TCU men's basketball head coach Jamie Dixon talks to the media after the season opener against Southern.
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00:00 All right guys, thanks for being here tonight.
00:04 Appreciate it.
00:06 Two good wins, women's and men's.
00:11 So it's a good start, good Monday for the Frogs.
00:15 Excited for Coach Campbell, his first win, haven't got to see him yet, congratulate him.
00:21 But it's good.
00:24 Saw some of it on TV.
00:26 But as far as us, like some things.
00:29 Obviously a little bit of a slow start, but 108 points, 30 point win,
00:34 I think 33, whatever it may be, I think they scored a bunch.
00:37 I think it was 15 of the 19 last possessions.
00:40 So that was disappointing.
00:43 Defensively, not where we need to be.
00:46 We knew that though going in.
00:47 But I liked what we did, our running, our transition was tremendous.
00:51 I know we had more than what we got down here in transition points.
00:57 And I thought we advanced it really well at the court.
01:01 Some questionable decisions early on especially,
01:06 I think we had seven turnovers in the first eight, six, seven minutes.
01:11 So that was disappointing.
01:12 But we're still playing in front of some people, it affects some guys.
01:18 And we gotta learn from that.
01:19 But we got two practices, we got an opportunity to get better at Omaha.
01:24 But yeah, 33.1, I was impressed with watching them.
01:28 They won their exhibition by a bunch.
01:31 And disciplined defensively and kind of some of the stuff that they're running.
01:35 And they shot 43% and 42 from three.
01:38 So I thought they did some good things offensively.
01:40 They scored 100 points in their game.
01:42 So I give them credit, but we've gotta be better defensively.
01:45 It's good the minutes, I'm gonna ramble here a little bit,
01:50 cuz we had a few things going on personal wise.
01:53 We put Tyler on scholarship, so that was great for Tyler.
01:57 And the situation, we got ten guys, Tyler kind of becomes our 11th guy.
02:02 And what we'd like to do at this point, if everything stays the same,
02:05 and we talked to two really good freshmen about red shirting.
02:12 And I just don't see minutes for them right now.
02:14 They keep getting better and better, Isaiah and Jace.
02:17 We're really excited about them, but you're just talking about two young freshmen.
02:22 Young freshmen with a very old, experienced team.
02:24 We're finally old in this league.
02:28 So we're really excited about those two guys.
02:32 And we have a plan for them going forward when we lose all these guys this year.
02:37 But it was good to see some things here now for these other guys.
02:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]
02:45 We start to be better, the end could be better, but
02:48 everything else in between was pretty good.
02:51 And that's everything we got to close to 40 at one point.
02:56 We gotta face a little better.
02:57 Defensively, we got work to do, no question about it.
03:00 So giving them credit for finding our deficiencies, and we know what they are.
03:07 >> Coach, you had eight turnovers in the first eight minutes, and
03:10 then just five the rest of the way.
03:12 What shifted there after the first- >> I mean, they made the same terms,
03:15 they make them practice.
03:16 I mean, our experience is usual, throw in two guys,
03:19 Avery with the 90 mile an hour fastball pass.
03:24 But we just, you gotta practice.
03:27 Avery, we start over every time.
03:29 He's had five turnovers, obviously.
03:31 He did some other good things, I love him.
03:34 But he missed so much practice.
03:36 We start over every time, he goes out for three weeks.
03:39 It's all summer long, he's done that.
03:41 So, and that's the thing we talked about him getting better at,
03:43 improving on, that's what I was here to do.
03:46 But you gotta be out here every day, and always start over every time.
03:49 And that's why the five turnovers.
03:51 So there's five over 13 right there.
03:54 One thing he's doing is I'm telling him to shoot open shots, and
03:58 he did that better.
04:00 But just a bit of over penetration, and
04:05 Ernest is something we've talked about.
04:08 I thought Jermaine's gotten better in that area, but again, 108 points, and
04:12 we're talking about turnovers.
04:14 12's our number, 12's our number.
