Texas Tech basketball: Strengths and weaknesses of the 2020-21 roster

Strength: Guard versatility

Last year, Tech played four guards more than 18 minutes per game, Ramsey, Moretti, Edwards, and McCullar.  The problem was all of those players aside from McCullar were too similar offensively.

Between them, Ramsey, Moro, and Edwards averaged 15.6 shots from 3-point range per game.  That was 48.7% of the total number of FG attempts they put up each night.  In other words, they were all too reliant on the deep ball and that hurt the Red Raider offense.

When games hit crunch time, the Red Raiders simply didn’t have a guard capable of creating off the dribble and that was a huge reason there were so many late-game failings last year.  But this year, the guards are more evenly balanced when it comes to their talents.

For instance, Mac McClung is a drive-first guard who is dynamic when he puts the ball on the floor.  What’s more, he’s fantastic when finishing near the basket, something that the 2019-20 guards simply could not do.

Burnett will also be an upgrade when it comes to ball handling and dribble penetration.  He’s likely as close as this roster has to a point guard and he’s as satisfied distributing the ball and creating for others as he is putting the ball in the basket.

McCullar is back to be this team’s shut-down defender but it remains to be seen if his offensive game has evolved enough to be able to keep opposing defenses honest.  If he can prove to be just an average offensive weapon, he could be one of the most valuable guards on the team.

As for Edwards, he is going to have to shoot better than the 32.2% he shot from deep last year because he’s the team’s only proven 3-point threat.  But this year less will be placed on his shoulders when it comes to playmaking and that should help him be a more accurate long-rand bomber.

Overall, this group is going to be a collection of pieces that fit together much more naturally than last year’s guards did.  That’s going to serve Beard well in all those close games that the Big 12 seems to produce every year.