KillerFrogs' writers Nick Girimonte and Davis Wilson dissect Feast Week results for Oklahoma, BYU and Texas and look ahead to TCU's first test.
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00:00 Welcome back to what you have all been waiting so anxious anxiously for and that is another episode of
00:06 Frog fever a
00:10 podcast presented by killer frogs calm I
00:12 Am Davis Wilson. I'm here again with my co-host Nick Germany Nick. How was your
00:19 How was your Thanksgiving?
00:22 My Thanksgiving was nice. I work for a football for TCS
00:26 So I was stuck in for worth just chilling with some friends. So nothing too exciting, but watch a lot of college basketball
00:32 Which is always nice. Yeah
00:34 Yeah, I went home back to Texas and hung out with some family watched a lot of football a lot of basketball
00:41 Yeah that TCU football game. Thankfully, we're not a football podcast. We don't have to get into that too much
00:47 but I did see that I did see that I saw a funny tweet that that was Jamie Dixon's defense and
00:56 Yeah points and then I saw that
00:59 funny
01:01 69 to 64 or whatever it was
01:03 So that's always good
01:06 But yeah getting into more basketball stuff
01:08 Another good week good week for TCU
01:11 Still undefeated on the year, but before we get into them
01:15 We'll do we normally do and
01:18 Kind of go around the big 12 and see what happened. And the first thing I thought we could bring up was
01:26 Texas Texas had a pretty eventful week we
01:29 recorded last Sunday, I believe and that is when they're
01:33 They played Louisville that day. So we haven't talked about the Louisville game yet, which was a
01:38 Decided on a game winner, but what was your you know, what do you what are you thinking about Texas right now?
01:46 Texas had a very eventful week. Like you said
01:51 That Louisville game seemed like you know a month ago and
01:54 It to me they think they got away with one because Louisville sucks
01:59 Like they're not a good team and they I don't even know if they won a conference game last year and they might have won
02:05 one but
02:07 What I took away from that is that Texas has flaws giving up 80 to a Louisville team is not good at all
02:14 And they aren't as deep as we might have thought
02:17 Again, they were out
02:20 Dylan to sue and
02:22 Another quality player. I can't remember but they were out to quality players
02:27 So you give them a little bit of a pass and they are a really good team
02:31 but if a Smith's doesn't hit that game winner a lot of people are talking about Texas more as being a
02:37 Fraud when now they're just kind of dismissing it. Yeah. Yeah, that was a big shot for for max, obviously
02:46 because yeah, I think that
02:50 Louisville's terrible like there's no real way to put it. They're 157th and Ken Palm. They
02:57 have kind of been almost the laughingstock of
03:00 college basketball for the last year or two just because of the
03:04 Some of the losses that they have but yeah, I mean, I don't think Louisville's any good
03:09 But getting a win
03:13 Was a priority for Texas there and they did and I think that is
03:19 The positive I guess we can take from this
03:22 You know, they had some guys obviously a miss with the game winner
03:27 They had Caden shed shedrick with 20
03:30 27 I think so. I mean they looked
03:33 You know
03:37 They that was a game. They should have won by more and then they go
03:40 The next day the following day they lose to UConn who is
03:44 You know much different team obviously than Louisville UConn is a really good team and they fall to UConn 81 to 87
03:51 So that's not a terrible loss but but what did you think about
03:57 Texas first loss of the year and you know, what if what if anything we learned about them
04:04 From the games they played over the last week
04:09 If they need to get healthier because de sue is such a big part of their team and I he was the big 12
04:16 tournament player of the tournament last year, so
04:20 That's gonna be crucial for them
04:22 He could be one of their best players and if you look at it from a broad
04:25 Standpoint like they're doing everything that we kind of expected them to be which is a good team
04:30 Like you're not better than UConn, but you're better than all the people you beat so far
04:35 So I think it's still wait and see as to how good this Texas team is gonna be
04:39 They're gonna be
04:40 Upright son of the big 12 and gonna be up there
04:42 I don't know if they're as a lead as a Houston or Kansas as a team like that
04:47 But as we see in the non conference coming up, they got Marquette coming up
04:52 Which is gonna be a nice fun game and then obviously the big 12 schedules a gauntlet
04:57 So I they're still gonna be good and as they get more healthy
05:01 We'll see more of them that Louisville game must has been an off night with a shorthanded crew. So
05:08 They avoided a disastrous event. So I think they're chilling right now to be honest. Yeah, and
05:15 we'd be talking a lot differently about Texas if
05:18 You know max didn't hit that shot. But this early in the year when you're in your non-conference stuff
05:24 And you're playing in a tournament
05:27 Mid-season tournament like that like getting getting wins is your priority and you know, like you've mentioned Texas was not
05:34 100% healthy. So I think walking away with a win really in any capacity is
05:40 Okay, and I think there's a lot to be learned about this team, especially like you said when they do get healthy
05:47 And yeah, they have a market which is a fun shocker smart reunion
05:51 And then they get they get LSU in a couple weeks. So
05:57 Again, like we mentioned with a lot of these teams. It's hard to tell right now because
06:03 you know, it's early and not everyone's healthy and it's just
06:06 It's just it's just difficult to see but as these
06:10 Non-conference games start to get a little more meaningful and obviously conference play comes in
06:17 That's when we're gonna learn a ton about the team that Texas has
06:21 Yeah, so I mean I think they're okay we don't have to react to Texas yet
06:30 Obviously a pretty tough shot from a basements there but moving on
06:34 You had an idea where we would do our winners and losers of the week in the big 12
06:40 So there was a ton of action a lot of you know, every team played a couple games
06:47 So what just starting off we'll start with you. What was your
06:51 Who is your winner of the week in a big 12?
