• The KillerFrogs

2020-21 Hoops Season Thread

Skip Jansen

Active Member
Pre-season basketball practice officially opened around the country yesterday. Unfortunately, the Frogs were unable to get theirs started due to Covid protocol.

The Frogs will be able to make up a lot of the practice time (NCAA rules allows 20 hr/week).

Although they didn't get started yesterday, there has still been unofficial workouts to talk about. That's why I went ahead and started the thread.

I'll make a post later today about what 2020-21 has in store for Frogs hoops, including how the newcomers look, most improved, playing rotation, etc. Stay tuned!
 

Froggish

Active Member
Pre-season basketball practice officially opened around the country yesterday. Unfortunately, the Frogs were unable to get theirs started due to Covid protocol.

The Frogs will be able to make up a lot of the practice time (NCAA rules allows 20 hr/week).

Although they didn't get started yesterday, there has still been unofficial workouts to talk about. That's why I went ahead and started the thread.

I'll make a post later today about what 2020-21 has in store for Frogs hoops, including how the newcomers look, most improved, playing rotation, etc. Stay tuned!

Should be a really interesting team. Looking forward to it
 

Moose Stuff

Active Member
Nothing wrong with low expectations.

I think most fans usually do the opposite and have expectations that are sometimes unrealistic.

I'd love to have high expectations. I just watched enough of this team last year to find them to be quite mediocre. Just curious if there is any real reason to believe they could potentially be a top half of the conference type group.
 

Pharm Frog

Full Member
I'd love to have high expectations. I just watched enough of this team last year to find them to be quite mediocre. Just curious if there is any real reason to believe they could potentially be a top half of the conference type group.

Preseason projections are that a top half finish is unlikely. That said, if this foolishness of shutting down with one positive case of COVID continues then anything becomes possible.
 

Skip Jansen

Active Member
Preseason projections are that a top half finish is unlikely. That said, if this foolishness of shutting down with one positive case of COVID continues then anything becomes possible.

That's the problem. One positive Covid test and you're shut down for 14 days. It's going to be hard to have any kind of sustainability.
 

Skip Jansen

Active Member
It's later already. What are you waiting for Skip?


I hate when people say things like "their biggest strength could also be their biggest weakness", when assessing a team. Never made much sense to me.

- Enter the TCU 2020-21 Basketball team.

Biggest Strength - Depth

Frogs have 11-12 guys that can play with very little drop off in talent.

Biggest Weakness - Depth

Frogs have 11-12 guys that can play with very little drop off.

The Frogs also have a lot of versatility. 8/9 of the 11/12 can play multiple positions on both ends of the floor.

So... where's the weakness? The problem is two-fold. First, it's difficult to keep a roster happy splitting up minutes like that. Secondly, the only way it works is to push the tempo both on offensive and defense. And, that doesn't fit into what Jamie likes to do.

But, let's not worry about all that right now. Let's talk about the players/lineup-

- The most improved player in the preseason has been Ledee without question. Coaches have been raving about his play. He and Kev give the Frogs the best 5 in the B12. Easley could play some 5 as well. Matchup nightmare.

- The 4 is in great shape as well. Easley, O'Bannon, Smith, Pearson, and Frank can all play here. Easley and O'Bannon get most of the minutes. Easley is very steady. Makes the right plays. O'Bannon can really shoot it but needs to rebound better and pick it up on defense.

- At the 3, Smith has had a great summer and his shooting is greatly improved. He probably leads right now but Pearson will get minutes as well. He gives the Frogs a different look scoring around the rim, back cuts, and slashing.

- Ball handlers. I am going to refer to the 1 and 2 as a group. If the season started today, Bello and RJ would be the backcourt. RJ's perimeter shooting is much improved and Bello play making ability has drawn raves. PJ, Miles, and Todd are all in the picture. PJ has been slowed so he is behind but will be a big factor as the season goes along. Miles is a Jamie Dixon style PG. He'll have his ups and downs but the future is bright. One of the coaches told me, "Todd is a flat out scorer. Might be the best true scorer on the team".

So... that's where we are. With the talent so similar, the biggest challenge might be finding the best combinations and who plays best together.
 
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Moose Stuff

Active Member
I hate when people say things like "their biggest strength could also be their biggest weakness", when assessing a team. Never made much sense to me.

- Enter the TCU 2020-21 Basketball team.

