KillerFrogs writers Nick Girimonte and Davis Wilson talk about TCU's loss to Iowa State and look forward to two great opportunities for the team this week.
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00:00 - Wait, hang on.
00:05 - Game this week, it was against Iowa State on Saturday.
00:11 - Can you restart that?
00:12 - Can you?
00:14 - Can you say something?
00:15 Yeah, I got you now.
00:16 Okay.
00:16 - I'll go again.
00:17 - Yeah, perfect.
00:18 - Okay, we're back and we're gonna talk TCU basketball.
00:25 They only played one game this week.
00:28 It was a Saturday game against Iowa State.
00:31 They lost it.
00:32 I will be completely honest, I was golfing.
00:34 So I was trying to kind of keep up with the game
00:36 while I was golfing.
00:38 So I'm gonna need your help just to help me figure out
00:41 what exactly went wrong here.
00:43 - Yeah, it's about what you'd expect.
00:46 It was, I think, textbook to what I expected.
00:50 You know, we all picked them to lose last week.
00:54 But yeah, it was what Iowa State does to you.
00:58 TCU couldn't, we start off, we had two threes
01:01 and then we couldn't get a bucket for like seven minutes
01:04 or something like that.
01:06 So we had like six points by the time
01:07 like the 12 minute mark came around.
01:10 Iowa State's defense was hounding.
01:13 You know, Taman and Keyshawn were pushing.
01:16 Our guards, like we predicted, the blueprint is out
01:21 on how to beat us.
01:22 You know, they didn't handle it well again.
01:24 The turnovers weren't necessarily horrible,
01:26 but it was more about slowing down our offense.
01:31 I think we only had six fast break points the whole game
01:33 and this was the lowest score we've had all game.
01:36 So Iowa State's a really good team.
01:38 And so I don't think you can take it too seriously
01:43 'cause, you know, we had Ian on too
01:46 and we all predicted that they lose this one
01:47 because it's so tough.
01:48 And it was probably their toughest game
01:51 that they have left on the schedule in the regular season.
01:54 E-man was the best player, I'd say for sure.
01:59 You know, he was good on the O boards.
02:02 I thought Uday played a really good game
02:04 and Tennyson just had an off game
02:06 and he's gotten to a point where he's been such a,
02:11 like a great player as the season has come along,
02:13 especially in conference play,
02:14 where if he is an off game, it really hurts you
02:16 because he's gonna play 30 plus minutes every night,
02:20 it looks like at this point,
02:21 just because of the spark that he can give you.
02:23 And it's tough to rebound when he is an off game.
02:25 But Jacoby off the bench was playing good,
02:29 hitting good shots.
02:30 Overall though, I mean, you gotta be better
02:33 to beat such a good team like Iowa State at Iowa State.
02:37 So I wouldn't say it's horrible
02:39 because you don't expect to win here,
02:40 but you definitely wanted to show
02:42 a little bit better of showing.
02:44 - Yeah, so just being, I was able to watch some of it,
02:49 but being a box score watcher here,
02:51 the starting lineup, kind of a rough look.
02:54 It was Emmanuel Miller with 18
02:55 and then nobody else had more than five.
02:57 So Uday had three, which actually is fine.
03:02 You come to expect that from Uday.
03:04 He also had five rebounds and three steals.
03:07 So good game, like you said.
03:09 - He was the only guy for us in plus minus
03:12 and his work on the boards, yeah.
03:14 The three steals too.
03:17 I thought Uday played a really good game.
03:20 You know, one of his best in conference so far for sure.
03:22 - That's awesome.
03:23 - Plus to look at.
03:24 - Yeah, and then like you said, Tennyson, three points.
03:29 When he's not going, when he's not shooting well,
03:32 it's hard because he's like TCU shooter.
03:35 And he's gonna have off games.
03:38 Like you can't expect him to shoot 50% every night from three
03:42 but when he goes one of six from three,
03:47 you have to have someone else step up.