06:54 Yeah, there's obviously like you said so much to unpack with feast week. So
06:59 My winners that I took away is that the new guys of the big 12 has showed that they're gonna be good besides
07:07 UCF who lost the stats in but we knew UCF sucks so we can just kind of dismiss that but
07:13 Especially you look at BYU and Houston like Cincinnati's undefeated and they're just taking care of business
07:19 similar like a TCU where you're doing what you're supposed to do and they're gonna be a good team, but
07:24 If you look at BYU and the schedule that they've had
07:29 The fact that they're undefeated is insane right now. Like they took down San Diego State who's a
07:34 top-tier team you beat Arizona State who TC you will see by
07:38 28 I think it was and then you beat NC State it was another quality team
07:44 so we didn't know what to think about with BYU coming into the big 12 and
07:49 We've seen that you know, they're not the most experienced team
07:54 They don't have a lot of new like mind-blowing talent, but they're just getting it done
07:59 they run about a deep every game and I think
08:02 It's safe to say that they've proven to this point that they're gonna be good
08:07 like they have a Utah game coming up in the
08:09 in the non-conference and
08:12 The fact that they're just
08:17 Like ranked and undefeated is almost a shocker and to show that the big 12 just got that much stronger
08:25 Which you didn't even know it could have done. Yeah
08:27 when those four teams came in everybody was talking a lot about Houston and what Houston was gonna bring to
08:34 the basketball side of things in the big 12 BYU
08:38 has
08:41 Like really is one of the best teams in the conference right now just on paper
08:46 You know, they started the year ranked 36 in Ken Palm. They're now up to number 10, which is only behind
08:53 Let's see. They're only behind Kansas and Houston in the big 12. They're ahead of Baylor. They're ahead of
09:01 TCU Texas so they're for real team. Like you said they have some great wins and I think
09:08 Mark Pope deserves a ton of credit for what he's been able to do there
09:14 So far, you know in the short time that we've we've gotten to look at them this year they have some great wins already so
09:20 Yeah, that's a good winner they they were and then yeah you mentioned also
09:26 Cincinnati is taking care of business. So
09:30 Yeah, I agree my
09:33 my winner of the week was
09:36 Oklahoma they
09:41 Similar to BYU have started to pick up some really quality wins
09:45 They they beat Iowa and USC on Thursday and Friday of last week
09:51 back-to-back days
09:55 I
09:57 Think that you know, maybe Oklahoma was slightly underrated coming in and now
10:02 They're kind of figuring things out what do you think about the Sooners?
10:09 yeah, we didn't know what to think about Oklahoma coming in because they had such a big roster turnover that
10:14 We just didn't know how well they're gonna mesh like they had some talent with the transfers there that they were getting in
10:20 And it's been insanely impressive that they took down that Iowa USC like that's a tough
10:26 You know back-to-back wins at Feastweek that you can hang your hat on later in the year
10:30 they've proven that they're gonna be in the top tier like your BYU and
10:35 These teams that you didn't think would be out there that jumped
10:39 other guys like they deserve to be ranked and it's
10:42 insanely impressive that they're
10:44 May having a successful lot of transfers. It almost reminds me of
10:48 TC a couple years ago when we
10:51 Had such a big roster turnover adding a man adding Micah adding DB
10:56 Like and you just didn't know what to think but they're just kind of meshing together at this point
11:02 So there's something to be taken seriously. Yeah
11:06 Yeah, and they're kind of also similar to this year's TC team. They kind of do it. They kind of get their points
11:14 From anywhere like they have Otago away who's been leading
11:20 Their scoring so far by the way
11:23 He's only taken four threes, but he has not missed one so far and he's averaging
11:29 15 points a game. That's kind of a funny
11:33 Stat so he should just keep shooting and I guess he'll yeah make all you'll never miss. Yeah
11:38 But yeah, I think now we're kind of seeing
11:41 You know, we all know that Porter Moser is a good basketball coach and he's accomplished a lot
11:47 Obviously at Loyola Chicago all those Cinderella teams that he put together, but now I think we're seeing him
11:54 kind of with the roster that he likes and wants to have and
12:00 I think we're already seeing that pay off
12:02 Iowa and USC are both really big wins probably q1 wins when it comes to when it comes down to selection
12:11 a couple months away
12:14 Getting those in non-conference is huge because
12:17 The big 12 is tough and they're probably gonna drop a game or two that they'd like to win. So having
12:23 wins against teams like Iowa and
12:28 USC are pretty big especially this early and
12:31 Yeah, I'm impressed I didn't I didn't think a lot I didn't really know what to think from Oklahoma out of you know
12:40 I didn't know what to expect out of Oklahoma this year because of the roster turnover and because of how loaded this conference is
12:46 but they're ranked and they've you know, they've done a really good job with with the
12:51 Pretty tough schedule that they've had so far
12:54 yeah, it's cool for these teams like your BYU's in Oklahoma's and to
12:59 jump into this operation of the big 12 so fast because
13:03 We already know that the big 12 is the top basketball conference, but in a weird way, they've almost gotten stronger
