Nick Girimonte and Davis Wilson break down TCU's 2-0 week against West Virginia and Kansas State and preview the upcoming matchups between Texas Tech and Cincinnati.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 - TCU wins to talk about, they went 2-0 this week.
00:05 - This always happens.
00:10 - They both break to 2-0.
00:11 - Yeah, I didn't get a restart.
00:13 This always happens at the start, I feel like.
00:16 I can't hear for like the first five seconds.
00:18 - No, you're good.
00:19 Can you hear me now?
00:20 - Yeah, yeah, my bad.
00:22 - No, you're good.
00:22 All right, welcome back to the pod.
00:27 We're talking TCU basketball.
00:30 TCU went 2-0 this week.
00:31 They got wins over West Virginia and Kansas State.
00:33 We both predicted 2-0 last week,
00:35 so we can take a little victory lap there.
00:39 - Ball knowers.
00:40 - Yeah, that's right.
00:41 Ball knowers on this podcast.
00:43 It's hard not to jump right into the Kansas State game
00:48 because that was awesome,
00:49 but let's start with West Virginia
00:51 because we'll go chronologically.
00:55 TCU wins, beats West Virginia 81-65, pretty comfortable.
01:00 The return of Carissa.
01:05 What did you think about this game?
01:07 Is there a lot to take away from it,
01:08 or is this just one that TCU should have won and did win?
01:12 - Yeah, I think it's mostly that for the most part,
01:15 but it was big because you're coming off two losses,
01:18 and especially that Texas game,
01:19 a game you feel like you should have won in Texas at home.
01:24 So you wanted TCU to come out
01:25 and just take care of business
01:26 and make sure it was a game
01:28 that you didn't have to stress about,
01:29 and that's exactly what they did.
01:31 The biggest part of this game, I would say,
01:34 is the change to put Jameer Nelson in the starting lineup,
01:37 and he was really good.
01:38 And obviously, talking about Jameer
01:40 in the Kansas State game, too,
01:41 but I mean, 14 points, five rebounds, two assists,
01:45 four blocks, three steals.
01:47 He was everywhere for them.
01:49 Balance scoring, Jacoby had 11 off the bench.
01:52 Trey had four threes.
01:54 Iman, he gets double digits every game.
01:56 He got 14, too.
01:58 Just a very well-rounded performance,
02:00 and obviously, TCU fans have a history with Kirk Rees,
02:05 so it was cool being with them.
02:06 I kind of wish it was a better environment.
02:08 I know it's West Virginia, so it's West Virginia on Monday,
02:11 so it's not gonna be crazy,
02:13 but hopefully, there'll be more fans the rest of the year,
02:17 which I'm sure there will be.
02:19 But yeah, just a super nice game that,
02:24 a game if you are an NCAA tournament team,
02:26 you should be able to take care of West Virginia at home,
02:28 and that's exactly what they did.
02:29 So I was very satisfied with this effort,
02:32 and it was good to get back on the right track,
02:34 especially going into the Kansas State game.
02:36 - Mm-hmm.
02:37 Yeah, I wanna, you talked about Jameer.
02:40 Sneakily, one of his best stat lines of the season,
02:44 like, obviously, that Baylor one's probably the best,
02:48 but this, when you look at,
02:50 when you talk about filling the stat sheet,
02:52 this is what you see.
02:54 He scored 14 points on five of eight shooting.
02:57 He had, let's see, five rebounds, two assists,
03:00 three steals, four blocks,
03:02 like, really, across the board,
03:04 doing everything for this team.
03:06 And he was tied leading scorer for TCU,
03:11 along with Trey Tennyson and Emmanuel Miller.
03:15 I remember last week on this podcast,
03:18 I said that I'd like to see Jameer and Avery have a,
03:23 just that duo, that tandem, have a good week,
03:26 and they did, and that was in large part thanks to Jameer.
03:30 Two really nice games from Jameer.
03:32 - Yeah, one thing, too, is I think Avery's been
03:35 struggling a little bit,
03:36 so they wanted to kind of flip that switch.
03:38 We asked Jameer about a post game,
03:40 and he was saying how it didn't mean anything,
03:43 like, they're literally graded about as equal
03:46 as you could be, so I don't think that change in lineup
03:48 was too much of a tell of anything important,
03:52 but, I mean, if anything, it seemed like it gave Jameer
03:56 a little bit of a spark,
03:57 because that was one of the best games he'd played,
03:58 I think, and well-rounded,
04:00 both defensively and offensively.
04:02 We've known about steals and blocks for that
04:04 the whole year, and that showed up for the most part.
04:07 Just having that balanced scoring attack,
04:09 I think, was great, so.
04:11 - Yeah, he was probably the best bright spot player
04:14 of this game.
04:15 Trey was coming off a bad shooting performance, too,
04:17 so it was cool seeing him hit four of eight threes.
04:20 He's become one of the best shooters in the country,
04:22 and his stats will back it up, so that was cool.
04:25 But yeah, I don't think anything too crazy
04:28 to take away from this game.
04:29 It was a well-rounded win against an inferior team
04:33 that you should beat.
04:34 - Yeah, I wanna shout out Jacoby Coles again,
04:37 because he was struggling a lot.
04:41 He scored 11 points in that game.
