TCU men's basketball head coach Jamie Dixon talks about the Frogs ' 93-74 win over Alcorn State.
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00:00 All right, guys, thanks for coming.
00:01 Looks like some people are on Thanksgiving break already.
00:05 But, you know, a couple things stand out for us.
00:08 I mean, as we told the guys,
00:10 the best team probably we played, their discipline.
00:12 I like how they responded.
00:13 They came out, were physical.
00:15 I don't know why the one kid didn't start.
00:19 He's good.
00:20 He only played, how many minutes did he play?
00:26 13.
00:29 He's a good player.
00:30 He only played 21 minutes, and he still had 17 on us.
00:33 So he's good.
00:34 And so we said he's the best player
00:35 we'll play again so far this year at this point.
00:38 As I talked to our guys, I mean, you know,
00:40 our strength schedule will be top 10 the rest of the way.
00:42 Obviously, we are back-loaded as far as non-conference.
00:45 So if you look at it, you know,
00:47 we can say, yeah, you should have played.
00:48 But it all evens out,
00:50 and we'll be amongst the top 10,
00:51 top 20 strength schedule in the country.
00:54 But certainly going on from this point,
00:56 we're going to play teams that are,
01:01 you know, that are high-ranked.
01:05 What we did well today was, you know,
01:07 I think the big guys, again, huge production,
01:10 23 points out of those guys.
01:11 I think they were eight for nine.
01:12 They made the free throws.
01:14 You know, rebounding a little bit disappointed by that.
01:16 You know, we've been getting ridiculous numbers
01:18 from them on the rebounding area,
01:19 but we're getting great minutes out of those three guys.
01:22 Again, thought defensively not quite as good,
01:25 but there were some sets that I think I did better.
01:27 We didn't go through enough well enough,
01:29 especially the one they ran in the second half that hurt us.
01:32 And we went through it.
01:33 I don't think I defined it well enough,
01:35 and so I took responsibility on that.
01:39 Passed it well in transition.
01:40 Again, I think our previous thing,
01:41 offensive execution in the half court
01:43 is just not where I thought it would be.
01:47 It was very good against Alabama,
01:49 and to be honest, since then, it hasn't been as good.
01:52 You know, but our transition is really good.
01:55 We're pitching it ahead. We're throwing it.
01:56 We pass it better in transition
01:58 than we have in the half court,
02:00 so I got to get that figured out.
02:03 Defensively, took a step backwards in the rebounding,
02:05 obviously, even on the glasses and getting it done,
02:08 so that's the biggest thing.
02:10 20 assists, you know, a few too many turnovers.
02:13 You know, we keep getting offensive fouls.
02:15 We can't have those.
02:16 And then I think the foul line.
02:18 They're just getting to the foul line too much, too much.
02:21 It was a physical game, granted,
02:24 but we are fouling way too much,
02:29 but we're making free throws,
02:30 so we did get our goal as far as our makes versus them.
02:37 What did we shoot? 83 for the game again, so 82.
02:40 So some good things.
02:41 Individually, I thought our guard play's got to be a little.
02:43 I think we're better than that when we play.
02:45 It's some foul trouble and some decision-making,
02:48 but we're going to get there. We're going to get there.
02:50 And I thought E-Man really passed well.
02:53 I thought Jacoby made some shots early,
02:55 and those are our guys with Chuck.
02:57 You know, we score at that spot,
02:58 so we kind of played through that a little bit,
03:02 but, you know, we got better.
03:04 And I say that. We were up, what, 27, 26,
03:09 and then, you know, you think last game
03:10 we got scored down 8-0 and 7-0
03:12 in the last game down the stretch,
03:13 so, you know, they kept playing.
03:15 They competed. They pressed, and, you know,
03:17 we got to do a better job all the way through,
03:18 but too many turnovers start to finish.
03:21 The first four games,
03:23 it was a little bit of a slower start tonight, though.
03:25 17 points, I think, in the first three-plus minutes.
03:27 What was the key to getting up?