13:11 Like I think Houston
13:13 Houston is arguably the top team in college basketball
13:16 all together right now and then you have your Kansas and
13:21 When you have these teams like BYU in Oklahoma that can compete with these
13:25 upper echelon teams
13:28 Like it's gonna make conference play so fun and you have your TCU's your Iowa States that are up there that we haven't discussed yet
13:33 Your Baylor's always gonna be there. It's it's insane that
13:38 the top tier
13:40 Talent in this league is so deep or you know, your top seven teams could be
13:46 Anybody each night and it's gonna make conference play just that much more exciting. Mm-hmm
13:51 Yeah for sure. And then last thing on Oklahoma's they've got some
13:54 Their their conference schedule really doesn't get any easier if anything might get a little more difficult they have
14:00 Providence
14:04 What is that a week from today I think that that'll be a week from today and then they get Arkansas and North Carolina to
14:11 close out non-conference
14:14 I
14:16 Guess not actually to close out non-conference, but those two games are gonna be
14:20 Games
14:22 Against good opponents and we'll get an even better idea of how for real this sooner team is but I'm impressed with him so far
14:28 And I'm impressed with coach Moser and what he's done
14:31 to kind of get his guys in there and
14:34 It's working for him
14:37 100%
14:39 Let's move on to your losers loser of the week. Let's hear it
14:43 Yeah, my loser of the week is West Virginia's hopes of turning it around
14:48 I think I'm ready to write off West Virginia. They just haven't played good in any single game this year
14:55 They lost to SMU
14:57 By 12, they lost to Virginia which at least they kept that one close
15:01 But in every single game like even their easy games they
15:05 had Missouri State
15:08 Beaten by just eight, you know, they lost to Monmouth as we discussed last week
15:13 They only be Jacksonville State by 13
15:16 They just beat Bellarmine by four and they're not conference gets tough
15:20 Like we'll see this week and next week. They play st. John's they'll get a date with patina and then
15:26 They gotta go to they play pit - so
15:30 I'm ready to say that this West Virginia team sucks and they're gonna get Carissa back. Yeah, and
15:37 It's due to a big factors is obviously Huggins like it's almost impossible to turn around what he left
15:46 On his way out. So I don't think they'll be a threat at all in the in the big 12
15:51 I think them and UCF will be battling it out for that last spot. It was a
15:55 Like I mean it the way their offseason went was
16:01 About as poorly as it could have gone they
16:05 obviously Huggins left and
16:08 It was just an exodus from their team. So I think that
16:14 They weren't really at least me at least both of us. We weren't really expecting this team to be
16:19 great and so far they're kind of showing us that they've
16:23 basically, they played two quality opponents and lost to both and they've
16:28 They've also lost to a really bad opponent. So yeah, I'm not I'm not really
16:34 Looking at West Virginia to make any sort of real noise
16:42 Coming up just because they haven't you like you're right. They haven't let go they just beat better mind by four points at home
16:48 Better mind is the 216th best team according to kid palm. So
16:53 Just like none of their wins. I mean all of their losses
16:57 I guess except for the Virginia one have been bad losses and all their wins have been
17:02 unimpressive wins
17:05 So, yeah, we just haven't really seen anything that
17:09 Would make us go. Oh, maybe West Virginia can compete. They haven't shown us that at all and
17:14 Really it's going to get a lot tougher for them
17:18 Like you said they get st. John's and Pittsburgh at home and then they have some games
17:23 They should win but who knows and then they get Ohio State on December 30th
17:27 Neutral site game before big 12 stuff starts. So yeah, they're not
17:33 I
17:35 Think yeah, you touched you you mentioned it. It's just they're not very good. Unfortunately, and
17:40 The they'll probably get better. Like you said when crease it comes back. We'll see but right now. Yeah, they're not they're not where
17:48 Probably they want to be
17:52 Hundred percent. Yeah, we thought they'd be bad and yeah, they're even worse than what I thought so. Yeah. Okay my loser
18:02 Could be slightly controversial, but I'm gonna go with Kansas's depth. We talked about this a lot on the previous pod
18:09 After there after they kind of scraped by against Kentucky who's kind of a team full of freshmen
18:16 They they played three games Monday Tuesday Wednesday
18:23 They beat the breaks off for chaminade and then they got Marquette in Tennessee and they fell to Marquette
18:30 And it wasn't really close it was 73 to 59
18:33 And I just want to look at the box score here to point out what I'm talking about. They I
18:39 mean, they they played nine guys, but only
18:43 eight guys got over
18:46 ten minutes or at least ten minutes and
18:49 Only seven guys got at least 12 minutes if that makes sense. So
18:56 You know you get Kevin McCuller who scores 24 and rebound gets eight rebounds and you get hunter Dickinson who gets gets you 13
19:04 And eight but like we talked about like what who else is gonna be there for them, you know, DeJuan Harris wasn't very good
19:10 He was two for eight over Oh three from the three-point line
19:13 He had four three and three and two so he at least gave you some other things besides scoring
19:20 but yeah, I mean I just I
19:23 Don't know what this team has when?
