Texas Tech basketball: Clarence Nadolny provides solid minutes in a pinch

In Wednesday’s victory over West Virginia, freshman guard Clarence Nadolny gave the Texas Tech basketball team solid minutes off the bench.

Not every player’s impact can be measured just by what we see in the box score. That was the case for freshman guard Clarence Nadolny on Wednesday night.

At first glance, his two points in eight minutes of Tech’s 89-81 win over West Virginia might not seem like a huge contribution. But when we consider what he was able to provide his team, it becomes clear how important he was.

Keep in mind that Tech was without guard Kevin McCullar who missed the game because of concussion-like symptoms. In the first half of Saturday’s loss to Kentucky, the redshirt freshman hit his head on the court and had to be evaluated in the locker room.

But he would return to give his team a huge lift. In 19 minutes of play, he scored six points on 3-5 shooting and played tremendous defense. He played so well that Beard went with him over starting guard Jahmi’us Ramsey down the stretch and in overtime.

A day later though, he was overcome by headaches and other concerning symptoms thus keeping him out against WVU. His timetable for return is unknown at this point.

That problem was compounded when Chris Clarke turned his ankle during Wednesday’s game. Though he would return to the floor, he was out for some time and as Tech saw Davide Moretti, Kyler Edwards, and Ramsey all getting into foul trouble, Nadolny was asked to play some critical minutes.

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In the second half, he was solid during a span when West Virginia was putting on a full-court press to try to interrupt the Red Raider offense and overcome a double-digit deficit. He was strong with the ball and made solid decisions while managing not to turn the ball over. In fact, on a night when his team gave the ball away 20 times, he was not guilty of a single turnover.

It was his most action in a game since he also played eight minutes on December 29th against Cal-Bakersfield. Since then, he’s had no more than six minutes in any game.

At times this year, he has been a bit of a spark plug off the bench. Most notably was in Manhattan when he had three points, two rebounds, and two assists in six minutes against Kansas State. That contribution came at a time when his team had become a bit sluggish and needed a boost in energy.

Against the Mountaineers on Wednesday though, it wasn’t offense or energy that the Red Raiders needed, it was ball-handling. The native of France gave Chris Beard exactly what he was asked to and given that McCullar may not be back for Saturday’s game at Kansas and Clarke could be slowed because of his ankle, Nadolny may be called upon again.

If he is, he can rely on his solid performance on Wednesday to give him some confidence. It’s part of the maturation of a young player who is starting to grow into a legitimate Big 12 player as the season progresses..

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