03:50 And nobody else really did.
03:51 You mentioned Coles, Kobe had 14,
03:54 which I think is an encouraging sign for him.
03:57 He had kind of been in a slump for,
04:00 ever since that injury kind of,
04:01 he came back and never really looked
04:03 like he did in the beginning.
04:04 But he's starting to kind of figure it out, I think.
04:06 - Yeah, the last three games he's been back.
04:10 - Yeah, I don't know.
04:12 I can't speak too much because I wasn't able to lock in
04:16 and focus on it.
04:16 But we've talked earlier,
04:19 you guys heard us talk about Iowa State.
04:21 I think they're really good.
04:22 I think very highly of Iowa State.
04:25 Obviously it would have been nice to split those games
04:28 and there were opportunities to win the game earlier
04:33 that was in Fort Worth.
04:35 That's a much more winnable game, I think.
04:40 But I don't know, this is a really good team.
04:43 They'll be a top 10 team, or they should be.
04:45 And I think they should be higher than just 10.
04:48 I think they're really good.
04:49 So I wouldn't panic about the loss,
04:51 but that is now two straight losses for TCU.
04:54 I don't know, they only had one game this week.
04:58 They've lost to Texas and Iowa State back to back.
05:01 They're now 16 and seven overall,
05:04 five and five in the conference.
05:09 - We talked about, you said they may be slipping
05:12 into that in or out bubble conversation.
05:14 How far off are they right now?
05:18 How comfortable do you think they are?
05:20 - I'd say you have a little bit of a cushion right now,
05:22 just because, like I said,
05:24 they've played the majority of their toughest games so far.
05:29 At Provo's gonna be tough.
05:32 They go at Tech next Tuesday.
05:36 And those are the only two games
05:38 where they have Baylor at home too.
05:40 Those are the only two, maybe three games
05:42 that they won't be favoring the rest of the year of eight.
05:47 So very winnable schedule for TCU going forward.
05:51 And I think that Iowa State performance was less
05:53 about TCU being bad than Iowa State just being really good.
05:57 I will say though, everything was tough
06:00 and everything has been tough in the half court,
06:04 not to the extent of Iowa State,
06:06 because they're a special defense,
06:07 but all the shots we were getting
06:10 were extremely tough to come by.
06:12 You know, it was late shot clock,
06:15 had to put it up type stuff.
06:17 Avery was struggling a little bit.
06:20 Jamirez was struggling to get threes off.
06:22 Trey hit the first three of the game,
06:23 so it was a deep one.
06:25 And then he was just struggling to find that open space
06:29 and even a little bit having to force shots here or there,
06:32 just because of the circumstances.
06:35 So it's the kind of all the issues
06:38 that we've been talking about throughout the year
06:40 showed up in this game, I would say.
06:43 You know, half court execution,
06:45 dependency on the fast break, which since it wasn't here,
06:50 we only put up 59 points, which I think before this game,
06:54 the lowest we put up in the season was 65.
06:57 So that's a big, you know, a big mark.
06:59 Micah in the half court was struggling because, you know,
07:03 Micah is so good in transition
07:05 and that's what he thrives on.
07:07 So that, if you don't have Micah, Trey, Avery, or Jamirez
07:13 showing up for you, it's so tough to help out an E-man
07:21 in that sense.
07:23 But encouraging signs from Ude,
07:27 E-man continues to be one of the best players in the nation.
07:30 So those are the positives there.
07:32 And the main positives are looking ahead
07:34 because you have to turn around fast
07:37 having a game at West Virginia on Monday.
07:40 And I would declare that game, not a must win,
07:43 but I can't lose.
07:45 Yeah, you can't lose to West Virginia because then, yeah.
07:50 Then you have, yeah, three in a row.
07:52 And then you are waiting from Monday to Saturday
07:57 to play your next game.
