Speaking for myself this program is in better shape than it’s been in a very long time. We’re light years ahead of where we were under Christian and Johnson and it’s not even close. If we can Jamie we will be starting over and very easily be back to those days. If this time next year we aren’t showing improvement then we can talk about what we do.
interesting that in jamie's first two seasons at tcu with rosters predominantly comprised of trent's players (with contribution from a couple of key dixon recruits) the frogs were 15-21 in conference play.
the last two years with rosters comprised predominantly and then this yearly solely players recruited by dixon and his staff the frogs are 14-22 in conference play.
the out of conference records are similar and i am not a big fan of comparing out of conference results because the level of difficulty isn't equal. i realize that same could be said about conference play as well, but at least they are play the same 9 teams twice each season.
frogs treaded water a bit the past two seasons and i do think there is potential for next year depending on a few keys.
first, we don't see a few key or overall wholesale change over of the roster. dixon and the frogs can't go back and make changes to prevent him completely turning over four recruiting classes which put him in the situation he was in this past year, but the trend has to stop and at the very least slowed so they don't have to rebuild the roster in the off season.
have no idea if there is a real risk of a player or players leaving, but i do know it is really tough for players to get better in your sister if they are no longer in your system.
second, some players need to make some big jumps in the program between now and next year. rj, pj, and smith must get better shooting the basketball. frogs simply can't have guards shooting in the thirty percents from the floor and low 30's from 3. if you take bane and grayer out of the mix the frogs as a team shot 31% from 3.
rj will have been in the system 4 years and he has to get better shooting the ball or take a smaller role in the offense. he got much better shooting free throws, but he still struggled shooting the ball going from 35% to 36% from the floor in a year and staying roughly 30% from 3. that doesn't mean he can't or won't get better but he is going to have to significantly improve shooting the ball if he is going to be an effective leader on the offensive end.
say with smith and fuller as they can not shoot at the levels they shot this year and i don't care how nice any players shoot in form or their release. at that matters is does it go in and right now they both miss much more than they make.
one player i think many have forgotten or don't realize is on the roster is easley who shot 44% from the floor and 40% from 3 for middle tennessee state. those percentages put him near the top of the frogs most effective shooters and his 14 pts and 6 rebounds would be a big help if the frogs can get a few other players to be effective in the half court.
finally, the frogs must have young players contribute and i mean make big impacts. miles has to help, someone between pearson and frank need to help up front and it is not unrealistic to expect young players to contribute.