Texas Tech basketball: Why the Red Raiders will be much better in 2020-21

The guards will better compliment each other

A huge problem with this past season’s roster is that the three primary guards that Tech deployed, Davide Moretti, Kyler Edwards, and Ramsey, essentially had the exact same skill sets.  All three utilized the 3-point shot as their primary offensive weapon and were best utilized when playing off the ball.

That trio averaged 15.6 long-range shots per game, which was 49.2% of the 31.7 field goal attempts they hoisted each game.

It proved to be a problem in end-of-game situations when Tech needed one of the guards to create by beating their man one-on-one.  And all three players had their shot to do that in the clutch.

Against Kentucky and Kansas in Lubbock, Tech asked Moretti to try to make something happen.  He couldn’t.

Ramsey had the ball in the closing minutes of the losses at Kansas and Oklahoma State and neither game went Tech’s way.  Meanwhile, Edwards couldn’t make the plays at the end of regulation in Waco and when Baylor came to Lubbock, he missed multiple shots in the final two minutes of what was a close game.

This year, the guard play should be more diverse and that will make Tech tougher to guard, especially in the clutch moments when the game is up for grabs.  Assuming that Groegetown transfer Mac McClung is given a waiver to play this year (as expected), the Red Raiders will have two guards in he and freshman Nimari Burnett, who are more comfortable putting the ball on the floor than they are bombing away from deep.

When the games are tight next year and Beard asks one of his guards to make a play, they should be much more effective than this season’s guards were.  That could lead to an improvement of several games in the win column given how often Big 12 contests go down to the wire.