Basketball Thoughts

[jake102]

We are a P5 team in DFW playing a sport that only has 5 guys on the court with a total of 9-10 guys that play. There's no sport where good coaching can turn around a team quicker than basketball. There's no excuses. We don't have to be top 25, don't even have to make the tourny every year. But we should make the top 6 or 7 of the Big 12 at least half the years which is good enough to make the tourny. Totally unacceptable situation.

 

[cheese83]

I thought Dixon recruited Bane?

 

[Hoosierfrog]

Arguably, the bulk of Dixon's success didn't come with his recruits. Kenrich, Vlad, Bane, Fisher, Shephard, and Miller were all recruuted under Trent IIRC. So far, again to my recollection, there hasn't been a standout CJD recruit, and we lack floor leadership. At the end of close games we don't have anyone we really want to see with the ball who we trust to make the right decisions. Bane, Robinson, and even Fisher gave us that.

I also don't think he places enough emphasis on DATOs (dumb @$$ turnovers) and free throws. These are the obvious WTH turnovers that make you pull your hair out or make you gesture towards throwing something at your own TV. Two players, whose names are initials that contain the letter "J," are notorious for DATOs.

Whatbis most frustrating for me is we never know what we are going to get when a CJD team takes the floor. It's feast or famine. We have the talent to compete with (and should have beaten) a rabked Mizzou team on the road, sweep a ranked Okie Lite team, push OU and KU to the final minute, etc. That points to coaching. We have the talent to win more games, but get helter skelter play. At this point the team still doesn't seem to have a philosophy, are slow on cuts and defending cuts, and seems to wing most possessions outside the high pick and roll.

As for TCU having "0" basketball history, you obviously weren't here during the Tubbs (may he rest in peace) era. Run-DMC was one of the most hated places to play in the country. The place was always packed - because we were good. Had he been allowed to stay I think we would certainly have a higher basketball reputation than we do now.

The Billy Tubbs era was hardly steamroller you seem to recall. For one thing he played in inferior leagues, the SWC was hardly the top BB conference and the WAC and CUSA even lower tiers. You may prefer his style of offense, but just looking at numbers Jamie is neck and neck and HS done better in the post season winning the NIT.

Billy Tubbs average w/l record 19.5-13, one NCAA and 2 NITs, SWC, WAC and CUSA

Jamie Dixon average w/l record 19-12, one NCAA, 2 NITs (winning NIT once) all in B12.

Considering the competition Tubbs does not seem superior just by the numbers and probably should have been.

 

[Eight]

I thought Dixon recruited Bane?

dixon recruited bane and fisher

 

[Eight]

Our best player is a ball hog but at least his turnover/assist ratio is dreadful and he can’t shoot.

consider that the frogs leading scorer is a fourth year junior who is shooting a career high percentage from the field this year at just over 40%

farmfrog hit the nail on the head for me in that rj and others are being asked to do things their skills really don't fit in the offense dixon is asking them to run and what is really frustrating is they are not doing the things on the offensive end they were doing at the start of the season

the frogs were forcing the tempo, taking advantage of their athletic ability in the open court, and not trying to grind out each possession as they seemed to have settled back into with the same dreary results.

the frogs in conference play are shooting 41% from the field and 33% from behind the arc.

 

[YA]

consider that the frogs leading scorer is a fourth year junior who is shooting a career high percentage from the field this year at just over 40%

farmfrog hit the nail on the head for me in that rj and others are being asked to do things their skills really don't fit in the offense dixon is asking them to run and what is really frustrating is they are not doing the things on the offensive end they were doing at the start of the season

the frogs were forcing the tempo, taking advantage of their athletic ability in the open court, and not trying to grind out each possession as they seemed to have settled back into with the same dreary results.

the frogs in conference play are shooting 41% from the field and 33% from behind the arc.

BINGO!!!

 

[y2kFrog]

That may be true, but Trent didn't win with those guys and Dixon did. He has to get some credit for that success.
On the other hand, TCU basketball hasn't been very good the last couple of years and Dixon has to take some of the blame.

We haven’t been good the last couple of decades.

 

[LVH]

If Baylor can do it, it should be easy for us.

Let's be real, Scott Drew and that program cheated with Adidas to get to where they are. There is no way you can take a program from the death penalty to the NCAA tournament and recruiting McDonald's All Americans in a 4 year span without cheating.

I don't know if they still do it with Nike, but that program was not built legitimately.

 

[LVH]

That may be true, but Trent didn't win with those guys and Dixon did. He has to get some credit for that success.
On the other hand, TCU basketball hasn't been very good the last couple of years and Dixon has to take some of the blame.

