Texas Tech basketball: Where Kyler Edwards has to improve in 2020-21

He must cut down on his turnovers

Another area where Edwards was worse as a sophomore than he was as a senior was in the turnover department.  That’s got to change in the upcoming season.

This past year, he averaged 2.3 turnovers per 40 minutes.  That’s not atrocious but it was up noticeably from the 1.9 per-40 minutes he averaged in 2018-19.

Nine times this season he had at least three turnovers in a game.  That included a season-high six against West Virginia in the Hub City.

Now, we must point out that both Moretti and Ramsey had more games of three-plus turnovers.  But next year, Edwards has to be a steadying presence on a roster that is going to be asking the true freshman Burnett to be its pseudo point guard and which will also be giving heavy minutes to Mac McClung, who has never met a risky or dangerous play that he didn’t think he could make.

In fact, the Georgetown transfer averaged 2.4 turnovers per game this season, which is more than Edwards averaged per 40 minutes.  That means that Edwards has to cut down on his giveaways to make sure that Tech is able to balance out the inevitable mistakes that will come from the high-risk style of McClung.

What makes one believe that Edwards will improve is the same reasoning behind our belief that the 3-point shot will be a greater weapon for him next year.  He will be playing a role more conducive to his skill set.

This year, his role was to handle the ball and initiate the offense far more than he would ideally be asked to.  That led to an increase in turnovers, especially in the clutch when players have to make plays in one-on-one situations.

But next year, the best way for Edwards to help his team will be to play off the ball.  Look for the Red Raiders to use him more similar to the way they did when he was a freshman or more similar to how Moretti was used over the last three seasons.  If Edwards becomes Tech’s primary long-range sniper, it will mean that his turnovers should go down and that will make him a more efficient player.