04:43 I think that made it his fourth straight game
04:45 in double digits after not scoring double digits
04:48 for months of time, so it's good to have him back
04:52 off the bench.
04:53 That's a really nice piece when he's playing well,
04:57 so it's good to see that.
04:59 - Yeah, if you remember, too, he had his foot hurt
05:03 in the Hawaii tournament a little bit,
05:05 so he was out a little bit there,
05:06 and he hasn't been the same since he got back,
05:08 and he was talking about a postgame
05:09 about just being able to get your footing under you again
05:13 and be comfortable on that foot,
05:14 and that's what he's been doing.
05:16 He's been super efficient.
05:18 I think in that last four-game stress
05:19 before the Kansas State game,
05:21 he was like 11.8 points per game on 18 of 28 shooting,
05:24 which is crazy efficiency off the bench,
05:27 and if that earnest Uta injury from the Kansas State game
05:32 is much more than we would think,
05:34 the backup center position isn't big,
05:36 so you could see Jacoby get more minutes
05:38 going small at that five position.
05:39 So he's gonna be massive going forward,
05:41 and it's cool to see him have a little bounce
05:44 back in the season there, for sure.
05:46 - Yeah, yeah, I agree.
05:48 It's so nice to have another depth piece
05:52 when he's right.
05:54 So he's a really important player on this team,
05:58 kind of underratedly, and it's nice to see
06:00 that he's been pretty consistent.
06:04 - Definitely.
06:05 - Yeah, all right, let's do it.
06:07 Let's talk Kansas State.
06:08 What an awesome game.
06:08 - Let's do it.
06:09 - I'll start with Micah, man,
06:13 because this is the best game he's played.
06:16 This is one of the best games.
06:19 Like we talked about earlier with the guy from Texas Tech,
06:24 that stat line was amazing.
06:25 This is one of the best stat lines
06:27 I've seen in a long time as well.
06:28 26 points on eight of 16 shooting, two of three from three.
06:32 He made eight of 10 free throws,
06:34 which is really big for Micah.
06:38 Nine rebounds, two assists, three steals, three blocks.
06:41 And it felt like, I was watching this game with some buddies
06:45 and we kept looking at the box score
06:48 and it said three blocks.
06:49 And I was like, there's no way.
06:50 I think he's got like six.
06:52 So I feel like there's a chance he was way more impactful
06:55 than just the box score says.
06:57 But what an awesome game from him.
06:59 - Yeah, you know they do like that BTF,
07:02 big tough frog man belt.
07:04 Like that's the epitome of it right there.
07:06 He did all that reflection in the book.
07:08 That and the Arizona State triple double he had,
07:12 like two of the best performances of the year I would say.
07:16 And this game was super ugly at the start
07:18 and Micah was the only guy giving that spark.
07:21 It obviously got a lot more free flowing
07:23 to offense in the second half.
07:24 'Cause I think they're a little bit of a,
07:26 slow start with that 11 a.m. tip.
07:28 But yeah, Micah's amazing.
07:30 And I actually have a take that,
07:32 I think when Micah Peavy is at his best,
07:37 his ceiling's the highest of anybody in the frogs I think.
07:41 - Yeah, I like that. - He's so athletic.
07:43 And when he's on like two of three from three, two,
07:46 and he plays as hard as anybody.
07:48 I think him and E-man have such a similar drive
07:51 where they're always at 100% at all times,
07:55 both defensively and offensively.
07:57 And when Micah's on this TCU team's tough to beat
08:00 'cause obviously he's gonna be there on defense every night,
08:03 but if he's going on offense,
08:04 I mean 26 is crazy, a career high for him.
08:07 He was the guy that put this team on their back
08:09 when they needed it 'cause the second highest score
08:12 from 26 was the E-man with 10
08:13 and nobody else really had a crazy night.
08:15 So Micah for sure, he was the player in this game.
08:20 - Yeah, I actually really like that take that you had
08:23 because I think he's the most versatile guy on the team.
08:26 I think he, like you said, when he is at his best,
08:30 he can do more than anyone else on the team.
08:32 - Yeah.
08:33 - And I think he demonstrated that.
08:36 He was everywhere, he did everything.
08:39 So, I mean, he's just such a cool story.
08:42 He stuck it out at TCU, he's gotten better.
08:45 Just really cool.
08:47 I remember years ago, he played against my high school
08:51 when I was like a sophomore and I remember watching him
08:53 and I don't know if you remember Jemias Ramsey.
08:57 - Oh yeah, the guard.
08:58 - Yeah, they were on Duncanville together
09:00 and they were ridiculous.
09:01 And I was like, that Micah Peavy guy is tough.
09:06 - Yeah.
09:07 - He is.
09:08 So it's cool to see just how good he's gotten
09:10 and had a huge game when his team really needed him.
09:14 No one else besides Emmanuel Miller in double digits
09:18 and E-man only had 10.
09:19 So really big game from him.
09:21 - I mean, yeah, when Micah's gone,
09:25 like if his offense gets consistent, he's an NBA talent.
09:29 Like that athleticism jumps off the board.
09:32 When he's Duncan and they're throwing a lot,
09:34 he makes it look so easy.
09:36 He's got the long strides of transition.
