right now as far as role goes.
- 46:57SPEAKER_02: But I think that if you stick him next to Pop Isaacs on the floor and you just kind of let them both figure out what it takes to be a playmaker in the Big 12, good things are gonna happen.
- 47:07SPEAKER_02: There are gonna be some headaches, but good things are gonna happen.
- 47:12SPEAKER_04: Yeah, Davion Harman is the most interesting transfer to me uh on what he's going to provide for this team, uh, the kind of leadership that he's gonna bring.
- 47:21SPEAKER_04: This is uh a year ago to this day, I was thrilled that he was no longer at Oklahoma.
- 47:26SPEAKER_04: I was like, oh my god, thank God we got him out of the Big 12 because he killed us and he's an absolute weapon.
- 47:32SPEAKER_04: And he goes to Oregon and they just have a uh a mess of a roster.
- 47:36SPEAKER_04: They were playing a lot of three guard lineups that I just don't think fit Davion very well.
- 47:40SPEAKER_04: Um, and clearly he didn't think so either and transferred out after a year.
- 47:44SPEAKER_04: So who wants to play on that court?
- 47:46SPEAKER_03: Yeah, what's that?
- 47:47SPEAKER_03: Who wants to play on that Oregon team?
- 47:49SPEAKER_03: That's true.
- 47:49SPEAKER_04: That's true.
- 47:50SPEAKER_04: That court is uh disgusting in every single way.
- 47:53SPEAKER_04: Uh, but yeah, glad he's out of there and glad he's back in the Big 12 with the right team because uh he can be, he's so talented.
- 48:00SPEAKER_04: He's a DFW guy.
- 48:01SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, clearly uh is gonna have a huge role on next year's team.
- 48:06SPEAKER_04: Um the you know, the stats don't really pop out at you, you know, almost 11 points a game to assist a game, but uh how he works and and this is the surprising thing.
- 48:16SPEAKER_04: We'll get to pop and we'll get to the starting, you know, starting lineup predictions and everything, but having another ball handler with him uh is gonna be, I think, the way to go with this.
- 48:26SPEAKER_04: Um, having more of a true point guard where he can kind of you know go off ball, uh cut, make cuts, and he's just so athletic that he can provide a lot of different things for your offense.
- 48:38SPEAKER_04: Uh, it's just how we use him.
- 48:40SPEAKER_04: And um, I'm excited to see how Davion fits in with the rest of the team.
- 48:46SPEAKER_03: Yeah, boys.
- 48:46SPEAKER_03: So uh moving on to number three here.
- 48:49SPEAKER_03: Uh another interesting one, another interesting one to talk about here.
- 48:52SPEAKER_03: It's it's current it's Kerwin Walden.
- 48:54SPEAKER_03: And I would be lying if the casual fan in me said is it isn't intrigued that it's a transfer from North Carolina, right?
- 49:04SPEAKER_03: Because the casual fan will see a name like North Carolina and assume that this kid kicks ass if you're recruited by the by the by the tar heels.
- 49:11SPEAKER_03: So let's go ahead.
- 49:12SPEAKER_03: Well, obviously, we're gonna put our our our passionate fan hats back on and go a little deeper than that.
- 49:18SPEAKER_03: What do we think about the North Carolina transfer?
- 49:20SPEAKER_02: Yeah, if Kerwin Walton can shoot the ball well, he's gonna find a consistent role on this team.
- 49:26SPEAKER_02: I I really think that's all it's gonna take um for him to get minutes on this team.
- 49:30SPEAKER_02: I think that he's kind of a guy that I'm really trying to figure out exactly what the word is this offseason.
- 49:34SPEAKER_02: I kind of feel like he's like the Adonis Arms of this offseason, where he's kind of flying under the radar.
- 49:41SPEAKER_02: He's kind of a guy that's trying to figure out exactly where he fits in on the offensive end.
- 49:46SPEAKER_02: And like, I just don't feel good saying anything about it because I I think it was on your pod actually, where I was uh like, yeah, Adonis Arms, like they they can't figure out what to do with him right now, can't play point guard, can't shoot the ball.
- 49:59SPEAKER_02: Like he's probably gonna ride the bench for a lot of the season, and then he makes it to the NBA.
- 50:02SPEAKER_02: And so, like, I don't know what to say about Curren Walton.
- 50:05SPEAKER_02: I I think the shot speaks for itself, like even just looking at videos from the the Monday Midnight Madness thing or whatever, like the kid could shoot the ball.
- 50:13SPEAKER_02: And so if he does that, he he's gonna have minutes and it's gonna be good minutes, and he's lengthy, like that's a guy that Mark Adams can use, that's a guy that Mark Adams can develop.
- 50:22SPEAKER_02: And so if you can be a guy that can make your shots and then play good perimeter defense, you're you're gonna find minutes on this team.
- 50:30SPEAKER_04: Yeah, when I look at Kerwin, I see a guy who could not benefit more from a uh change of scenery.
- 50:37SPEAKER_04: And now he was on a uh winning team last year, a team that made it all the way to the championship, but uh, you know, he wasn't playing on that team.
- 50:44SPEAKER_04: He actually uh had a reduction in playing time from his freshman to his sophomore year.
- 50:49SPEAKER_04: He was playing almost 21 minutes a game and then down to 13 last year.
- 50:53SPEAKER_04: Um, but that shot is pure, man.
- 50:54SPEAKER_04: I mean, there's a reason he was recruited to North Carolina because of his talent and his height, and uh he could be such an absolute weapon for you.
- 51:03SPEAKER_04: Um, and uh maybe he didn't he didn't carve out a role at UNC, but man, he could carve out a role here and uh you put in kind of a different mentality, a different um defensive culture that could push him.
- 51:15SPEAKER_04: Um I think it could be really cool.
- 51:17SPEAKER_04: Fun fact about Kerwin Walden, he shot 100% from the free throw line last year.
- 51:21SPEAKER_04: Now he only shot seven free throws, but he literally didn't miss a free throw last year.
- 51:25SPEAKER_04: And I mean that's a testament to your shooting ability, but uh yeah, man, I'm I'm I'm excited for the old school afro to come into Texas Tech and and uh and make his way and hopefully carve out a pretty good role, uh, much like Adonis Arms, like you said, Ryan.
- 51:40SPEAKER_03: You took my analysis.
- 51:41SPEAKER_03: I what Texas Tech is missing is a classic Afro.
- 51:46SPEAKER_03: I've always said this.
- 51:47SPEAKER_03: I've said this for years.
- 51:50SPEAKER_04: Yeah, he he looks straight, he looks straight up like a player from the 1970s.
- 51:54SPEAKER_04: So uh super excited for Kerwin.
- 51:56SPEAKER_04: Uh hopefully he brings back the short shorts too, and we just hit the time machine with him.
- 52:01SPEAKER_03: That'd be that would be straight legendary.
- 52:03SPEAKER_03: That that part of my 2000s lingo on that, but that would be that would be pretty legendary right there.
- 52:08SPEAKER_03: Um, all right.
- 52:10SPEAKER_03: So now we're gonna rant out the transfer list here.
- 52:12SPEAKER_03: Uh this so this guy is probably the biggest question mark for most fans.
- 52:16SPEAKER_03: And I mean, that's not that's not a knock on the fans at all.
- 52:19SPEAKER_03: I mean, wherever you're coming in from a program like Gardner Webb, you're you're not probably not gonna know a whole lot.
- 52:23SPEAKER_03: I mean, they aren't exactly on television day in and day out.
- 52:26SPEAKER_03: Um, we're talking about Demarion Williams.
- 52:28SPEAKER_03: So, what what do we think about this?
- 52:30SPEAKER_03: This probably maybe a sneaky ad here.
- 52:32SPEAKER_03: What are we thinking here?
- 52:33SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's a utility guy, which is gonna be really helpful.
