Alright. Now we can officially begin worrying. Texas Tech’s close shave against Southern Mississippi on Monday could have been written off as an aberration and/or a let-down game following the Red Raiders’ enormous win over No. 1 Louisville. But with a 68-58 win over a Rio Grande team that entered the contest 4-7, we can see genuine weaknesses and problems that must be solved if Texas Tech is to contend in the Big 12.

Where to begin? One feels like a tiger in a meat locker.

To start—I’m going to go ahead and say it—this team is soft too much of the time. The No. 24 Red Raiders (8-3) are soft with the rock. They make lazy, lackadaisical, high school passes that get picked off for turnovers—12 in the first half alone against Rio Grande Valley. They’re soft with the dribble. On penetration they get rerouted too easily when bumped, and that problem will only worsen in conference play where the refs allow teams to play.

In the first half against Rio Grande Valley, which may have been the worst half of basketball I’ve seen from a Chris Beard team, the Vaqueros were far more aggressive, energetic and tough than the Red Raiders. They pushed Tech around some and I thought the Red Raiders actually got a bit rattled.

Simply put, Texas Tech smiles too much for my taste. I want to see some snarls. I want to see some nastiness. Maybe Beard needs to put together a video compilation of Michael Graham, Maurice Lucas, Rick Mahorn, Xavier McDaniel, Bill Laimbeer, Charles Barkley and Ben Wallace.

Second, this team doesn’t play consistently hard enough to satisfy anybody. Beard said Tech played sufficiently hard for two minutes of this game. I thought they played very hard for several minutes early in the second half when they overcame a one-point deficit and built a 16-point lead. But once they got that lead, they relaxed and almost allowed Rio Grande Valley to get back in it. This will not do. Every team in the Big 12 will clean Tech’s clock if they pick and choose when to play hard.

Third, I’m not sure this team can handle being a target, which they most certainly are. When you’re the defending national runner-up, everybody wants a piece of your gluteus maximus. And that comes back to toughness and effort. You can be sure that every opponent, seeking a scalp for their wall, will come out throwing the Missouri soup-bone. If you’re unprepared to meet that sort of challenge, your going to get decked, and sometimes you might not beat the count. This team must learn how to bring it from the opening tap.

That’ll do for starters.

Chris Clarke and T.J. Holyfield are dealing in the paint several feet in front of the basket. This offense has no post presence whatsoever, it will not hammer people on the offensive glass, and there are no bigs who finish with explosion and authority. One thing that’s become readily apparent is that Tech’s offense is a finesse offense built around precise interior passing and making layups. When this offense clicks, it is usually becauseand T.J. Holyfield are dealing in the paint several feet in front of the basket. This offense has no post presence whatsoever, it will not hammer people on the offensive glass, and there are no bigs who finish with explosion and authority.

The only physical elements this offense has are Terrence Shannon and Jahmi'us Ramsey getting downhill on drives.

One can win with this offense, particularly if Ramsey, Davide Moretti and Kyler Edwards are hitting from outside—an iffy proposition, alas—but the offense certainly has its limitations. And that makes defense, and creating offense from defense, all the more important.

Some of Tech’s turnover problems seem to stem from a lack of connectedness, particularly on the perimeter. Players look like they have no idea what one another are doing, and passes are often thrown into the void. At times against Rio Grande Valley, the Red Raiders looked like they’d never played with one another. That’s to be somewhat expected from a young team with so many newcomers, but Tech had better iron this out quickly because the ostensible gimmes are about to disappear from the slate.

Beard is trying very, very hard to be patient with this team. It obviously requires a conscious effort on his part. However, his patience is wearing thin. I’m afraid he may go Popeye’s on guys before too long.

There were a few positives in the Rio Grande Valley game, believe it or not. First, the defense was exceptional at times. Trailing by eight points with nine minutes remaining in the first half, the Red Raiders held the Vaqueros scoreless for 7:07 and briefly retook the lead. Then, over the first 11:15 of the second half Tech held Rio Grande Valley to 13 points and built the lead that resulted in the victory.

Second, Terrence Shannon showed up in the first half and single handedly kept Tech in it. He scored 12 points; no other Red Raider had more than three at the halftime break.

Third, Ramsey took over for Shannon in the second half. He scored 13 points in the second half and was a big reason Tech won.

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And finally, Kevin McCullar did some good things on offense around the rim in the second half. Tech will need him to be a good bench option if they’re going to do damage this season.