Texas Basketball: What to expect from 2019-20 Red Raiders

Tech will play a more up-tempo style of basketball

Last year, the Red Raiders were one of the more deliberate teams in the nation.  Averaging just 67.6 possessions per game, Tech was No. 262 out of 353 teams in pace of play last year.

Interestingly, the slowest team in the nation was Virginia, meaning that there’s something to be said for playing a style that forces opponents to grind out possessions on both ends of the court.  While we shouldn’t expect this year’s Red Raiders to turn into the Showtime Lakers of the 1980s or Bob Huggins’ Press Virginia, there’s reason to believe that Beard’s team will play with more pace this year.

The strength of this roster is its athleticism and versatility, which will have to help combat the fact that there is only one player on the roster over 6-foot-9.  With no Tariq Owens to protect the rim and no Norense Odiase to clog up the paint, Tech is going to play even more of a swarming style of basketball on defense and most expect Beard to have his team trap more and extend the defense further away from the bucket to keep the ball from entering the lane where the lack of size could be an issue.

In fact, Beard is expected to start a lineup that has only one true big man, 6-foot-8 grad transfer T.J. Holyfield.  And though Holyfield is considered a power forward, he’s much more comfortable playing away from the basket than he is when he tries to bang down low.

Holyfield and Tech’s other grad transfer, Chris Clarke, are players that want to get out in transition and will bring some pressure defenders to the starting lineup.  Clarke is a tenacious on-ball defender who is exceptional at playing passing lanes and creating transition opportunities.

Beard has built a roster of positionless players so expect Tech to come at opponents in waves this year.  In fact, Beard could essentially substitute in a manner similar to a hockey line change where all five players come off the court after a brief but intense run.

This isn’t going to be Arkansas and their old “40 minutes of hell” press or even the extreme half-court trapping style that carried Louisville during the Rick Pitino years.  But this defense will likely be willing to take more chances this year and get into passing lanes even more often than we saw from last year’s squad.  That should lead to more fast-break opportunities, which will only help this young and athletic team generate easy offense.