19:25 You know outside of its two or three
19:28 Players and I and I think we talked about this being a concern last week
19:36 But I think that that game against Marquette who's the best team they've played all year
19:40 Really demonstrated that they do have weaknesses, especially in the depth area
19:45 But yeah, what do you what are your thoughts on on Kansas are you worried about their depth at all
19:52 I
19:54 Think the I think that Kansas this year will be probably the most debated team amongst all college basketball because they have
20:00 the personalities the hype and then the debate on whether they're actually
20:06 Like a title contender or not
20:08 Yeah as the points we pointed out last podcast like DeJuan Harrison's gonna give you five threes the game like he had against Kentucky and
20:18 Dickinson's not gonna give you 20 rebounds a game. So you're gonna need guys to step up
20:23 You would hope that Elmarco Jackson who's a five-star would take that next step, but he has been
20:30 Horrible to start the year to be frank. He just hasn't had much scoring and
20:35 They haven't saw straightening a guy for fee that I really like and I think they should get more minutes
20:41 He can just he doesn't play defense, but I feel like you have enough
20:46 wing defenders with McCuller and DeJuan that you can kind of get away with
20:50 playing just a pure shooter just to give you that extra offensive piece that
20:55 Allows teams to have to expand and guard those
20:58 They're they're tough because I think they could beat anyone obviously their number one preseason and
21:06 If you exploit like a matchup with Dickinson and have these very experienced players and McCuller and Harris around you
21:14 You have the talent
21:16 to beat anybody
21:18 this I'm super excited for this Yukon game because
21:22 Kansas did lose to Marquette
21:24 Yes
21:25 But they also beat a very good Tennessee team that has one of the best defenses in college basketball
21:30 So this Yukon game is gonna be huge to see just how good they are on
21:35 On Friday, I think it is
21:38 so
21:41 It seems like Klingon
21:43 For Yukon can match up with them pretty well. I personally think that
21:47 Kansas I don't know. I I don't know what to think about this game because I think the teams are pretty even so I'm
21:54 very excited to see how Kansas performs against
21:57 Probably the best team they've seen so far and it just be a litmus test to just how dominant Dickinson can be
22:04 How their guards can step up when things go bad and how they can compete against a top tier team. Yeah, I
22:13 Just want to make it clear. I don't think Kansas is bad. I hope that's not what came across I think that
22:20 Their problem. I mean, they're undoubtedly in my opinion a top five top seven team in the country
22:27 I think the question that we are bringing up and that what we have brought up is
22:31 Are they a championship national championship team and in my opinion they have
22:39 The top in talent to do that. I think hunter Dickinson
22:43 arguably
22:46 You know, maybe the best player in college basketball at least one of them you have to want Harris who's one of the best guards
22:52 Just pure like point guards
22:55 Kevin McCuller, you know what you have in him?
22:58 He's he can give you pretty much whatever he wants to give you and then you know guys like KJ Adams
23:05 She's a younger guy who's starting to kind of play a little bit more
23:09 like they're a good team and I think that
23:11 You know, we you know, they're a good team that's going to be in the top ten probably all year
23:18 Yeah, and especially we need to talk about the way they beat Tennessee who's a top ten team
23:25 both in the a people and in Kim pom and
23:29 You know, they beat a good Tennessee team and
23:33 Let's see they got basically
23:37 They basically had seven dudes in the rotation
23:41 They had nine guys play total but only seven got at least ten minutes, which is kind of the way I look at it
23:48 But I
23:51 Think that they're one of the most talented teams in the country
23:56 When you look at the top of their lineup, and I think it gets a little questionable as it goes down
24:04 But yeah, I'm pumped for you con. I think that's gonna be the game we look at because they've played
24:09 They've already played Kentucky. They've already played Marquette. They've already played Tennessee who are all really good and then you know
24:16 We still don't have a great idea about
24:18 How good they actually are and I think you can's gonna give us
24:22 A really good look at how good that team is
24:26 Going forward but the one thing, you know, it's just the depth for me. I got I love what they have
24:33 Like star wise but like guys like Nick Timberlake. I was excited about him for Kansas
24:38 he was one of the best shooters in the country and
24:40 He hasn't really shown much yet. So I don't know I think
24:44 There's obviously no need to panic this is a good team and
24:49 It's just how good can they be I think is the question that we're talking about
24:54 yeah, they put themself at such a high standard that we it's like
25:01 When you win Nadia's, you know, you're gonna be held that Natty standard and so that's obviously why they're criticized so much
25:08 I'm interested to see to a side of the lack of depth with zombie like that's a huge concern for him
25:16 I'm interested to see how Dickinson deals with top-tier big man. There's the one I think
25:22 Dickinson is
25:25 Probably a top two offensive player in the country
25:27 Yeah, but he you can exploit him on the defensive end and I think teams are starting to see that like the one elite big
25:34 Man, he's played so far as though so a good Daro for a man from Marquette and he gave him I think 21
25:40 And when you put him in the pick and roll and get him on a switch with guards, he's
25:44 like a bad defender at that point and so he in
25:50 Coming up against you kind you have
25:54 Some of the best big men in the country with clinging and they have this backup. I
25:58 Don't know if he's a sophomore now, but he's an athletic freak
26:03 so
26:05 What he's gonna be able to do to neutralize these big men is gonna be massive
26:09 Because if that's something you can exploit exploit with Kansas and you have a good big man
26:15 I think that's a huge hole for them. And I think that's why Michigan hasn't