03:29 Made some open threes.
03:30 The rest of the game, we didn't make the open threes,
03:31 and so I thought our looks were pretty good,
03:33 especially the second half.
03:35 I think we had six wide-open looks.
03:36 We made two out of six.
03:37 You know what I mean?
03:39 You got to hope you make them wide open.
03:40 So, I mean, that was it.
03:41 Defensively, I don't know that we're any better.
03:44 We got to be better than that.
03:45 I mean, you know, it's five minutes.
03:47 You make some threes. You miss some threes.
03:49 That can change the panic.
03:51 It will be your tie rather than up nine
03:54 just because you didn't make some open threes.
03:57 Eventually, that stuff evens out.
03:59 You know, that's our mentality, but, you know, we were just --
04:03 Again, like I said, Alabama, we blew it open early, execution.
04:08 So, you know, you win every game by 20.
04:13 You find the stretch
04:15 where you didn't outscore them by 20.
04:18 You didn't outscore them by 25, and you analyze it.
04:22 So, trying to be -- As we said,
04:25 we tried to have the perfect game tonight.
04:27 We didn't have the perfect game,
04:28 and that's what we're trying to do.
04:32 Talk about the half-court offense.
04:33 Where's the number-one spot with the Iowa C-team?
04:37 Pace, movement, inside-out.
04:40 Got it inside a little bit more, but passed up opportunities.
04:43 So it's probably the whole thing.
04:47 Now, what we have to do is we play teams
04:49 that kind of gamble, trap a little more,
04:51 and that we won't see in our conference.
04:54 You know, and I just --
04:55 Maybe we just aren't prepared for that, as well,
04:59 in the half-court.
05:01 It's not a good excuse, not a good reason.
05:02 We should be, but the ball sticks a little bit.
05:07 But, you know, the good thing is transition.
05:09 And, again, like I said, Alabama, we saw it.
05:12 Got a caliber team.
05:14 You know, we really ran our stuff,
05:15 and our stuff is built to be used against those teams,
05:19 not as much as the smaller teams, the smaller guards.
05:22 We're going to be trapping a little bit more.
05:25 And attacking ball handlers, you know, that's the thing.
05:30 We just don't -- We're not prepared for it
05:32 because we don't see it in practice.
05:34 You know, guys in the backcourt, they'll trap.
05:38 They'll, on the penetration,
05:40 they'll really attack the ball handler,
05:41 and we kind of tend to go a dribble too deep.
05:44 And it's something we've been working on with our guys,
05:46 and the new guards are really especially on that.
05:50 Jacobi's not allowed on the team
05:51 to score in three of the five games.
05:53 Do you think he'll be the go-to guy?
05:54 I mean, we have a lot of go-to guys.
05:56 I've never used that phrase in my life.
05:58 So, you know, we're going to be balanced offensively.
06:02 You know, they're going to take something away.
06:05 But, you know, last year, he had the --
06:07 I mean, if you go by --
06:09 He took the most shots for a minute last year.
06:11 So I guess that's the go-to guy last year.
06:14 If you go by that, I don't know how you define it.
06:16 But, you know, he's going to get shots up.
06:21 He's inside out.
06:22 He gets offensive rebounds.
06:24 You know, they look for him.
06:26 We run plays for him.
06:27 You know, and he can score.
06:29 But he can pass, too, and he's got a good feel.
06:31 So, man, he makes free throws.
06:34 There's a lot of reasons why he is.
06:35 But when you take the most shots last year,
06:38 I would say that would make him the go-to guy
06:40 last year, too, per minute.
06:42 Ten and five from Issam tonight.
06:44 Just 12 minutes.
06:45 What do you like from him tonight?
06:46 Yeah, I mean, he's probably the best,
06:48 and maybe Xavier, too, but back to the basket.
06:51 So we want to get him the ball more.
06:52 He wants to pass as well.
06:54 All of our guys want to pass, and that's why I keep saying
06:56 we got to get the ball inside more.
06:58 It's like kind of be a pressure release.
