KillerFrogs writers Nicholas Girimonte and Davis Wilson preview TCU's men's basketball team as the season gets underway this week. They will have new episodes each week throughout the season.
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00:00 Welcome to the killer frogs frog fever basketball podcast, a fan nation podcast show brought to you weekly by killer frogs.com. My name is Davis Wilson with me today is Nick Germonti.
00:13 Nick, how are you doing today. I'm great. How are you, man. I'm good. I'm excited to get this going.
00:19 It's our first podcast so cut us some slack but we're gonna, you know, this year we're going to talk to you who's big 12 hoops all that stuff so obviously excited, very excited.
00:30 Exactly.
00:32 You know, that's time of the year.
00:34 I know basketball season we finally made it.
00:38 One thing I kind of wanted to talk about was TCU had a exhibition game last week, I guess this week against Texas Wesleyan you were there.
00:49 So jumping right into it jumping right in. Let's just, you know, tell us about that game. How did that game go. Yeah, I mean as bad as electric as a Texas Wesleyan scrimmage can go.
01:01 I mean the team showed a lot of good signs, you know, we were kind of sloppy with the ball early but the guys who wanted to stand out I think did like a man.
01:12 Obviously first time I'll be 12 put up 11 of 12 for 24. That's about as good at 39 plus minus like Jimmy Nelson your top transfer came in and had a 40 plus minus five or seven for the floor 12 points.
01:27 I mean just a show flashes I think he can be really good. Micah PV who Jamie has talked about improving a shot a lot has really, you know, he went three four from three so I think a lot of positives you can take from it, obviously like the turnovers
01:41 and the free throws ratios, and you're going against Texas Wesleyan so that only means so much but definitely some positives going into the year.
01:50 I've been watching this game and right it is Texas Wesleyan so it's hard to really gauge what this team's going to be like but what are the strengths that you saw that you think can carry over into the regular season.
02:02 I think, depth for one, like Jamie said in his postgame press or he thinks we could run 10 deep and I think that was kind of an issue last year, you know, like when we lost Lampkin for the, the postseason play like big man was obviously an issue and if we
02:18 lost Mike or Damian like the ball here and we're not making any scoring but I think, you know, we returned so much, and we got additionally like a ton of transfers like there's a good 1112 players that can play on this team.
02:36 It's just about opportunity and that's a great problem to have.
02:41 I mean, Damian bond Mike miles both gone now. So, a lot of people are wondering about the guard play the guard depth.
02:51 Obviously Jamie brought in two guys to me Nelson Jr and and
02:59 Nick Tennyson right, is that is, yeah, try Tennyson trade.
03:03 All right, and then.
03:05 So what about those guys how did they look.
03:08 You know what do you see from them how do you see the guard play shaping up this year, without some of these guys that we've gotten used to.
03:17 That was definitely one of my biggest concerns, you know, having these guys who can be able to handle the ball, and I obviously Mike and Damian last year were pretty much the only people maybe like Shahada wells he also lost, who were able to handle
03:30 the ball, and you really only brought in one true point guard and Jimmy who can do that so you were kind of wondering who would take like the backup point guard wraps or be able to handle the ball at all times, and what I noticed is that I'm Jimmy or
03:45 I think every Anderson was on the court, like at least one of them for the majority of the game, and being able to handle the point and every Anderson really impressed me with his ball handling skills, I think try Tennyson is more of like, you know, a spot of
03:58 shooter and a great shooter. Obviously we needed that too, but I think every Anderson and Jimmy Nelson be the ones handling the ball for the most part.
04:08 Yeah, every Anderson's a guy that I'm excited about I was at big 12 media day a couple weeks ago and I got to ask Oklahoma State's head coach Mike Boynton about kind of what every Anderson.
04:20 I mean what TC was getting and every Anderson, and he basically said you're getting a guy that, like, has played a ton of basketball, a ton of big 12 basketball which is also so important.