26:19 Had much success in the Big Ten with them because they had were full of
26:24 Top big men that just exploited Dickinson inside. So yeah, that'll be huge for
26:30 For Kansas going forward and to
26:33 boost their in
26:36 Boost their defense internally. Yeah, I guess the last thing to wrap up the Kansas stuff is
26:42 That my perception of them really hasn't changed since the year started. So
26:46 anyone who takes
26:49 my depth concern and
26:51 and
26:52 You know anything anyone who takes that as me not liking Kansas is wrong. I think they're really good and I think that
26:58 basically, it's just you know, the same concerns we've had all year for him and
27:03 Yeah, we'll find out a lot against you con all right, let's yeah
27:08 It's all I was gonna say it's also fun to hate on Kansas too because I think it's in such a villain and you know
27:15 They were natty so it's just fun to shit on them when you can I know I have to get it in everyone
27:20 So I don't get to I don't get to very much. So but yeah, and yeah
27:25 They'll be fine. They'll be just fine
27:28 All right. Let's do you want to do some TCU TCU action? Yeah, I'm down. So they played twice since we've last
27:37 Recorded a pod they beat Alcorn State and they beat Houston Christian
27:44 It's kind of the same deal we've been talking about really
27:47 They don't you know, they're not playing anyone yet, but they're beating the teams they play
27:52 So you can't really say too much about it. But what if you know you were there I think we're yet both games
27:57 Yeah, I was yeah, so tell me about it
28:00 Yeah, I'm excited that this is the last week of this routine in terms of like, oh, they're just killing these bad teams
28:08 but one thing that stood out to me from
28:13 last game is that
28:15 We forced I think 24 turnovers and we only had six turnovers, which is so massive and what you're trying to do
28:22 defensively with Dixon to
28:25 neutralize these giveaways and fast points for other teams and
28:29 Getting out and transition as fast as possible. So by creating turnovers and so many guys had steals for TCU
28:36 Shamir had such a good game last night
28:40 Against Houston Christian, he had 15 and 10. I think that was his career high and assists
28:44 So he like everybody's got a clicking and getting in the flow
28:47 I think what we've done against this bad competition to start the year is is
28:52 Very important because we've just handled them and there's been no real scares other than just like a couple slow starts here or there
29:00 So I like how we've taken care of business and I like how
29:03 These games have allowed us to kind of click and get a feel for each other with the whole new roster
29:09 So I'm super excited to see what we do as competition starts starting at Georgetown on Saturday
29:15 Yeah, Ken palm has
29:17 Kim bump says TCU is the fourth best team when it comes to steal percentage
29:22 That's nationally the fourth best team in the country
29:26 They are like like they always kind of do they're getting out in running in
29:35 You know in the fast break which is what they were so good at last year and what they've already proved
29:39 They're so good at this year
29:41 But yeah again, we're kind of seeing different guys step up for TCU
29:46 Last night I think was kind of the last night was Houston Christian
29:51 And that was kind of the coming-out party a little bit for Emmanuel Miller a guy
29:57 We have a lot of expectations for he led the team in scoring with 19. He was efficient, you know, 7 of 13
30:06 He had three rebounds three assists three steals two blocks. He kind of did a little bit everything but
30:11 The one thing I was kind of waiting on, you know, TCU's looks so good so far against these bad teams
30:18 but the one thing I wanted to see was one of these games for me man, and
30:21 We got that we got that yesterday against Houston Christian along with a lot of other really strong individual performances
30:30 100%
30:33 We say it every week, but it is cool how this team has all these different guys
30:38 That can be the number one guy for you every night and you don't know who it's gonna be
30:41 I think this team's constructed perfectly for Jamie and that they can all run
30:45 You know what? We have more shooting this year than I think we've had in years past
30:50 The one thing I worry about is a little bit with the rebounding like even though we won by I don't know like 37 yesterday
30:58 Or whatever it was
31:00 we got out rebounded by Houston Christian, which is kind of
31:04 Crazy heat that you could beat a team by that much and get out rebounded, but that was the case
31:10 We talked to I think the big man is gonna be a consistent thing in terms of playing all three of the same amount and they've
31:16 Actually done a decent job in games past and you were out Chuck O'Bannon last night with an ankle
31:21 So he gives you a bigger sense of rebounding out the back
31:25 So I think it's not too much to be concerned about
31:28 But if you're trying to nitpick against these bad teams and what to worry about that's probably the route I would go
31:34 Just getting out faster and making sure you you crash the glass
31:38 I think we only have three offensive rebounds to which is kind of an alarming step
31:42 But yeah, I don't think it's too much to sweat about another thing that I have noticed and I haven't been any games
31:48 But you I think have been to most of them maybe all of them. I don't know but the one thing that I'm I've noticed
31:55 Pretty much every game is they don't
31:58 TCU doesn't really start super fast. They're always
32:03 And not that it's mattered so far
32:07 but they have kind of let their opponent hang around for the first five or ten minutes of the game and then they and
32:14 then it's like, you know, they
32:16 Put put it into a different gear and they you know, dominate like just like we saw last night
32:22 They ended up winning by yeah, I think was 37, but at the beginning of that game they were down they were not winning
32:29 In the first I think it was like five minutes in they were not they were down. So what is your I?
32:35 Guess what is your take on that? Is that something?
32:38 to be concerned about especially as they start to see better teams or is that
32:45 You know, I don't know. Is that a concern for you?
