Texas Tech basketball: What we learned in 2019-20

Teams must have a closer

Another problem that Tech faced this year was the fact that this team did not have a go-to player in the closing minutes.  Time and again, Tech tried to have different members of the team make plays when the game was on the line and almost always, it led to pure chaos.  Thus, we learned that when the games come down to the final minutes or possessions, a team needs a closer.

Some people believe that it is best to have a pure point guard the likes of Keenan Evans to handle the offense in the clutch.  Certainly, we saw Evans take over plenty of games in 2017-18 including the OT victories over Nevada and Texas in Lubbock that season and when games came down to one last possession, everyone in the building knew that Evans would be the one making it happen for the Red Raiders.

But last season, it wasn’t a point guard but rather small forward Jarrett Culver who assumed the reins of the team.  When the Big 12 championship was on the line in Ames, Iowa, Tech put the ball in the sophomore’s hands and let him go to work on his way to a career-high 31 points.  Again, when the National Title game was down to the final possession of regulation, it was virtually guaranteed that Culver would have the ball despite the fact that he had experienced arguably his worst shooting night as a Red Raider.

The point is that having a go-to closer is beneficial in a number of ways.  First of all, in the tense moments of the final two minutes, it brings some clarity to the team by helping define roles for everyone on the floor.

Next, it allows you to accentuate what your players do best.  In other words, you can set Davide Moretti and Kyler Edwards up as shooters because you don’t have to ask them to create off the dribble.

What’s more, it eliminates the need for timeouts because the team is certain what the plan is once the possession begins.  Thus, you can keep a timeout in your back pocket for emergency purposes while you also prevent the defense from being able to discuss its strategy.

But there wasn’t a player on the 2019-20 roster that was a true closer.  At times, Tech asked Moretti (against Kentucky), Edwards, and Ramsey (notably against Oklahoma State) to make plays off the dribble and being as all were best as outside shooters, each looked out of sorts when trying to create off the dribble and almost never did those possessions result in points.

Next year, Tech has to have a player that can create when everyone in the arena knows who will have the ball in his hands.  Perhaps that will be incoming freshman Nimari Burnett or maybe Kyler Edwards will develop into that player in his junior year.  Of course, Beard could bring in a grad transfer who assumes that role once he arrives.  But no matter how it happens, Tech has to figure out who is going to be the closer next year because it is hard to win close games when you are without an alpha dog to take over.