04:31 I know he's been kind of beat up this offseason he hasn't, I think he's been hurt a little bit and he's, you know, spotty whether or not he's playing in practice but it looked like he did play I guess and just, I guess what are your thoughts on, like him and how big of a bonus
04:48 is it to have a guy that's played so many big 12 basketball games.
04:52 Yeah, I think he could be huge for the team, like, he was, you know, like top two top three score for Oklahoma State the past two, three, four seasons like he's been in college basketball and I think experience is about as good as it gets.
05:07 And when you have a guy who has produced at the division one level it's, it's easy to, you know, fall in love with a guy. Also, like, with that being said him being hurt in practice like you could easily see him being in a starting lineup.
05:19 Jamie was saying how the starting lineup wasn't set for what it was so I could see them running a two guard lineup with him and Jameer, or just kind of like rotating guys to see who fits, but definitely Anderson is going to be a huge guy to watch and
05:32 he was as impressive as they come from the scrimmage I thought he looked really good.
05:38 I also got to talk a little bit to Jamie Dixon at media day and he said that the the idea when they're, you know, looking in the transfer portal for guys to replace Mike and Dame was finding two guards that could play with each other like Mike and Dame
05:53 are able to do, you know, one kind of true scoring guy and another guy who can score and who's a, you know, excels as a passer as well.
06:02 When I talked about guards when I talked about guards but with Jamie. He said another guy that, you know, we may be surprised to see a guard is Mike a PV because he's a bigger guy but he's, you know, added some stuff offensively, and he's shown flashes
06:18 as a playmaker obviously has the defense.
06:22 How did Mike a PV look.
06:24 He looked amazing, like I know I sound like it's obviously easy to find positives from the wrestling game and guys are gonna look good but I mean that dude is so damn athletic.
06:34 He is arguably one of the best defenders and all of college basketball, and obviously obviously is his, you know, downfall was the offensive end but he can like his shooting form has insanely impressed it's just so smooth now, like before it was, you know, he was
06:52 thinking too much about it or would be in like blocking this form but he shoots it with confidence and his finishing is as good as it gets the ball handling would be huge if he can pick it up, that'll be interesting to see like how you know flow he can be with
07:07 it and how much handles he's got but he could be huge for the team and I could see him starting as early as Monday.
07:16 What about the bigs, you know, I know we have Xavier court coming back, Ernest today coming in.
07:24 You know how rebounding was something that I think a lot of TC fans wanted to see improve and you bring in a guy like Ernest today. Not only does he rebound for you, but he protects the rim.
07:39 Did you get a read on, like, the difference that a guy like Ernest can make on this team and what kind of difference is that going to be.
07:48 Yeah, that was the downfall of TCU basketball last year I mean that's part of the big reason that we lost to Gonzaga so obviously it was arguably the number one thing to to address in the offseason, and bringing in Uday, you know, I mean he was a five star
08:02 American, he probably would still be a Kansas and Hunter Dickinson and transfer there. So he is like as talented as they come. He's definitely a little bit raw, but his like mere athleticism, as good as they come, like Jameer in the scrimmage was just
08:19 some lobs dome left and right and his head's radius is crazy. You know his knack for defending the rim to could be really good. I thought was interesting to is in Jamie said after the game that he was still thinking about who to start at big like he said he was
08:37 starting Xavier cork or new transfer some Mustafa from coastal Carolina, who looked decent.
08:57 Yeah, I mean, you know, Mustafa and record coming off the bench. It's going to be huge because, you know, we were the Xavier cork Suleiman do be a combo of last year was not a great to watch but obviously you have Jacobi calls to there is going to be, you
09:16 know, a lot of players for this team and just stability guys. And you can go small plane email at the five and like go small Chuck at the four. You can do a lot with this roster I think which is one of the most interesting things about watching in the early season
09:31 is how guys gel with each other and who's gonna appear in the lineup as you know conference season comes around and things start to get serious but it's, it's a good problem to have that we have all these different guys fighting over minutes, you know,
09:47 and who knows like a freshman like we have big guys they have any to it we're a lot deeper at the five this year and I think that's one of the biggest benefits we addressed in the offseason.
