Texas Tech basketball: There’s no need to panic after 3-straight losses

The team is playing hard

In the game of basketball, the only aspect of the game a team has complete control over is its effort.  That’s where we have seen this team at its most consistent.

Granted, there have been times when Beard has not been happy with the effort of his players, especially the first half of the games against Iowa and Long Island.  But in general, Tech has played as hard as we could have hoped for in every game.

Keep in mind that the Red Raiders battled back from double-digit deficits in the second half of both losses in Las Vegas.  What’s more, the effort on Wednesday was as high as possible with players like Avery Benson, Terence Shannon, and Davide Moretti laying it on the line and picking up plenty of floor burns.

That’s a great sign for a young team.  Though the shots haven’t been falling, the effort has stayed steady.

We take that for granted in Lubbock because that’s the culture Beard has built.  But around the nation, we see teams every year mail it in on occasion or even throw in the towel on the entire season when adversity strikes.

Many wondered if this program could retain its junkyard dog mentality as the level of recruit being brought in increased, as was the case with the 2019 signing class.  But Shannon, a top 100 signee and 4-star prospect, is perhaps this roster’s most intense competitor and it showed against DePaul as he grabbed 8 rebounds to go along with his team-high 24 points.

Eventually, effort leads to success.  It may not be immediate and that’s often tough to accept.  But the reality is that if Tech can continue to play with the type of effort it has shown during the majority of this losing streak, the results will start to turn positive when the team is healthy and the shots start to fall.