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Texas Tech basketball: What to expect from grad transfer Marcus Santos-Silva

By Matthew Conner

AUSTIN, TX - DECEMBER 5: Marcus Santos-Silva #14 of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams reacts after defeating the Texas Longhorns 54-53 at the Frank Erwin Center on December 5, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images)
AUSTIN, TX - DECEMBER 5: Marcus Santos-Silva #14 of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams reacts after defeating the Texas Longhorns 54-53 at the Frank Erwin Center on December 5, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Chris Covatta/Getty Images) /
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Marcus Santos-Silva #14 of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams takes a foul shot (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Marcus Santos-Silva #14 of the Virginia Commonwealth Rams takes a foul shot (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

He is a dreadful free-throw shooter

There’s no getting around the fact that Santos-Silva is an awful free-throw shooter.   Against Purdue, he was just 3-8 at the line and for the season, he made only 55.7% of his attempts.

He’s never shot over 59.7% at the line for a season and it’s easy to see why.  He’s got one of the most herky-jerky shooting motions you’ll see and the ball leaves his hand almost spinning sideways.  Thus, he doesn’t get very many friendly rolls at the line.

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That’s troubling for a player who draws so much contact.  Last year, he averaged 4.4 free-throw attempts per game, 0.8 per game more than Tech’s leader, Terrence Shannon Jr.

If he is going to be a key piece of next year’s Red Raider team when games are on the line in the closing minutes, he must get better at the line.  In the game against Purdue, the Boilermakers did not begin to intentionally foul him because they were in such massive foul trouble prior to the final two minutes but the television broadcast crew suggested that they should and it’s easy to envision opposing teams employing such a strategy next season.

On the other hand, he did have some games where he was able to come up big at the line.  He made 7-9 against Old Dominion, 6-8 against Duquesne, and 6-6 against George Mason.

Interestingly, he was able to hit at a 70% or better rate in seven different games last year.  In those contests, VCU was 5-2, proving just how important his free-throw shooting was to his team.

On the other hand, the Red Raiders shot below 64% at the line four times last year.  They were just 1-3 in those games.

Next. The Texas Tech basketball all-decade centers. dark

The 2019-20 Red Raiders saw a number of close games slip away in the final minutes and that has to change in 2020-21.  But if Santos-Silva wants to be part of the solution to that problem, he’s going to have to improve at the line or else he might be a spectator in crunch time.

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