- 52:36SPEAKER_02: Um, not a guy that really specializes in any specific role, especially at the guard spot.
- 52:42SPEAKER_02: Um, you've got a guy that can score the ball, he can pass it pretty well, he's good on the boards, he can shoot, he can score.
- 52:50SPEAKER_02: And so Demarion Williams is really just gonna be a guy that can get thrown into a game and make good things happen.
- 52:57SPEAKER_02: Um, he's not a guy that's necessarily gonna be put into sets that are used for for play calls, he's not a guy that's necessarily going to be leading the primary playmaking responsibilities night in and night out.
- 53:10SPEAKER_02: But I think the shot is really promising from him.
- 53:13SPEAKER_02: I think the defense is good, and I think that his scoring ability is going to be useful.
- 53:18SPEAKER_02: And so, no, I think it I think it's fair for Demarion Williams to be a little bit of a question mark just because he kind of had like that that staple mid-major guard role where it was kind of just like, hey, go out there and do everything and put up really good numbers.
- 53:31SPEAKER_02: And that's just not the way that that power five basketball works.
- 53:35SPEAKER_02: And so uh I think it's fair for him to be a question mark, but I think that he's got the toolkit to to be a good player or at least a really useful player for this Texas Tech team.
- 53:45SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think you're pretty you're really spot on with that one.
- 53:48SPEAKER_04: Um, this guy screams Davion Warren type player.
- 53:52SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, coming in.
- 53:53SPEAKER_04: You look at the stats from last year uh for both these players.
- 53:56SPEAKER_04: Davion Warren averaged, I think he was one of the highest scoring players in college basketball at Hampton.
- 54:01SPEAKER_04: And then he comes to Texas Tech and really grinds out a defensive type role.
- 54:05SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, uh uh took a backseat on offense, you know, he had his games here and there, but uh really found his role and and accepted it.
- 54:13SPEAKER_04: And that's something that I hope DeMarian Williams does as well.
- 54:16SPEAKER_04: And now you see his stats.
- 54:19SPEAKER_04: You see him with the usage that he had, 14 and a half points a game.
- 54:22SPEAKER_04: He shot 40 almost 40% from the three-point line.
- 54:25SPEAKER_04: And that is a very, very valuable skill set to have, not only at Texas Tech, but in this offense.
- 54:31SPEAKER_04: Uh, you know, 80% free throw shooter.
- 54:33SPEAKER_04: So he's a guy that you can plug and play and hopefully be somebody that maybe has a you know a blow up game or two, but really just provides good minutes off the bench.
- 54:42SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, potentially, potentially even a starter, who knows?
- 54:45SPEAKER_04: Uh, but you know, the good news is he's experienced, he's been in college basketball for a bit, and he's somebody that I think you needed to bring into this team because of the youthfulness of uh of the roster.
- 54:57SPEAKER_03: So overall, do y'all feel really good about the transfer portal this year?
- 55:00SPEAKER_03: It's since it's such an important part of the game.
- 55:02SPEAKER_03: Do you all think uh for pure experience grabbing to plug and play, which is pretty much what you go for in a transfer portal, how do you think we did in that sense?
- 55:12SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, I think it's a it's a good it's a good balance this year, and I think part of that is the result of you signing a really good freshman class.
- 55:22SPEAKER_02: I mean, you've got you've got three guys in here, really four guys in here.
- 55:27SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, Elijah Fisher, Pop Isaacs, Robert Jennings, Lamar Washington, all of these guys are going to be factors next year, and so you needed somebody to round that out.
- 55:38SPEAKER_02: And so you bring back Jalen Tyson, that's a huge addition.
- 55:41SPEAKER_02: You bring Kerwin Walton because Mark Adams always needs depth on the wings, and then you bring in Demarion Williams to kind of provide some of that good veteran experience at the guard position, and of course, Fardoz AMAC, who who is gonna be, you know, a night in and night out player.
- 55:57SPEAKER_02: And so I think it's a good balance for for Texas Tech this year.
- 56:01SPEAKER_02: And I think that you know, kind of bringing in some of those those old guys to blend with those true freshmen, it's it's a good move in college basketball.
- 56:10SPEAKER_02: And I think that Mark Adams has kind of proved that, you know, as much as this is talented transfer university, he he's gonna hit the high school recruiting trail.
- 56:18SPEAKER_02: That's not an aspect of recruitment that he's overlooking, and so it's a good balance.
- 56:23SPEAKER_02: And I think this is really the formula that that should work in college basketball, is you go out and you try and get talented freshmen, the ones that you know are elite players, that's good.
- 56:33SPEAKER_02: You cash in on a year of them and then they go to the league.
- 56:35SPEAKER_02: The guys that are a little bit more developmental pieces, you get them for a couple of years, and then they either transfer out or or whatever.
- 56:41SPEAKER_02: And then to alleviate some of that, you bring in transfers to bring in a veteran presence to help your team win competitive basketball games.
- 56:48SPEAKER_02: And so I really like the formula for for Mark Adams and company this season.
- 56:52SPEAKER_02: I think that it's one that that should work pretty well.
- 56:55SPEAKER_04: Yeah, uh I'm excited for this transfer class.
- 56:57SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, obviously the Dawes injury uh is is a downer, but man, if he picks up right where we think he's gonna be, uh it's gonna, it's gonna be just fine with him.
- 57:06SPEAKER_04: Uh, and nobody's gonna have film on him by Big 12 play, you know.
- 57:09SPEAKER_04: So that's a that's another interesting piece.
- 57:11SPEAKER_04: Uh Davion Harmon is the most interesting player to me out of this portal class.
- 57:16SPEAKER_04: Um, I'm just really interested to see how he flows with everything and the leadership role that he takes on because it seems like he's really bought in and uh excited for all these other guys as well.
- 57:25SPEAKER_04: So uh Tristan, you want to talk about some freshmen?
- 57:27SPEAKER_03: Yeah, absolutely.
- 57:28SPEAKER_03: I I really love the word Ryan used whenever uh he was talking about the right as he said the transfer class, you know, was what he wanted.
- 57:35SPEAKER_03: He immediately said the freshman class really balances out uh the transfer class.
- 57:39SPEAKER_03: And I love to hear that.
- 57:40SPEAKER_03: And because at the end of the day, your your recruit, your high school recruiting is the foundation of your college program.
- 57:46SPEAKER_03: It doesn't matter the sport.
- 57:47SPEAKER_03: Uh, if you're recruiting talented kids out of high school, you're doing something right in your program.
- 57:52SPEAKER_03: Um you're you're on the up.
- 57:53SPEAKER_03: Uh so yeah, let's absolutely uh dive into that here.
- 57:56SPEAKER_03: And because last year it wasn't so much a freshman bringing in, it was definitely a transferred year, it's so to speak, to put it in a very basic way.
- 58:05SPEAKER_03: Um, all right, yeah, let's kick it off, guys.
- 58:06SPEAKER_03: Let's talk about uh talk about the uh Elijah Fisher, you know, definitely one of the highest-rated guys out of high school coming into the program.
- 58:13SPEAKER_03: Um, this guy is uh he's got we really like our foreigners that it seems.
- 58:18SPEAKER_03: So what we got to say about this dude?
- 58:19SPEAKER_03: This guy from uh over the uh northern border there, the great white north.
- 58:22SPEAKER_02: Yeah, well, Texas Tech may not be the uh French representative in college basketball, but we are now the Canadian ambassadors for the NCAA.
- 58:32SPEAKER_02: And I mean Elijah Fisher, what what a worthy guy to kind of bring into the fold and to and to give you that status.
- 58:39SPEAKER_02: I think Elijah Fisher is a really intriguing player.
- 58:42SPEAKER_02: I think that he's a guy that's kind of everyone kind of feels like they're still trying to figure out exactly who he is.
