Five Things To Watch With Texas Tech At World University Games
Texas Tech women’s basketball is representing Team USA at the World University Games in Germany taking place now July 16-27. What are the World University Games? Aside from it being really cool to play as Team USA and try to bring home a Gold Medal….what is actually worth watching for in these games when it comes to the Lady Raiders?
In this article are all the things, from scheme to specific players, I will have my eye on more than the scoreboard itself this week.
First things first, how does this team handle what the local media keeps referring to as a “hostile” crowd in their opener versus the host team Germany on Friday night (locally, 1 pm Texas time.) European basketball crowds are typically pretty loud, large and rowdy so we shall see if that’s what this Lady Raider team gets to experience in game one of the tournament.
“It was really loud in Big 12 and I think it’s going to be really loud here too,” said senior Denae Fritz during the team’s press conference on Wednesday. “Being able to focus in and really just know what we are doing out there and don’t let the crowd affect our game. I think that’s the most important part when there is a lot of people against you, you have to really focus in on all the things we’ve done this summer.”
Fans can watch this game and all games on FISU.TV.
Are There Any Noticeable Scheme Changes?
With six transfers and four new faces on the coaching staff are there any noticeable scheme or philosophy changes? Gerlich mentioned playing with greater pace a lot in our interview with her released earlier in the week, do we see that? How do they play with a couple of bigs down low that have proven to be able to finish in their careers at a high rate? Can they get them the ball? Is the spacing around them better with shooters 1-4?
Are there any defensive tweaks? Doubtful they can press a full game with a short bench, but do we see signs of any defensive changes otherwise? Are they going to play 100% man-to-man when the recent transfer addition Jada Malone from Texas A&M is on the floor? A capable defender on bigs but, like most traditional fives, it’s not fair to expect a lot of success if she gets left on an island with guards. 1-3-1 zone perhaps to also take advantage of the team’s length?
Gerlich herself told us they have kept it fairly vanilla in camp so not really expecting anything too fancy from them with such a new team and only a few weeks of practice together. But the basketball junkie in me will be on the lookout for any bread crumbs on scheme if they drop them.
How Do The New Lady Raider Faces Look?
International players can’t play in this since Texas Tech is representing Team USA. For that reason some of the new faces, including exciting new point guard addition Gemma Nunez, will be watching from the sidelines. Add in Snudda Collins, transfer from Ole Miss, out for precautionary reasons with an injury and fans will only get to see two of the new faces for the first time in this: Jada Malone and Sidney Love.
I mentioned Malone in the previous section and that’s a big part of what I am intrigued to see with her – how does this team operate when she is on the floor? She also has more midrange capability at the center position than Texas Tech has had in awhile, do we see that at all? Those two things on the offensive end, mixed with how the team defends around her on the other end are what I’ll be watching most closely with Malone.
Gerlich had high praise for Love’s work ethic and buy in during her short time with the team since arriving in May as a transfer from UTSA. With Nunez out and Bailey Maupin also out for an injury (precautionary), Love was forced into the point guard role for much of this World Games training camp. She is more than capable of playing the one, as she did at times for UTSA, but being asked to learn an entirely new system and step right into that lead role for this tournament is a tough task. Sounds like it is one she has taken head on, excited to see her work out there. And don’t let the size fool you, she also brings a little more grit and get a bucket game to this team as she showed with the Road Runners.
The Lone Underclassman Kalysta “Bird” Martin
A former four star, ESPN Top 100 recruit out of the Class of 2024 – simply getting to see this sophomore play is one of the things I am most excited about. Bird Martin was an early enrolee in January of 2024 at the age of 16, yes, SIXTEEN! Needless to say she needed to mature and develop quickly so we have not seen much of her in her 1.5 years on campus – but the ceiling is endless as a 6-2, rangy point guard and sniper from deep. She’s also more than capable of playing off-ball in this offense too.
With Nunez and Maupin out, she likely slots in as the backup point guard behind Love. I’ve heard for over a year now she has some of, if not the best, handles in practice daily to go along with a pure shooting stroke that fans saw in snippets last season. Gerlich noted in our interview that she still has some work to do catching up to the speed of the game at this level but she’s getting closer each day.
If Martin shows out and truly EARNS a role on this team, it could really affect the trajectory of their season.
