• The KillerFrogs

TCU Basketball at Baylor - Game Thread

Eight

Member
Frog basketball team is just not very good. Bane with 0 points at the half, absolutely terrible. I like Dixon but he’s just not getting it done. Such a hard team to watch.

great crowd in Waco though.

over the past 2-3 years i have found college basketball as a whole harder and harder to watch and it mirrors the nba offensive model of one player trying to break down a defense with the drive and kicking the ball out to shooters positioned around the 3 point line.

i don't find that very enjoyable at the nba level where they actually make a good percentage of those shots and the individual skill level is fairly high. the disinterest gets multiplied with college games where the ball handling is sloppier and the shooting is mediocre for most teams.

best analogy for me is when you have kids taking ballet and for 6 months working on their routines for their annual christmas recital which of course is the nutcracker. you can watch your 8-year old stumble through their 2 2-minute routines because you love them and that feeling overrides you ability to discern any real degree of skill, but when you are watching every other routine you see just how unskilled and unprepared the dancers are for groups that have spent 6 months supposedly practicing their routines
 

Eight

Member
as lazy as it is to compare the tcu offense in football the past few seasons with the frogs half court offense in basketball i do think there are some areas were there is strong correlations.

first, personally, i think the offensive scheme isn't a very good one, but i know it is very popular right now.

just as in football i would have preferred a stronger emphasis on a designed run game and a pass game built off play action i would prefer to see a more consistent and definitive effort to get the ball to samuel on the block, series of screens to free bane, and a definitive attempt to push the ball to match the abilities of some of the talent.

second, there are some personnel shortcomings that scheme just can't cover up. basketball the frogs have a hole at the 4 on both ends and they really don't have a guard that has all the skills or aptitude needed to make the offense consistently work in the half court.

not calling anyone bad and i realize some of the players are young players, but class rank doesn't change the skills and aptitude required by a position. max has potential, max did some great things, and max has a great deal of work to do because at times he hurt the frogs in football season no different than fuller, farabello, and smith.

finally, execution is an issue and i think a big part is asking players to do things they really aren't ready or capable. the frogs have one player who has shown the ability to be a consistent offensive threat from 3 and that is bane. there are some players who have the ability to have a streak, but dennis and grayer are seniors and 2/3 of the way through this season and they are what they are based on their career numbers.

rj can be highly effective going to the rim, he can be a scorer, he can hit some 3's, but i don't see him being effective right now as a volume shooter or the focal point of the offense
the big problem is if not him then who? same as the problem at the 4 and from behind the arc if the opponent does take away bane?

for me this team is most effective when they move the ball with the pass over the dribble, push the ball up the court off defense, and try to get their two consistent scorers in the best positions possible for them to be effective
 

satis1103

DAOTONPYH EHT LIAH LLA
This team reminds me of a phrase I hear more often in pro sports, "we're a couple guys away".

I don't know if those guys are already on the team and need development, or maybe they are incoming already, but if we can add a deadly shooter and at least one solid forward who can pass and defend, this squad can be very competitive. It's already fairly competitive. They fight, just can't get past tough stretches against great teams.

This assumes Bello's development remains on track, because solid PG play is key as well.
 

Eight

Member
This team reminds me of a phrase I hear more often in pro sports, "we're a couple guys away".

I don't know if those guys are already on the team and need development, or maybe they are incoming already, but if we can add a deadly shooter and at least one solid forward who can pass and defend, this squad can be very competitive. It's already fairly competitive. They fight, just can't get past tough stretches against great teams.

This assumes Bello's development remains on track, because solid PG play is key as well.

agree satis and i think a big key is retaining what can be retained from the current roster and adding those other pieces.

if the frogs lose farabello and/or samuel that dramatically changes things. if they keep them, we see improvement from rj, fuller etc.. and add the pieces then the frogs are onto something.
 
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