Texas Tech basketball: Early-season surprises from rebuilt Red Raiders

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The Red Raiders have been the best rebounding team in the conference

Last year, the Red Raiders were merely an average rebounding team. They were just a +1.2 in rebounding margin, which actually dropped to exactly even in Big 12 games.

But this year, they’ve proven to be one of the nation’s best rebounding teams despite losing the team’s top three rebounders from last year, Jarrett Culver, Tariq Owens, and Norense Odiase. That’s certainly more than we could have expected.

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Tech leads the Big 12 in rebound margin at +14.3 per game. That number is good for 10th in the nation.

What’s truly interesting to consider, is that Tech is changing the way we think about rebounding. That’s because it is no longer just the job of the tallest players on the court to clean up the glass.

In previous eras of basketball, teams relied heavily on their post players and occasionally a small forward to do the bulk of their rebounding work. But in the new positionless world that Chris Beard is a proponent of, size is no indication of rebounding prowess.

After being led on the boards last year by 6-foot-7 Culver, Tech is being led this year by 6-foot-6 grad transfer Chris Clarke and the 6-foot-4 Ramsey. Clarke, a Swiss Army knife of a player has the game of a guard but the physicality of a forward and is pulling down an average of 6.3 boards per game, which is exactly what Ramsey is giving the team by using his freakish athleticism to crash the glass.

If the old way of thinking was still true, that height is the requirement for rebounding, then this team might be in trouble. That’s because the 6-foot-8 Holyfield and 7-foot freshman Russel Techwa are the only players on the roster over 6-foot-7. That duo is averaging a combined 6.4 boards per game, 4.7 of which are coming from Holyfield; not enough for Tech to survive on.

But this team does have a height and athleticism advantage in a newer sense of the idea…on the wings. Tech can come at opponents in waves with athletic and long players on the perimeter. Athletes such as Ramsey, Terrence Shannon, Kevin McCullar, and eventually 6-foot-7 freshman Tyreek Smith (who will remind fans of former Tech forward Zach Smith once he returns from a foot injury, which, ironically, is an injury that Zach struggled with at Tech) all have the ability to help Tech rebound the ball.

Think not about this team relying on one or two players to control the glass. Rather, watch how Tech rebounds un unison, almost looking like a pack of hyenas hunting on the plains of the Serengeti.

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This year, the Red Raiders will have to manage size deficits in the post against a number of teams like Kansas, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Texas. But if the guards and wings on this team can prove to be better rebounders than their counterparts, they will be able to help the Red Raiders continue to be effective on the glass.

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