Texas Tech basketball: Red Raiders fight off pesky Kansas State in Lubbock
Chris Beard shortened his rotation significantly
In every game, there are 200 minutes for a head coach to distribute among his team. On Wednesday night, Beard gave 174 of those to his starting five.
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That has not been the case for the majority of the season. For example, against OSU last weekend, his starters logged just 145 minutes.
But as we approach the postseason, one has to wonder if Beard is trying to cut his rotation down. That wouldn’t be unusual for a coach to do this time of year but to give only 26 minutes to his bench is a bit extreme.
It is becoming clear that right now, Beard doesn’t have as much trust in Shannon and grad transfer Chris Clarke as he once did. That duo combined for just 19 minutes against the Wildcats with 11 going to Clarke.
Wednesday was the first time all year that Shannon saw fewer than 10 minutes on the court. For the year, he’s averaging 25 per game but in his last three, he’s seen that average dip to just 13 (though his night against TCU was cut short by the concussion he sustained when fighting through a screen rather than by poor play).
Meanwhile, Clarke played just 13 minutes against OSU on Saturday as his role continues to diminish as well. What’s more, the two facets of the game where he’s been most effective, rebounds and assists, have started to dry up.
After having just two rebounds and four assists against the Cowboys in Stillwater, he gave Tech only three rebounds and three assists on Wednesday. That’s concerning given how important he was in both areas for most of the season.
Meanwhile, Avery Benson was the only other Red Raider to come off the bench against K-State. He played seven minutes and was credited with a rebound and a block.
If Shannon and Clarke don’t rediscover their willingness to play the way their head coach wants them to, Beard may have no option but to have a much shorter bench than he would like. While that didn’t prove to be a problem on Wednesday, it could be something to watch moving forward.