TCU men's basketball head coach Jamie Dixon meets with the media after his team beat Houston Christain 101-64 to move to 6-0 on the season. The last time the Frogs started 6-0 was the 2017-18 season.
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00:00 - How we doing? Thanks for coming out tonight.
00:02 For, I just did the radio and I forgot to mention,
00:08 you know, Coach Cottrell is a longtime friend,
00:10 Houston Baptist, you know,
00:11 they were divisions here when he's done in 33 years.
00:15 He's a great man.
00:16 One of my dear friends, Greg Grissom,
00:18 coached with him at Houston Baptist.
00:20 So I've known him for a long time.
00:21 And obviously they got to play these games out on the road
00:23 and they're hard to go game after game after game.
00:26 But also the, you know, he started this,
00:31 you know, they lost their best player to gun violence,
00:35 you know, two years ago.
00:36 I remember when it happened, I couldn't believe it.
00:38 And I just talked to him, I think prior,
00:40 about something else.
00:41 And so we wore the shirts,
00:45 talked to our guys about the situation
00:47 and just, you know, being smart,
00:49 you know, with kids that are, guys our age,
00:51 I mean, they're just, these things are out there
00:54 and just trying to make the right decisions
00:56 and being around the right people.
00:57 And that was an innocent kid going back to New York
01:00 and, you know, lost his life
01:02 and had a great future ahead of him.
01:04 So that's what that was about.
01:08 So I wanted to mention that.
01:09 I didn't mention it on the radio.
01:11 Second thing, you know, good for us.
01:16 Did the things we needed to do.
01:18 I liked our passing,
01:19 especially in the last 10 minutes, first half,
01:21 and the rest of the 20 minutes.
01:23 I loved that our two guards who,
01:25 the guys that gotta get better,
01:28 I call them our point guards,
01:29 but Avery and Jameer, 15 assists, one turnover.
01:34 So that was good.
01:36 That was the most exciting thing for me.
01:39 We've obviously went into,
01:42 we have high expectations for this team,
01:44 but I don't know if anybody else has high expectations
01:47 with all, as high as I experienced,
01:48 we have with all new guards.
01:50 That's usually not the thing to start
01:51 with high expectations with.
01:53 And that's what we've done.
01:54 And we believe we can be very good,
01:58 but we have brand new guards and across the board
02:00 and Trey, him and Trey, Avery and Jameer.
02:03 So I thought all three of them played really well.
02:06 And that's the progress we need to see in these six games.
02:10 I thought this was the best that they've played
02:13 and had them together.
02:14 You know, obviously Avery's been out for a while.
02:16 In the fall, Jameer missed all summer.
02:19 So we've kind of been piecing it together
02:21 a little later than we would've liked.
02:23 I wish it was going strong June, but it didn't.
02:25 And, but that was good to see.
02:27 So that was the most important thing to me.
02:29 Passing took, defensively, I thought we were better at times
02:37 but just not good enough, too many layups
02:39 and we just couldn't sustain it for 40 minutes.
02:42 Slow start again was a little bit of a problem.
02:44 I don't know why.
02:45 Seems to time out into it, we get a little bit better.
02:48 We never seem to make an open shot to start the game.
02:52 And then we give up a basket or two
02:54 which is really disappointing.
02:56 So the rebounding, you know, was disappointing.
02:59 Obviously we forced some turnovers
03:01 so that can be counter the defensive rebounding
03:04 but no explanation for why we only got
03:06 three offensive rebounds.
03:07 That was probably the most disappointing thing to me.
03:09 But we know, I said no explanation.
03:12 I know the explanation, we weren't going.
03:15 So that's, we gotta get that fixed.
03:17 We've done a good job with that this year.
03:20 First four games, but we're going backwards
03:22 and we gotta get it fixed.
03:24 Going forward here, obviously, as I've said before
03:27 because of the Thanksgiving tournament,
03:29 not having one and having the Christmas tournament,
03:31 our schedule's kind of back loaded.
03:33 As I told our guys, now our strength of schedule
03:35 the rest of the way is ninth in the country.
03:37 So it's, we got road games, we got neutral games.
03:41 We've had our run.
03:42 We've gotta play, we're gonna play on the road.
03:44 We're gonna play away
03:46 and we're gonna play power five teams going forward here.
03:48 So it's time to, it's another opportunity to get better.
03:53 - How much do you think you've kind of learned
03:55 about the team during the six games?
03:58 - Most importantly was the guard thing.
03:59 I think that was important.