Year Two For Last Years Big 3 Transfers
Last offseason the team brought in former Top 100 recruit Jalynn Bristow, former All-Big 12 Freshman Team member Denae Fritz and former Lubbock local star Adlee Blacklock as transfers. They all had moments where they starred and others were it was clear they were getting used to the system, but all three started to find their footing as the season went along.
Now with a full offseason under their belt in Lubbock, and a true leadership role being thrust upon Fritz especially, how will they look in Germany? If the team is going to come home with a medal it feels certain these three will need to star in their respective roles to do so.
As talked about in the article put out earlier this week, Gerlich has had a lot of praise for Frtiz’ leadership this offseason. Also her aggressiveness on offense has been very apparent in practice and that is something I have circled, popcorn ready, to see in Germany. We know who she is as a defender, but if this team can tap into the scoring ability of Fritz too? Look out.
Bristow is similar to Martin in that her ceiling is still so far from being reached, in many ways she is a key to where this team will go this season. She simply has the ability to do things others cannot just off god-given athleticism and build. I’m a big believer that the sophomore to junior season jump is the biggest growth year for most college athletes. I’m looking for any signs we can get in Germany that that growth and maturity is in progress with Bristow on BOTH ends of the floor.
Lastly, Blacklock is a true SHOOTER. Eyes on or off target it’s going up with this one. But we haven’t seen her get big minutes since perhaps her freshman year at Oregon State. Since then she’s been used as a spark plug in short spurts shooter or zone busting matchup type player. Perhaps that is still her role once the season gets here but this tournament feels like a great opportunity for the now senior to earn a larger role on the team. Will we see a more consistent scorer? Is she more comfortable on the defensive end, something Gerlich mentioned was an area of growth for her this offseason.
Leadership, Synergy and Toughness
This is a very experienced, veteran team with nine seniors on the roster. Not all of those are playing in this but of those that are, or are on the sidelines watching, do any in particular step into a leadership role. Fritz by all accounts already has in practice, but who is doing that alongside her with Maupin out?
Who is taking the big shots in the big moments? Are they taking confident shots in general? Both things that were a struggle at times last season when possessions turned into a game of hot potatoe. I want to see confident, aggreessive plays being made win or lose. It’s July, I am not expecting pretty, March level synergy out there. It will likely get sloppy both ways at times, that’s fine. But toughness, aggression and energy shouldn’t lack regardless. Who is bringing that? Those are the players you want to rock with come November.
What Are the World University Games?
Held every two years, the FISU World University Games is governed by the International University Sports Federation and has become known as the most important competition in international university sport since its debut in 1923. In addition to basketball, the summer edition of the FISU World University Games will include: archery, artistic gymnastics, athletics, badminton, diving, fencing, judo, rhythmic gymnastics, swimming, taekwondo, tennis, table tennis, volleyball, water polo, 3×3 basketball, 3×3 wheelchair basketball, beach volleyball and rowing.
Texas Tech is representing the United States in the women’s basketball portion of this event, Baylor is doing so on the men’s side. Competition begins with group play in a pod of four teams. Team USA is a part of Group B alongside Chinese Taipei, Poland and host-country Germany. Team USA’s first game will take place on July 18 against Germany beginning at 8 p.m. Central European Summer Time (CEST) at Grugahalle arena in Essen, Germany. They will then face Chinese Taipei the following day at 5:30 p.m. CEST at Ischelandhalle arena in Hagen, Germany. The final game of group play is against Poland on July 20 at 12 p.m. CEST, also in Hagen.
After group play, the top two teams from each pod will advance to compete for places 1-8, while all remaining teams will compete for positions 9-16. Winners of the quarterfinals will advance to the semifinals. Semifinal winners will compete for first and second place, while semifinal runners-ups will compete for third and fourth place. Teams not advancing to the top 8 will participate in classification matches to determine their final rankings from ninth to 16th place. These games will be played on July 22, July 23 and July 25.
All games can be found on FISU.TV.
Join the conversation with other Red Raiders on the Inside The Double T forum.
Subscribe today to get the most in-depth Texas Tech sports and recruiting coverage.
Follow us on X: @RedRaiderSports
Like and follow us on Instagram @rrs_rivals & like us on Facebook.
