Texas Tech basketball: What we still don't know about the Red Raiders as Big 12 play arrives

Is the lack of depth going to doom Texas Tech?

Finally, we have to wonder if this Texas Tech team is deep enough to withstand the rigors of conference action. That's because so far, Tech hasn't had two games per week against top-flight teams like they will each week of Big 12 play.

In fact, outside of the three games in three days in the Bahamas, Tech has averaged about one game per week. That's allowed McCasland to lean on players like Toussaint, Isaacs, and Darrion Williams for an average of over 30 minutes per game. What's more, Warren Washington is playing 25.7 minutes per game and that number is likely to rise moving forward.

Will that heavy of a load drain the Red Raiders' key players? Let's hope not because Tech appears to be primarily a six-man team.

Reserve guard, Chance McMillan is averaging over 25 minutes per contest. But the other players who typically see action off the bench, Lamar Washington and Robert Jennings, are seeing just 12.3 and 8.3 minutes respectively.

Naturally, the minutes for those two might decrease in Big 12 play with the expectation that more games will be tightly contested. Thus, the Red Raiders' depth will be tested over the next two months like it hasn't thus far in 2023-24.

Unfortunately, the Red Raiders are a thin team. That means there is no margin for an injury or some other factor that could cause a player to miss substantial time. That's also a worry for the rest of the season.

The games are about to arrive quickly and frequently with two conference tests per week. That will push this team's conditioning and depth to the limit and we don't yet know if there will be enough gas in the tank to play well all the way into March.