THE LADY RAIDER REPORT WITH NO NAME

Good morning West Texans and all you good, fine, friendly folks out there who wish you were. . .

 

THE TEXAS TECH LADY RAIDER BASKETBALL REPORT WITH NO NAME (WITH APOLOGIES TO CLINT EASTWOOD)

 

“Growing Pains”—1985– http://www.tv.com/growing-pains/show/118/summary.html

 

“Growing Pains”—2008– http://www.redraiders.com/stories/020308/wbb_020308002.shtml

 

The biggest difference between the two in last night’s Lady Raider loss to A&M is that Kirk Cameron’s character would occasionally score at the end of each episode.

 

The Lady Raiders proved again last night that they’re capable of playing some really good basketball and playing some really shoddy basketball, all in the same half against the defending Big 12 champs that have over 90% of the scoring and rebounding back from last year, yet came into the game with their backs to the wall along with Tech and Texas fighting for NCAA resume building wins. Before the bottom fell out in the final ten minutes, Tech and A&M were putting on quite the show, with Tech scoring on 4-5 possessions and A&M scoring on 5-6 possessions in a 43-39 game with Tech up.

 

Then, well then nothing. One of the most unreal outages I’ve watched in nearly 20-years of calling games. Not so much the 22-0 run by the Aggies to close out the win, I’ve seen that. Not even the scoring drought, ‘cause I’ve seen that on both sides of the aisle. It was more how it happened, with A&M almost apologetically getting out to a five, then seven and then finally double-digit lead after doing all they could by missing shots to let Tech get going again. That A&M so profoundly out rebounded Tech in the final ten minutes, led in most part by Danielle Gant, led Aggie BossMan Gary Blair to compliment his team on holding off the Lady Raiders on the boards, calling Tech one of the best rebounding teams in the Big 12 (stats do bear that out by the way).

 

It was rebounding and second shots that doomed Tech more than missed shots on their end of the floor. It was almost as if the shot-clock had been turned off at times with A&M running off minutes at time before the Lady Raiders could get their hands on the ball again. I expected to see Phil Ford dribbling alone at mid-court at any moment last night as the “Twilight Zone” music began to play and we time-traveled back to the 1970’s.

 

SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN RIGHT NOW????

 

The loss at home means that Texas Tech is now squarely on the outside looking in at the NCAA Tournament. The Lady Raiders could have feasted off of A&M’s high RPI with a win and gotten closer to that magical 8-win mark in the Big 12, the number that will determine largely who is in out of this league this year. Tech must now go win on the road at places like Waco, Stillwater, College Station and Austin, let alone Ames while also protecting home-court along the way to have a chance. Possible? Sure. Probable, not in this league and that’s why home-court losses are so big. The Lady Raiders have made their collective bed, now they’ve got to get out of it, put on some work clothes and do some damage from here on out.

 

PROGRESS???

 

Many folks may be wondering right now where the program is as a whole, compared to last year and 2006. Let me say unabashedly that this years team is still anywhere from 10-15 points better a night than the last two teams. It speaks though to the small margin of error that Tech and most mid-level Big 12 teams have this year that if you make any mistake, have any flaws, they will be exposed in conference games. This team continues to improve, as evidenced by their play even last night in coming back from a rough start, playing some great defense at time and building up a six-point lead. Last night’s game  high-lights though that this is still a work in progress and that the growing pains are going to be severe at times.  

 

There were positives last night as Jordan Murphree looked more like Jordan Murphree than she has since before Christmas. Keisha Walker also showed signs of coming out of here shooting-slump, knocking down some big shots in the first half when the Aggies packed in a zone around Dominic Seals and Erin Myrick. The Aggies did a good job though of forcing match-ups last night, limiting which guards Tech could play in combination, forced in large part by the solid shooting of Takia Starks on the wing, something A&M can’t always count on.

 

I realize that there are some that will read my comments and think I’m too positive or that I won’t really say what I think because I call the games on the radio. They’ll say that I’m on the payroll and can’t be trusted. Balderdash!

 

I hate to break it to ya, but I don’t do it for the money, the pay’s just not that great and I’ve got a day-job that pays the bills. I call Lady Raider games because of the pure enjoyment of it, the chance to work with people I admire and enjoy being around plus I’ve got great seats and I’m not sure how long it would take me to move down that far with the current PSL contracts!

 

I wouldn’t tell you I think Kristy Curry and her rock-solid staff are making progress and doing the right things the right way if I didn’t believe it. It would be all too easy for me to just sit back, keep my mouth shut and not say anything at all, like most media types do. I’ve got nearly two-decades of credibility to maintain and if I didn’t think this team wasn’t improving it’d be easy to just sit back, take a check and ignore it. That’s not me though.

 

I’ve put in two decades of work around Lady Raider Basketball having had a chance to see what works and what doesn’t and I can tell you that Kristy Curry, her teaching and coaching, her style and her determination works, is working and will pay great dividends in the near future.

 

Everyone wants a quick fix in life. There aren’t any. This program didn’t go down in just two seasons, it was more of a slow erosion that the former players and coaches did a great job of trying to play through, cover up with grit and tradition and hard-work but eventually succumbed to the downfall. Now the rebuilding is underway and again, in this league it takes time. It takes even more time if you’re trying to get back to the heights the Lady Raider Program and its fans have enjoyed in the past and want in the future. This isn’t just a program that wants to be competitive, it’s a program that expects to win championships and that’s what’s being built here by Coach Curry. I dare say not many folks with a cursory glance gave much credence to what Gary Blair was building at Texas A&M after his first two years. Go back and look at the records. Not much to see. A couple of years later of having and sticking to a plan and the Aggies were holding up a Big 12 Trophy. The same latitude must be given to the Lady Raiders.

 

Again, some fans get it, and some fans don’t and that’s ok. Rest assured though, the people that understand the game and are making the decisions at Tech are solidly behind the program right now and realize that things are getting better and that brighter days are looming in the near future. Now if only some of the other folks out there could be just as hopeful.

 

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS AND GREAT STOCK INVESTING TIPS: SEND THEM HERE.

 

Again, we’ll have the Kristy Curry Show live from Applebees on 4^th and Milwaukee this Monday night live from 6-7 on KFYO 790 AM and we’d love to see you out there. Get there early as seating goes in a hurry. If you have a question you’d like me to ask the Coach, you can post it here if you’d like. Any other questions about Texas Tech or life in general you’d like addressed, do the same. We’ll have another update for you on the Big 12 later today or Monday.

 

Hope everyone has a Super Sunday and we’ll see on the radio.

Go Wes Welker, Go Giants. . .

 

HYATT

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