09:38 When he gets to that transition,
09:41 he's as good as it gets in that department
09:43 and he just fits so perfectly in this Frogs team.
09:45 And it's super cool to see his development
09:47 from really not having an offense game at all
09:49 when he first got here and him having to sit
09:52 behind Choco Bannon a couple of years.
09:55 In the starting line, like it's funny to see
09:56 how those roles switched and Micah's definitely,
10:00 I would say, the number two player on this team
10:04 on an every night basis.
10:06 Obviously E-man top, but I guess him and Trey,
10:10 Trey when he's rolling too.
10:12 But yeah, I think Micah and E-man are your guys
10:14 that you're gonna rely on on an every night basis.
10:17 They're probably gonna play the bulk of the minutes.
10:18 So yeah, I can go on and on about his performance,
10:22 but that was the performance of the night for sure.
10:24 - Yeah, it felt like they were,
10:26 it felt like he was TCU's game plan from the beginning.
10:29 'Cause I remember watching and he was really aggressive,
10:33 more aggressive in terms of going to the hole.
10:36 A lot of times when he gets the ball,
10:39 he doesn't look to score first,
10:40 but I feel like he was looking to score.
10:43 He was looking to get to the basket,
10:45 which in, like you said,
10:46 he was the only one really able to do that.
10:49 So he kept TCU in this game.
10:51 He ultimately was the reason they won.
10:54 We'll talk about Jameer's shot, but this is,
10:56 this win is on Micah, I would say,
10:59 just because of how great he was at everything,
11:02 at every single part of the game.
11:03 So really cool.
11:05 Before we get into Jameer though,
11:07 Ernest Duda Jr. goes down with an injury.
11:09 I don't know anything about it.
11:12 I'm wondering if you know anything about it.
11:14 Have you heard anything? - Yeah.
11:15 - What's going on?
11:16 - I haven't heard any updates.
11:17 I've been trying to get updates.
11:19 I think it's just an ankle, like a sprained ankle,
11:21 if I were to say right now,
11:23 which, you know, depending on how,
11:27 sprained ankles can be a short injury,
11:29 and they can be lingering.
11:31 And it just, it sucks for Ude,
11:34 because Ude has been getting so much better every game.
11:39 And he's become such a monumental piece of this team
11:41 that you want to get him back in the post-season play
11:44 for sure, and it's going to be an Achilles heel,
11:46 because I don't think Xavier Korg or Osama Mustafa
11:48 at those back center position have shown anything
11:52 to make you feel like you can trust them.
11:54 Xavier Korg actually didn't play bad,
11:56 especially in that second half on the O boards,
11:58 but you don't want to have to rely on those guys to be big.
12:01 And as I said before,
12:02 you can go a little bit smaller with that Jacoby lineup,
12:05 but it's gut-wrenching for this TC team.
12:08 I hope it doesn't keep Ude out too long,
12:10 because that would suck for post-season play.
12:13 - Yeah, man, he was really playing the best ball
12:17 he's played all year, probably in his career,
12:19 collegiately, so it sucks to see him go down.
12:23 Hopefully it's not too severe.
12:25 Hopefully TC gets him back for the March run,
12:30 the down the stretch stuff the rest of the year.
12:33 We'll see.
12:34 I guess the good news is that Jamie went
12:40 and addressed the depth problem at the center position.
12:44 Kork and Mustafa don't give you all that Ude does,
12:48 but Kork played a lot of basketball last year with TCU
12:52 after Eddie Lampkin, when he was gone,
12:57 it was kind of all Kork, and he did a good job.
13:00 I think he's a capable center,
13:01 and he protects the rim pretty well.
13:06 He can rim run, all that good stuff.
13:07 So I feel okay about him, and Mustafa off the bench,
13:11 he'll know exactly what he can give you,
13:14 but it's a lot better of a situation
13:16 than it was last year,
13:17 which I think is a credit to Jamie
13:20 addressing a clear weakness.
13:24 - Yeah, they're both guys
13:25 that have played a lot of basketball.
13:26 Issam was a four-year starter at Coastal, I think,
13:29 and obviously Xavier's been an assistant
13:31 for, what, three years now?
13:33 Yeah, they're not exciting players,
13:37 and they don't jump off the screen
13:38 in terms of anything close to Ude's athleticism or build,
13:41 so I don't think you can expect them
13:44 to be a similar player to Ude,
13:45 but in terms of being a fundamentally sound, solid player,
13:49 those guys can definitely give you something,
13:51 and you're gonna need to rely on them
13:54 for these next couple games going up.
13:55 I'm very interested to see a timetable as soon as possible
13:58 to see how long Ude's out, but yeah,
14:02 I mean, you're gonna have to ride with Kork and Issam,
14:04 and I got hope in them
14:05 because they played that much basketball.
14:08 - Yeah, yeah.
14:10 So we'll get to the big part now.
14:14 TCU wins this game 75 to 72.
14:16 It was 72 all on the final possession,
14:19 and Jameer Nelson Jr. has hit that Baylor game.
14:24 He hit some big shots.
14:27 This is the biggest shot he's hit at TCU,
14:29 a massive step-back three.
14:31 Really just an incredible shot,
14:37 just a really tough shot, and he drilled it.