- 58:49SPEAKER_02: Um, you look at you know, recruiting analysts who have covered him for the past couple of years, and you know that they when they see him play, they say, okay, there's something here.
- 58:58SPEAKER_02: Like this guy is a player, he he's truly an elite-level athlete, he's got good basketball stuff, but what is he gonna be at that next level?
- 59:07SPEAKER_02: And I think that's the question that everyone's asking, and that is still unanswered at this point.
- 59:12SPEAKER_02: And so Elijah Fisher, I mean, the length and the athleticism speak for themselves, and that's gonna get you a long way in this league and on a Mark Adams team.
- 59:21SPEAKER_02: And so those two things are gonna are gonna pay dividends for him this year.
- 59:26SPEAKER_02: Um, but other than that, I'm still really interested to see kind of what what he evolves into.
- 59:31SPEAKER_02: I think that his offensive game as a whole is still pretty raw.
- 59:35SPEAKER_02: I think that there's gonna be a lot of him playing out of the post this season.
- 59:38SPEAKER_02: I think that that's something that worked well for him in high school, and it it seems kind of untraditional as a wing, but I do think that's that's something we'll see quite a bit is him just getting touched down low and either you know working that out of the the mid to high post or the low post and then going from there.
- 59:54SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I I you know this isn't a guy that I think is gonna be a one and done, at least not for the NBA.
- 1:00:00SPEAKER_02: I think that there's gonna be some development that happens with him, but I think I think the the foundation of Elijah Fisher is really it's hard to ask for more than what you've been given at this point.
- 1:00:12SPEAKER_02: I mean, just a guy that's got NBA level athleticism, he's long, he's fast, he's versatile, and so you know, I would say be cautiously optimistic about Elijah Fisher and your one.
- 1:00:23SPEAKER_02: I would not expect him to be a night in and night out starter.
- 1:00:26SPEAKER_02: I would not expect him to be a leader in points per game for this team, but I would expect good basketball and for him to show flashes of becoming something that that's really, really important for this team as you know the program continues.
- 1:00:41SPEAKER_04: Yeah, we have to remember that this guy reclassified from the class of 2023.
- 1:00:46SPEAKER_04: So he is young, he is raw, he has the skills, uh, but you know, we have to see him put it all together first.
- 1:00:53SPEAKER_04: Um, it was really interesting watching him and the U18 uh Canada team in the offseason because he was really uh kind of the guy on that team.
- 1:01:02SPEAKER_04: Um defensively is the first thing that steps out.
- 1:01:05SPEAKER_04: I think he's gonna he's gonna really mold defensively as a player, more so than offensively.
- 1:01:11SPEAKER_04: Uh, we're gonna see him, I think, in a lot of those small ball lineups that we talked about uh with Dawes coming out, maybe KO playing some five.
- 1:01:18SPEAKER_04: I could see Elijah Fisher being a four guy and us really getting out and running on offense uh with him because the athleticism that Elijah Fisher has naturally is is a gift and something that uh could be really exciting.
- 1:01:31SPEAKER_04: Um yeah, I agree with you, Ryan.
- 1:01:33SPEAKER_04: I don't think he's a one and done get type player.
- 1:01:35SPEAKER_04: Uh, I think this is a really interesting year in how Elijah Fisher is gonna fit in with this team and fit in with this roster because Mark Adams, he plays the best guys.
- 1:01:45SPEAKER_04: You know, it's not just because this guy's a five-star, four-star recruit that he's gonna play him automatically.
- 1:01:51SPEAKER_04: You know, he's gonna play what's best for the team.
- 1:01:53SPEAKER_04: And uh some players haven't liked that in the past, and some players have transferred out of that system, and that's fine.
- 1:01:58SPEAKER_04: But um, you know, it's really how Elijah comes along as a player early on, and um, you know, what he how he fits in mentally with this team that is gonna be super interesting for me.
- 1:02:09SPEAKER_04: Um, but oh, you can't help but be giddy about the talent that this guy brings and um just the overall ability that he has because he has all the intangibles to be a future NBA player.
- 1:02:19SPEAKER_04: And uh I'm excited uh just to see him in year one.
- 1:02:22SPEAKER_03: Wait, it's just really exciting to be talking about uh freshmen that are, you know, obviously so high up on the recruiting board.
- 1:02:28SPEAKER_03: Obviously, that's gonna feel good.
- 1:02:29SPEAKER_03: Um, but just to have guys coming in that have the potential to be uh to produce as you know, teenagers, as young kids, not just uh not just veterans.
- 1:02:39SPEAKER_03: So that's always an exciting prospect because you you know you have potentially multiple years with them.
- 1:02:44SPEAKER_03: You get to, you know, watch them grow and become better and better.
- 1:02:46SPEAKER_03: But it's great, obviously, to get one out of the box that can do it.
- 1:02:49SPEAKER_03: Um, so the next one we've kind of been on a roller coaster with recruiting.
- 1:02:53SPEAKER_03: It's it's Richard Pop Isaacs.
- 1:02:54SPEAKER_03: Um, you know, he commits, decommits, commits again.
- 1:02:57SPEAKER_03: You know, it's it's got it's kind of been a roller coaster, but he finally comes home uh to to West Texas and Lubbock.
- 1:03:03SPEAKER_03: Uh, what would we think about this guy?
- 1:03:05SPEAKER_03: So what what stands out?
- 1:03:06SPEAKER_03: What should we expect from this freshman?
- 1:03:08SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, it's not only been a roller coaster from a recruiting standpoint, this is a guy that you know re-ups his commitment to Texas Tech.
- 1:03:16SPEAKER_02: He's got high expectations of a guy that has some of the best playmaking abilities that we've seen in Lubbock in a long time.
- 1:03:24SPEAKER_02: And then he hurts his hip and he has surgery, and there's a massive dent put in his offseason and his development, and so it's kind of an up and down.
- 1:03:32SPEAKER_02: But for him to be where he's at right now is tremendous.
- 1:03:37SPEAKER_02: Um he's a guy that you know, even John Rossine talking about it uh on Tuesday, as a guy that Mark Adams is talking about as a potential starter, and that's no fluke to me.
- 1:03:47SPEAKER_02: Um I I think that this is a guy that truly has some of the best pure point guard instincts um that we've seen in in Lubbock in a really, really long time, a guy that can lead this offense really from day one.
- 1:04:00SPEAKER_02: And that's not to say that there won't be growing pains, that's not to say that he'll have a pretty high turnover break and in year one, but this is a guy who has stuff and he's got he's got the blueprint to make things work.
- 1:04:13SPEAKER_02: And I mean, really, if you give him the keys to this offense and and you let him play a lot of basketball this year, I mean, I I think that this is really a guy that could be averaging up in the range of four assists per game, which is pretty wild.
- 1:04:27SPEAKER_02: Um, because you know, obviously being in the the NBA age where stats are shared everywhere, four assists per game sounds lousy, but there's been one guy that's done that for Texas Tech since 2011, and it was Chris Clark.
- 1:04:38SPEAKER_02: And so to have a guy like Pop Isaacs come in and to average that assist number would be huge for the Red Raiders.
- 1:04:45SPEAKER_02: And then the shot is good.
- 1:04:47SPEAKER_02: The shot is good.
- 1:04:48SPEAKER_02: I think that was a big question mark of his game coming into coming into his freshman year.
- 1:04:52SPEAKER_02: The shot's good.
- 1:04:53SPEAKER_02: I I would be surprised if it doesn't translate to the floor.
- 1:04:56SPEAKER_02: I think the defense is something that he's gonna have to feel out a bit, um, but that's just life as kind of an undersized guard in the Big 12.
- 1:05:02SPEAKER_02: But the offensive game, it's here, and his development, even through a pretty serious injury, it is unreal.
- 1:05:09SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm super excited for this guy.