04:17 So we have a lot of possessions, but probably certainly too many.
04:23 And you're gonna have turnovers, we say we give you 10.
04:27 But the ones we had were just unforced, lack of fundamentals.
04:34 >> Mike had a career high with 21 points, how encouraging was that for you?
04:38 >> That's good, he's practiced real well.
04:40 I mean, when we try to start the best five defenders,
04:42 I'm trying to explain to our guys we need to get better defensively.
04:45 So we're gonna start the best five defenders.
04:46 And it was hard to find five, to be honest with you, but we put him in there.
04:50 And, but that shows, I mean it shows.
04:53 I don't think they realize how deficient we are defensively.
04:57 And we started the best five, and they were scoring from the beginning.
05:01 So, but Micah is what we consider one of our best defenders.
05:06 And I thought he was pretty good today.
05:09 But I think he's just played better and better.
05:11 He's been out a lot too, he has been a lot here.
05:16 But he's really practiced well the last week or two that he's been back.
05:21 It's probably been about three weeks, I guess, now.
05:23 And his decision making's better.
05:25 He's playing more space, and that's what we're trying to do.
05:32 So we had some plays that we've gotta correct.
05:37 But 108 points is a lot of positives there too as well.
05:42 >> Last year, rebounding was a point of emphasis for you.
05:45 Tonight, 41 rebounds, what do you think?
05:48 >> Yeah, I mean, we're charting everything they do, rebounding wise,
05:51 if they're doing their jobs.
05:52 And we talk about the guys that get back and the guys that go get.
05:56 And we chart everyone in practice.
05:58 So we start doing that at the last, when we do it during practice.
06:02 So we're constantly telling them and reinforcing what they've done.
06:05 So I think we're heading in the right direction on that.
06:09 And I mean, if we get not a good rebounding with our size,
06:12 then we're not gonna be successful.
06:13 You can't play big and not be great rebounding and defense-wise.
06:17 And we're not there yet, but I think we will get there.
06:22 >> 28 assists on 43 main shots tonight, is that what you'd like that to be?
06:26 >> Yeah, I mean, it's a good number.
06:28 You wanna, it's a good number.
06:31 I mean, we probably could have had a few more assists and
06:34 less turnovers would have been how I would have looked at,
06:37 given the scheme and their size.
06:40 And we got some putbacks and
06:43 we did shoot a high percentage
06:49 from the field, 61%.
06:52 So, we, since Reagan was good,
06:57 there was just a few stretches, especially early, as was mentioned.
07:00 But 28 assists, I thought there could have been more, but
07:05 I've stopped that from doing the three games.
07:08 These games, when you get in a situation where you go up by 30,
07:12 what was our biggest margin, I guess, was 39.
07:18 I said 40, 39, we can handle it better.
07:22 And we got up 7, 39 with seven minutes left, and we ended up winning by 33.
07:29 So that's where some of our defensive breakdowns lapses came and
07:34 our percentage went down a little bit there.
07:35 So we gotta play every minute the right way, as that is factored in, and
07:41 we know that's important.
07:43 >> You've got a close part in with the Colts, what type of guy is he?
07:49 >> He's playing really well.
07:50 I mean, I don't know if he, at times, I think he might be our best all around
07:53 player cuz he's defending better.
07:56 But then he'll have some breakdowns defensively and go, it's a old jacob.
08:00 But he didn't, last game, he didn't play great just cuz some of the shots didn't
08:03 fall, didn't finish some things.
08:05 But I thought he played really well today.
08:06 He's playing with himself.
08:08 But he's playing better defensively.
08:10 I mean, that's simply put.
08:12 I mean, he was, we'll chart him out, but
08:16 last year he was one of our worst defenders.
08:20 And this year I don't think he's, I think he's improved.
08:24 And I thought he was pretty good today.
08:25 He did some good things today defensively.
08:27 And so it's what we said.
08:30 He's gotta be a great position defender, great position defender.
08:34 And he wasn't.