32:49 Yeah, I've been going back and forth of that because
32:52 Yeah hasn't mattered so far and after every game because that's one of like the few
32:58 Bad things that TC was done against these bad teams
33:02 So Jamie gets asked how like every postgame presser and he doesn't seem to be too concerned
33:08 He always refers to how they started fast against Bama and that's been like the one real team
33:13 They played in the in the secret scrimmage. So okay, I
33:15 wouldn't I
33:18 Think it's kind of a wait-and-see process. I wouldn't be too concerned until it does backfire on you. Um, I
33:25 Don't know but yeah, it's not great
33:28 I mean, you don't want to continue to start slow and slow because once you play a good team, it's gonna be
33:32 Harder and harder to come back from it
33:35 but it might just be a sense of just trying to figure out things and you can kind of experiment more against a bad team and
33:42 You have more leeway to
33:45 Mess up, so I wouldn't be too concerned, but it's definitely something to watch. Yeah
33:50 And back to last night's game against Houston Houston Christian
33:55 obviously Manuel Miller led the way with 19 points, but I
33:59 was super impressed with
34:01 Once again, Jameer Nelson jr. He had 15 10
34:06 Sorry 10 assists 5 rebounds 3 steals and we talked about him being the type of guy who will do everything
34:15 for you last week and he's continued to show that I'm I feel very excited about
34:21 what he's
34:24 bringing to this TCU team
34:26 and
34:28 I'm excited to see him play against
34:32 some better teams because I think that I
34:36 Mean, I'm excited to see this whole team play against some better teams because we'll learn a lot
34:41 but I'm really excited for guys like a man and Jameer and Jacoby all to play against some better competition and
34:47 we'll all kind of get a pretty good idea about
34:50 how good those guys are and and
34:53 How good the team is overall?
34:56 Yeah, I love what Jameers I think Jameers even filled his role better than I'd
35:02 Yeah, what have thought he would be like I thought I think we said before too
35:06 Like I thought he'd be a big-time scorer, but he's doing
35:09 Everything for this team like he's helping on the boards. He's scoring. He's dish shots. Yeah. Yeah, he's blocking shots
35:15 He's getting steals and guard defense is gonna be so big as we get to tougher teams
35:20 like if we want to start the preview in Georgetown to like there are two best players or
35:24 Guards and Jaden Epps is one of the best in the country and styles is a nice little
35:28 second option for him, so
35:31 That's what's gonna keep these guards playing and that's what you may replace so much is that he can control the tempo
35:38 He controls the game. He
35:40 Stops these top guards on defense and gets after it in transition. So he's
35:45 Literally a perfect fit for this for what Jamie's trying to do. Yeah
35:50 I think the idea about him when when he committed to TCU was
35:54 He's gonna fill the Mike Myles role. He's gonna be the best scorer on this team
35:59 You know, he averaged 20 game at Delaware, but really he's been I
36:03 Mean he's kind of taken
36:06 He's kind of taken that Mike Myles rule, but he's really been more of an all-around player than I was expecting him to be
36:13 Which has been pretty exciting and then you pair him with like Avery Anderson who's continued to be solid and is also a
36:21 plus perimeter defender
36:24 and
36:25 Then like Micah PB obviously one of the best perimeter defenders in the whole country
36:29 defensively, I think this team has things to be excited about and
36:34 that I think goes under the radar, especially right now because I haven't played a good offense, but
36:38 You know, obviously
36:41 Georgetown and Clemson are gonna be great tests for not only you know, the scores for this team, but also the defense and
36:48 We can yeah, we'll get into the Georgetown preview soon. But yeah, I'm excited about Jimmy. I think he's
36:56 He's been more than I expect him to be
37:01 Yeah month of the season, I think you look back as a massive success that you found
37:07 You know, I think we can have
37:10 the five of the four minus Uday and the starting light but an Avery off the bench could be
37:15 top scores for you and top playmakers every day and
37:20 Like you said you we thought Jamir be more of a Mike, but he's almost more of a DB
37:25 Yeah in terms of facilitating scoring a little bit being that pest on on
37:30 Defense and like if you remember DB got so many steals for this team and help keep the pace up
37:37 which is massive and
37:39 we don't really have like a mic which is
37:41 Which has been fine for us so far so
37:46 I love with this first month of the season is or was for the frogs and I think it's
37:54 Obviously Jamie is criticized for the strength of schedule a lot
37:57 But we have the ninth best strength of schedule going forward and to be able to get comfortable with your team
38:02 In all these different teams, I don't think is necessarily a bad thing when you have the big 12 on your back
38:07 Yeah. All right. Let's take a let's take a quick break and we'll get into the strength of schedule in Georgetown Clemson stuff
38:13 Perfect. Let's talk about so on Twitter, especially recently
38:18 There's been a lot going around kind of about TC strength of schedule. Well, it's been the second
38:24 Second word. I mean, how about how to say the second easiest in the country so far, but the ninth toughest going forward
38:29 Is that right?