- 1:05:11SPEAKER_04: The the shot was the first thing that I looked at in when I was looking at highlights of him because uh it's pure, man, and it could be it could be a real weapon here in the future, whether it's this year or you know, in the coming years.
- 1:05:24SPEAKER_04: But um, yeah, this is a guy who I I think brings the most kind of true point guard to your team.
- 1:05:29SPEAKER_04: Uh, and I think that's why Mark Adams and some of these other guys are reporting that he could be potentially in the starting lineup as a true freshman, because he brings that extra piece that your team has desperately needed over the last few years.
- 1:05:42SPEAKER_04: Uh, hearing that stat, it makes me so frustrated uh that Chris Clark was the only guy because watching Chris Clark was extremely frustrating.
- 1:05:50SPEAKER_04: And that entire 2020 team was frustrating.
- 1:05:52SPEAKER_04: But um, no, I I think Pop Isaacs could be an extremely and he could probably.
- 1:06:00SPEAKER_04: Be your most important freshman.
- 1:06:01SPEAKER_04: You know, we look at Elijah Fisher and what he could potentially bring the athleticism, the height, that all that, the ability.
- 1:06:08SPEAKER_04: But Pop Isaacs could be the guy that plays the most for you and plays the biggest role for you as a true freshman.
- 1:06:14SPEAKER_04: And so yeah, the not having a lot of his offseason stunk, uh, but man, I think he's coming into his own really nicely uh going into the year.
- 1:06:23SPEAKER_04: And um I I, you know, his dad's confusing on Twitter.
- 1:06:27SPEAKER_04: I will say that.
- 1:06:28SPEAKER_04: If you follow Pop Isaac's dad on Twitter, that man speaks in some foreign language that when nobody understands.
- 1:06:34SPEAKER_04: He speaks in real riddles, but uh yeah, go go follow his dad on Twitter.
- 1:06:38SPEAKER_04: But no, Pop Isaacs is a is an absolutely talented kid, and and I'm excited for him.
- 1:06:43SPEAKER_03: I mean, I think obviously this guy was so coveted because you know you hear like one of the biggest complaints TexTech fans have had about the team lately is that you know there's been no true facilitator, no true point guard on this team that can really take that role and own that role, not have to do more than that role because it's just such an important role.
- 1:06:59SPEAKER_03: Um, but rolling on, guys.
- 1:07:01SPEAKER_03: So uh now we got Lamar Washington.
- 1:07:03SPEAKER_03: So what does this guy bring to the table whenever we're talking about Lamar Washington, another freshman year?
- 1:07:10SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this is a guy that I'm really excited to watch play basketball.
- 1:07:13SPEAKER_02: Um, a guy that had a really good summer and end to his senior year, a guy that really began to turn heads as he kind of wrapped up his his amateur career as you know, he was playing in these world games and playing against all-class athletes.
- 1:07:29SPEAKER_02: And this is a guy who's just scoring effortlessly.
- 1:07:32SPEAKER_02: He's doing a lot of things with the ball in his hands and he's playing really good defense.
- 1:07:36SPEAKER_02: I think that this is a guy that can really, really be impactful and important to your team because of what he does on both sides of the court.
- 1:07:44SPEAKER_02: And so on the offensive end, he he's kind of like a true combo guard, and he's a guy that you can put it in his hands and you can trust him to generate some of that offense to get to the basket, to kick it to the open man.
- 1:07:56SPEAKER_02: Probably not a guy that you know would be a true point guard or that you would want facilitating the offense for the majority of the game, but a guy that's definitely trustworthy and making the right pass and creating open looks and getting it to open men, and then a guy that can play off the ball, a guy that can shoot the ball really, really well.
- 1:08:12SPEAKER_02: There's gonna be a lot of catch and shoot stuff for him throughout the season.
- 1:08:16SPEAKER_02: I think that's something that I'm really excited to see.
- 1:08:18SPEAKER_02: And then the defense is really, really good.
- 1:08:20SPEAKER_02: He's got good hands, he's really smart when he's defending on the ball, he's not overzealous, he's really feisty, like he's got some Clarence Nodoni to him in the way that he matches up with guys one-on-one.
- 1:08:32SPEAKER_02: And so, I mean, Pop Isaacs is obviously I think the guy with the higher ceiling.
- 1:08:37SPEAKER_02: I think that pop is a guy that has just such tremendous natural talent, but Lamar Washington can really round out and into a complete player, and you're looking at a guard rotation where you're gonna have to kind of pick and choose, and that's a really good thing for Texas Tech.
- 1:08:54SPEAKER_02: I mean, you can kind of throw Pop Isaacs or Lamar Washington or DeMarion Williams next to Davion Harman, and good things are gonna happen.
- 1:09:02SPEAKER_02: And so this is a big pickup for Mark Adams because I think that he's exactly the kind of player that you'd want coming alongside the rest of this rotation on the roster.
- 1:09:11SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think it was really interesting seeing Lamar Washington's uh kind of recruiting cycle as he was coming in because it wasn't until really later on in the cycle that he uh, you know, came on as a four-star recruit in this type of weapon.
- 1:09:24SPEAKER_04: Uh, really under-recruited, I think, in my opinion.
- 1:09:27SPEAKER_04: But uh no, Texas Tech came on early, and I'm I'm really glad we got this guy because he could be the most surprising of these freshmen to play right away.
- 1:09:36SPEAKER_04: Because I, like you said, Ryan, he can make a role for himself playing off ball, playing tough.
- 1:09:41SPEAKER_04: You know, that's how Clarence Nodoli survived at Texas Tech and made him such a good weapon here was that he just did all the little things that a lot of guys don't want to do.
- 1:09:49SPEAKER_04: And he's got that kind of hard-nosed mentality that I'm excited uh to see come into Texas Tech because that's the perfect Mark Adams type player.
- 1:09:57SPEAKER_04: So um, yeah, uh his role, I could see him not playing a lot of minutes right away, but really coming on as the as the season progresses and as he gets to know the offense and the and the play style a little better, adjusting to college hoops, he could really come on and uh yeah, keep an eye out for this guy because he may be one of the most underrated players on this entire team, maybe in the entire Big 12.
- 1:10:20SPEAKER_03: I like hearing that.
- 1:10:22SPEAKER_03: So the last keynote guy we got to bring up from this freshman uh class here is it's Robert Jennings.
- 1:10:28SPEAKER_03: So probably the more one of the least lesser known recruits for coming out coming out of high school for us.
- 1:10:34SPEAKER_03: Uh, what we see what do we see in Robert Jennings right now?
- 1:10:38SPEAKER_02: Year one, I think you should expect a lot of pick and roll whenever he's on the court.
- 1:10:42SPEAKER_02: A guy that kind of created a a name for himself in high school by being really athletic and really utilizing those transition looks in that pick and roll game.
- 1:10:52SPEAKER_02: I I think that's really what you're gonna get out of Robert Jennings in year one.
- 1:10:56SPEAKER_02: I think the front court is just so busy this year that's gonna be difficult for him to truly find his rhythm as a player.
- 1:11:03SPEAKER_02: But I think when he's on the floor, he can do good things in the pick and roll game.
- 1:11:07SPEAKER_02: He's a good athlete, he's good on the boards, he's got good bounce, and I think that'll help him block shots.
- 1:11:13SPEAKER_02: That's kind of something that you know a lot of these other bigs don't have, like like Daniel Bacho, Fardos Amack, Kevin O'Banner, these are guys that are athletic, but they don't really have that vertical balance.
- 1:11:25SPEAKER_02: And Robert Jennings is a guy that can jump out of the gym, and so I think that's something that will play in his favor.
- 1:11:30SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I think year one, I'm interested to see what he kind of carves out for himself.
- 1:11:35SPEAKER_02: But I would expect a lot of pick and roll, and then just hopefully making the most of whatever minutes he gets.