14:40 - Yeah, I mean, you got balls to pull that shot.
14:43 TCU, I think I tweeted this too,
14:47 like TCU plays some of the most exciting games.
14:51 I would say like every game's close,
14:52 which is something that I just should note
14:54 about the Western Union game.
14:55 It's like the only conference game
14:56 that hasn't been nail-biting.
14:59 Like it was nice just having a little comfortable win there,
15:01 but between Eman's shot against Georgetown
15:04 and Jameer's shot here, I mean,
15:06 that was the shot of the day
15:06 in college basketball on Lotus Lake yesterday,
15:08 and nothing was going in that possession.
15:12 He just kind of had to throw it up,
15:13 and Jameer's not a three-point shooter,
15:15 but that was a difficulty 10 out of 10 there.
15:19 Like hash, it was huge for this team,
15:23 because this can't, I mean, they were underdogs.
15:26 They were one and a half point underdogs in this game,
15:29 and this is a huge win to get TCU off the bubble
15:33 in a game that they should win,
15:35 or I don't want to say should,
15:36 but an important win that could have gone either way
15:38 that you want to have definitely
15:40 when Selection Sunday rolls around.
15:42 So massive shot by Jameer,
15:45 because we know the deal with Tang.
15:47 He doesn't lose in overtime,
15:48 so if he doesn't make that shot,
15:50 Tang's winning overtime.
15:52 - Yeah.
15:53 - So shot that, I don't want to say saved the season,
15:56 but makes the season a lot more comfortable
15:57 when it's going to matter.
15:59 - Yeah.
16:00 One of my buddies who listens to this,
16:04 he's a big Kansas fan,
16:05 so he does not like Kansas State at all,
16:07 but he texted me after that shot.
16:10 He said, "K-State might be the scariest team in the nation
16:12 "when they're down one to three points
16:14 "with under a minute in regulation left,"
16:16 which is so true, because if they get you in overtime,
16:20 it's over, which is why that Jameer shot was so huge.
16:24 Just a ballsy, step-back, deep three,
16:28 nothing but net, awesome shot.
16:30 It feels like Jamey always has guys who can hit big shots.
16:34 - Yeah. - Like Chuck
16:36 hitting those big shots all the time.
16:38 E-Man had a game-winner earlier.
16:42 Tennyson, just so clutch.
16:43 Jameer, all that stuff.
16:45 And you mentioned how there wasn't a lot going on
16:49 with that play.
16:50 It reminded me of that Houston game down the stretch
16:53 when the last play of the game,
16:56 it really was nothing going on.
16:58 I think it was Avery that made a good pass
17:00 to E-Man, who made a good cut,
17:03 and it just went in. - Yeah.
17:04 - I think it just goes to show you
17:07 like DCU has a ton of experience.
17:10 They have guys who don't panic when, I don't know,
17:13 things don't look the way they're supposed to.
17:15 And I think that is important for tournament teams,
17:19 just guys who understand how to stand their control
17:22 and play in the clutch moments like that.
17:25 It's huge.
17:26 - Yeah, I know.
17:27 They had 50, 20 seconds there,
17:28 and they were trying to get an open shot,
17:30 and literally nothing was working,
17:31 so Jameer just had to throw that up.
17:33 And one thing that it made me realize
17:35 is you lose Mike Myles last year,
17:37 and Jameer's supposed to be his replacement.
17:39 That's a very Mike Myles shot,
17:41 a step back three difficulty.
17:43 Like those are the ones that he hit
17:45 that TCU has been missing this year,
17:47 is the guy that can do the crazy stuff like that.
17:50 And that was the first time I think
17:52 he's shown like signs of being the Mike Myles replacement.
17:56 Obviously he's not because he's such a different player
17:58 than that, he's his own unique, great player.
18:01 But it was very similar,
18:04 'cause that'd be something Mike would do
18:05 in a walk-and-off like that.
18:07 So, cool sucker moment for sure,
18:09 and it was one of the best moments of the year.
18:11 - Yeah, seven assists for the guy too,
18:13 so he's doing it all.
18:14 Just really cool.
18:16 - Definitely.
18:17 - And yeah, I'll say like this week it was two
18:20 of the more favorable opponents you can find in the Big 12,
18:25 but you didn't get the best week from Emmanuel Miller.
18:29 He was fine, but he wasn't outstanding,
18:31 he went two and O, and I think that's huge
18:32 regardless of who you're playing.
18:34 - Yeah.
18:35 - So yeah, a really, really nice bounce back for TCU.
18:38 Hopefully they can continue the run a little bit,
18:42 and we'll get into the preview soon.
18:45 But first, we had an idea to,
18:49 well first let's just talk about how beautiful
18:52 those TCU jerseys were against K-State.
18:54 Or no, it was West Virginia I guess, right?
18:58 - It was West Virginia, yeah.
18:59 - Yeah, West Virginia.
19:00 - The retro frog script, what?
19:02 - So great.
19:03 - I tweeted out that they're the best jersey
19:05 in college basketball.
19:06 So we were talking, I think you texted me,
19:09 you're like, "We gotta do a jersey draft
19:11 "for best jerseys in college basketball."
19:12 So that's what we're here to do,
19:15 little Mount Rushmore jerseys,
19:17 back and forth draft here.
