Texas Tech basketball: Factors that led to Red Raiders’ loss at DePaul

T.J. Holyfield and Chris Clarke were ghosts

This team isn’t going to succeed when it receives the type of games it did from T.J. Holyfield and Chris Clarke on Wednesday.  Those two grad transfers, the only seniors on the roster, were brought in to lead the way as their experience and toughness were supposed to carry this young team through tough games like the one in Chicago on Wednesday.

But those two starters combined for just four points, 13 rebounds, and six assists.  That’s not going to cut it.

Holyfield was the most frustrating of the two as he once again picked up several cheap fouls on his way to fouling out.  Limited to just 28 minutes, he was the only starter that did not log over 30 minutes of action and it was because he insisted on swatting at the ball or reaching in 90 feet from the basket when there was no need to take such foolish gambles.

The 6-foot-8 forward has to be smart enough to understand that when he is on the bench, his team is essentially fighting a losing battle.  As the team’s only veteran post presence, Holyfield has to be on the floor or Beard is forced to go to a five-guard lineup or insert freshmen Russell Tchewa or Andre Savrasov into the action at key junctures.

We talked before the game that Holyfield needed to at least equal what DePaul’s star Paul Reed was able to do.  That matchup was as one-sided as imaginable with Reed going for 18 points and 7 rebounds while Holyfield gave his team no points and two rebounds while attempting only two shots.

Meanwhile, Clarke wasn’t much better though he did grab 11 rebounds and hand out four assists.  Regardless, this is a player that simply must score for the Red Raiders.  We saw him do that against Creighton with a season-high 17 points.

But one game later, he was back to his passive ways.  At times, the size of DePaul discouraged Clarke from taking shots in the lane and he is just not a shooter that is good enough to make a living off his jumper.  Still, there were times when he could have attempted to finish at the rim and he decided to fling the ball back out to the 3-point line.

This team is not a penetrate-and-pitch type of team like is so common in the NBA.  This is a team that has to score in the paint and off the dribble and if Clarke can’t do that with consistency as well as distributing the ball, the offense will continue to struggle.

Perhaps we were spoiled by the success and seemingly perfect fits of Tariq Owens and Matt  Mooney as grad transfers last year.  But remember, Mooney got off to a rather slow start as he scored fewer than ten points in four of his first seven games.

So there is still hope that these seniors will click this year and start to give the Red Raiders more than they did in Chicago.  If they don’t, there is no shot for this team to compete in the Big 12.