Texas Tech basketball: Why the Red Raiders lost to Iowa

Early-season defensive lapses were costly

It’s no surprise that this team is not playing as well defensively as we’ve come to expect a Chris Beard team to play.  After all, the system this team runs on that end of the floor is unlike anything any of the newcomers have been exposed to and it will take time for their defensive principals to become second-nature.

That was evident Thursday night.  It was frustrating to see Bohannon and Wieskamp, Iowa’s only true 3-point threats, have open look after open look in the first half.

When spot-up shooters are that wide open, it is a sign that a defense is not communicating properly and isn’t rotating as a unit.  That was most definitely the case in the first half on Thursday.

"“I think in the first half, Iowa played a lot harder than us,” Beard said.  “And we don’t say that a lot about our team around here.”"

This felt like an instance when the Red Raiders simply were taken a bit off guard by the intensity of this game and it showed most noticeably on defense.  That’s where Tech looked a step slow and somewhat disjointed, to begin with.

Again, Tech has the athletes to be an elite team but it is going to take time for this rebuilt roster to start functioning as one.  We were a bit spoiled by the way last year’s team came together on the defensive end almost immediately but remember that it took that team almost half the year to find a groove on offense.

At some point, it is going to click for this team on defense and when it does, Beard’s team will be a swarming unit that is hell to play against.  But that was not the case on Thursday night.