19:19 - Yeah.
19:20 - You wanna get going?
19:21 You can have the first pick if you want.
19:23 - You wanna do snake?
19:24 Snake draft?
19:27 - Sure, so it'd just be like--
19:28 - It would be me and then you get two,
19:30 and then I get two.
19:31 - Cool.
19:32 - All right.
19:33 All right, well I guess I was thinking about it.
19:36 I'm pretty sure the answer here is North Carolina.
19:42 There's a lot of good jerseys in college basketball,
19:46 but the Carolina Blue jersey, I don't know,
19:50 the aura, it has a great aura.
19:52 The Michael Jordan stuff, you can't look at that
19:56 and not think just of all the history
19:59 they have in that jersey.
20:01 Just one of those classic jerseys that I love,
20:04 great colors, all that good stuff.
20:06 So that's my number one pick, I'm taking Carolina.
20:08 - Yeah, that was my one-one too.
20:10 There's nothing like Carolina Blue.
20:12 I mean, being able to wear that around,
20:14 it's the best color ever.
20:15 And speaking of that, my one-two is UCLA,
20:20 same type of thing.
20:24 Another blue blood program that's just unique.
20:27 They got the baby blue, the yellow goes so great with it.
20:30 It's just iconic and pretty at the same time.
20:32 And when you have the mix of,
20:33 'cause I think some people think some jerseys are great
20:37 simply just because they're so iconic,
20:39 like a Kansas or a Duke,
20:41 but UCLA's and North Carolina for that is,
20:44 they have the right mix of being sick and iconic.
20:48 So that's who I'm gonna take for the two.
20:50 And then in the snake around,
20:52 I'm gonna go with the Indiana Hoosiers.
20:55 - Dang it.
20:56 - Iconic in the warmup, striped pants,
20:59 I think are the coolest warmups in college.
21:02 It's just iconic.
21:03 I said iconic so many times,
21:05 and it's past like 10 or a minute here,
21:07 but yeah, they're sick.
21:11 Indiana's one of the best programs in college basketball,
21:13 and they're so clean.
21:15 - Dang, I was really, those are probably my favorite,
21:19 actually my favorite jerseys in college basketball,
21:22 the Indiana, just the simple Hoosiers, whatever.
21:25 But I had to take UNC first,
21:28 and I was hoping it would make it back to me,
21:30 but good pick there.
21:32 All right, so now I get two, I guess?
21:34 - Yeah.
21:34 - All right, I, okay, I love the,
21:38 so the Kentucky checkerboard jerseys,
21:43 you know what I'm talking about?
21:44 The ones have the checkerboard on the side.
21:47 I love those.
21:48 That's my pick here.
21:50 I guess if we're just talking overall,
21:52 like Kentucky does have good jerseys all around.
21:54 I think they're old jerseys I like a lot too.
21:58 Another one of those just classic,
22:01 as you say, iconic looking jerseys that,
22:04 like you look at, I look at those checkerboard jerseys,
22:09 and I just think of some of those games,
22:11 some of those March Madness games
22:13 with like Malik Monk or Shea or.
22:16 - Yeah.
22:16 - Just a lot of really fun.
22:18 - Yeah, really a lot of fun players there.
22:20 So that's my second pick.
22:22 Man, this one might be a little bit,
22:27 okay, I'll go here first.
22:31 I'll go, I like the Georgetown jerseys.
22:36 Unfortunately, they aren't good anymore.
22:39 So it's harder to, I don't know,
22:42 it's harder to appreciate,
22:44 but I think they have really just simple classic jerseys.
22:49 You know, like the Iverson jersey is pretty iconic.
22:51 All those, I don't know, I just like it.
22:53 I like the Hoyas across the chest.
22:58 So yeah, that's my pick.
23:01 Those are my two.
23:02 I'm gonna take Kentucky, Georgetown.
23:04 - Those are clean.
23:05 I mean, Ewing and even AI, as you said, those are sick.
23:10 I'm gonna go the Tennessee Volunteers here.
23:12 A little switch up.
23:13 I like that creamsicle color.
23:16 I know some people love it,
23:17 some people don't like it as much,
23:18 but I think it's a cool, you know,
23:21 the program's been, you know,
23:22 Rick Barnes has done a good job with the program,
23:24 made it classic, I would say, at this point,
23:28 where it's a cool color
23:30 that just kind of pops off the screen.
23:32 I think it's pretty in that manner.
23:34 And this is for my last pick,
23:37 super Homer pick, bias as hell,
23:40 but I'm gonna go with the Frogs.
23:42 - Do it, yeah.
23:43 - I love all the alternates.
23:46 The purple and white is one of the cleanest
23:49 color combos in the nation,
23:51 and especially the recent addition
23:53 with the red stripe on the side.
23:55 If you don't add any history behind it,
24:00 I legitimately think they're like a top five
24:02 jersey in America.
24:05 So I'm gonna go with the Frogs there.
24:09 - Okay.
24:11 I like that.
24:11 I like that.
24:12 All right, so I guess I have two picks left.
24:15 - Yeah, I think you might have one, actually,
24:18 if we're doing top four.
24:19 - Oh, one pick, okay.
24:21 - 'Cause you went Kentucky, Carolina, and yeah.
