Texas Tech basketball: What Nimari Burnett’s departure means for remainder of season

Tech has lost a very good perimeter defender

If there was one aspect of the game outside of free throws that you could say that Nimari Burnett had been elite at, it would be playing defense.  In fact, he was one of the best defensive players on the roster to this point of the season.

Thanks in large part to his incredible wingspan, Burnett was able to harass ball handlers and get his hands on a ton of passes.  He led the team with 17 steals including a season-high for any player of six.

When it comes to overall defensive rating, Burnett was excellent.  He was third on the team by allowing an average of just 81.0 points per 100 possessions.

The good news here is that Tech isn’t short on terrific defensive guards.  In fact, every wing or guard on the roster is allowing fewer than 92 points per 100 possessions and anything below 100 is considered good for the average college basketball player.

Thankfully, Kevin McCullar is back and looks to be fully healthy.  He’s without question, Tech’s best defender and he is what Nimari could have eventually become as a stopper.

Still, it is impossible to have too many good defensive players and now, Tech has one less.  If only Burnett’s offense would have matched his defense, he would likely have been a much more integral component of this year’s team.