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Texas Tech basketball: What we learned about the Red Raiders in the Bahamas

By Matthew Conner

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Texas Tech Red Raiders fans cheer prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game against the Virginia Cavaliers at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - APRIL 08: Texas Tech Red Raiders fans cheer prior to the 2019 NCAA men's Final Four National Championship game against the Virginia Cavaliers at U.S. Bank Stadium on April 08, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by John Weast/Getty Images)
(Photo by John Weast/Getty Images) /

The Red Raider defense may regress, especially early in the year

By now, Texas Tech basketball has become synonymous with defense and last year, the Red Raiders had the best defensive efficiency rating of any team in the KenPom.com era (which dates back to 2002).  But don’t expect that type of dominance this season, especially in the non-conference portion of the schedule.

With seven scholarship players on the roster who were not with the program last year and seven freshmen getting their first taste of college basketball, the defense is going to take time to round into form.  That’s because Tech’s no-middle, switch everything scheme is unlike anything most of these players, including the grad transfers, have ever been exposed to.

In the Bahamas, it was evident that assistant coach and pseudo defensive coordinator Mark Adams still has his work cut out for him.  Tech allowed 38.9% shooting this week with Mega Bemax shooting over 40% as a team in both games two and three.

While that does not seem appreciably worse than the 37% Tech allowed its opponents to shoot last year, keep in mind that there were a ton of open looks that the Red Raiders’ opponents did not make.  And last season, only 13 of Tech’s 38 opponents shot better than 40% from the floor.

Another factor that makes the defense seem like a work in progress is how frequently the Red Raiders sent their opponents to the free-throw line.  Tech sent the BNT and Mega Bemax to the line an average of 29.6 times per game, including 45 times alone in game-two.

In fairness, the officiating was more than questionable this week (especially in Wednesday’s game where the BNT got plenty of home cooking) but Beard’s young players have to learn how to play in their new defensive system without grabbing and hacking.  Last year, Tech’s opponents averaged 18.2 free throw attempts per game, over 1.5 fewer than the good guys shot and that needs to be a stat in the Red Raiders’ favor this fall.

This year, there is no Tariq Owens to clean up around the rim when assignments are blown.  That’s why this young and rebuilt team has to pick up on Tech’s unique defensive scheme as quickly as possible and they may have to be even more sound as last year’s team was in their rotations and their cohesiveness.  This roster has more than enough athleticism to be great defensively but we shouldn’t expect that to happen right away as it did last season.

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