WACO — It seems like just yesterday that the Texas Tech basketball team was the darling of the college basketball world and Grant McCasland was being recognized as a coach of the year candidate both locally and nationally.
It wasn't yesterday, but it wasn't that long ago either. Let's rewind a few games and go back to the Red Raiders' historic start since Bob Knight wandered down the Lubbock sideline. The 16-3 start was surprising, but also a fun time for the far-flung tech crowd.
After three games, the temperature around the team seems to have dropped considerably. Losing three games in a row means that for the team. After Tuesday's 79-73 loss to No. 13 Baylor, followed by a loss to No. 25 TCU and a home game against Cincinnati, it might be easy to say it all might have been a mirage.
That would be a lazy explanation. Because examining the No. 23 Red Raiders as a whole is a little more complicated than that.
Game overview:No. 23 Texas Tech Basketball loses third straight, loses to No. 13 Baylor: 3 points
In sports like soccer, it's easy to overreact. Fewer games and more time between contests gives you ample opportunity to analyze everything. In basketball, you play three times as many games as him and play for much less time, so everyone will make the same generalizations about the team depending on the results.
Did your team win? congratulations. You are the featured item of the day.
Did your team lose? Well, I guess they're not very good.
The reality is that one game can't reveal everything about a team, and a span of three games can't accurately tell the whole story.
Therefore, I will try to say this as clearly as possible. He started this year with a Texas Tech team that went 16-3, the same team that lost three straight.
Of course, we have to acknowledge that the last two contests have had key absences: Lamar Washington on Saturday and Warren Washington on Tuesday. However, Texas Tech had great chances to win both games and fell short. Plus, everyone is dealing with injuries and illnesses this time of year. That doesn't mean the Red Raiders are special.
What's unique about this Texas Tech team is that it can beat anyone in the country, even powerhouses like Purdue and Connecticut, at any time, and it can lose to anyone. That's more or less how this team is built.
By February, all teams have established their identities. Technology can be categorized by its three greatest strengths and three greatest weaknesses.
Strengths: One of the top 3-point shooting teams in the country. One of the top free throw shooting teams in the country. And when the ball is in motion, he has one of the most lethal offenses in the sport.
Weaknesses: Rebounding is McCasland's biggest challenge this season. Defend boundaries. And the roster is thin, both in terms of depth and size.
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The Red Raiders sometimes look like a team of destiny because of their respective strengths. In wins over Kansas State, No. 20 BYU and No. 11 Oklahoma, Tech used its strengths to cover its weaknesses. Losses to TCU, Cincinnati and Baylor were times when those weaknesses overshadowed the strengths.
When it comes to roster composition, it has always been about how well the Red Raiders can compensate for their shortcomings in other areas. It also sometimes leaves the door open for those shortcomings to win, as the past three games have. It's not that the team's form suddenly deteriorated, it's that they simply weren't strong enough to make up for the difference.
Now, if you want to see a losing streak as a red flag, you're overreacting. Instead, watch the season as a whole and really dive in and see that the team is the same as it has been for the past few months.
We also need to consider the other things I pointed out earlier. If the Big 12 wants to be proud of being the best and toughest conference in the country, it must also recognize that that comes with some pitfalls along the way. 18 league game schedule.
All but Kansas State and Iowa State have lost consecutive games in conference play. Some, like BYU and Texas, have done it multiple times. And Texas Tech isn't the first team in the Big 12 this season to lose three straight. Baylor City is one of them, as is Kansas State University.
The margin for error remains razor-thin, and this is not unique to Texas Tech. Sometimes they can even survive on Chin Chin's fur. In some cases, you may be injured and need a bandage. This is basketball, after all. There are a lot of games and a lot of ways things can go.
For better or worse, Texas Tech is the same team that tied for fifth place in the conference at 16-6, and the same team that was alone in first place at 16-3, even if their record was 19-3. Dew.
Nothing has changed in the last 12 days other than the match results. And we've seen how quickly they flip.