Biggest Strength - Depth

Frogs have 11-12 guys that can play with very little drop off in talent.

Biggest Weakness - Depth

Frogs have 11-12 guys that can play with very little drop off.

The Frogs also have a lot of versatility. 8/9 of the 11/12 can play multiple positions on both ends of the floor.

So... where's the weakness? The problem is two-fold. First, it's difficult to keep a roster happy splitting up minutes like that. Secondly, the only way it works is to push the tempo both on offensive and defense. And, that doesn't fit into what Jamie likes to do.

But, let's not worry about all that right now. Let's talk about the players/lineup-

- The most improved player in the preseason has been Ledee without question. Coaches have been raving about his play. He and Kev give the Frogs the best 5 in the B12. Easley could play some 5 as well. Matchup nightmare.

- The 4 is in great shape as well. Easley, O'Bannon, Smith, Pearson, and Frank can all play here. Easley and O'Bannon get most of the minutes. Easley is very steady. Makes the right plays. O'Bannon can really shoot it but needs to rebound better and pick it up on defense.

- At the 3, Smith has had a great summer and his shooting is greatly improved. He probably leads right now but Pearson will get minutes as well. He gives the Frogs a different look scoring around the rim, back cuts, and slashing.

- Ball handlers. I am going to refer to the 1 and 2 as a group. If the season started today, Bello and RJ would be the backcourt. RJ's perimeter shooting is much improved and Bello play making ability has drawn raves. PJ, Miles, and Todd are all in the picture. PJ has been slowed so he is behind but will be a big factor as the season goes along. Miles is a Jamie Dixon style PG. He'll have his ups and downs but the future is bright. One of the coaches told me, "Todd is a flat out scorer. Might be the best true scorer on the team".

So... that's where we are. With the talent so similar, the biggest challenge might be finding the best combinations and who plays best together.

Sounds like we're winning the conference. Suck it Kansas.
 

Rose Bowl

Active Member
Skip is the hero again. I’m probably higher on the team than most but we have plenty of talent to play with anyone. We need our ballhandlers to be good and get our scorers good looks.

Talking with a coaching friend a few day’s ago he thinks the biggest concern we’ll have is on the defensive end. Need to be able to funnel the opposition into Kevin as he’s the eraser. Defense and rebounding will be key to any success the team has.
 

wilson912

Active Member
I hate when people say things like "their biggest strength could also be their biggest weakness", when assessing a team. Never made much sense to me.

- Enter the TCU 2020-21 Basketball team.

Biggest Strength - Depth

Frogs have 11-12 guys that can play with very little drop off in talent.

Biggest Weakness - Depth

Frogs have 11-12 guys that can play with very little drop off.

The Frogs also have a lot of versatility. 8/9 of the 11/12 can play multiple positions on both ends of the floor.

So... where's the weakness? The problem is two-fold. First, it's difficult to keep a roster happy splitting up minutes like that. Secondly, the only way it works is to push the tempo both on offensive and defense. And, that doesn't fit into what Jamie likes to do.

But, let's not worry about all that right now. Let's talk about the players/lineup-

- The most improved player in the preseason has been Ledee without question. Coaches have been raving about his play. He and Kev give the Frogs the best 5 in the B12. Easley could play some 5 as well. Matchup nightmare.

- The 4 is in great shape as well. Easley, O'Bannon, Smith, Pearson, and Frank can all play here. Easley and O'Bannon get most of the minutes. Easley is very steady. Makes the right plays. O'Bannon can really shoot it but needs to rebound better and pick it up on defense.

- At the 3, Smith has had a great summer and his shooting is greatly improved. He probably leads right now but Pearson will get minutes as well. He gives the Frogs a different look scoring around the rim, back cuts, and slashing.

- Ball handlers. I am going to refer to the 1 and 2 as a group. If the season started today, Bello and RJ would be the backcourt. RJ's perimeter shooting is much improved and Bello play making ability has drawn raves. PJ, Miles, and Todd are all in the picture. PJ has been slowed so he is behind but will be a big factor as the season goes along. Miles is a Jamie Dixon style PG. He'll have his ups and downs but the future is bright. One of the coaches told me, "Todd is a flat out scorer. Might be the best true scorer on the team".

So... that's where we are. With the talent so similar, the biggest challenge might be finding the best combinations and who plays best together.


Great summary!!!
 
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