09:57 Yeah, one that I, you know, I'm.
10:01 We've seen Emmanuel Miller play a lot of basketball TCU obviously came over from Texas a and then he's been a TCU what for three, this will be his third year is to us be third.
10:11 He was here I mean he's been here and he's been really good he's kind of been like a second or third option behind Mike or Dame or whoever it is. But now, like this seems to be his team.
10:22 He's, you know, first I think he's first team all big 12 right. Yeah, yeah.
10:27 So there's all this hype going into the year about him which makes me excited because he's always a guy that I've liked he's, you know, does all the right things he's, you know, improved his game he's added a jump shot which I think is, you know,
10:41 something that's going to be beneficial in this league.
10:44 You mentioned that he looked really good in the scrimmage but how good.
10:49 Can he be I mean, when you look at the big 12 there are some really good players.
10:54 It's a, it's a conference this loaded with talent.
10:59 Where does Emmanuel Miller fit in there is he really going to be one of those guys that you watch every night and you're like oh my god, you know, he man is, you know, dropping 20 points every night like is he this guy that's going to really carry TCU, and how much
11:15 of a jump. Do you think he's made from the last two years we've seen him.
11:19 Yeah, I was a bit surprised honestly when he was named first team all big 12, but, you know, because we have so many great players as you said, like, a lot of great players got left off.
11:32 But, um, people kind of forget that when he was at a and m before two years ago like he was there. Probably best player and a and m was obviously not a good team but if you're the best player on a team and a power five power six conference like you're
11:46 not a good. So he's obviously played that role before. Obviously, the big 12, a different animal, and when you're filling the shoes of a Mike miles or a Damien Voss and number one option, it'll be tough.
11:59 But what he showed in the scrimmage is that he knows he has to be the number one guy, or should be the number one guy and he was being more aggressive than I've ever seen him on the office event.
12:10 And that's what's so easy to like about him is that he probably plays harder or as hard as anybody on the court. So, you know, he's going to be given it as all and I think he's going to have a fantastic year as he showed in a scrimmage Yeah, I, I was
12:27 even surprised by how well he played, and I'm an email guy so it's a deep team you mentioned how Jamie said it could be 10 deep.
12:38 And at the end of that bench, or these two freshmen that came in, in this recruiting class, obviously is more of a transfer heavy class but these two guys that Jamie brought in he likes.
12:49 I mean he likes them both you know Jase Posey Isaiah Manning.
12:53 Tell me about these guys, you know what what kind of run the, what, sorry, what kind of run did they get in this exhibition game and what kind of run do you expect them to get this year.
13:05 It's weird with TCU basketball because the past like two, I mean the last freshman to really get in the rotation was Mike miles, you know, two years ago.
13:14 So it's, it's weird but these guys are to the best, like freshman recruits we've had in a while, you know, Jace got in the first half, and he showed his athleticism Isaiah got in more towards the end so I'd probably favorite Jace over him
13:31 I'm just playing a minutes role from what we saw what Jamie likes but they're both super raw talents, and like they're so athletic they're both fast quick all that kind of stuff, but you can tell that they're, they still need some polishing
13:48 I would be surprised with how many transfers. We have, if we went to them as a rotational piece, but if injuries happen or there's something to look at.
14:00 They could they could be instrumental.
14:03 My goal of Jamie would be to have them wait a year, not necessarily redshirt but if it comes down to it.
14:11 It's just kind of wait around take a year, take it and develop yourself and they'll be big for TCU for years to come.
14:19 Yeah, this is a deep team and Jamie brought in a bunch of transfers so it, you know, who knows if these guys are going to have a significant role but for someone who has not seen like Jace Posey Jace Posey according to 24 seven sports is the fifth best recruit
14:35 she's ever had ahead of some fun names like, you know, Jalen Fisher and Kendrick Davis. Yeah, he's just ahead of those guys so in the time that he did get in were you were you able to get a feel of the player that he is and what kind of guy.
