Texas Tech University Athletics
Another Successful Opening Knight
November 04, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 3, 2001
Lubbock - Coach Bob Knight sported a new look, and some Texas Tech fans found themselves watching him as much as his players in the Red Raiders' come-from-behind 81-76 exhibition victory over the EA Sports Central All-Stars on Friday night.
In his first competitive outing since taking over the Red Raiders seven months ago, Coach Knight commented, "It gives us things to work on, to think about," Knight said. "The win doesn't mean anything except that they did come back from 12 points back to win, and everybody made a contribution."
He was on and off the bench throughout the game, applauding Red Raider successes, giving instructions to players, and occasionally shaking his head at what a player had done. At times, he'd call a player over to the bench, put an arm around his back, emphasize a point and pat the player on the behind before sending him back to play.
"What we're going to try to do tomorrow is show them that a lot of points are scored when you make a defensive mistake," he said. "I think it was a very good game for us to play at this point."
Friday night's game was the first Texas Tech victory for the just-turned 61 year young coach. His head coaching career began with six years at Army (102-50)and followed with 29 years at Indiana (662-239) where he won three NCAA national championships and an NIT championship for a remarkable total of 764 coaching victories to only 289 losses (.726).
While some fans watched their new basketball coach, Coach Knight watched his squad intently to see if they were carrying out lessons they have been learning during practices. He was looking for motion... for players setting screens... for passes, lots of passes.
"We made some plays that weren't real smart. We've got to learn to make good plays," he said. "We've got to learn to be smart when we play."
He rotated players regularly throughout the game and didn't appear to be overly concerned whether the team won or lost. Even when the crowd of 5,860 at United Spirit Arena went wild as Tech took the lead for the first time with about 5 minutes remaining, Coach Knight looked calm and nonplussed.
"My approach to exhibition games has always been to let the players figure things out," Knight said. "If I do everything for them, then they don't learn to see anything."
The General brought his troops to the 2001 season dress rehearsal in commensurate fashion -- new practice gear. The Red Raiders' new uniforms, which Coach Knight helped design and which will not have players' names on them, had not arrived.
While the exhibition game was carried by the Texas Tech Television Network, the post-game press conference was picked up by satellite feed by ESPN and shown several times on their national sports show -- a great opportunity to share more of Lubbock and Texas Tech.
The Raiders will be in action next Sunday, November 11 at 2:15 p.m. in the United Spirit Arena as they host Athletes First.
The Red Raiders will open their regular season on Friday, November 16 against William & Mary in the FORD Red Raider Classic. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. and will be televised on ESPN+. San Diego State University will face the University of Northern Iowa at 9:15 p.m. The consolation game and championship game will follow on Saturday evening.
