Something out of nothing
Day 8: Texas Tech | Traveling Violations
NEW YORK – With a little over a minute left and his team down by 35, Bob Knight called Jeremy Buttell, a Texas Tech reserve, over to the bench and barked some instructions into his ear while pointing to a specific spot on the court.
Eventually, this year or next, Bob Knight will become the winningest coach in NCAA history. And to do that sometimes you have to deal with things like Thursday's 81-46 whippin' at the hands of a very good Syracuse team here in Madison Square Garden.
"Sometimes there is a turning point to a game," said Knight after. "This game was over in the first five minutes."
Tech fell behind 11-0 and then 17-4 early, but it wasn't going to stop Knight from trying to salvage something out of nothing. It was a chance, if nothing else, to try to get some bench guys a little more experienced, a little bit better.
"We were trying to scramble trying to look at different combinations and different kids," he said.
If you want to know why Knight will go down to many as the greatest coach ever, it was all on display in this most unlikely scene – a humiliating, nationally-televised loss, not one of his 800-plus victories.
Coaches with lesser self-esteem would have tried everything possible to make the score look good. Some would have hollered at the refs. Others would have fumed and preened on the sidelines, berating players.
Knight is known for his temper, but he spent Thursday trying to teach the game to a young team (no seniors) and figure out exactly what he has so that he might be better in the long run. He assessed this one as a lost cause and found a reason to play.
We aren't just saying it either. A year ago Tech was pounded 83-53 by Iowa in an early season game in Chicago, one of the worst performances by a Knight team ever. You couldn't have imagined Knight would get anything out of that club. A few months later they were in the Sweet Sixteen.
There was an eerie similarity on display Thursday.
"You know, you go in playing with those kids who played best in practice," said Knight. "Now you turn around and get into a game (and things change).
"It is hard to get into a game trying to find guys to play based on two to three weeks of practice."
Knight saw this one coming a West Texas mile away. After double-digit victories in the first two rounds of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, Knight sensed a false sense of security and probably wasn't too upset that Syracuse smacked his club with it.
"I don't think our players realized after we won two games (to start the season)," he said. "I think you deal with that with kids today. I told them, now the season really begins. Now we are playing some really good teams.' I am really disappointed in how we competed."
Syracuse is certainly a really good team. The Orange are big up front, talented in the back court and have a nice mix of old and young. They may not be ranked, but maybe they should be. They shot 51.6 percent from the floor. Their 2-3 zone was stifling. They get Florida in Friday's championship game. Tech plays Wake Forest in the consolation.
"This was a game you just forget about," said SU coach Jim Boeheim. "When a team can't put the ball in the basket it is a matter of time before getting out of hand. I've been in a couple of games like that. There is nothing you can do as a coach."
Actually there is and Knight did it on Thursday. He stayed patient. He watched his club. He tried different things. He played different players. He let the hurt sink in.
Sometimes you have tear everything down before you can build it back up. The guy who will eventually be the winningest coach of them all started his reconstruction project Thursday.
By post game, he didn't even look too upset about the loss, if you can imagine that.
