Texas Tech basketball: 5 questions to be answered as practice begins

Are there enough outside shooters?

I love the 2020-21 Texas Tech basketball roster.  On a player-by-player basis, it is by far the most talented collection of individuals this program has ever had at one time.

But for all that this team is built to excel at, I can’t help but wonder if there is enough outside shooting on the roster.

Over the offseason, the Red Raiders lost Davide Moretti, Jahmi’us Ramsey, and T.J. Holyfield, three players who were all comfortable shooting from behind the 3-point line.  In fact, that trio combined to make 142 shots from deep in 2019.  That was 62.2% of the team’s total for the year.

The issue is that Tech hasn’t brought in any known snipers as reinforcements.  In fact, none of the three transfers that were added to the roster are known as even average outside shooters.

Santos-Silva is a 6-foot-7 power forward who has never attempted a 3 in his college career.  Meanwhile, Burton averaged just 0.8 made 3s last year as a sophomore at Wichita State.  McClung is an elite athlete who lives off the dribble but he’s been just a 29.5% shooter from distance for his career.

Also, three of the incoming freshmen, Nimari Burnett, Vlad Goldin, and Micah Peavy, are known for doing plenty of other things on the court but not hitting 3’s.  But keep an eye on Chibuzo Agbo Jr., who turned some heads this summer with his 3-point shooting.  Will that translate into success when games begin?  Only time will tell but he reportedly has a textbook outside shot.

Right now, we think that Kyler Edwards is this team’s best 3-point shooter but last year, he saw his shooting percentage from deep fall over 12 percentage points from 2019-20.  Also, Joel Ntambwe is a career 38% shooter from outside.  But he hasn’t played in a year and he’s yet to show Red Raider fans that he can hit open 3s in the scarlet and black.

So until the games begin and the shots start falling from deep, we will wonder whether or not Tech can make enough outside jumpers to keep opponents honest.  If they can, this is a team that will be incredibly difficult to handle.