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Texas Tech basketball: What we learned in the two losses in Vegas

By Matthew Conner

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 28: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders talks to his players during a stop in play in the 2019 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 28, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Hawkeyes defeated the Red Raiders 72-61. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 28: Head coach Chris Beard of the Texas Tech Red Raiders talks to his players during a stop in play in the 2019 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 28, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Hawkeyes defeated the Red Raiders 72-61. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Luka Garza #55 of the Iowa Hawkeyes  (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
Luka Garza #55 of the Iowa Hawkeyes  (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Size will be tough for Tech to handle

Most Tech fans have been concerned about this team’s lack of size inside.  Those fears were validated this week, especially against Iowa’s Garza, who had his way down low.

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What should be most telling about the Iowa game was that even though Tech struggled to combat the Hawkeye’s size, Iowa has two 6-foot-11 big men, 7-foot Russell Tchewa was on the floor for only four minutes.  It’s beginning to look like the thought that the 7-foot true freshman would be ready to give this team valuable minutes against elite big men right off the bat is only a fantasy.

Tchewa still has a ways to go both mentally and in terms of coordination.  He missed an easy dunk under the rim against Iowa and when he does manage to corral that ball with his huge paws and put it in the bucket, it feels like a struggle.  We are starting to learn that Beard simply doesn’t trust his 7-foot project right now.

Thus, Tech is going to have to be creative with how it handles size.  The guards are going to be more essential than ever when guarding the post because they will not only be asked to double-team quite a bit but they will have to cut off passing lanes to deny entry into the post.

That didn’t happen in Las Vegas.  Sometimes being guarded by 6-foot-7 Terrence Shannon or 6-foot-6 Chris Clarke, Garza got anything he wanted down low, especially when he set up shop right in the middle of the lane.

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Tech will have to deal with some huge teams this year like Louisville, Kansas, Texas and West Virginia.  Figuring out a way to combat that size isn’t going to be easy and after what we saw in Las Vegas, it isn’t something this team has managed to do yet.

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