08:35 But I think he's really focused.
08:37 He watches film with Coach McNeely every day, individually.
08:43 We watch film all the time, but he watches individually.
08:45 It's all defense.
08:46 So better shape, smarter, more committed to it, I think.
08:53 But we gotta keep challenging him and keep pushing him at the same time.
08:57 >> Junior Nelson, 14 points, six assists tonight.
09:00 Would you like that?
09:01 >> I liked his distributing.
09:02 I thought he was really looking for other guys as a priority.
09:05 And that's what you wanna have in your first game of the year,
09:08 in a game where it's a home game.
09:10 And so I thought that was really good defense.
09:12 I thought he was a little bit better.
09:14 And we just need constant ball pressure out of him because he has the ability to do so.
09:19 And we need that.
09:22 >> Did you like the ball movement tonight?
09:24 >> Yeah, I thought it was good.
09:25 Really in transition, I thought it was really good.
09:27 Half court could have been a little better.
09:29 And so, but I thought full court in transition, off the steals,
09:34 off the rebounds, we were good in that area.
09:37 Half court could have been a little better.
09:39 >> Mustafa, Cork, and Uday all played around the same amount of minutes.
09:43 Is that still an open competition?
09:44 And what did you see out of the big men?
09:45 >> Yeah, I don't know if it's competition.
09:47 It's just we're gonna have the best guys out there.
09:49 We're looking for the best defender out of it.
09:51 And at times we think Ernest is the best, but to be honest,
09:54 he was not as good as I had hoped he'd be tonight just because of what they were
09:59 running, and he did not, it wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, and it can't be.
10:06 So I gotta do a better job of pushing.
10:08 We told them what they're gonna run, how they're gonna do it,
10:12 where we need you to be, and he just didn't quite get to where we need him to be all
10:15 the time, so it's just a few feet.
10:22 But it's a difference, and that's where we've gotta improve, so
10:25 I gotta do a better job.
10:26 Tomorrow we'll walk through more stuff, shoot shots, but
10:31 it's gotta be a day of improvement.
10:34 But all three, I thought Issam, we just wanna be fresh out there.
10:39 We wanna be active.
10:40 All three do something a little bit better than the other, and
10:44 we just wanna get production.
10:49 We want double digit points and double digit rebounds out of that spot,
10:52 and great defense.
10:54 So that's our goal.
10:57 >> Any last question?
10:58 >> After the women's game this afternoon, Mark Campbell spoke really highly of you
11:03 and your staff as far as being welcoming and helping him and his staff get acclimated.
11:07 Can you talk a little bit about y'all's relationship,
11:08 since y'all have known each other for quite some time?
11:10 >> Yeah, no, I've known him for a long time, and
11:13 I'd say we recruited him way back in the day when I was at Northern Arizona.
11:18 And then he went to a junior college, and
11:23 that's where we looked down to.
11:26 He played on some friends of Hoop, so that was Coach Carl's team.
11:31 That was a good friend of ours, and a Pittsburgh guy.
11:35 So yeah, it goes way back to them.
11:36 But then he ended up at Hawaii,
11:38 which is the close school that's near and dear to my heart.
11:44 And so we have all those ties from that.
11:47 And he coached with a group of guys that are kind of in my,
11:52 what do we call it, age group, I guess, or something.
11:57 But we all started out together, so he started out there before it went over to
11:59 the women's side.
12:00 So I mean, knew Joe was a basketball guy, and I just didn't know he was gonna be a
12:06 great women's player and how it all turned out.
12:09 But I think he's gonna do great.
12:11 I think, I love Reagan too as well.
12:15 And but we'll be there to support him all the way through, as always.
12:23 So I saw some of it on TV, didn't get to watch much of it, obviously.
12:28 But I saw some of it in between pregame meals.
12:34 So I wish them well, and it's a good start for both of us.
12:39 >> All right, thanks, coach.
12:40 >> All right, thank you all.
12:41 >> Thanks, Coach.
12:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]