24:25 - Oh, shoot, I gotta think here.
24:28 I think I was gonna go with,
24:32 I'll do, can I just do an honorable mention then after?
24:34 - Yeah, yeah, we can just rattle off a couple.
24:37 - All right.
24:37 Well, I'm gonna take,
24:41 I'm gonna take Texas.
24:43 They have, first of all, I love the burnt orange.
24:46 Might be unpopular take on this podcast,
24:49 but I love the burnt orange.
24:51 Another kind of just classic looking uniform.
24:54 They have a script one that they wear sometimes
24:57 that's just Texas across the front,
24:59 which I think is awesome.
25:01 So yeah, maybe not a popular choice among the TCU listeners,
25:07 but I think they're just about as iconic
25:11 as just like, and this extends farther than basketball,
25:16 just their brand, that Texas burnt orange brand,
25:20 I just love.
25:21 - It's the biggest brand in college sports.
25:25 I like the burnt orange too.
25:27 I think it is a super clean look,
25:29 and it's minimal enough where it's great,
25:31 and you have the logo, so.
25:33 - Yeah, they don't have to do anything special.
25:36 They're one of the ones that just have their color scheme,
25:39 have their logo, whatever, and it's just, it's perfect.
25:42 So yeah, going there.
25:44 - All right, so those are the list.
25:47 What did you have?
25:48 I had UCLA, Indiana, TCU, Tennessee.
25:52 - I had UNC, Kentucky, Georgetown, Texas.
25:59 - Yeah, I mean, you can't go wrong with anyone there.
26:01 - Yeah, those are all good ones.
26:04 One of the ones I was torn between that Texas one
26:08 and that Marquette, like baby blue.
26:13 - Yeah, Marquette.
26:14 - You know that one?
26:14 - It's up there, yeah, yeah,
26:16 with a little bit of yellow too.
26:18 - Yeah, the yellow.
26:19 Marquette has great colors, great jerseys.
26:22 It's tough to leave them out, honestly.
26:24 - One thing I was thinking of too
26:26 is when K-State rocks the light purple.
26:30 - Yeah, those are good.
26:31 - Yeah, like, again, with the Texas thing,
26:33 that it's, I don't wanna like it,
26:35 but I mean, those are clean.
26:38 They should make it their primary color
26:39 'cause that lavender is cool.
26:42 Villanova I was thinking too.
26:44 Villanova has some great jerseys
26:46 that are so noticeable over the years,
26:49 winning natties and stuff,
26:50 and Jay Wright and all that kind of stuff.
26:53 Loyola, Chicago I've always liked too.
26:54 - I was just gonna say that.
26:56 - Yeah, the crimson and yellow
26:58 and the script there is always clean, the ramblers.
27:01 So, I mean, you can go on and on,
27:03 naming jerseys 'cause there's so many in Clodsbasket,
27:05 which is what makes it so fun.
27:07 But those are just a couple I had in mind.
27:09 - The other one that I like, and then we can move on.
27:12 I like the Wichita State.
27:15 I think that's one of my favorites as well.
27:16 - Oh, yes, shocker.
27:17 The logo's sick too.
27:18 - Shoot.
27:22 All right, shall we move on or?
27:25 - Yeah.
27:26 - Any more article mentions? - I like that segment though.
27:28 - Yeah, that was fun.
27:29 - Yeah, you could probably go on and on with,
27:32 I mean, there's so many great jerseys,
27:34 and I think we named a lot of them off the top.
27:37 I named two, like some people love Kent.
27:41 Duke is an iconic jersey, iconic again,
27:45 but just classic, Kansas classic.
27:48 All the Bluebloods for the most part are just clean,
27:51 classic, and they don't have to do too much.
27:54 So, you can go on and on.
27:56 I mean, there's so many great jerseys.
27:59 - Yeah.
27:59 Yeah, well, I guess let us know.
28:03 Let us know which Mount Rushmore of jerseys you like more.
28:06 - Yeah.
28:07 - We'll see what the public thinks.
28:08 All right, let's talk about the two TCU games.
28:13 This week, they played Texas Tech and Cincinnati.
28:15 We'll do predictions later, but to start, I guess,
28:22 let's go with Texas Tech here.
28:25 At Texas Tech, this is a tough game.
28:26 I assume there'll be underdogs here.
28:29 - Yeah, I think for sure.
28:31 - Yeah, what do you think about this game?
28:33 - Yeah, tough game.
28:35 One thing off the bat that I'll note
28:37 is that Warren Washington was out.
28:39 Their starting center was out last game against,
28:44 God, who do they play?
28:46 They lost to--
28:48 - Iowa State.
28:49 - They went to Iowa State, yeah.
28:50 So, if Warren Washington's out,
28:52 and obviously, Ernest Udo probably out too,
28:54 it's gonna be interesting, the big men match it too.
28:56 What's nice about playing Tech and Cincinnati
29:01 is that you've played these teams before,
29:03 so you know exactly what works against them
29:05 and what doesn't, and in the case against Tech,
29:07 you've already beat 'em.
29:08 The big thing against Tech is,
29:13 I think the player to notice, Pop Isaacs,
29:15 because he is the main, their offense goes through him,
29:19 just plain and simple.