14:53 He will be at the collegiate level.
14:56 He's a super scrappy like guard slash forward guy, he can handle the ball and he'd lives getting in the room. I think he went to the line, six times, and some like that so he loves getting contacts he plays super hard.
15:10 And obviously it's his dad is James Posey and former good like good NBA player. So he's got the genes to like be this amazing talent.
15:23 I think, yeah, he is definitely a huge bright source for minutes, encouraging seeing these recruits come to TC like obviously the 2024 classes for me to and becoming a recruits is getting better and better for TCO, and I think it's Jace Posey is definitely
15:39 going to be a stuntman comes down to it probably the he needs to improve his shooting a little bit and develop into his body a little more before he can obtain heavy minutes in the college game.
15:51 And that just comes with playing in the big 12 like no matter how big of a career you are, you're probably going to have to wait a little bit, unless you're you know top 1% of guys but he's, he's definitely going to be a huge bright spot his talent is jumps off
16:06 the books. Yeah.
16:10 Again, this was a gaming is Texas Westland so we do have to kind of be careful but we've talked about a lot of really some of the good things you saw and notice and on the other side of that, you know, I know there were a couple things that you think need to be addressed
16:26 before the regular season but especially before big 12 play comes around what were, what were those things that you'd like, I guess to see some improvement.
16:39 Yeah, I think turnovers I would say was big early on they got a lot better of it late but as we know Jamie Dixon teams love to run fast, and when doing that you need to take care of like to work and take care of the ball to move it or else you just get
16:55 behind on yourself.
16:56 So I would say, obviously, I think that comes with finding ball handlers to like every Anderson and Jameer Nelson shine but if one or two guys got more comfortable taking care of the ball, and stuff like that, then you could definitely find more confidence
17:12 in the way that it's showing and that is going to come when you run fast. And it's been a problem for TC in the past, but that's definitely one and I think free throws like we shot 18 of 33 and we've known that to be a downfall this team, a year behind,
17:26 and the backbone of this TCU team and TC teams in the past and probably looking forward to has never been shooting, so obviously you're not going to expect them to be this top tier free throw team.
17:41 And when you add in like super athletic guys like like Uday and guys like that, he went, he like airballed a free throw.
17:51 He's just gonna be like, Uday is gonna be the up and down player that like you love to see in college basketball like he'll do something so sick and the next play he'll like kill airball a free throw and stuff like that.
18:05 So, those two definitely downfalls in still, as we talked about it, the big man has been addressed probably as best as we could like Uday being late pickup was massive, but still, I worry about Xavier Corker, Sam Mustafa as the backup.
18:24 I think Cork's doing flashes but I don't think, you know, he's going to be a great piece for us. So I'm hoping for one of them to emerge but it's still kind of uncertain like none of them really shined in the, in the exhibition so finding the backup big that you can count on, or big in general, and then working on taking care of the ball is definitely going to be a problem.
18:50 Yeah, you mentioned free throws that man that drove me crazy. Last year, yeah like that was responsible for multiple losses just by itself as free throws so it comes down like so many games, especially in college basketball and come down to free throws and they impact so many.
19:11 So, that's going to be huge. Yeah, obviously, there's only so much you can do to work on it, like sometimes you either have it or you don't, but improving the free throws will be huge.
19:23 Absolutely.
19:37 This upcoming week.
19:52 TCU should beat these teams with with some ease.
20:11 Yeah, I mean, TCU's not a great team they lost. I think they lost their both of their leading scorers.
20:30 I mean that alone should I mean TCU's 30th out of 362 and those are preseason rankings but I like to think Ken Palm, you know, really is good at what he does so just that alone tells you this should not be really even a contest.
20:49 But I mean, you never know. I mean I don't want to get into last year but just start the start the year last year we played a couple teams to start off that we should have beat handedly we beat, I think it was Arkansas Pine Bluff by one and the first game and then
21:06 that my game winner. Yeah, my gosh, I was, I was not ready to see a mic game winner that early in the season. Yeah.
