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Pressure Cooker: Can the Texas Tech Handle West Virginia’s Pressure?

By Carlin Hertz

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They say pressure busts pipes.  Well if that is the case, then the West Virginia Mountaineers must bust a lot of them because they apply pressure for 40 minutes.

Bob Huggins loves the in your face, grimy defensive style of play.  That was his trademark in the 90s while at Cincinnati.  Players such as Kenyon Martin, Nick Van Exel, Danny Fortson and Corey Blount were blue collar players committed to pressure and being physical.

Fast forward to 2016 and Huggins has his current West Virginia Mountaineers squad doing the same thing.  Texas Tech basketball team faces a tough task this Saturday as they welcome the 6th ranked Mountaineers in Lubbock. If Tech wants to make the NCAA Tournament this year, beating Huggins boys at home will definitely fatten up their resume.

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West Virginia swept the Red Raiders last season, winning the late season game in Morgantown by 19 points and forcing 26 turnovers.  For the second straight year, West Virginia leads the nation in forced turnovers forcing nearly 21 per game.  The Mountaineers are also top in the nation in steals per game at 12.

For the most part, Tech does handle the ball well as they only commit 12 turnovers per game which they will have to keep it at that number or less if they stand a chance to upsetting the 6th ranked team in the country.  In addition, Texas Tech is near the bottom in rebounds, so they are going to have to win the battle on the boards or keep the margin close.

Tech cannot get caught up in the frantic pace that West Virginia wants to play. The Mountaineers score nearly 85 points per game and Tech cannot afford to get into a shootout as the Red Raiders do not have enough consistent scorers that can keep pace with the Mountaineers.

Next: Pressure Cooker: Can the Red Raiders Handle West Virginia's Pressure?

Keys To Breaking the Pressure

Don’t Panic

Texas Tech will need to be calm the entire game and not play fast.  The Mountaineers pride themselves on setting up their press after every made basket.  Tubby Smith’s team will need to grab the ball and inbound it quickly as possible before West Virginia can set up their full court press.  Once the ball is in bounds, the offense needs to keep the ball moving and not dribble.

Keep the Ball in the Middle

The key to breaking any type of full court press is to keep the ball in the middle of the court.  Teams that like to press, love it when teams dribble the ball up the sideline. Why?  Because the sideline serves as an additional defender.  The Red Raiders must use crisp passes as the ball can travel faster than a player.  They have 10 seconds to cross half court and that is plenty of time to work the ball around until they find the open man.

Make Free Throws

Usually teams that press the entire game gamble and that mean fouls will pile up.  Texas Tech must hit their free throws.  On the season, they are hitting 74 percent of their free throws and they will need to stay around that number to keep the game close.  Texas Tech must make West Virginia pay for fouling.  Converting free throws is the difference between keeping the game close or getting beat by 30.

Attack! Attack! Attack!

Texas Tech cannot fall in love with the three point shot.  Even if they get down early, they cannot rely on the three ball to get them back in the game.   Texas Tech’s top scorers such as Devaugntah Williams, Toddrick Gotcher, Zach Smith, Justin Gray and Aaron Ross must attack the rim and make layups.  Getting a couple of three point plays can take the place of shooting the long ball.  A team that likes to press does not like teams that are aggressive and attacks the teeth of their defense.

Rebound the ball

Losing their top inside threat Norense Odiase to a broken foot against TCU is a major blow to their rebounding.  Zach Smith grabs seven rebounds per game and he is going to have to double that input to pick up the slack from Odiase absence.  As a team, Texas Tech must box out on defense and not allow the Mountaineers second chance points.  Made baskets equal full court pressure.

The Red Raiders will have a fight on their hands at home, but they have to figure out a way to knock off a top 20 team to show the NCAA selection committee that they are worthy of a tournament berth.

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