07:57 So yeah, I would say put the Iowa State game behind you.
08:02 They're a super tough team and you will need to get better
08:08 against defenses when it comes to Big 12 tournament,
08:11 post-season play, when there's no excuses
08:14 of further schedule being in your favor.
08:18 But yeah, you gotta put it behind you
08:23 and win these next two games
08:24 because West Virginia and Kansas State
08:26 are both very winnable games.
08:27 And obviously we'll predict it later,
08:30 but yeah, very winnable games.
08:33 - Yeah, I think the good thing is,
08:35 obviously this team's lost two in a row.
08:38 And after winning those three straight games,
08:41 Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Texas Tech,
08:43 you're kind of on top of,
08:44 TCU's probably feeling on top of the world.
08:48 They look like one of the better teams in the country,
08:50 is one of the better resumes.
08:52 And then they lose to Texas and Iowa State.
08:55 Fine, but now there's a good opportunity ahead.
08:58 Like you said, the schedule in front of them
09:00 is really manageable.
09:01 They've got the meat of their schedules behind them,
09:05 I'd say.
09:06 And especially this week,
09:09 coming off two straight losses, you wanna have,
09:11 I mean, it's really nice to have two games that are,
09:15 like you say, can't lose games.
09:19 West Virginia and Kansas State are both teams
09:21 you should be beating,
09:24 especially kind of as we creep closer to March.
09:27 Those are games you really wanna win.
09:30 And we can get into those previews if you want,
09:34 and just talk about what needs to happen.
09:37 Because, obviously, Iowa State is tough.
09:42 West Virginia does not, I mean, it's very safe to say
09:47 that West Virginia does not have the defense
09:50 that Iowa State has.
09:51 So what do you wanna see, I guess, from the TCU offense?
09:55 Is it as simple as Trey hitting two or three more shots,
10:00 or is it as simple as Jermier?
10:02 He's kind of this up, he's been this up and down guy.
10:06 Maybe it's as simple as him coming back up.
10:09 Maybe it's Jacoby Cole's continued play.
10:10 What do you wanna see, I guess, this week?
10:13 - Yeah, one thing that I think is big
10:17 is that West Virginia doesn't take care of the ball
10:20 particularly well, and they don't rebound the ball well.
10:22 Which is, TCU's, I don't know,
10:25 especially in recent conversations,
10:27 some of their biggest issues have been rebounding,
10:29 which they're actually better at,
10:31 like good at in the Iowa State game.
10:33 That was a big plus for them, especially on the O boards.
10:37 So just dominate the O boards
10:38 and force West Virginia in turnovers.
10:40 As you said, West Virginia's offense is 181
10:43 in Kemp Home, their defense is 122.
10:46 So none of those are particularly strong suits.
10:49 Just take advantage of that.
10:51 Try to get out in your fast break.
10:54 Be pressure on your guards.
10:57 I'm excited for one,
10:58 I hope Frog fans pack the house Monday night.
11:01 Because Kirk Creasa is one of our biggest villains,
11:06 I would say, in all of college basketball.
11:09 Yeah, just because that Arizona game
11:11 and him coming to campus later on
11:15 and throwing the Frogs up down,
11:18 which is, it's a funny move.
11:20 But, you know, I hope Frog fans make it uncomfortable
11:25 for him and all of West Virginia,
11:27 because it's a game we do need to win.
11:30 You know, you can't sleep on any team.
11:33 This is probably the easiest game you have,
11:36 this or Oklahoma State at home,
11:37 that you need to win.
11:39 Not must win, but can't lose.
11:44 But yeah, you just gotta win this game
11:48 and you gotta play it at your pace,
11:50 because they're a team that you can't dictate the pace
11:52 against because you're such a better team than them.
11:54 Talent-wise.
11:56 - Yeah.
11:57 Yeah, getting West Virginia,
11:59 they get 'em twice in the next, I guess,
12:01 month of the regular season, which is big.