- 1:11:41SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I think Jennings is a guy, uh, much like KJ Allen, who will see kind of a minutes increase early on in the season, uh, you know, with Dawes being out.
- 1:11:48SPEAKER_04: But you know, once he comes back, it's gonna be tough uh to carve out a role.
- 1:11:51SPEAKER_04: And um, this this is a multi-year guy, in my opinion.
- 1:11:55SPEAKER_04: Um, just a uh a dude that's gonna have to find his way in college basketball and and find his role.
- 1:12:00SPEAKER_04: And uh, I'm excited for the prospect of Robert Jennings.
- 1:12:03SPEAKER_04: He's an extremely athletic player that uh, you know, could be a really good college basketball player.
- 1:12:08SPEAKER_04: I'm not sure if it's gonna happen in year one, but it it could happen eventually.
- 1:12:11SPEAKER_04: And uh uh he's a guy to get excited about for the future.
- 1:12:16SPEAKER_03: Last but not least, we have Corey Williams Jr.
- 1:12:22SPEAKER_03: That's gonna sound real familiar to our listeners.
- 1:12:24SPEAKER_03: Uh, we got the coach's son.
- 1:12:26SPEAKER_03: So what do we think about Junior, fellas?
- 1:12:30SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I would uh I would not expect a lot out of uh CJ Williams in year one, unfortunately.
- 1:12:37SPEAKER_02: Um we'll see what happens though.
- 1:12:38SPEAKER_02: He's on a lot of the Texas Tech basketball content, so who knows?
- 1:12:42SPEAKER_02: Maybe he's like a dark horse and the team's trying to get him some hype early in the offseason.
- 1:12:46SPEAKER_04: Yeah, culture guy.
- 1:12:48SPEAKER_04: Culture guy.
- 1:12:49SPEAKER_04: Culture guy's gonna be he's gonna be he's gonna be rooting for you.
- 1:12:52SPEAKER_04: He's gonna be like pre uh, you know, like 2013-14 Patty Mills on the Spurs, uh, where he's gonna be waving that towel.
- 1:12:58SPEAKER_04: He's gonna be the guy that's rooting on these dudes on the bench.
- 1:13:01SPEAKER_04: Uh, he isn't a lot of content that Texas Tech social media, and I think that's for a reason.
- 1:13:05SPEAKER_04: I think he's one of the guys that's really trying to come together with this whole team and and be, you know, a loud uh presence in the locker room.
- 1:13:13SPEAKER_04: And uh that's fun, man.
- 1:13:14SPEAKER_04: I mean, he's a coach's son.
- 1:13:15SPEAKER_04: You gotta you gotta be hyped for that and excited to keep the legacy uh in at Texas Tech.
- 1:13:20SPEAKER_03: Steven, I think that was your first Rodriguez famous NBA player comparison in old Patty Mills with CJ there.
- 1:13:29SPEAKER_04: The Spurs are surprisingly three and one right now, so I am uh I am unbelievably happy because I thought this team was gonna be win maybe five games this year.
- 1:13:38SPEAKER_04: So hey, I gotta I gotta throw some Spurs.
- 1:13:40SPEAKER_04: I know you're a Mavs guy, Ryan, but uh, but man, the Spurs, it looks like they're just NBA championship material this year.
- 1:13:46SPEAKER_03: So you're pretty juiced about basketball being like being back then.
- 1:13:50SPEAKER_03: So that's just I see why you wanted to get this preview going.
- 1:13:56SPEAKER_04: We're gonna get it early for the people, you know, man.
- 1:13:58SPEAKER_04: But uh no, uh this roster is is extremely exciting.
- 1:14:03SPEAKER_04: It's so different from last year.
- 1:14:05SPEAKER_04: We had a bunch of tall, lengthy, 6'6 defensive-minded players.
- 1:14:11SPEAKER_04: This one is a little different.
- 1:14:13SPEAKER_04: You got some young guys, you got some uh you got some shooters, you got some hopefully a little faster pace going on with this team, and um, you know, uh a really interesting player in Fardos Amax.
- 1:14:25SPEAKER_04: So uh, Ryan, your overall thoughts on the roster, um, just kind of what you feel about going into this year.
- 1:14:31SPEAKER_04: Are you excited about it?
- 1:14:33SPEAKER_04: Everything like that.
- 1:14:34SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think there's definitely a lot to be excited about with this group.
- 1:14:38SPEAKER_02: I I think the word that comes to mind when I looked at look at this roster is complete.
- 1:14:42SPEAKER_02: Uh and you just look at the position groups, and there's not a lot of holes.
- 1:14:45SPEAKER_02: I mean, you've got a guard slot with probably Davion Harman starting, and then three guys that can realistically play Big 12 minutes.
- 1:14:54SPEAKER_02: Like I really believe that.
- 1:14:55SPEAKER_02: And then you've got the wings with Jalen Tyson and Elijah Fisher and Kerwin Walton, who by all means will all three see the floor um at some point every game.
- 1:15:04SPEAKER_02: And then you've got Kevin O'Banner, who's proven that he can play Big 12 basketball.
- 1:15:08SPEAKER_02: You've got Daniel Boccio, who was impressive in year one and is apparently having a great offseason.
- 1:15:15SPEAKER_02: Then you've got Robert Jennings and KJ Allen, who are athletes and who can provide you something good when they come on the floor.
- 1:15:20SPEAKER_02: And of course, Fardoz AMAC, who who is going to be a force whenever he comes back and really anchor your team down low.
- 1:15:27SPEAKER_02: And so I think this is a team that looks complete.
- 1:15:29SPEAKER_02: That said, you know, everything has to click.
- 1:15:31SPEAKER_02: There's always that element of you never really know what you're getting until you see it five or six games into the season, and even then it could kind of fluctuate throughout the year.
- 1:15:41SPEAKER_02: But I think right now, as we look at it, it it looks like a really complete team, and it looks like a team that that can really find offense in a lot of different ways, and it looks like a team that that can play good defense.
- 1:15:52SPEAKER_02: And so I think there's definitely excitement to be had about the way that this roster has shaped out and just the way that it looks going into the year.
- 1:16:01SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 1:16:02SPEAKER_04: You get you got a starting five prediction.
- 1:16:05SPEAKER_02: I do, yeah.
- 1:16:07SPEAKER_02: Week one, I'll I'll go with Pop Isaacs, which is uh probably a little bit of a surprise, but I think that those non-conference minutes will be good for him.
- 1:16:15SPEAKER_02: Um stick him next to Davion Harmon.
- 1:16:18SPEAKER_02: They can kind of share that that point guard role.
- 1:16:20SPEAKER_02: Um Jalen Tyson at the three or on the wing, however you like it.
- 1:16:25SPEAKER_02: KO at the four, and then Daniel Bacho at the five.
- 1:16:28SPEAKER_02: That's my week one.
- 1:16:29SPEAKER_02: If everyone was healthy, I'd probably keep everything the same except for throw Dawson there for Boccio.
- 1:16:34SPEAKER_02: But I think that's a that's a good blend of of scoring and playmaking and some guys down low.
- 1:16:40SPEAKER_02: And yeah, we'll see what Mark Adams decides to do for week one.
- 1:16:43SPEAKER_02: I'm sure that he'll do something strange because he likes to play around with with early season lineups, but we'll see what happens.
- 1:16:50SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 1:16:51SPEAKER_04: I I have the same starting five prediction.
- 1:16:53SPEAKER_04: Uh, I think a lot of uh Texas Tech fans may be a little surprised not to see Elijah Fisher in there.
- 1:16:58SPEAKER_04: I think it's gonna take a minute for him.
- 1:17:00SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, I don't see him starting from day one.
- 1:17:03SPEAKER_04: I think uh Pop is more likely to start and give Davion that second ball handler there to really make the offense flow.
- 1:17:10SPEAKER_04: Um, I'm not saying it couldn't change throughout the year.