38:31 yeah, I mean it's I
38:33 Think we actually have the easiest so far. I think it's okay. There you go. He's 62 out of 362. Yeah, okay
38:41 so Jamie is
38:43 Caught a little bit of criticism for that, but I think obviously
38:50 When you play in the big 12, I think it's okay
38:53 I don't want to excuse it because some of these opponents have been a little ridiculous, but
38:58 When you play in the big 12
39:00 there you play so many you play a good team every night you play like a like a a
39:06 top 100 team pretty much every night, so
39:09 I
39:11 Don't see it as a super concerning thing
39:14 especially considering that the rest of TC's non-conference is going to not be easy, so
39:22 Yeah quickly, I guess what are your thoughts on that whole thing and is that a concern for you at all
39:28 For when this team has to actually play somebody
39:33 No, it looks bad. Like don't get me wrong. But as you said, it really doesn't matter like it's nice
39:41 it's fun on Twitter to talk about because if you see a six and out team in the big 12, you're like
39:48 Oh, why isn't this team being talked about more and then everyone's like, oh, they're just frauds because they didn't play anybody
39:53 So it's fun Twitter discourse
39:55 But at the end of the season, it's not gonna matter because we're gonna see them play all the toughest teams
40:01 Yeah in the toughest conference and they are not conference heats up like they don't have a another cupcake
40:08 I think they have one more cupcake on New Year's Day. But other than that
40:12 Like they are yeah as ninth toughest for the rest of the year. So it's
40:18 a fun discussion right now, but that discussion is gonna stop going forward because
40:22 They do play in the big 12. So it it doesn't matter in my opinion. Yeah, I agree. I don't I don't mean
40:30 It's just it is what it is. I think
40:32 you know the the
40:35 What we should be celebrating is that they haven't messed up any of these easy games they've taken care of business every night
40:42 So exactly. Yeah, that's one thing to like
40:45 Is nice because last year that didn't happen. We that third straight game. So
40:50 To look at this team. I think there you can still take a lot of positives, even though it's been
40:55 you know cupcakes for
40:58 so far, but I actually kind of like it because you get
41:02 nice wins and you get to kind of feel out your team and work out the kinks without
41:07 necessarily having to
41:10 experience a blimp on your record or you know closer games, but it's
41:15 It's been nice, but I am ready to
41:18 To get a bump in competition. Yeah, and just to demonstrate that it will get tougher
41:24 So far the toughest team TC's played has been
41:29 Nebraska Omaha and their ranked 265th the current Kim palm
41:34 The only team that is worse than that they have going forward like you said is on New Year's Day against, Texas
41:40 And in commerce, they are the 300th best team but coming up they have Georgetown who's 168th in Clemson
41:47 48 Arizona State 100
41:49 Old Dominion 184 and then big 12
41:52 I mean
41:53 I kind of I kind of guessed when I said they they wouldn't
41:57 They would stay under the top 100 the rest of the way in the big 12
42:01 Technically West Virginia is 105 but everyone else is a top 100 basketball team
42:07 So I think it gets I mean it's gonna get so tough
42:10 Going forward that this doesn't really matter to me and you mentioned, you know, we we know not to
42:19 Put too much stock in the secret scrimmages, but they played Alabama in a secret scrimmage
42:24 Earlier in the year and beat them and Alabama's the number eight team in Kim palm
42:28 so
42:30 take that for what for what you will but
42:33 I'm not concerned
42:35 But it is a little bit ridiculous what we've seen some of these teams that he sees play
42:40 I mean a couple of schools. I didn't even know existed. So yeah, that's kind of funny. But yeah, I'm not cuz I'm not concerned
42:46 For the basketball team. It's more funny than anything in my opinion. Yeah, also - I
42:50 Guess I guess if you get to the top opponents and they don't look ready
42:55 Then it's something we can talk about like, okay
42:58 You can't I can't play cupcakes for a month straight and expect to come out against Georgetown or Clemson and look great
43:04 Like if they don't show up in those games, we'll come back to this discussion. But right now
43:09 Yeah, I'm not concerned. Yeah, they've got tourney wins in the past two seasons and they've had a lot of guys coming back
43:16 so it's not like
43:18 Nobody on this team is accustomed to playing tough teams. Also while everybody was you know, having fun in Feast Week tournaments our
43:26 Tournament the Diamondhead classic like we play old Dominion, which isn't that great?
43:31 but if we win we play we would probably play Nevada who's 45 and Ken Palm and
43:35 if you win that maybe you get like a Georgia Tech or something, so
43:39 so there's still lots of opportunity for this team to
43:43 To play tough teams and that Christmas week will be like really TCU fans Feast Week almost. Yeah
43:51 Yeah
43:53 All right moving into the actual
43:57 So we keep talking about this tough how it gets tougher. Let's talk about some of these teams TC will see soon
44:02 Let's start with Georgetown. They see Georgetown on Saturday. I guess that's yeah, that's the only game this week
44:09 They they play two games in the next one like two weeks. They play
44:14 Georgetown on Saturday the second and they play Clemson the Saturday the
44:19 Sixth and they play Arizona State Saturday 16th. So we actually won't have a lot of TCU
44:25 I guess lower and I probably like you know, like we'll have a pot out before that Clemson
44:29 Yeah game probably so we can probably just focus on Georgetown. Yeah, let's talk about Georgetown. What are you you mentioned Jaden Epps already? Who's
44:37 Really good player really great scorer. But what is this team? What do you take? What do you make of?
44:44 This Georgetown team based on what you've seen so far from them. Yeah, it's finally fun to talk about a real team
44:52 the TCS plans so, um, I mean Georgetown is a very interesting team because
44:57 They got ed Cooley from Providence, which is you know, one of the
45:02 Top like personality coaches in the country
45:06 So they're still working out the Kings like they they blew game to Holy Cross. They lost to Rutgers
45:12 They had to go to overtime with American
45:15 They're not great
45:17 But they have talent and they're in the Big East and you can't sleep on them and when you're going to their house on a Saturday
45:24 When they have a power conference tournament coming in like they're gonna get up for that game. There's gonna be fans there. It's I
45:32 Think they'll play TC - I think TC will win
45:35 probably by double digits
45:38 Jaden Epps and dog tres styles are two studs and that's the bulk of their offense
45:45 They can shoot the three they can score from all levels. They're a nice little backcourt
45:49 this is huge to see the test that we've been talking about in
45:53 How well Jameer Nelson can defend players and how well our defense is?
