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The Morning Stake | 2019.01.25

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Seth C

The Morning Stake | 2019.01.25

Leading Off

Be Good. Another week down and we’re almost done with January. I’ll have the preview and GDT with Arkansas and Texas Tech tomorrow morning. Tip is at 5:00 for the men and the ladies host #2 Texas at noon at the United Supermarkets Arena also tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

Hocutt Radio Show. RedRaiderSports’ Brandon Soliz recaps the Kirby Hocutt radio show. Lots to cover there so go check it out, but there were a couple of big things for me were that baseball will be on TexasTech.TV with one series on ESPN and another on FS1. Also, there will be a basketball ring of honor with the first class to be announced on March 4th when Texas Tech hosts the Longhorns. The first class will have four men and three women.

Texas Tech Track and Field

Texas Tech Golf

Texas Tech Baseball

#4 in Coaches Poll. The USAToday Coaches Poll has Texas Tech ranked #4 in the preseason, with TCU checking in at 16, Baylor at 17, Texas at 18, and Oklahoma State at 21.

Texas Tech Basketball

Breaking Ground on The Womble. Texas Tech announced that they would break ground on the Womble Basketball Center today at 1:30, to be streamed live on TexasTech.TV. I think this thing is totally funded and it will be a premier practice facility for the men and women’s programs.

Zhaire and Keenan, Teammates Again. Keenan Evans was recently dropped from the Detroit Piston’s G-League affiliate but was picked up by the Delaware Blue Coats, the Philadelphia G-League affiliate and it just so happens that Zhaire Smith will begin training with the Blue Coats as he rehabs from his offseason injury and food poison-issue, via PhillyVoice:

Zhaire Smith, who the Sixers acquired on the night of the 2018 NBA Draft in a trade with Phoenix, has been assigned to the Sixers’ G-League affiliate and is set to begin participating in non-contact elements of the Blue Coats practices. A team source said that this step was taken to keep him progressing with the team on a road trip out west, and added that Smith’s individualized workouts will continue alongside this new portion of his workload.

As for a timetable, that remains elusive. But everyone who I’ve spoken to around the Sixers has raved about Smith’s dedication and work ethic while he has been grinding away from the spotlight, and Brett Brown told reporters earlier in January that Smith was going through two-a-days in an effort to get himself back.

Fireside Chat. The next fireside chat with head coach Chris Beard and Lubbock mayor, Dan Pope. Don’t be “weather”. / response from someone . . . “I’ll be a ‘weather’ if I want to be a ‘weather’.”

Top 13. ESPN’s Jay Bilas thinks your Red Raiders are the 13th best team in the nation:

The Red Raiders are listed this high due to amazingly tight and tough defense. Texas Tech defends as well as any team in the country, but the Red Raiders simply cannot score efficiently. Jarrett Culver is a great player who will be a first-round pick, but what other Red Raiders player can score at the end of a clock? This is not a top-50 offensive team, and most of the analytics suggest that this is not a top-100 offensive team. Defense will get Texas Tech to the second weekend of the NCAA tournament. You have to score to get beyond that.

Flawed, But Dangerous. NBC Sports’ Rob Dauster writes about eight flawed teams that are dangerous enough to win the title and includes your Red Raiders:

WHAT NEEDS CHANGING?: With the way that Texas Tech can defend, they don’t have to be great offensively to be able to make a run in March. Remember, in 2017, a South Carolina team that was not as good as this Texas Tech team reached the Final Four and lost to Gonzaga by four for the right to get to the national title game. This is doable, but the only way that can happen is if Culver decides to start playing like a guy that can take over games and has NBA teams considering him as a top ten pick. He makes teammates better, he’s a tough finisher around the rim, he can create out of ball-screens and he’s more-than-capable as a shooter. When he starts playing like that, Tech will snap out of this three-game losing streak.

There’s more there that you should check out, but I think this is pretty spot on analysis. A lot of this is on Culver and that’s not an easy thing for a 19-year-old person. With great gifts comes great responsibility.

McDonald’s All-American Snub. Rivals’ Corey Evans writes about seven players who were snubbed from the McDonald’s All-American roster and includes Texas Tech signee Jahmius Ramsey:

A high-end four-star prospect that is on the cusp of the coveted fifth star, Ramsey is the definition of a do-it-all type that is valued greatest for his competitive mindset, explosiveness and ability to guard three different positions. Taking his talents to Lubbock, it would be a good bet that he will only flourish further under the tutelage of Chris Beard, who has cultivated what is becoming one of the top developmental programs in America.

Ramsey didn’t get the call for the burger game but the talent and two-way versatility make him a can’t-miss type of guy that will be a name to know immediately within the Big 12 next year.

Texas Tech Football

Spring Events.

Texas Tech officially announced the spring events yesterday (I thought they may have announced them earlier, but whatever):

  • March 30th @ 2:00 p.m. – Jones AT&T Stadium; Lubbock, Texas
  • April 5th @ 7:00 p.m. – Grande Communications Stadium; Midland, Texas
  • April 13th @ 2:00 p.m. – Ford Center at the Star; Frisco, Texas

I can almost all but assure you that I’ll be at the Frisco scrimmage and I can also almost all but assure you that I won’t be at the spring game or the game in Midland.

Home on the Range. Patrick Mahomes at the range.

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