Even with Texas A&M loss, Texas Tech basketball is closer to elite than some may think | Giese

Nine games into the 2024-25 season, it's fair to say we really don't know exactly what the Texas Tech basketball team is just yet.

Mid-December has been a weird turning point for the Red Raiders in each of Grant McCasland's first two years as head coach. It was Dec. 6, 2023 when Devan Cambridge suffered his season-ending knee injury, forcing a drastic change in player rotations and team identity. Almost exactly a year later, with plenty of rehab and twists and turns in between, Cambridge is no longer with the team yet again.

Losing Cambridge last year was a brutal blow for what he brought to the table, especially on defense. This year, McCasland made a concerted effort to add more depth to the roster to make up for bodies lost to injuries, foul trouble or poor play.

That depth, though, has been challenged since opening night against Bethune-Cookman. A full month into the season, we have yet to see the Red Raiders at full strength. On paper, it looked like Texas Tech could go 10 deep on any given night before the season. They have yet to have that chance.

Here's quick summary of the injuries and absences Texas Tech has faced this year.

• Point guards Elijah Hawkins and Christian Anderson both missed the first two games, making their debuts together against Wyoming. Hawkins was limited in minutes that first game.

• Game four saw Federiko Federiko out with a shoulder injury. He returned later in the week for the Legends Classic in Brooklyn, but it was obvious he was still dealing with discomfort and not as effective has he was early.

• Texas Tech returned from Brooklyn to face Northern Colorado and Cambridge was away from the team, the reason listed by the team being personal. Cambridge has since come out to say he is hurt and will seek another medical hardship waiver. Eemeli Yalaho, who missed the first six games, made his season debut.

• JT Toppin has missed each of the last two games with a lower-body injury. McCasland said after the DePaul win he felt like Toppin would be able to go against Texas A&M, but that never felt like a reality. And if he's not able to go against the Aggies, it would be surprising if they put him out there for the final two non-conference games against Oral Roberts and Lamar.

In total, there are four players — Darrion Williams, Kerwin Walton, Chance McMillian, Kevin Overton — who have appeared in every game. That's 40% of the expected rotation to start the year. Jazz Henderson hasn't played at all this season, though his expected minutes would have been sporadic anyway.

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In a nutshell, about a third of the way through the regular season, we still haven't seen the full version of the Red Raiders, and that preseason version included Cambridge, so when they do get everybody available, it'll look a little different than what could've been in October.

However, Texas Tech hasn't used the injuries excuse, and the team has looked close to its potential despite all this going on. In losses to Saint Joseph's and Texas A&M, the Red Raiders fought back from big early deficits, took the lead late in the second half and just ran out of steam, a byproduct of the lack of depth.

Against Saint Joe's, the death knell was allowing the Hawks to shoot 12-of-22 from 3-point range and sending them to the line 29 times. And Texas Tech, one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the country, went 4-of-20 from distance in the one-point loss.

The Aggies, meanwhile, entered Sunday's game leading the nation in offensive rebounding. Not having Toppin, one of the best rebounders in the country, amplified that stat with Texas A&M grabbing 18 offensive boards. Tech also turned it over a season-high 18 teams.

Texas A&M had 36 extra possession between offensive boards and Tech turnovers, turned those into 30 points (15 on fast breaks, 15 on second chances) against a team missing its leading scorer and rebounder and won by five.

Questioning whether the rest of Texas Tech's non-conference schedule has adequately prepared the Red Raiders for big games is fair. For example, Saint Joe's had already played Villanova before their matchup in Brooklyn while Sunday's game was Texas A&M's seventh against a power-conference opponent — and the Aggies play Purdue on Saturday.

Questioning what Texas Tech is fully capable of is also fair, if only because we haven't seen everybody available at the same time. Some positives and negatives have sprouted up that will follow the team throughout the season regardless.

Hopefully, the day will soon come when we see the Red Raiders at full strength. That might not come until the Big 12 opener Jan. 31 against UCF, or maybe even later. But nothing's really changed in what Texas Tech can be. Neither has my opinion that the team can easily compete for the conference championship this year. If you haven't noticed, every team in the Big 12 is flawed, so the door is more open than ever.

Nine games isn't enough of a sample size to have any grand takeaways from a basketball season. That's especially the case with Texas Tech this year. Give it time, get the pieces put together, and we'll see what comes in 2025.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Don't let Texas Tech basketball's loss to Texas A&M sway your thinking