21:16 And then you lose to Northwestern State Northwestern State brutal brutal Hanselman. Yeah.
21:23 So, anything can happen, but you really should not lose this game, especially for a team that's looking to contend in the best conference in college basketball you should not lose this game.
21:38 Next is Omaha. Omaha is a slightly better team there 275th through to 62 so still bad, but a better team.
21:49 They were nine and 23 last year.
21:52 Their leading scorer is back his name is Frankie Fidler which is a just a great college basketball name.
21:59 I think he averaged just over 14 points per game.
22:03 Their second score is also back so I think this is a team that should be better than they were last year but again, like, tease you should not mess around with Omaha they should win this game.
22:17 But yeah, you never know I guess.
22:20 What do you mean just overall I know we don't know a lot about either of these teams but what are you looking to see in the first two games.
22:28 Yeah, against Southern Omaha.
22:30 Obviously, you know, as you said we lost the game to Northwestern State needed a one point win against Arkansas pine bluffs so you can't take it lightly, but you should handle these teams pretty easy.
22:46 I think what I just want to see is finding the guys who you know will be stable rotation pieces like I wouldn't mind seeing.
22:57 I wouldn't mind seeing an extended rotation like maybe throwing in
23:02 an 11 or getting the freshmen some minutes as many men as Dixon things can play in the system to find out who fits and just getting reps with each other.
23:14 And just kind of working at the kinks as you start to get towards more reputable teams like I think the first big game we play is Georgetown so in these first like six games I just want to see the rotation start to fold and see who's going to be the go to guys
23:30 for this team. Sure, yeah.
23:34 I think the thing I have for us to do is going to be. I think it's going to be kind of fun way to rank this conference that TCU plays in a gauntlet of a conference but the idea is, we'll say you can start, we'll do our big 12 power rankings you pick a team I pick
23:51 a team will wrote will switch off until we're done, and zoom is telling me we only have nine minutes left so this will be the last thing we do but.
24:01 I'm going to start. I don't think it's a huge secret, who number one is but let's see what you think.
24:07 Go ahead. Yeah, I'm probably gonna go chalk here with a P number one Kansas, they did lose an exhibition game to Illinois so you never know, but I'll take
24:20 the one Harris and Hunter Dickinson and all those cats.
24:25 Yeah, I am a, I'm a Mizzou guy so I have to try to put my KU bias aside but I do agree with that pick. Yeah.
24:34 Second for me, I think this is.
24:39 This is a pretty good pick I think Houston, just been a dominant team Kelvin Sampson is one of probably the best five coaches in college basketball.
24:48 They get a guy in LJ Cryer from Baylor who can, you know, shoot the shoot the ball really well.
24:55 So give me the cougars and their first year in the big 12 at two.
25:01 I'll probably go. I think I'm gonna go Baylor here at three. I think, you know their guard play is just they have a sick five star freshman coming in and they have some returning guys that are huge for him.
25:17 I do worry about their defense.
25:20 But, I mean, their guard players is always going to be top tier.
25:25 They're going to be fine.
25:29 For, I think I'm going to go with the Texas Longhorns.
25:34 I'm a big Rodney Terry fan, I think he did a really good job last year and I think he's going to continue to do a really good job at Texas.
25:42 They have Tyrese Hunter back.
25:44 They got some good portal additions, they lost a lot of guys but they, they seem to do a good job in the portal they got Oral Roberts point guard Max Aismas who many remember from his, from his March Madness run at Oral Roberts.
26:00 So, give me the Longhorns at number four.
26:04 I think that's a team that can certainly win this conference.
26:07 I got you. I actually don't love Rodney Terry but I think I think they're going to be good. Really, not a Rodney Terry guy.
26:13 Yeah, I don't know, I just kind of worry about him being a stable, because he kind of just had not his own players, like, they're already an old group and they're going to be a super interesting team because they're a lot younger this year so they don't have the seniors to rely on, it'll be interesting to see how he, how he goes with them.