12:05 And like you said, they get,
12:07 I don't know who else, the Kansas State.
12:10 We'll talk about that in a minute.
12:11 But like, I don't know,
12:12 these are games that you have to win.
12:14 And getting them at home right now is big,
12:17 because obviously West Virginia's a tough place to play.
12:20 So getting them at home first,
12:23 I think is a really good opportunity to bounce back
12:25 and get a win before you go to Kansas State and play there.
12:30 But I don't know, yeah, I wanna see,
12:33 I'd love to see just a really complete game
12:36 from both of our main ball handlers, Avery and Jameer.
12:39 I think I'd love to see them have one of those games
12:43 that they had, like, I don't know.
12:45 They have really great games,
12:47 and then they have games like the Iowa State game
12:49 where they just aren't huge factors.
12:51 So I'd love to see them kind of put together another
12:55 good collective effort.
12:57 Yeah, I think this week is gonna be
13:01 a much more manageable week
13:02 than the last two games have been, just opponent-wise.
13:07 So yeah, let's talk about Kansas State, though,
13:11 because we don't talk about them enough on this podcast.
13:16 We brought them some more.
13:17 - We're probably the number one K-State podcast.
13:19 - Yeah, good Lord.
13:20 What do you think about Kansas State?
13:23 On the road is tough, but to me, this is another game
13:27 you should definitely be winning.
13:30 - Yeah, what do they call it, the octagon of doom
13:33 over there they gotta go into?
13:35 Yeah, it's a tough environment.
13:37 It's gonna be on a Saturday, 11 a.m. Central tip.
13:42 So it's gonna be tough.
13:45 I think I would consider it kind of a rivalry game
13:48 based on football and the schools recently.
13:50 So super exciting environment for actual basketball terms.
13:55 The big thing about K-State,
13:57 which I think has made them struggle so much,
14:00 they are 351 of 362 teams in the nation
14:04 in turnover percentage.
14:06 They turn the ball over 21.5% of their possessions,
14:10 which is kind of insane.
14:12 That's one out of every five.
14:14 So your on-ball defenders, which I believe
14:18 are some of the strong suits of this team.
14:19 I think Micah Peavy is one of the best
14:21 premier defenders in the nation,
14:22 and I think Jameer and Avery both have strong suits
14:27 in there that can be able to defend Tyler Perry
14:30 and Cam Carter.
14:31 So do the Iowa State thing where you pressure them
14:35 with your strongest on-ball defenders,
14:38 get on transition, and I think this game is very winnable,
14:42 even being on the road.
14:44 Super tough environment.
14:45 So I'm not confident, confident,
14:51 but I feel pretty good about our matchup
14:53 just based on our personnel and K-State's personnel.
14:57 K-State doesn't defend the rebounds that great too.
15:01 They're 253rd in allowing offensive rebound percentage
15:04 on offense, which Uday has been good at.
15:07 Like they just out-rebounded the hell
15:09 out of Iowa State last week.
15:10 So I think he could have a good day on the boards,
15:13 being both teams' strong suits aren't necessarily
15:18 the big men, but him and E-Man could have a good day
15:21 because they have that height advantage
15:23 over a lot of K-State players.
15:25 Yeah, Tyler Perry and Cam Carter and Nick Luma,
15:28 and those guys are some of the best players
15:30 in the conference, so they could get hot at any moment.
15:33 And this is 100% not, like, K-State probably
15:38 might even be favored in this game, I would say,
15:42 just because of the momentum they've kind of been riding
15:45 over the past week and having a week to prepare
15:47 and being at home in a game where TCU
15:52 hasn't played their best ball of late.
15:55 But I'm pretty confident that we can pull out the win.
16:00 Yeah, Kim Pom has this game as a one-point difference
16:03 in TCU's favor, which scares me because that's pretty close
16:07 to that overtime marker that TCU is not gonna wanna get to.
