2008 Texas Tech Basketball Predictions & Season Preview

Written October 13, 2008 by Jack Jones

Pat Knight will get a chance to take over this Texas Tech basketball program from his father on a full-time basis, after stepping in with 10 games to go last year. Fans are hoping the Red Raiders to a better job of transitioning to the son of a legend than Oklahoma State did in recent years when Sean took over for Eddie Sutton. It’s going to be tough for Knight though since this team has been struggling the last three years after a good four year start for Bobby Knight at the program. We see this team ending up towards the bottom of the conference, with it being a good first year for Knight if he can get them towards the middle. It seems like the college basketball odds makers agree that an NCAA tournament appearance is unlikely, as Texas Tech is listed at 200-to-1 at BetUS to win the national title.

The Texas Tech frontcourt isn’t going to scare anyone. They don’t have a real threat to score down low, with junior Trevor Cook the leading returning scorer with his 4.9 points per game. He is joined by Damir Suljagic’s 4.7 points and Esmir Rizvi’s 2.9 points down low. Rizvic is the only player on the team that is taller than 6′9″, so height is going to be a problem. Knight will have his hands full trying to get this unit to produce and be able to defend the better post players in the league.

Alan Voskuil is going to have to step up big for Knight this year if the Red Raiders are hoping to return to the tournament. He shot 50% from 3-point range a year ago to lead the nation, and he led the team with 13.1 points per game. I don’t expect him to shoot quite as well this year without Martin Zeno taking the pressure off of him. With better defenders on him and not as many open looks, Voskuil will have to do a better job of creating his own shot. John Roberson should give Voskuil some help though. He shot 40% from deep a year ago in averaging 12.3 points per game as a freshman. Mike Singletary is poised for a break out year. He’ll get more time on the floor and has the potential to be a star in the league.

Final Analysis – 8th in our Big 12 Basketball Predictions

The Red Raiders lost Zeno from a team that wasn’t all that great a year ago. The team has a nice group of guys playing outside, but their interior game is shaky at best. That means that if the shots are falling then Texas Tech will have a chance to beat almost anyone in the Big 12, but if they aren’t then they might be blown out of the water without an option to go down low. Texas Tech is 12-to-1 to win the Big 12 basketball conference.

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