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

By Matthew Conner

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 04: Clarence Nadolny #2 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders shoots a lay up in the first half against the DePaul Blue Demons at Wintrust Arena on December 04, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - DECEMBER 04: Clarence Nadolny #2 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders shoots a lay up in the first half against the DePaul Blue Demons at Wintrust Arena on December 04, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images) /
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LUBBOCK, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 05: Guard Jahmi’us Ramsey #3 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images)
LUBBOCK, TEXAS – NOVEMBER 05: Guard Jahmi’us Ramsey #3 of the Texas Tech Red Raiders (Photo by John E. Moore III/Getty Images) /

Jahmi’us Ramsey will return

Take any team’s best player and leading scorer away and struggles will ensue.  We saw that with Tech in 2018 when Evans went down in Waco.

Without Jahmi’us Ramsey on the floor, Tech has to ask players to do what they aren’t necessarily adept at doing.  Guys like Edwards and Moretti have to be facilitators off the bounce and players like McCullar, Clarke, and Savrasov have to be more inclined to make shots.

Even more importantly, Ramsey’s absence allows other teams to send their best defenders at Edwards and Moretti.  That’s why there have been so few open looks for those two shooters in the last three games.

This team was designed with the idea that Ramsey and Shannon would slash to the rim and Edwards and Moretti would hit shots from outside but because teams don’t fear Tech’s dribble-penetration without Ramsey, defenders don’t feel the need to sag off of Tech’s two shooters to help guard against the drive.

That may change after what Shannon showed on Wednesday when he went to the rim at will against DePaul in the second half.  Still, when Ramsey returns, this offense will look more like it was intended to look.

Injuries to stars are often devastating to college basketball teams, especially in the immediate aftermath.  Last year, Baylor struggled when Tristan Clark was lost, Kansas had to adjust to playing without Udoka Azubuike, and even mighty Duke lost two games without Zion Williamson even though they had to other future top 10 NBA Draft picks on the roster.

Tech is in no better place to absorb an injury than those teams so why should we expect there to be no fallout with this team’s best player goes down?  Fortunately, Ramsey’s injury isn’t serious and he will be back sooner than later.  When that happens, there will be a noticeable change in what this team looks like.

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