46:00 Because Jameer Nelson in Micah PV are two of the best perimeter defenders in the country. So that'll be tested
46:07 You just can't let him get hot. I think
46:11 If you play the pace at your style and you get all the possessions that they usually do they should be fine
46:17 I'm not too worried about it
46:18 But any bump in competition is definitely something to be alarming and they have to be up for that game if they want to win
46:25 Yeah. Yeah for those who?
46:27 Are not familiar with Jaden Epps
46:30 He's a sophomore and he's averaging nineteen point seven points per game on really good shooting splits
46:38 I'll just go through real quickly. So his points numbers
46:41 Against Jackson State. He had 34 on 10 of 18 shooting seven or nine from three
46:48 Against in that in that overtime game against American. He had 31 and then
46:55 His other big game was in the loss to Holy Cross. He had 22
47:00 So he is a really good scorer, but more importantly, he's a really efficient scorer
47:07 He's the you know, it's him and styles that kind of make the offense go
47:11 But another guy I don't know anything about this guy, but he is a fantastic name
47:18 Supreme cook one of the best names at college basketball. I'm declaring right now, but this guy
47:24 Is leading the team in rebounds with eight. He's got he scores eleven point two rebounds a game
47:28 Again, I don't know anything about him but a fun a fun name to watch and it looks like a fun player to watch
47:36 But yeah, like you said back to the TCU stuff
47:39 We talked about this perimeter defense that TCU has and the potential that it it has to be really good
47:46 this is the perfect test for that in my opinion because
47:49 the two
47:51 The two top scorers are guards as Jaden Epps and Tantra styles and together. They're scoring like
47:57 30
47:59 What would be like 36 points a game?
48:01 combined so
48:04 Yeah, really Morse. I mean TCU should win this game and
48:09 It's a test it's a test in the fact that Georgetown is a team with a pulse but also it's a test in the fact that
48:16 Georgetown's guards are some of the best in the country scoring wise so it'll be cool to see what Jameer and
48:23 Avery and Micah can do to slow them down
48:26 Georgetown has crazy talent like all these guys are transfers because cool
48:32 He's got such a big pole that he can get top tier talented guys to come there
48:36 like I think EPS is from Illinois and I think
48:39 Styles is from UNC and that
48:42 That's a pretty good guys a transfer from I think a smaller school, but it's like Fairfax. I think or fair. Yeah Fairfield
48:48 something like that, but he's
48:50 but Cooley has this pole where he has top talented guys and I think they just started out slow because
48:55 They aren't really meshing that well as a team and that takes time for some for
49:00 Certain teams to get to know how to play with each other. So they have another game they play
49:06 Mayor Mac on Wednesday, so that'll be another touch of game for him
49:10 So the more games Georgetown plays the more they're gonna get better because their talent is gonna be able to mesh together
49:15 So there they have the opportunity to beat us. I don't think it'll happen. But
49:22 Yeah, they're they're probably a better team than their record even shows right now to be honest. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, they're talented
49:30 And they have a brand new head coach who is one of the one of the best in the country
49:35 I would say so I think I
49:37 mean for me personally, I'm just I'm happy to
49:41 I'm happy to know that Georgetown is
49:43 you know has a chance to be on its way back to kind of the
49:48 You know from the basement of college basketball. They have not been good. I mean, they've even been terrible for years
49:55 under Patrick Ewing, so
49:59 Now that they're you know, they have a legitimate college coach. They have a lot of talent. I am NOT gonna write them off
50:07 TC will be the best team that they have played up to that point. I think they'll be you know
50:14 they're gonna get up for that game and
50:16 I'm excited for I'm really excited to watch both teams and how both teams respond to a
50:22 You know a big non-conference game
50:24 Yeah, it's gonna be a fun
50:27 Game to watch and you know on the second TV and conference championship football Saturday
50:33 So it's gonna be it's definitely gonna be a super fun game to watch and I'm just I'm just excited to
50:39 To see TCU play a real team like this the season almost starts now for TCU
50:45 It seems like it was almost you know what I mean preseason before but yeah, I'm ready to get into it
50:50 Yeah, me too
50:53 Let's see anything else what are the other are there any other good I mean there's obviously Kansas UConn and
50:59 TC Georgetown coming up this week. Are there any other good?
51:02 Big 12 games you can think of Tommy man. I oral Roberts plays at K State tonight, which is kind of cool
51:10 I think tech plays at Butler
51:12 There's something like that
51:15 soon
51:17 If we want to watch our non-conference opponent Clemson plays that BAM in a night
51:21 Which is kind of a fun game that I might turn on. Yeah, so
51:24 Creighton plays at Oklahoma State on
51:27 Thursday there's some good game. It's no feast week. I think Houston plays Xavier, which is probably the toughest
51:33 Game beat Fresno State goes into BYU
51:36 There's definitely some games to keep your eye out. So it's gonna be a fun week. Yeah, I agree
51:43 Well
51:46 anything else
51:49 Another great episode me. All right. Well, thank you for tuning in to another episode of
51:54 Frog fever a big 12 basketball podcast brought to you by killer frogs calm
52:00 Nick and I are writing and reporting on TC basketball big 12 basketball over there at killer frogs calm. So go read
52:08 you know our stuff the rest of the team stuff, it's all good and
52:14 For the final time. My name is Davis Wilson. I was joined today by Nick Germani my co-host and we will see you next week
52:21 Thank you
52:23 You
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