We would have done well in 2017/2018 regardless of the coach.

 

[Horned Toad]

I don't think Samuel wants to be that kind of player.

Always thought LeDee was better, more of a physical force, but still not where what we need to compete inside in this conference (or any power conference).

If Samuel had LeDee’s attitude, holy [ Finebaum ] that would be a great combo.

 

[Eight]

We would have done well in 2017/2018 regardless of the coach.

even with?

 

[LVH]

The Billy Tubbs era was hardly steamroller you seem to recall. For one thing he played in inferior leagues, the SWC was hardly the top BB conference and the WAC and CUSA even lower tiers. You may prefer his style of offense, but just looking at numbers Jamie is neck and neck and HS done better in the post season winning the NIT.

Billy Tubbs average w/l record 19.5-13, one NCAA and 2 NITs, SWC, WAC and CUSA

Jamie Dixon average w/l record 19-12, one NCAA, 2 NITs (winning NIT once) all in B12.

Considering the competition Tubbs does not seem superior just by the numbers and probably should have been.

I think people look at the Tubbs era with rose colored glasses. There was one good year, 1998, and the rest were average or bad. The 1998 year was good because we got placed in the weaker WAC pod where the only competition in that pod was a young Tulsa team coached by Bill Self who we beat in 2OT on a baseball pass play. We did beat New Mexico from the other pod but lost to them twice and got to avoid the other WAC NCAA teams Utah and UNLV.

I think they just preferred the Tubbs style that played an extremely fast pace and scored a lot of points(at the expense of not playing defense). That style was great for beating the teams that didn't have the athletes or depth like UT Pan American and Mississippi Valley State 155-75, but when we faced teams that could actually match our athleticism and keep up the pace, it usually didn't turn out well. That Florida State team that beat us in the NCAA tournament shouldn't have even been in that year, they were 6-10 in the ACC for crying out loud. It reminded me a lot of Art Briles Baylor teams that would run it up against the bad teams of the world 77-3 but when they played teams who could match their athleticism all of a sudden they looked human.

The Tubbs system was a gimmick and gimmicks might put butts in seats but they don't win long term.

 

[Delray Frog]

There will be a couple of openings for some new faces at the end of the season. Smith transferred last semester and I think one or two others will not return next year. The transfer portal will be loaded with good players because of the loosening of NCAA restrictions. Bottom line is that Jamie and his staff have to find a couple of transfers that can provide immediate help to compliment the young guys that are coming back. If so, there is no reason why we can't be competitive next season.

The reality of this year is that we are not a top 20 team and everyone ahead of us in the conference is. We have to get older and tougher and find some transfers that will provide that toughness. I trust that this coaching staff understands that situation and I believe they want to turn the program around as much or more than anyone. I still believe there is reason to be optimistic about the program going forward. Go Frogs!

 

[East Coast]

We've had moments with Dixon, Tubbs, Killingsworth, Swaim, and Brannon as coaches. Even Iba had a couple of decent years. For various reasons, none have been able to sustain their success or bring the program beyond the fringes of national relevance.

 

[Pharm Frog]

I'm marginally surprised to find that people are still thinking about basketball. Came here to see what these thoughts were. Seem a lot like the same thoughts a couple of months ago.

 

[HToady]

I have no thoughts of TCU basketball.

It helps keep me sane.......

 

[Atomic Frawg]

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if we beat the Longhorns.

 

[nrhfrog]

TCU basketball in the 70's (Swaim only); the 80's (Killingsworth); and the 90's (some of the Tubbs teams), had some very good years. DMC was a rocking place to be...and we played everyone tough in good years and bad. If it was a down year, I always felt like we were rebuilding to compete or win the conference.

IMO, Killer was the best of them all. He was a great strategist. He wasn't a great recruiter, but when he got one or two studs, he was able to combine them with mediocre athletes who were well coached.

Given that Dixon was a Killer disciple, I thought we would see some of Killer's coaching talent in Dixon, but it has just not been there. I used to go to games with two people who played D-1 basketball. Neither went to TCU, but they cheered for TCU. Over the years, they have expressed confusion and concern about Dixon's coaching strategy (specifically, the lack of one).

I like Dixon as a person and as a fellow alum. I was very optimistic and hopeful when we hired him. For whatever reason, we are clearly on a downward trend for the last few years. Players don't ever seem to develop under him. There is absolutely no home court advantage anymore. I think this team would struggle in the old WAC.