06:59 We kind of fight pressure by putting it down
07:02 where we can just throw it in when it's on their side.
07:05 And just got to get used to that.
07:06 It's still too hard to throw it inside for our guys.
07:10 And they get so many looks because of it.
07:13 That's what I just don't understand.
07:14 But he'll pass.
07:16 He's got a unique game, but he gets fouled.
07:21 Now he'll take some shots that don't look good
07:22 when they stay down.
07:26 So that's the balance he's got to find.
07:28 But, yeah, X, I mean, X has scored in the post, too.
07:30 Last game he scored in the post.
07:32 He's got some putbacks, a couple baskets on post feeds.
07:38 But, again, 23 points at the 5.
07:40 You know, I mean, we're scoring at a high, high rate.
07:43 The only thing was the rebounding
07:44 wasn't good enough tonight.
07:46 So they're 8 for 9.
07:50 And they made free throws, I think,
07:51 if you told them I've been on ours.
07:53 It was 2 for 4.
07:54 But when you look at your big guys going,
07:58 I guess X did miss one.
08:00 So it wasn't perfect.
08:01 But 8 for 9 is pretty good from the bigs, 8 for 9.
08:09 And they're just so unselfish.
08:11 They're so team.
08:12 Defensively, I thought we could have done a better job,
08:14 got better defense out of them today.
08:15 But, again, I took some responsibility
08:18 on a couple of those baskets.
08:20 Some of the action, the play, it's not really a play
08:24 that a lot of people run, but just putting them
08:25 in the same spot, we didn't guard that as well.
08:28 So we've got to really analyze it.
08:29 It wasn't the exact same action, but it ended up
08:32 the same concept.
08:35 And we've got to guard it better.
08:37 And that's on me.
08:38 I've got to figure out what we're not getting,
08:41 the communication, and get it done.
08:42 That's what we're working at.
08:46 Any last questions?
08:48 Next game's not until Monday.
08:49 Are the guys getting some--
08:50 Yeah, we are.
08:51 I mean, I joke, but Thanksgiving, usually,
08:54 we haven't had any-- two days off.
08:57 We'll go-- our game's--
08:58 I found-- I didn't recognize it until--
09:02 we play, what, Friday at 11, the football game?
09:04 So I said, let's just move it back a couple hours
09:07 so they can maybe drive back in the morning
09:08 or whatever they're doing.
09:09 So we'll go at 3.
09:11 And we'll have three practices before Houston Christian.
09:13 And like I said, I mean, factoring them in there,
09:17 we've got a top 10 strength of schedule.
09:19 So it picks up real quick.
09:21 And everybody can say who you're playing, but it all adds up.
09:24 We get the question, gives you a chance to write an article
09:29 or say something about the strength schedule,
09:31 and then you go, oh, but you never write it at the end.
09:35 But it is what it is.
09:38 It just fell with the tournament,
09:40 how we're doing the Christmas.
09:41 And it was the last time we'll do Diamondhead,
09:44 just because we can't.
09:45 And I knew that because of the conference going to 20 games,
09:48 and we can't do Christmas.
09:49 And so just the opportunity to do that.
09:52 So it's a good one, a Christmas tournament.
09:53 We'll go to Hawaii.
09:55 But for Thanksgiving, we'll have two days and practice Friday.
09:59 Let me get this right, Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
10:01 and then play Monday.
10:02 So we have three days to prepare.
10:04 And I know exactly what we're going to work on.
10:07 So we talked about it during the game and then after the game.
10:12 So we'll watch the game.
10:16 Is Gabriel playing or what?
10:17 What do I know?
10:19 Your quarterback?
10:19 Questionable.
10:20 Questionable.
10:22 So 11 o'clock.
10:24 I know the family.
10:24 So I was wondering.
10:27 So we'll watch that, and then lift, and then practice.
10:32 That's the plan.
10:33 And we've got to be better.
10:36 Cool.
10:37 All right.
10:37 Thanks, guys.
10:38 All right.