04:00 Not to say they've got it all answered now,
04:02 but there was improvement.
04:03 And so that was good to see.
04:04 So big guys needed the minutes.
04:08 So that was good, Ernest and Esom.
04:11 And I'm really excited about those guys.
04:13 So, you know, Chuck was out with the ankle today.
04:15 He hurt it yesterday in practice.
04:16 That was the situation on him and practice too.
04:20 We didn't go that long, but, you know,
04:24 that's where that happened.
04:25 So, you know, I love our group of 10.
04:27 Well, I'm pretty, you know,
04:29 definite that we're gonna red shirt these guys now,
04:32 given the situation.
04:33 I wish they would change that rule.
04:34 I can't understand why football can play four
04:36 and get a red shirt and we can't.
04:38 It's just amazing to me with our smaller numbers
04:42 and how it makes no sense.
04:45 I mean, we're borderline having enough guys to practice
04:48 as men with 13 scholarships.
04:49 It's amazing to me.
04:51 But so we're, you know, we've got that.
04:55 I think we understand that from it.
04:58 We're gonna go with what we got
05:00 and keep developing those guys
05:01 and keep working in practice and getting them
05:03 extra workouts.
05:04 They work out the day of their games.
05:06 They work out a shoot around.
05:08 We can get them an extra lift day of games too.
05:11 So they are a big part of our program,
05:13 Jason, Isaiah going forward here.
05:16 We're gonna have these 10 guys
05:17 and you know, we know we have enough guys.
05:20 We, I think we can handle an injury
05:23 for a short amount of time.
05:25 But you know, I think we have good depth
05:28 and I'm excited about them.
05:31 But you know, we're, you know,
05:32 it's, we're gonna hit some adversity.
05:34 We're gonna play on the row.
05:36 We're getting some foul trouble
05:37 and you're gonna have a guy missing game
05:39 and you see how you handle it.
05:40 But we do have the pieces.
05:42 We just gotta stay healthy and get better.
05:47 But the guards just gotta keep getting better.
05:49 And I was, I thought our bigs
05:51 have played good defensively, not as good today.
05:53 This kid gave us some problems at number four.
05:55 He's big, he's strong and mooring,
05:59 maring, he's good.
06:02 We need to do a better job on him,
06:04 but that's on me to get us better.
06:07 - How do you feel about the half court offense today?
06:10 - Yeah, a little better.
06:12 That was something that we really emphasized
06:14 over Thanksgiving and getting better in the half court.
06:18 We kind of, you know, took a,
06:20 to be honest with you, just demanded,
06:24 took away a little bit of an option
06:27 and made it, this is what we're doing.
06:29 And, you know, gave them two options on a play
06:34 and they weren't using the other option,
06:35 which is our best option.
06:36 And it was lack of patience,
06:38 lack of understanding.
06:41 So that's, I think that helped us in the half court.
06:44 I thought our half court was offense was better today.
06:47 Better, better, we didn't shoot it great.
06:49 You know, to me, we should have had more offensive rebounds
06:54 based on the shots that we took.
06:57 I can't remember where we were,
06:58 we were five or 17 from three.
06:59 And I think maybe one or two were not good,
07:02 you know, questionable.
07:03 We got to get offensive rebounds
07:05 on wide open threes that we don't make.
07:06 We missed 12 of them.
07:07 We got to get more than three offensive rebounds.
07:09 That was, that might be the worst number I've ever had
07:12 on offensive rebounding.
07:15 - You mentioned Jameer and Avery already,
07:18 but what have you seen from Trey Tassin
07:19 in the first few games?
07:20 - He's been, he's been the same.
07:22 I mean, he's been good for us all the way through,
07:24 you know, in Alabama, he played really well.
07:26 He played more because Avery was in there,
07:28 but he handled it well.
07:29 I think he kind of, I think he's, he's kind in this,
07:33 you know, what can I do more to play more?
07:36 You know, and I think that's what I'm trying to get
07:38 not to worry, like, you know, it's not the offensive end.
07:42 If he can defend better,
07:43 that would probably be the best way to do it.
07:45 And I think he kind of doesn't quite grasp that
07:48 as most guys.
07:49 It takes him a little while to get that,
07:52 but that's, that's what I thought.
07:54 So it was really on him today,
07:54 but he can, he's definitely our best shooter.
07:57 He didn't, didn't shoot it great today for him.
08:00 Again, we expect him to make every shot.
08:01 If there's an open three, everybody expects him to go in.