I don't know what happened, but for all the reasons already mentioned, it was a huge mistake to keep him here when he wanted to go to UCLA. I have heard that both of his parents are not in good health, which is probably another reason why he wanted to return to southern California. So, I am sad for him, his family, and TCU.
Pathetic that TCU Administration did not learn from their horrible mistake with keeping Pat Sullivan around after he wanted to go to LSU. It, too, was a lose/lose proposition for him and TCU.

Unfortunately, we are now stuck with each other until the contract runs out. I just don't have any faith anymore in Dixon.......or in TCU Administration to make a commitment to excellence in basketball. We've got a beautiful arena located in a basketball hotbed of talent and college basketball fans. If BU can turn around their sorry, crime-ridden basketball program in a pathetic place like Waco, then there is no excuse for TCU basketball to be this awful.

The good news for TCU fans is that I will not be renewing my basketball tickets of 25+ years, which will open up some prime seats for you guys that are younger/more optimistic than me.

Thanks for the memories.

 

[satis1103]

We are a good defensive team almost every game out. We hold good teams under their season averages. We have chances to come back in games because we make stops... but the offense looks forced and discombobulated so damned often. I would love if we could bring in an offensive consultant or something. If we could just be average on that side of the court we could have something

 

[KBA]

That Gimmick system seemed to work

The WAC had New Mexico (David Bliss), Tulsa (Bill Self), Hawaii (Riley Wallace), Utah (Rick Majerous), UNLV (Bill Bayno), Fresno State (Jerry Tarkanian). The WAC was a very good entertaining basketball league at the time. 16 teams...2 divisions.
Billy Tubbs Career
Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Southwestern Pirates (1971–1973)
1971–72 Southwestern 12–16 7–5
1972–73 Southwestern 19–8 9–3
Southwestern: 31–24 (.564) 16–8 (.667)
Lamar Cardinals (Southland Conference) (1976–1980)
1976–77 Lamar 12–17 6–4 3rd
1977–78 Lamar 18–9 8–2 2nd
1978–79 Lamar 23–9 9–1 1st NCAA Division I Second Round
1979–80 Lamar 22–11 8–2 1st NCAA Division I Sweet 16
Oklahoma Sooners (Big Eight Conference) (1980–1994)
1980–81 Oklahoma 9–18 4–10 7th
1981–82 Oklahoma 22–11 8–6 3rd NIT Semifinal
1982–83 Oklahoma 24–9 10–4 2nd NCAA Division I Second Round
1983–84 Oklahoma 29–5 13–1 1st NCAA Division I Second Round
1984–85 Oklahoma 31–6 13–1 1st NCAA Division I Elite Eight
1985–86 Oklahoma 26–9 8–6 T–3rd NCAA Division I Second Round
1986–87 Oklahoma 24–10 9–5 2nd NCAA Division I Sweet 16
1987–88 Oklahoma 35–4 12–2 1st NCAA Division I Runner-up
1988–89 Oklahoma 30–6 12–2 1st NCAA Division I Sweet 16
1989–90 Oklahoma 27–5 11–3 T–2nd NCAA Division I Second Round
1990–91 Oklahoma 20–15 5–9 T–6th NIT Runner-up
1991–92 Oklahoma 21–9 8–6 T–2nd NCAA Division I First Round
1992–93 Oklahoma 20–12 7–7 T–5th NIT Second Round
1993–94 Oklahoma 15–13 6–8 5th NIT First Round
Oklahoma: 333–132 (.716) 118–64 (.648)
TCU Horned Frogs (Southwest Conference) (1994–1996)
1994–95 TCU 16–11 8–6 T–3rd
1995–96 TCU 16–14 6–8 4th
TCU Horned Frogs (Western Athletic Conference) (1996–2001)
1996–97 TCU 22–13 7–9 T–4th (Mountain) NIT Second Round
1997–98 TCU 27–6 14–0 1st (Pacific) NCAA Division I First Round
1998–99 TCU 21–11 7–7 T–4th (Mountain) NIT Quarterfinal
1999–00 TCU 18–14 8–6 4th
2000–01 TCU 20–11 9–7 4th
TCU Horned Frogs (Conference USA) (2001–2002)
2001–02 TCU 16–15 6–10 T–4th (National)
TCU: 156–95 (.622) 65–53 (.551)
Lamar Cardinals (Southland Conference) (2003–2006)
2003–04 Lamar 11–18 5–11 10th
2004–05 Lamar 18–11 9–7 5th
2005–06 Lamar 17–14 9–7 T–4th
Lamar: 121–89 (.576) 54–34 (.614)
Total: 641–340 (.653)