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

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 10: Lamarr Kimble #0 of the Louisville Cardinals. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

Edwards will be asked to be a better defender

Edwards has to be a better defender this year. That’s an area where he wasn’t as strong statistically in 2019-20 as he was the prior season.

In fairness, playing defense is the ultimate team effort. And last year, Tech was not as great of a defensive team than the season before.

Remember that in 2018-19, the Red Raiders were the best team in the country when it came to defense. In fact, they set a record for adjusted defensive efficiency rating at KenPom.com, the leading college basketball analytics site there is.

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Averaging just 84.1 points surrendered per 100 possessions, that version of the Red Raiders was two points better than the next best team in the nation, which was Michigan, the team the Red Raiders beat in the Sweet 16.

But this past season, Tech was just 9th in that category. While that’s far from a disaster, the 90.5 points per 100 possessions that Beard’s team allowed were a significant increase.

With that in mind, it is no surprise that Edwards’ defensive performance also took a dip. After putting up a defensive rating of 90.7 as a freshman, he gave up 95.7 per 100 possessions as a sophomore.

There were likely several factors playing into that decline. First of all, just like on offense, Edwards had to assume a greater role in defense. With players like Jarrett Culver and Matt Mooney gone and playing next to defensive liabilities like Moretti and Ramsey, he was asked to essentially be Tech’s top on-ball defender for much of the year meaning that he often had to play against the opposition’s best offensive weapon.

Of course, every player on this year’s team was impacted by the loss of Tariq Owens, the human eraser who set a school record for rejections in a season with 92 in his lone go-round on the South Plains. Without the 6-foot-11 human pogo stick to protect the rim, the Red Rader defense just wasn’t the same.

Unfortunately, another Owens isn’t likely to appear on the horizon anytime soon because players like that are rare and coveted. But Tech should have a much longer team overall and that will help the defense become far more difficult to solve than it was this year.

What will also help Edwards’ defense is the emergence of Kevin McCullar as Tech’s best on-ball defender. The sophomore guard will almost certainly be Beard’s choice to check the opposition’s best perimeter weapon. Also, don’t overlook the defensive potential of Burnett who has a wingspan of 7 feet and who has the reputation of being more than willing to commit to playing lockdown defense.

But playing next to McClung is going to make every Tech guard have to step up his efforts on that end of the court. That’s because the transfer has come to be known as a player who picks and chooses when he plays defense and when he doesn’t. He’s also gotten away with some bad habits during his time at Georgetown and it will take time for those to be coached out of his game.

More. Kyler Edwards' five best games of 2019-20. light

In all, Kyler Edwards is one of the most important players on the Red Raider roster. Though there is more hype surrounding some of his teammates, in his third year, he could be the key to Texas Tech’s success. If he takes his game to a new level by improving in these areas, we could be in for another special season of Texas Tech basketball.

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