29:20 He's the one that takes the most of the shots.
29:22 He's used on 30% of the possessions,
29:24 which I think is first in the Big 12,
29:26 in terms of, he's the biggest go-to guy
29:31 on any offense in the Big 12.
29:32 You gotta be able to stop him.
29:34 I would put Peavy on him.
29:35 I think that's what they did in the first game
29:38 in Fort Worth, where they got the win over them.
29:40 Yeah, but Joe Toussaint can kill you,
29:43 Darion Wilkins, as we said,
29:45 didn't miss a shot against Kansas, so he's a big one,
29:47 but if Udo's out and Warren Washington,
29:51 two X factors, and Tech's home court advantage
29:55 is number one ranked on Kemp Pump,
29:56 so that's gonna be a super tough place to play.
29:59 And I don't know if you can expect a win here for TCU.
30:04 - Yeah, it's hard, yeah, definitely can't expect,
30:06 you can't expect to just walk into Lubbock and win,
30:09 but it's winnable. - It's winnable, yeah.
30:11 - Certainly winnable.
30:12 I think Texas Tech will be favored,
30:13 because, like you said, that really, really good
30:17 home court advantage they have,
30:19 I assume it's gonna be really rocking.
30:22 Texas Tech fans, I heard, aren't too fond of TCU.
30:25 - I don't think so, no.
30:28 - All right, so that one is a tough game,
30:32 but it's one of those games that,
30:34 like, especially if you're trying to go on a run here
30:38 before you get into the tournament stuff,
30:40 this is one of the ones you, I mean,
30:44 this would be a really nice one,
30:45 going to Lubbock and beating Texas Tech.
30:47 This is also the start of a really, really difficult slate
30:50 for TCU, they get Texas Tech, Cincinnati, Baylor, BYU,
30:54 it ends favorably with West Virginia and UCF,
30:57 but the next four games are all really tough,
31:01 so you're gonna have to win some that are,
31:03 you know, maybe you're not supposed to win.
31:05 But yeah, winnable game, I'm interested to see
31:09 about Warren Washington, because obviously
31:11 that would be a big deal with Uday likely being out.
31:15 Pop Isaacs, you mentioned, always very dangerous,
31:20 he played really well against TCU the last time
31:23 these two teams saw each other,
31:24 and then Darian Williams, a guy we talked about earlier,
31:28 who scored 30 and was perfect and all that,
31:31 he had 12 in the game against Iowa State,
31:34 so obviously not as huge, but still a guy, obviously,
31:38 that can go off and cause you a lot of problems
31:42 on great efficiency, so they have a lot of talent,
31:45 and they have a great coach,
31:48 huge Grant McCaslin guy over here, so.
31:52 They're good, and I think it'll be a good game.
31:54 - Yeah, for sure.
31:57 I do think Warren Washington being out hurts them
32:00 probably more than Uday being out for us,
32:01 but again, two big losses if that's what it is,
32:05 and I think it's one that could go either way.
32:08 Yeah, Tech probably has the edge,
32:10 but I wouldn't say it's one of those things
32:12 like going into Iowa State or going into Houston,
32:14 or I don't know if Q Hunter Kane's in there,
32:17 but yeah, they're both middle-packed teams,
32:20 and this would be a big one to swing TCU to,
32:23 they're only a couple games back from first place
32:25 in the Big 12 if they string a couple wins
32:29 that they're not supposed to get,
32:30 and yes, their schedule's tough coming up,
32:33 but there's not a game at Iowa State or at Houston,
32:36 or even at Kansas where it's that tough
32:39 where none of them are, oh, you can chalk this up
32:43 with a loss for sure, so it's gonna be
32:44 a super interesting game, or whatever game you said.
32:46 We went in there and won last year, too, so very winnable.
32:50 - Yeah.
32:51 All right, Cincinnati.
32:54 TCU lost to Cincinnati early in the year on the road.
32:58 They get 'em at home this time on Saturday.
33:00 We talked about Cincinnati.
33:03 They're still probably right outside the bubble.
33:06 They're really looking to string together a couple wins.
33:09 A win at TCU would be huge for them.
33:12 I would say probably a win for them at TCU
33:20 would be a bigger deal than TCU beating Cincinnati at home,
33:23 I think, but obviously both teams are gonna wanna win.
33:28 It's getting down to that crunch time area
33:30 where we're creeping into March now,
33:32 and every game is a game you wanna win, so.
33:36 Yeah, I think TCU is gonna want to get some revenge.
33:42 This game ended really poorly
33:45 last time it played for TCU.
33:46 This was a very, very winnable game
33:49 that TCU somehow let get away from 'em,
33:51 so I'm sure they're gonna remember that.
33:55 - Yeah, I mean, TCU was, if you remember,
33:57 the Udemy's free throws late in the game,
33:59 and just Cincinnati got a lot of good breaks their way,
34:03 I would say, in that last game,
34:04 and it was just one of those weird Tuesday games
34:06 earlier in conference year
34:07 that didn't really make much sense,
34:09 but since you got the OT win,
34:11 Day Day Thomas and John Newman both had 20 in that game,
34:14 if you remember, and they're both
34:16 not those crazy type of players,
34:18 so I think it's gonna be big.