16:10 But it's just very favorable.
16:15 It's not like it's a gimme, but coming off of the week
16:19 that they had, needing kind of some vibes, some good vibes,
16:26 this is another game, like, they should be, you know,
16:31 the better team.
16:33 I mean, I know they're the better team,
16:35 it's just there are other variables,
16:38 like the environment there, just the fact
16:43 that Kansas State has a week to sit and prepare for TCU.
16:49 Tyler Perry coming off a good week.
16:53 Like, we said they're talented, we know they're talented.
16:58 It's just about how they can put that together
17:01 and do it efficiently.
17:03 And I think you're right, I think if TCU makes guys
17:06 like Tyler Perry uncomfortable, like everybody is seeming
17:10 to do to TCU, I think that should be the goal.
17:15 They are gonna have a much better chance of winning
17:19 if they don't let Tyler Perry get uncomfortable.
17:21 Because if you make him take uncomfortable shots,
17:23 they probably are not gonna go in all the time
17:26 and it's probably gonna be, you know, inefficient,
17:30 which is really all you can ask for.
17:31 So I don't know, I think you just need to pressure them,
17:35 make them uncomfortable.
17:37 And I think a fast start is gonna be necessary
17:41 at Kansas State because we've seen them come back a lot,
17:45 but I think going to Kansas State, being in that environment,
17:50 I don't know, I think that's gonna be a really, you know,
17:54 they're gonna be rocking there.
17:55 And if you go down early, yes, they've proved
17:58 that they can come back and handle it,
18:00 but I would say that a fast start here
18:02 is obviously what you want and would be, I don't know,
18:07 not a necessity really, but I would say it would be
18:14 something they should prioritize because it's gonna be tough
18:18 to make any sort of comeback effort.
18:21 - Yeah, that's a good point 'cause, you know,
18:23 that's what happened in the Iowa State game
18:25 where they just went down early and they made--
18:27 - Both Iowa State games.
18:28 - Yeah, and they made runs here or there,
18:31 more of that home game, but, you know,
18:32 they had a 10-out run yesterday,
18:34 they cut it to, I think, four or something.
18:36 And they had times when they made it close,
18:38 but they couldn't overcome that bad start in the beginning
18:42 just because of how, you know, the environment,
18:44 like you said, but yeah, the key to this game,
18:46 just don't let it get to overtime 'cause then it's a loss.
18:49 So that's that with Kansas State.
18:53 - That's that, yeah.
18:54 Okay, I think it's time.
18:57 Let's do our predictions.
18:59 What do you think, obviously two favorable games
19:03 this week for TCU, what is your prediction?
19:06 - Yeah, I feel like, I'm very interested to see the line.
19:12 Obviously the Monday game will impact what it is,
19:16 but the line against Kansas State,
19:17 'cause I think it's gonna be interesting
19:19 and I can very well see TCU being dogs in that one.
19:22 But I'm gonna do it, I know,
19:27 whenever TCU has a loss or a couple of losses in a row,
19:31 I feel like people are so quick to get super down
19:34 on the program while we have,
19:36 but I feel like these are gonna be two wins
19:40 and it's gonna get people right back up,
19:41 riding high on TCU.
19:44 I think it's gonna be a clean sweep week,
19:46 you know, the guys were sick, I think,
19:49 a lot in the Texas game especially,
19:52 and in the Iowa State game too, it was just super tough.
19:57 The schedule's gonna be favorable
19:59 and I do believe these two games are gonna be the start
20:03 to playing your best ball when it matters come March,
20:07 which is gonna be super exciting
20:09 'cause that's exactly where you wanna be.
20:10 So I'm gonna go clean sweep, two wins,
20:13 the vibes are back after this week.
20:16 - I like it. - Yeah.
20:18 - I like that.
20:18 I'm looking at the schedule in the Big 12 play,
20:22 like when they have an unfortunate stretch,
20:27 they respond well.