- 1:17:12SPEAKER_04: I think we're gonna see a few different starting lineups from this team, uh, especially in this week non-con that we have.
- 1:17:17SPEAKER_04: So um Ryan, your thoughts on on the week non-conference schedule because it happens every year at Texas Tech.
- 1:17:25SPEAKER_04: Uh, it it we uh if you look at a lot of different metrics, we have the weakest non-conference in all the Big 12 this year.
- 1:17:31SPEAKER_04: Um, what what are your kind of thoughts on on that scheduling mentality?
- 1:17:35SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I don't like it.
- 1:17:37SPEAKER_02: Honestly, I I don't love it.
- 1:17:40SPEAKER_02: I I understand the reasoning behind it, and uh the Big 12 is a gauntlet.
- 1:17:45SPEAKER_02: And especially this year, I think it's gonna be tough.
- 1:17:48SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, I think I think it's good for you to get some reps early in the season um against some tough, tough opponents.
- 1:17:56SPEAKER_02: And it feels like the one team that tech really went out of their way to schedule that's not absolute bush league is La Tech, which is still you're you're gonna be a double-digit favorite in that game.
- 1:18:06SPEAKER_02: And so yeah, I I think the Georgetown uh lottery doesn't really help you there.
- 1:18:12SPEAKER_02: Um, that's a crappy matchup that I wish Tech wasn't playing.
- 1:18:16SPEAKER_02: Um, Maui is gonna be important, and and that's gonna be a tournament that I think will really provide you with kind of a an early season litmus test, and especially the fact that you're not gonna escape Creighton, you're playing them in the first game of that tournament.
- 1:18:30SPEAKER_02: That's a huge game.
- 1:18:32SPEAKER_02: And I I just wish that you had one game before that where you could kind of get your feet in the water before going and playing a top 10 opponent.
- 1:18:41SPEAKER_02: But um, I get it, it's not my favorite, but I just I like seeing early season fun matchups that that you wouldn't usually see um just due to conference regulation.
- 1:18:53SPEAKER_04: Yeah, definitely.
- 1:18:54SPEAKER_04: I'm uh I I'm I've had the same thoughts.
- 1:18:57SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, Maui is loaded, I will say.
- 1:19:00SPEAKER_04: Creighton, Louisville, Arkansas, Ohio State, San Diego State.
- 1:19:03SPEAKER_04: I mean, Arizona.
- 1:19:04SPEAKER_04: There's a lot of good teams in Maui, and you have the potential to play three of them, uh, or you are going to play three of the field, which is really nice.
- 1:19:12SPEAKER_04: But um, yeah, you really, you really the big East Challenge seems you you seem to draw somebody that's really bad in that conference every single year.
- 1:19:21SPEAKER_04: And now I know Providence kicked our butt in it.
- 1:19:23SPEAKER_04: I know we haven't done great in the Big East Challenge since we've been in it, but man, I hate getting Georgetown.
- 1:19:29SPEAKER_04: I hate getting Georgetown.
- 1:19:30SPEAKER_04: Um, the SEC challenge, you got a middling team, LSU, first year head coach.
- 1:19:35SPEAKER_04: You know, I'm happy for it since I'm in Baton Rouge and I'm gonna be able to go to that game.
- 1:19:39SPEAKER_04: But um, you know, you really wanted those two games in particular to be better teams and better opponents.
- 1:19:44SPEAKER_04: And I think that's what we were kind of banking on when we were scheduling the rest of these guys.
- 1:19:48SPEAKER_04: Um, but yeah, it it, you know, some of these games you're gonna win by 30 and you're not gonna learn anything about this team, and that sucks.
- 1:19:54SPEAKER_04: Uh, but yeah, I I get why they do it, just like you said.
- 1:19:58SPEAKER_04: I get why, why we choose to play these weaker opponents, have a lot of home games, you know, really get acquainted as a team.
- 1:20:05SPEAKER_04: I get it, but man, it it you're not boosting your resume at all with this non-con, uh, besides Maui.
- 1:20:11SPEAKER_03: Well, I mean, at the end of the day, you're still gonna get plenty to chew on when you get the conference.
- 1:20:16SPEAKER_03: So I'm not worried about our boys getting battle tested and building a resume at the end of the season.
- 1:20:21SPEAKER_03: The Big 12 speaks for itself, and I definitely want to go undefeated at home again.
- 1:20:26SPEAKER_03: So that's this is a great way to do that.
- 1:20:29SPEAKER_03: I mean, I love the home court we developed, and winning is the most important part of that.
- 1:20:33SPEAKER_03: So I'm so glad that we're gonna continue to do so, and I hope we get to repeat that again.
- 1:20:39SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 1:20:40SPEAKER_04: Couldn't agree more.
- 1:20:41SPEAKER_04: Um, excited for this team.
- 1:20:43SPEAKER_04: We should mention their top 25, they're number 25 in the preseason poll.
- 1:20:47SPEAKER_04: Um, something that is is exciting.
- 1:20:49SPEAKER_04: It's something that's a testament to your program, uh, more so than anything about next year because preseason rankings don't matter.
- 1:20:55SPEAKER_04: But um, you know, it's exciting to see us get that recognition and have Mark Adams get that recognition from uh the AP poll and the national media.
- 1:21:03SPEAKER_03: Um it's just right, you know?
- 1:21:06SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
- 1:21:06SPEAKER_03: It's like it's like it's not so much where you get a big head, you almost still feel kind of slighted.
- 1:21:11SPEAKER_03: So you still got a bit of a chip where you're you're the first one out.
- 1:21:15SPEAKER_03: So I I I love that.
- 1:21:17SPEAKER_03: I I I'm I'm I'm I'm a-okay with that number to cut you off there.
- 1:21:20SPEAKER_04: No, you're good.
- 1:21:21SPEAKER_04: You're good.
- 1:21:22SPEAKER_04: Um, just quick thoughts, Ryan, on the Big 12.
- 1:21:24SPEAKER_04: We don't have to get into it a ton.
- 1:21:26SPEAKER_04: Uh, just what you think about, you know, potentially Baylor, Kansas, UT, those type of uh teams.
- 1:21:32SPEAKER_04: Is this gonna be uh the same Big 12 we get every single year where every night is a gauntlet?
- 1:21:36SPEAKER_04: Are there some teams that are susceptible to be pretty bad?
- 1:21:39SPEAKER_04: Uh, what are your kind of thoughts on the Big 12?
- 1:21:42SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think last year my thought was you had a couple of teams at the top that were gonna be elite, and then you had an absolute free-for-all in the middle with a lot of teams that were gonna be really strong.
- 1:21:54SPEAKER_02: I think this year the Big 12 is a little top-heavy.
- 1:21:58SPEAKER_02: Um, not to say that you know, this isn't gonna be a a fist fight every night.
- 1:22:03SPEAKER_02: It is.
- 1:22:03SPEAKER_02: You're you're gonna be fighting for your conference life every single night.
- 1:22:07SPEAKER_02: No game is gonna be worthy um of you overlooking.
- 1:22:10SPEAKER_02: I think looking at the conference in general, man, Baylor's gonna be really good.
- 1:22:15SPEAKER_02: I I really do think that they've got a ton of talent on that team.
- 1:22:18SPEAKER_02: I'm interested to see kind of what what Kevin McCullough does at Kansas and how he assimilates into that team.
- 1:22:24SPEAKER_02: Um, I have no idea what to think of Texas, and uh I I think that the conference awarding Marcus Carr and Timmy Allen is is kind of silly um compared to some of the other talent that's in the conference.
- 1:22:36SPEAKER_02: TCU is a team to watch, and I feel like there's not really a good balance of preseason perspective on them.
- 1:22:44SPEAKER_02: I feel like everyone's like they're gonna end up in the final four or they're gonna be at the bottom of the Big 12.
