You’re getting an extra notebook this week! A basketball edition since we have the preseason coaches poll and preseason All-Big 12 teams, I figured we should do something since we have a few articles. Up first is the Big 12 Coaches Poll with Kansas the overwhelming favorite, despite the fact that Bill Self and his alleged toupee recruited a player from Texas who allegedly sexually assaulted women prior to arrival in Lawrence and after he arrived.
1. Kansas (12) 168
2. Houston (2) 153
3. Texas 143
4. Baylor 137
5. TCU 113
6. Kansas State 106
7. Iowa State 95
8. Texas Tech 80
9. West Virginia 70
10. Oklahoma State 57
11. Cincinnati 55
12. Oklahoma 54
13. BYU 29
14. UCF 14
Texas Tech was picked 8th overall, which isn’t bad and given that Mark Adams had to be let go, there was a complete overhaul of players, then I think I get it. These other teams above Texas Tech have some really good players and I think that Grant McCasland needs some time. and that’s not to say that I think he will be successful because he’s been successful everywhere he’s been.
There were no players named to the preseason All-Big 12 team in any way shape or form. Not even honorable mention. This is the All-Big 12 team:
L.J. Cryer, Houston G 6-1 Sr. Katy, Texas/Morton Ranch/Baylor
Hunter Dickinson, Kansas C 7-2 Sr. Alexandria, Va./DeMatha Catholic/Michigan
Dejuan Harris Jr., Kansas G 6-2 Jr. Columbia, Mo./Rock Bridge
Emanuel Miller, TCU F 6-7 Sr. Scarborough, Ontario/Prolific Prep/Texas A&M
Max Abmams, Texas G 6-0 Gr. Rockwall, Texas/Jesuit College Prep/Oral Roberts
CBS Sports’ Kyle Boone has the CBS writers’ thoughts on the Big 12 and they do think that Kansas will win (which is an easy pick) with this being the write-up on Texas Tech, which is picked 8th:
Like the aforementioned Perry, coach Grant McCasland rode another strong season at North Texas into a nice gig in the Big 12, landing at Texas Tech to replace Mark Adams. Under Adams and previously under Chris Beard, Tech prided itself on defense, and that should again be the case this season under McCasland, whose team’s identity at UNT was slow pace and in-your-face defense. The development of second-year guard Pop Isaacs and the hit rate of the six incoming transfers will make or break how well McCasland can start in his new set-up in Lubbock.
Boone thinks that this spot for Texas Tech is too high because it is hitting the reset button on so many pieces of the puzzle (click on over to read).
24/7 Sports’ Kevin Flaherty does a DEEP dive on every team so if you’re a basketball junkie then this is a perfect article for you. Here’s a bit from the Texas Tech portion:
McCasland’s Mean Green teams operated at one of the nation’s absolute slowest tempos, something that could be an adjustment offensively for an army of newcomers and a roster of players new to McCasland. Pop Isaacs does supply reason for optimism; that guy is a bucket in any system in any tempo.
How will his teammates orbit his offensive universe? Arizona State transfers Devan Cambridge and Warren Washington could handle the 4/5 spots together; Cambridge is a good athlete and Washington an All-Pac-12 defender. Darrion Williams won Mountain West Freshman of the Year and is a versatile player with his own defensive skill set, while Chance McMillian is a good outside shooter who could help with the offensive pop.
The roster is filled with versatile, athletic frames who should take well to the defensive end of the floor. The question remains: Will Texas Tech score enough? The Red Raiders’ ceiling depends on the answer.
Make sure to scroll to the end for all of their preseason picks, including player of the year, coach of the year, freshman of the year, favorite transfer, etc.
From Inside The Red Raiders’ Adam Finkelstein is the top draft prospects, which is again a thing for you to get familiar of the top-end talent in the conference.
One of my favorite statistical sites is T-Rank and the advanced stats have Texas Tech 41st in the nation, 63rd in adjusted offense, 28th in adjusted defense, and 7th in the Big 12. T-Rank doesn’t have Warren Washington on the roster, but my guess is that there may be other missing players on other teams and since this is someone’s hobby to run the site, I think it gives a good view of advanced stats.
KenPom also released their rankings and it’s similar, with Texas Tech 43rd overall, 64th in adjusted offense and 30th in adjusted defense.
This is somewhat personal, but related to Texas Tech in a roundabout way, so if you don’t want to continue, my feelings won’t be hurt. On Monday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers played a team from Israel (this is not a political post, it just so happens that this person plays on this team) called Maccabi. A few minutes into the highlights you will see a player for Maccabi, #1 and his name is Jason Siggers. It turns out that Jason is the dad to Keyonte George, yes, the freshman at Baylor from last year and drafted 16th overall in the first round by the Utah Jazz (I had no idea that Jason was Keyonte’s dad for the first 10 months that I knew Jason). Jason has another son (name withheld because he’s Yoyo’s age) and it just so happens that this other son and Youssouf, one of my sons, play on the same Dallas Showtyme team together. Yoyo also gets outside training by Jason and that’s pretty cool and after last night’s game he said that it was wild getting to play against former Red Raider basketballer Zhaire Smith (he’s currently on the Cavs’ roster) because they worked out all summer. In fact, Jason and I have traded books and Yo will train with him tomorrow night I think. Life is pretty interesting sometimes.