20:29 They lost to Kansas on the road early,
20:32 first Big 12 game of the year,
20:34 controversy demoralizing,
20:37 they respond by beating two top 10 teams at home
20:40 the next week in Oklahoma and Houston.
20:42 And then they, following that,
20:44 they lose to Cincinnati and Iowa State.
20:47 They respond to that by winning three straight
20:49 against Oklahoma State, Baylor, and Texas Tech.
20:52 They follow that up with two straight losses
20:53 to Texas Tech, Iowa State.
20:55 They haven't lost more than two games in a row all year.
20:58 They haven't even, I think I'm looking at this right,
21:02 they haven't even lost two of three games all year.
21:05 So yeah, I, well yeah, they have.
21:11 I don't know what I was saying there,
21:12 but I'm gonna go with the clean sweep as well.
21:15 I'm trying to figure out what I was trying to,
21:17 maybe two of, I don't know.
21:19 The point is, they typically respond well.
21:24 They typically respond well to the downs.
21:29 And I think that, you know,
21:31 the last two games have been downs for TCU.
21:34 I'm going to join you in the clean sweep.
21:37 I think that Kansas State game
21:39 is gonna be really, really interesting,
21:41 but I do think that if they're serious
21:44 about being a March team,
21:46 and I don't know, these are games they need to win.
21:50 Looking at the rest of their schedule,
21:52 they're tough games.
21:54 They have a stretch of Texas Tech, Cincinnati, Baylor, BYU,
21:57 which is not the toughest stretch
22:00 that they've seen this year, but it is tough.
22:03 So getting these two wins before that,
22:05 I think has to be a priority of theirs.
22:08 So I'm gonna join you in the clean sweep there.
22:11 - That's right, I like it, I like it.
22:13 I think the win at Kansas State,
22:15 especially with the history of TCU Kansas State
22:18 in recent years, would be such a nice morale boost
22:23 for the school, the campus, the vibes of the program.
22:28 So I'm super excited for this week.
22:31 And you can't overlook Westphal,
22:32 but I'm excited for the K-State game especially too.
22:36 - Yeah.
22:37 Yeah.
22:38 All right, well, Monday game.
22:40 So we're recording a Sunday.
22:43 We'll try to have this out tonight or tomorrow morning
22:46 so you can listen before that West Virginia game.
22:48 But Monday and Saturday are the games.
22:52 We both predict clean sweeps, which is fun.
22:55 But yeah, that's all we have, I think.
23:01 Before we go though, we should tell you,
23:03 we have a great guest coming up.
23:05 We mentioned it earlier, Micah Robinson,
23:07 a big time recruit in this year's recruiting class.
23:11 It was a super cool conversation with him.
23:15 So please stick around and we'll get right to him.
23:20 - Yeah, it was awesome getting to talk to Micah,
23:22 learning about his recruitment process
23:25 'cause he was recruited.
23:26 He got offers by Kansas Tech, everybody.
23:29 You'll listen more in the interview,
23:31 but yeah, number three recruit in all of TCU history.
23:34 And it's a big part of what's keeping the program
23:39 on the up and up and looking up.
23:40 So super cool conversation with him, awesome dude.
23:43 Excited for people to hear this one.
23:46 - Yeah, and I won't spoil too much,
23:48 but next week's episode is also gonna be really good.
23:52 - Yeah.
23:53 - We've got another really great guest.
23:55 If you're a TCU Hoops fan,
23:58 this is such like an awesome interview we had.
24:01 So we don't wanna spoil it, but it's awesome.
24:04 And you're gonna wanna come back and listen to it.
24:07 So.
24:08 - Definitely for sure.
24:09 - Put that out there.
24:10 Put that out there.
24:11 - 100%.
24:12 - All right, let's take a break
24:15 and bring Mr. Micah Robinson on.
24:18 - Let's do it.
24:19 [BLANK_AUDIO]