- 1:22:48SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 1:22:49SPEAKER_02: I I think they're gonna be a good team, they're gonna be a really good team if everything clicks.
- 1:22:54SPEAKER_02: If if all the guys from last year that are returning take a step up, they're gonna be a good crew.
- 1:22:59SPEAKER_02: I think Oklahoma State might be the most overrated team in the conference right now.
- 1:23:03SPEAKER_02: I do not trust Avery Anderson, and I'm not sorry about that.
- 1:23:07SPEAKER_02: Maybe that'll end up being a Daniel Boccio tick, but I feel like every single year the conference is taking a coin flip and saying that he will take a step up, and it just never really seems to happen.
- 1:23:17SPEAKER_02: Um, but you know, I hope it happens for them because it kind of feels like Mike Boynton is fighting for his life right now, and he's a good coach and a good dude.
- 1:23:24SPEAKER_02: And so hope good things happen for him.
- 1:23:27SPEAKER_02: Um, and then you look at the bottom of the conference, and I I just think you have an opportunity to take care of business against teams like Oklahoma, Iowa State, and then I I think West Virginia and Kansas State are gonna be really bad.
- 1:23:38SPEAKER_02: I don't think either of them are gonna make the tournament, which feels pretty crazy to say about a about a Bob Huggins team.
- 1:23:43SPEAKER_02: Um, but man, they are on the outside looking in right now.
- 1:23:47SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 1:23:48SPEAKER_04: I think there's I think there's five teams right now that are really, really good in the Big 12, and that's Tech, TCU, UT, Kansas, and Baylor.
- 1:23:56SPEAKER_04: Um, Keontae George terrifies me.
- 1:23:58SPEAKER_04: Uh that guy is unbelievable.
- 1:24:01SPEAKER_04: Uh, and all that Baylor's bringing back to with that experience.
- 1:24:04SPEAKER_04: Uh Kansas is is so different, and it's such a different group.
- 1:24:09SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, I'm curious to see how McCullough does over there because I I could see it going both ways.
- 1:24:15SPEAKER_04: I really could.
- 1:24:16SPEAKER_04: Um, and then you know, UT's obviously bringing back a lot of talent, they're bringing in some talent, they always have talent, you know.
- 1:24:23SPEAKER_04: Uh, we've seen them uh not be so good before, but uh, I think they'll be better than they were last year.
- 1:24:28SPEAKER_04: TCU's returning everybody, that's never a bad sign.
- 1:24:32SPEAKER_04: Um, but yeah, I I the Big 12's gone every single year, no matter what.
- 1:24:36SPEAKER_04: It's always a even going to Kansas State's gonna be tough.
- 1:24:39SPEAKER_04: Going to Oklahoma, going to uh West Virginia, it's gonna be a tough game because it's the Big 12, and that's our lives.
- 1:24:45SPEAKER_04: And it's great.
- 1:24:45SPEAKER_04: It's great being in that type of basketball conference.
- 1:24:48SPEAKER_04: It's great being in the best basketball conference in the country.
- 1:24:51SPEAKER_04: Um, but excited to see Mark Adams and Texas Tech go at it.
- 1:24:55SPEAKER_04: They have the best mentality going into it.
- 1:24:57SPEAKER_04: It's an 18-round fight, man.
- 1:24:59SPEAKER_03: It's never been easier to hope for Kansas and UT sucking.
- 1:25:03SPEAKER_03: Like it's this is the easiest year to ever hope.
- 1:25:05SPEAKER_03: They both just blow ass.
- 1:25:08SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
- 1:25:09SPEAKER_04: For sure.
- 1:25:10SPEAKER_04: There was definitely like uh uh an extra motivation towards Kansas this year, even more so.
- 1:25:15SPEAKER_04: I mean, Kansas always gives you that motivation because they're a blue blood and everything like that, but having K Mac on the other side of that is really even KO.
- 1:25:22SPEAKER_04: I heard him on um, I think it was Black Label Radio with uh Kirk Kirk Knowles and those guys.
- 1:25:28SPEAKER_04: KO was like, yeah, I didn't really like it that Kevin McCullough left.
- 1:25:33SPEAKER_04: I didn't like the approach, and obviously, you know, he's his he's his brother or whatever, but um, you know, I think there's gonna be a chip on their shoulder, which is gonna be fun to watch.
- 1:25:42SPEAKER_04: Oh, but exciting team, exciting to talk about basketball again.
- 1:25:46SPEAKER_04: It always is at Texas Tech.
- 1:25:48SPEAKER_04: Um, this is a a really fun time of the year for us.
- 1:25:51SPEAKER_04: Uh, we're actually still excited about football, which is nice.
- 1:25:54SPEAKER_04: And then basketball starts up here in a couple weeks.
- 1:25:57SPEAKER_04: But Ryan, thank you so much for joining us.
- 1:26:00SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, you're always a fantastic basketball mind to talk to.
- 1:26:03SPEAKER_04: Uh, but as we do on Talking Tech Pod every week, we got to do the song of the week uh to end her off here.
- 1:26:09SPEAKER_04: And uh I know Tristan pissed off a lot of people with his uh with his Blink 182 take.
- 1:26:15SPEAKER_04: Uh, we got some bad reviews on the podcast for that.
- 1:26:18SPEAKER_04: Um, we got some, you know, not some good feedback on Twitter from that.
- 1:26:22SPEAKER_04: Ryan, I need you to bring us a song of the week for us uh for the people to jam to.
- 1:26:27SPEAKER_04: What you got?
- 1:26:28SPEAKER_02: Yeah, the weather in in Texas has been beautiful lately.
- 1:26:33SPEAKER_02: Um, it's been like the perfect temperature in the morning to where you can open the window and the breeze is coming through, but then you've got to close it by like noon.
- 1:26:41SPEAKER_02: And so in the mornings, I've been drinking my coffee, getting a head start on work, and listening to uh colder weather by Zach Brown band.
- 1:26:48SPEAKER_02: And so that that's my song of the week right now.
- 1:26:52SPEAKER_05: See you again.
- 1:26:55SPEAKER_05: But I'm stuck in colder weather.
- 1:26:58SPEAKER_05: Maybe tomorrow will be better.
- 1:27:04SPEAKER_03: Ooh, fantastic pick, man.
- 1:27:06SPEAKER_03: And Steven would know nothing about that beautiful weather that's happening in the best day in the country.
- 1:27:12SPEAKER_04: Hey, it's not so bad.
- 1:27:13SPEAKER_04: It's not so bad over here.
- 1:27:14SPEAKER_04: We're in the we're in the 80s.
- 1:27:16SPEAKER_04: We're good.
- 1:27:17SPEAKER_04: We're good over here in Louisiana.
- 1:27:20SPEAKER_04: But no, that's a great song.
- 1:27:22SPEAKER_04: Zach Brown, old Zach Brown rocks.
- 1:27:24SPEAKER_04: It's some of the best listening music you can have sitting on your porch or just doing something outside, uh, listening to Zach Brown.
- 1:27:31SPEAKER_04: But uh, that's a great choice.
- 1:27:32SPEAKER_04: Tristan, what you got for us?
- 1:27:34SPEAKER_03: Yeah, truly some of the best music of the century.
- 1:27:36SPEAKER_03: Um, what I'm gonna go with is a West Texas group.
- 1:27:40SPEAKER_03: I'm going with the super group known as the Panhandlers.
- 1:27:43SPEAKER_03: They recently dropped an EP, so I have to plug it.
- 1:27:46SPEAKER_03: And they're all they're they're they're tech alums, you know, legends.
- 1:27:49SPEAKER_03: So, but I'm gonna go with uh West Texas is the best Texas because all this uh West Texas, how much we love our basketball now, has really jazzed me up.
- 1:27:58SPEAKER_03: And I think this song's a good capstone.
- 1:28:00SPEAKER_03: Something to uh to the episode about it.