34:21 Micah, Jameer, and Avery, and even Trey,
34:24 to defend those guards bigger
34:26 because they were able to have success against them.
34:28 I'm excited for the crowd.
34:29 Late February, Saturday, home game.
34:34 There's only three more home games left in the year,
34:36 so they should all be rockin'.
34:37 Yeah, it's gonna be fun when TCU should win this game.
34:43 I, yeah, well, we'll get to predictions in a second,
34:47 but that's what I would preview.
34:48 - Yeah, yeah, so TCU now has won two in a row.
34:53 Before that, they lost two in a row.
34:54 Before that, they won three in a row.
34:57 So they're kinda streaky teams.
34:59 You want 'em to continue this
35:03 stretch that they're on.
35:07 They beat West Virginia and Kansas,
35:08 obviously we talked about that,
35:09 two teams that they should beat.
35:11 Now their opponents are a bit tougher,
35:14 still very winnable.
35:16 So a really, really big week for TCU coming up, for sure.
35:20 - Yeah, for sure.
35:21 You wanna start the prediction now?
35:23 - Yeah, before we go, let's do some predictions.
35:26 I am gonna, I really wanna go two and O
35:29 because I think they can go two and O very easily,
35:33 but I think I'm gonna go one and one
35:35 because the game at Texas Tech's gonna be a difficult game,
35:38 a great atmosphere, I would think,
35:40 and I think that is,
35:44 I think they could win
35:46 and they could lose either of these games,
35:48 but I'm gonna go one and one
35:49 just to be safe here, I think.
35:52 - Yeah, I agree.
35:54 We probably agree too much in these predictions,
35:56 but I mean, we've been on fire recently
35:58 predicting the loss of Iowa State
35:59 and the couple wins, so I'm gonna ride with you.
36:02 I think Tech's gonna be pissed off
36:04 about them losing to us.
36:07 Yeah, that environment's gonna be sick.
36:09 You mentioned Tech hates TCU and TCU's coming off
36:12 big up and Tech's coming off a loss,
36:15 so we might be in there a little slow on a Tuesday
36:19 and come up a little short there,
36:22 getting very winnable,
36:23 and I think we beat Cincinnati at home.
36:26 It seems pretty favorable.
36:28 I don't wanna say it's an easy game
36:29 'cause Cincinnati's a very good team
36:31 and they beat us early in the year,
36:32 so I think both will be close games,
36:35 but I think you split it with a loss
36:37 against Tech and a win against Cincinnati.
36:39 - Yeah, I don't think you're getting swept by Cincinnati,
36:42 so I think that's probably the win,
36:43 and if there is a loss, it's probably Texas Tech.
36:46 That'll be a tough game, but again,
36:48 both winnable and both losable is the thing,
36:52 so you gotta be careful, but yeah.
36:56 We're both going one-on-one.
36:57 - Yeah.
36:58 - We're both hoping for two-on-o,
36:59 but we'll see what happens.
37:00 - The win against Kansas State too is so big
37:03 'cause right now you're at seven and five,
37:05 and if Ken Pompe predicts us to finish the season
37:09 three and three with our next six games,
37:11 and if you do that 10 and eight in the conference,
37:13 you're probably sitting pretty
37:15 with a 10 and eight conference in the Big 12
37:16 as being pretty safe in that tournament,
37:18 so TCU's put themselves in a position
37:21 where they handle their own path,
37:25 and it's a good position to be in for sure,
37:27 so I'm excited for this week.
37:29 - Yeah, for sure.
37:30 All right, well, next up on the podcast,
37:32 don't go anywhere.
37:33 We've got a really, really cool, really fun interview
37:36 with Alex Robinson, a legendary TCU player,
37:39 legendary TCU point guard,
37:41 and he was really, it was a great conversation
37:44 learning about how he got to TCU,
37:46 what it was like at first when TCU was recruiting him.
37:49 There's some funny stories about his visits,
37:51 and then, yeah, all the NIT runs,
37:54 Desmond Bain, Kendricks Williams.
37:56 He talks a lot about the TCU Mount Rushmore,
37:59 which was cool to hear his perspective on that,
38:02 so I would just say stick around.
38:03 It's a really cool interview.
38:05 - Yeah, just wanna say thanks to A-Rob again for coming on.
38:09 It's cool to be able,
38:10 we've been so fortunate to be able to get such cool guests
38:13 for TCU Hoops the past, I don't know,
38:17 throughout the season pretty much,
38:18 and it's picked up recently too,
38:19 so it's cool to have another friend of the pod,
38:22 A-Rob, coming on the board,
38:24 and yeah, I don't wanna say,
38:27 it's one of the best interviews we've done for sure,
38:31 and I think they just keep getting better and better,
38:33 so awesome pod, and definitely stick around for that.
38:35 It'll be one TCU fans will wanna hear.
38:37 - Yeah, for sure.
38:38 If you're a TCU basketball nerd,
38:41 and you love all that, the history,
38:44 so is Alex Robinson.
38:46 He loves it too, so it was super cool
38:48 to talk to him about that,
38:50 but yeah, I guess we'll take a break,
38:53 and next time you hear from us,
38:55 we'll be talking to Alex Robinson.
38:57 - Let's kick it there.
38:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]