08:04 But I thought he was good with the advancing the ball
08:07 and transition.
08:08 I thought that he was really good.
08:09 We just got to keep getting them better defensively,
08:11 but we got to get those three guards better defensively.
08:13 You know, we, we've got to get them, as I've said,
08:16 I mean, Avery and Jameer, I mean,
08:18 they're as quick and as athletic as you can possibly be,
08:21 but yet it doesn't transfer to their,
08:22 their, their guarding out front.
08:25 And that's what we got to do.
08:26 So, you know, we've got room to improve.
08:29 That's certainly the case, but Trey's, we love Trey.
08:32 Trey's a worker.
08:33 He's in the gym.
08:34 He's, he's, he loves being here.
08:37 I think he wants to do more.
08:39 You know, again, remember he was the leading scorer
08:41 at Corpus Christi last year.
08:42 So he's, you know, that's all he knows.
08:44 And, and we want him to shoot all threes.
08:47 He's taken some off-balance runners.
08:50 That's where we kind of want to cut down on a little bit,
08:52 but catching, shooting, shooting threes, he can shoot,
08:54 you know, he's free to take those.
08:58 We, we have great faith in his catch and shoot ability.
09:02 - You had four guys in double figures.
09:04 How important is it going to be going forward?
09:05 You guys have a lot of skills to still be here.
09:07 - Yeah, I mean, you know, it's what we should be.
09:09 I mean, I think we're going to have
09:10 a pretty balanced scoring attack.
09:12 I think Jameer, I mean,
09:13 Jacoby and E-man probably at the top for most cases,
09:19 they can make free throws, they get offensive rebounds.
09:22 We run a lot of stuff for them.
09:23 So probably those guys, but those guards, Jameer,
09:26 I mean, we've had more than that.
09:28 The, the bigs, because of their minutes,
09:32 probably not as much, but I mean, I didn't total it up.
09:35 I know I come in here every day and tell you about
09:37 the big guys, what they scored and what they had.
09:40 So Esom had a nine, and then we had,
09:45 Xavier had a 13.
09:50 So we, we, we had 13 and they were three for three,
09:55 four for four, 13 points.
09:56 So we're getting great production out of those guys.
09:59 I was a little disappointed by the defense today from them,
10:01 but, and four for four from the field is pretty good
10:05 and did a pretty good job from the free throw line as well.
10:09 So, yeah, so I mean, probably don't get double figure guys
10:14 out of that because we're balancing out those minutes,
10:16 three guys, but we're going to get great production out of
10:19 them, we've been double figures, heck,
10:20 we've had one thing, we had 22 last game, I mean,
10:22 and good, good rebound numbers.
10:24 So, but the other six guys, do I have that right?
10:28 Seven guys, those other seven are pretty much,
10:31 I can see all of them being in double figures
10:34 on a pretty regular basis.
10:36 Not all seven in one game, but, but four or five, you know.
10:41 - Mike and Emmanuel both gave you really good minutes
10:45 tonight, especially on the offensive end.
10:46 How have you seen them grow?
10:48 - Well, to be honest, we've challenged E-man defensively,
10:50 you know, he's, you know, he wants to get to the next level
10:53 and, you know, these are the things he's got to do.
10:55 I talked to him about, you know,
10:56 he's got to catch and shoot threes a little bit more
10:58 regularly and then defend better.
11:01 You know, he's trying to sell himself as a good defender
11:03 and he wasn't, we wouldn't consider him a good defender
11:07 last year, but he's certainly better this year.
11:10 And the numbers, we chart everything.
11:12 And so, and the numbers clearly show he's a better defender
11:16 this year than that.
11:17 So, so that's, and Chuck's way better.
11:21 And especially in the last three, four games,
11:24 three games, I guess, he didn't play tonight.
11:26 And Jacoby's been better.
11:27 Jacoby's had a little slippage,
11:29 so we got to make him aware of that.
11:31 But we've challenged those guys
11:33 'cause really that was our real deficiency last year
11:36 was that defense from those, that spot.
11:38 - Anything else for coach?
11:41 Okay, thanks.
11:43 - We good, thank you for coming tonight.
11:45 It's on to Georgetown and hopefully,
11:49 anybody going to Georgetown?
11:51 I got a lot of friends.
11:53 I got a lot of friends going there
11:56 and, but yeah, the rest of the way,
11:58 we're, schedule's on, top 10, nine schedules.
12:02 So it is what it is.
12:04 All right guys, have a good one.