- 1:28:03SPEAKER_05: West Texas is the best Texas from the Panhandle to the Trans Vegas.
- 1:28:12SPEAKER_04: Very nice, very nice.
- 1:28:13SPEAKER_04: Gotta love that from the Panhandlers.
- 1:28:15SPEAKER_04: They're a great group.
- 1:28:16SPEAKER_04: A lot of West Texas greats in that one.
- 1:28:19SPEAKER_04: My song of the week's a little different from both of y'all's.
- 1:28:21SPEAKER_04: Uh actually, not doing country this time.
- 1:28:23SPEAKER_04: I'm throwing it back to the Kerwin Walton days back in 1972.
- 1:28:28SPEAKER_04: Uh I'm going on.
- 1:28:30SPEAKER_05: That's a good thing now.
- 1:28:31SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I know.
- 1:28:32SPEAKER_04: We're gonna, he's just straight out of a time machine.
- 1:28:34SPEAKER_04: Um, we're gonna I'm going with Let Them In by Wings.
- 1:28:38SPEAKER_04: Uh Paul McCartney's band, post Beatles.
- 1:28:41SPEAKER_04: Um, Let Them In's a great song.
- 1:28:42SPEAKER_04: It's just a smooth jam, got that nice beat to it, that nice bass line.
- 1:28:46SPEAKER_04: Um, gotta love it.
- 1:28:47SPEAKER_04: That's Let Them In by Wings.
- 1:28:51SPEAKER_05: I'm children.
- 1:29:01unknown: Oh, yeah.
- 1:29:03SPEAKER_03: Interesting ender, sir.
- 1:29:05SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
- 1:29:05SPEAKER_04: No, we we always have to switch it up here on the on the talk and tech podcast song of the week.
- 1:29:10SPEAKER_04: Uh, Ryan, you gave I think maple syrup last time.
- 1:29:14SPEAKER_04: That is a banger.
- 1:29:15SPEAKER_04: I've never heard of that band.
- 1:29:17SPEAKER_04: I've never heard that song before you brought it on, and I listen to it all the time.
- 1:29:22SPEAKER_02: Yeah, backseat lovers, man.
- 1:29:23SPEAKER_02: Dig into their discography.
- 1:29:25SPEAKER_02: They got some good stuff.
- 1:29:26SPEAKER_04: Yeah, right on, man.
- 1:29:27SPEAKER_04: Well, cool.
- 1:29:28SPEAKER_04: Well, Ryan, thank you for joining us.
- 1:29:30SPEAKER_04: This is always fun.
- 1:29:31SPEAKER_04: Basketball preview.
- 1:29:32SPEAKER_04: Everybody get excited for basketball season.
- 1:29:34SPEAKER_04: Ryan, where can we find all your stuff?
- 1:29:37SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
- 1:29:38SPEAKER_02: First off, just thank you, fellas.
- 1:29:39SPEAKER_02: Always a pleasure to be on the pod and talking hoops with y'all once a year.
- 1:29:43SPEAKER_02: You can follow me on Twitter.
- 1:29:45SPEAKER_02: It's my handle's just my name at Ryan Mainville.
- 1:29:48SPEAKER_02: Uh, you can search my name in Google, Ryan Mainville, and you'll find my byline at the Dallas Morning News.
- 1:29:53SPEAKER_02: And so that's where you can find me, read my work, doing a lot of football stuff right now.
- 1:29:58SPEAKER_02: Obviously, an exciting time to be a Texas Tech football fan as well as a basketball fan.
- 1:30:02SPEAKER_02: So yeah, appreciate everyone that that's shown support through some Twitter imprisonments and and crazy changes, but it's been a blast and I love covering this program.
- 1:30:11SPEAKER_02: Ton of fun and love West Texas.
- 1:30:14SPEAKER_02: So yeah, thank you all again.
- 1:30:16SPEAKER_04: Yeah, excited, excited that you're back on Twitter finally, my man.
- 1:30:19SPEAKER_04: That was a dark time when you got taken over by the NFT bros.
- 1:30:22SPEAKER_04: So uh glad you made it, man.
- 1:30:24SPEAKER_04: But thanks a lot for joining us, dude.
- 1:30:26SPEAKER_02: Yeah, thank y'all.
- 1:30:30SPEAKER_04: We want to thank Ryan for coming on.
- 1:30:32SPEAKER_04: Uh, that was an awesome interview.
- 1:30:33SPEAKER_04: Awesome uh to always talk to that guy about basketball.
- 1:30:36SPEAKER_04: It's uh uh he just gets you excited for it.
- 1:30:38SPEAKER_04: And uh Texas Tech has a good team coming forward, man.
- 1:30:42SPEAKER_03: Absolutely, man.
- 1:30:43SPEAKER_03: He does great work at his day job as well.
- 1:30:45SPEAKER_03: Journalists over there in Dallas covering your alma mater.
- 1:30:47SPEAKER_03: So make sure you support him over as well over there as well, especially if you're in the Metroplex.
- 1:30:51SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 1:30:52SPEAKER_04: We're gonna end it right here with some plugs, like we always do.
- 1:30:54SPEAKER_04: You can follow both me and Tristan on Twitter.
- 1:30:56SPEAKER_04: Tristan is at Tristy Mick.
- 1:30:57SPEAKER_04: I am at L underscore S underscore Rodriguez.
- 1:30:59SPEAKER_04: Follow the pod on Twitter at talking tech pod.
- 1:31:02SPEAKER_04: Uh, if you could like, rate, review, subscribe to the podcast.
- 1:31:05SPEAKER_04: You can follow our songs we playlist there on Spotify and Apple Music.
- 1:31:09SPEAKER_04: Uh, and we just appreciate all y'all listening.
- 1:31:11SPEAKER_04: Uh, get excited for basketball season, it's coming quick.
- 1:31:14SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, always rec'em tech.
- 1:31:16SPEAKER_03: Hey, shout out to that guy that gave us a two-star review for the music takes.
- 1:31:21SPEAKER_03: I I appreciate it.
- 1:31:22SPEAKER_03: I do.
- 1:31:23SPEAKER_03: I respected it.
- 1:31:25SPEAKER_04: Absolutely respected it.
- 1:31:26SPEAKER_04: I was like, man, two-star review.
- 1:31:28SPEAKER_04: And he was like, I just hated what you said about Garth Brooks and Blink182.
- 1:31:31SPEAKER_03: And I was like, I do respect that a lot of it.
- 1:31:33SPEAKER_04: So you could thank Tristan for our now 4.4 uh star average review on Apple Podcast.
- 1:31:42SPEAKER_04: Thanks a lot to that guy.
- 1:31:43SPEAKER_04: Shouts out to him, but uh thanks to Rectum.
- 1:31:45SPEAKER_04: Yeah, absolutely.
- 1:31:46SPEAKER_04: Thank you for listening.
- 1:31:47SPEAKER_04: Always Wreck Em Tech.
- 1:31:48SPEAKER_03: Wreck'em Tech.
- 1:31:50SPEAKER_00: Uh wow.
- 1:31:51SPEAKER_00: First of all, uh got a lot of respect for Steven and Tristan.
- 1:31:56SPEAKER_00: Uh their program, tough guys, just uh a lot of fun.
- 1:32:00SPEAKER_00: I love the game of basketball, but also love West Texas.
- 1:32:03SPEAKER_01: And I love Steven and Tristan.
- 1:32:06SPEAKER_00: I'm extremely proud.
- 1:32:07SPEAKER_00: Well, I don't know where we go from here.
- 1:32:08SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm thinking I'm just gonna sit back down.
- 1:32:10SPEAKER_00: This is not getting any better than this.
- 1:32:12SPEAKER_01: I would like to thank uh Steven and Tristan.
- 1:32:15SPEAKER_01: This is incredible.
- 1:32:17SPEAKER_04: These guys have a passion and a love for this school.