26:30 At five. I think this is kind of between the Frogs or K-State here but I'm gonna go with the Frogs.
26:38 Yeah, I, I, I'm obviously a biased guy but I'm kind of sipping the Kool Aid here that they're deep and they got guys who can play in their system and they're going to be a top five team in this conference I, I think so.
26:54 Yeah.
26:56 Like you said, Kansas State's the next pick Jerome Tang in his first year took him to the Elite Eight. Lost his two big, big, big names in Keontae Johnson and Marquise Noel they're both gone but he added some, some guys out of the portal, give me Kansas State.
27:14 I got you.
27:16 Yeah, seeing how that Naquan Tomlin thing is gonna turn out with him being suspended is gonna be interesting to see if he comes back or not. But at seven I think I'm gonna go with Iowa State here.
27:29 I think Tame and Lipsy their guard, he's returning he's gonna be huge and they got this five star like top 10 recruit in Omaha, Billy you, and he's, he's a freak so I think the Cyclones gonna be a tough team.
27:46 Okay, at eight. I think I'm going to go Texas Tech here.
27:52 Grant McCaslin has been one of my favorite coaches in college basketball for the last couple years I was excited to see him get a promotion.
28:01 He plays an interesting style of basketball but I think that team is going to be better than it was last year and I think it's going to have a lot to do with McCaslin.
28:11 Yeah, here I'm probably going to go with a new big 12 team and BYU. I think they're no one's kind of really talking about him.
28:20 They have this big man named Fusini Traore, who's a stud, and they this up and coming freshman, Dallin Hall, or he was a freshman last year, Dallin Hall is super good for him and Provo is a tough place to play so I think they could have some decent success in the middle pack there.
28:37 This is a tough pick, I think I'm going to go Cincinnati although they have some waivers pending.
28:44 I think they're, they requested waivers for a second time on transfers, Aziz Bendogo and Jamil Reynolds I think that's right. I don't know if the outcome of those waivers has been decided but you know if they're there I like Cincinnati that's a good team.
29:02 I'll take them.
29:04 Yeah, I'll probably go OU here. I think OU is one of the most interesting teams in the conference because they have such a big roster turnover and they're bringing in these guards from different places.
29:16 But they got a lot of talent from the portal and I think they could be a sneaky up team that could sneak up on guys if they click together.
29:28 I'll go.
29:32 I think I'm going to go with Oklahoma State here although I don't, I don't have a lot of confidence in that I like Mike Boynton.
29:41 You know he's, it's been up and down for Oklahoma State but I, I like them in the spot here I think we're at 12 now.
29:49 Yeah, I was, I was thinking about taking the pokes last round too they're gonna be good. John Michael Wright their point guard is a stud and Boynton is obviously a sick recruiter.
30:00 I'll probably go with Westphal here at 13. They're just such an interesting team because obviously the Kirk Reesa thing. He's going to be out, and I think Raekwon Battle that their other big transfer is pending a waiver and obviously who knows what's going on with Huggins,
30:17 but I'll go with Davis Bigman, Jesse Edwards I think from Syracuse who's going to be one of the sneaky top players in conference so I'll go them at 13.
30:27 They had a roller coaster they offseason for sure. Yeah, I'm rooting for them. Yeah.
30:32 And lastly, last team left is UCF.
30:49 You know this is a team that has room for improvement, they have potential.
31:07 I think any conference when it's going to be big and absolutely they're all tough teams who can absolutely win any game.
31:15 Well, Nick.
31:16 I think that's going to do it for us on this week's episode is our first one so you know keep coming back keep giving us some chances he's only going to get better as we go on.
31:29 Thanks for listening to our first episode of the frog fever killer killer frogs basketball podcast. My name is Davis Wilson, you can find me on Twitter at Davis Wilson underscore 41.
31:41 This is Nick Germonti at Germonti Nikki on Twitter, and once again thank you for listening come back next week for more.
31:50 Yeah, thanks for listening. It was a pleasure I'm excited to start the season. Let's do it man. This will be fun.