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Texas Tech basketball could be even better in 2019-20 in some key areas

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Kyler Edwards #0 and Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders react against the Virginia Cavaliers in the first half during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Kyler Edwards #0 and Davide Moretti #25 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders react against the Virginia Cavaliers in the first half during the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /

This team will have more quality depth

One of the most fascinating early-season developments we will be watching in the non-conference portion of the schedule is how Chris Beard works his rotation.  That’s because the Red Raiders will have as many as 12 players that would be sure-fire regulars on almost every other edition of Red Raider basketball to ever take the court.

But Beard almost certainly will not play all 12 in conference play.  After all, he went with an eight-man rotation in each of the past two years.

However, there is reason to believe that he could go nine or ten deep given all the options on his roster.  And even if he decides to keep his regular rotation at just eight players, consider how much of a luxury the added quality depth will be next year should an injury arise.

This year, we saw Beard have to cut his rotation down to just seven players on a couple of occasions when injuries cropped up.  Most notably, Tech had to play with just seven players in the National Title Game when it became obvious that Tariq Owens was a liability just two days after suffering a high ankle sprain against Michigan State.  It is fair to wonder how much another capable contributor could have provided off the bench and whether having just a bit more depth, especially in the post, would have helped in the overtime period.

And against Texas in Austin, sophomore forward DeShawn Corprew left the game early in the first half with a strained calf that cost him the remainder of that game as well as the next contest against Iowa State.  Instead of going to another option off the bench to help cover Corprew’s minutes, Beard stuck with just seven players.  If Corprew would have been out for an extended period of time, Beard could have been facing a difficult task in trying to manage a suddenly thin rotation.

Next year, the Red Raiders will have a roster that is chalked full of players more than capable of playing significant minutes.  How Beard dishes out those minutes will be fascinating to watch because he will have more options next year than he has ever had in Lubbock.

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