Mark Adams shifting practice workload, game minutes to refresh minds of Texas Tech players
Mark Adams is trying to adjust his coaching style to curb the trend of second-half struggles.
The second-year Texas Tech men’s basketball coach is also attempting to snap a skid, which has lasted seven games back and dates back to the start of Big 12 Conference play.
The Red Raiders (10-9, 0-7) may have a chance to do both of those things when they host West Virginia (11-8, 1-6) at 6 p.m. Wednesday inside United Supermarkets Arena.
”Any win, would be, obviously, a welcome to us all right now,” said Adams, whose squad is in the midst of the program’s longest losing streak since 2015. ”We’re frustrated and we know we need to get a win. If you look at the situation right now, if we put two or three wins together then we’re on the bubble in the NCAA Tournament. That’s how good this league is.
“That’s (the) encouraging thing about it. I think you could get in with seven wins (in the Big 12 Conference) right now. We just gotta find a way to get to seven wins.”
While earning a berth into the NCAA Tournament would be ideal, the Red Raiders know that goal is more achievable once they add victories into the win column — which starts Wednesday night against the physical, defensive-minded Mountaineers.
Tre Mitchell, who transferred from Texas last season, is averaging 13.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per game. He’s aided by Erik Stevenson (12.9 points per game), Kedrian Johnson (10.7 ppg) and Emmitt Matthews (10.1 ppg). Joe Toussaint provides a punch from the bench, averaging 9.9 points per contest.
with 18 games off the bench and one start. A fifth-year senior from Dallas, Johnson led WVU with 22 points against Texas on Saturday night after making three 3-pointers and seven free throws. He began his career at Temple College before transferring to WVU. Mitchell added eight rebounds and 12 points in the loss to the Longhorns in 40 minutes of play.
”It’s a typical Bob Huggins team, they’re physical, they play bully ball,” Adams said of West Virginia. ”That’s what they like to do and they’re going to be great on both the offensive and defensive glass. So we’ll try to match their intensity.”
Texas Tech will look to do that with a variety of players, per Adams, who admitted that he’s going to sub in more players in the second half. He attributed the Red Raiders struggles in the final 20 minutes due to fatigue.
So, to counter that, he is going to deploy more reserves to keep the starting rotation fresher for key moments down the stretch. That means Kerwin Walton, D’Maurian Williams, Lamar Washington, KJ Allen and Robert Jennings may earn more minutes to spell Daniel Batcho, Pop Isaacs, De’Vion Harmon and Kevin Obanor.
Whether it means another halftime, or second-half advantage is squandered, remains to be seen. But Adams and the coaching staff are aware that the Red Raiders are 0-3 when holding a lead in conference games.
“We’re going to try and play more people in the second half,” Adams said. “We seemed a little bit rundown at times. … I’m old school and when things aren’t going well — you just work and you work. And maybe we’ve been working these guys a little bit too hard in some of these practices.
“One thing we’re trying to do is keep their legs fresh these last couple of days. So, at least, going into those last four or five minutes those guys have some energy to finish the game.”
One player that might not be a part of the rotation is post Fardaws Aimaq, who returned to the court two games ago in a 72-70 road loss Jan. 14 to then No. 10 Texas in Austin. After logging 29 minutes, Aimaq — who sustained a broken bone in foot following an offseason workout — has notched 24 and 19 minutes, respectively in two games against Baylor and at Kansas State.
Adams was coy on the status of Aimaq, but did disclose the 6–foot-11 forward has a bruise on his foot. The Texas Tech coach did say he, ”was not sure how much he’s going to play West Virginia.” The former Utah Valley post is not close to 100%, per Adams, yet averages 10 points and 6.7 rebounds — ranking him fourth and second in those respective categories.
“He’s working on it,” Adams said of Aimaq. ”We have to keep reminding ourselves that he hasn’t gone through any full workouts. … He’s getting better and he’s still having problems with that foot.
“He’s about 60% of where he should be. He’s frustrated because he can’t guard like he usually can. He’s not jumping. That may take two or three weeks before we can come back to playing the way he did last year and in the summer.”
WEST VIRGINIA AT TEXAS TECH
When: 6 p.m. Wednesday
Where: United Supermarkets Arena
Records: Texas Tech 10-9, 0-7. West Virginia 11-8, 1-6
TV: ESPNU
Radio: FM 97.3
Coverage: Follow @cmsilvajr on Twitter for live updates, with postgame analysis and more at lubbockonline.com.
Fast fact(s): Kevin Obanor made a three-point shot against Kansas State last weekend. The senior has made at least one try in the last two games — going 2-for-8 in that span — following a stretch in which he went 0-for-9 in three straight games against Oklahoma, Iowa State and Texas. Obanor went 4-for-8 against Kansas, which followed an 0-for-3 outing in the Big 12 opener at TCU.
BIG 12 CONFERENCE STANDINGS
Team, Big 12 record, Overall record
No. 5 Kansas State 6-1, 17-2
No. 12 Iowa State 5-2, 14-4
No. 10 Texas 5-2, 16-3
No. 17 Baylor 5-3, 15-5
No. 9 Kansas 5-3, 16-4
No. 11 TCU 4-3, 15-4
Oklahoma State 3-4, 11-8
Oklahoma 2-5, 11-8
West Virginia 1-6, 11-8
Texas Tech 0-7, 10-9
Monday’s result
Baylor 75, Kansas 69
Tuesday’s schedule
Oklahoma at TCU, (n); Oklahoma State at Texas (n); Kansas State at Iowa State (n)
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Mark Adams shifting practice workload, game minutes to refresh minds of Texas Tech players
