McCasland reacts as Texas Tech draws Akron in NCAA tournament
March Madness is here, and the Texas Tech men’s basketball team is once again in the race for an NCAA basketball championship. Head Coach Grant McCasland met with the media following the selection show watch party to break down his thoughts on the seeding, bracket, opponents and more.
“Man, the NCAA Tournament, nothing like it. Great crowd. Obviously excited for our guys. And we have a few guys that have played the NCAA tournament, but quite a few that haven’t ever played. So the excitement of it is always a blast. And then to see where you’re going playing against an awesome Akron team that’s won 19 of their last 20 games, so they know how to win. Coach Groce, I’ve been familiar with his teams. They’re always going to play well, so it’d be awesome, great, great opportunity.”
Christian Anderson’s Leadership & Experience
In spite of JT Toppin’s absence, McCasland believes Christian Anderson’s leadership with this team throughout the year in addition to his experience with their Elite Eight team last year is just the guide for the players experiencing March Madness for the first time.
“Experience in the NCAA Tournament always is an advantage, and the fact that Christian’s seen it and had the opportunity to be on a team that made a run, and his leadership with this group, his ownership to how we’re going to compete and play, really is huge to our success. So thankfully, he’s feeling great. We’re excited about him leading us in the opportunity to compete.”
Thoughts on the Midwest Bracket
The Red Raiders were placed as a fifth seed in the Midwest region. Michigan will be the top seed, with Big 12 foe Iowa State at the two seed, Virginia at three, and Alabama at four. The programs seeded below Texas Tech include Tennessee at six, Kentucky at seven, Georgia at eight, St. Louis at nine, Santa Clara at ten, Akron at twelve, Hofstra at thirteen, Wright State at fourteen, Tennessee State at fifteen, with the eleven and sixteen seeds yet to be decided depending on what happens in the first four round. McCasland voiced what he feels about the Midwest region as a whole.
“You know, this NCAA Tournament is always great in the moment you think you understand the path is the moment you do this thing the wrong way. So we’re all in on prepared for Akron and figuring out a way to try to find a way to win that first.”
What Facing Akron Means For This Team
McCasland stated that playing against top notch defenses and learning how to be more assertive around the rim all season plays a huge part in how they plan to prepare before facing Akron. Plus, he feels having the extra days to prepare truly amps up the team to improve in those areas.
“I think that playing good defenses has been our objective all along. I mean, the biggest area for us is just finishing possessions. The first shot defense has been okay. Physicality around the rim has not been great. How well can we continue to just to get after people on the glass? That’s when we play our best basketball. So not just defense, but rebounding. We can improve. We got a few days, and we’re going to play Friday, so that’s good for us. We need a couple extra days.”
Playing To Compete Instead of Playing to Not Make a Mistake
McCasland talked after the Iowa State game in the Big 12 tournament about how the team lost their edge because they were “overthinking on possessions.” He stated that when they go out to compete without concern of what can go wrong will help slow down their thinking when they’re in the tournament.
“The key to our success is just being aggressive and playing with purpose. It’s less about feeling like you got to play perfect and don’t make a mistake. And we jumped out on Iowa State, and I think we played well. Just the compete level just needs to stay high. That’s what we’re going to work on. It’s just don’t concern yourself with things that don’t go well, and we got knocked off center of that Iowa State game, and it led to a lot of mistakes. So I just am encouraging this team to just go play with everything you got. Go compete on every possession, and you don’t really want it to slow down as much for this team it feels like. I mean, we already have a little bit of a slow process with some of those new guys have been playing. So it’s more about creating an edge and competing, not worried about making mistakes.”
Another Year in the Tournament
The fact of the matter is the Red Raiders are back in the March Madness tournament. McCasland expressed his emotion for making another tournament and the privilege of making it with this team.
“First of all, it’s an expectation here that we’re playing in the NCAA tournament, and not only you get a chance to play in it, but that you win. This team is in a unique situation. These 512 games are always dangerous, any way you look at it. And I specifically think Akron has a team that it didn’t matter what five they were playing. I think they would be a heavy pick to win the game. And everybody loves to pick this one, and we understand the responsibility that we have, not only just our team, but to the Big 12, and for us to continue to be where we want to be, you got to go out and compete. But you can’t worry about anything other than figuring out a way to get better these next few days as a group. And that’s just been my challenge to us all along. Can’t win a game on Friday unless you have a great practice on Sunday. Can’t be great on Friday, unless you have a great practice on Monday. And so ‘how are we preparing treatment wise, all those areas to get better?’ That’s the focus, and then it’ll be that the same way in preparation for this game. Just keep getting better as a team, so we give ourselves the best chance to win. All right, thank you guys, awesome.”
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