TCU head coach Jamie Dixon spoke with the media following the Horned Frogs' victory over Texas A&M Commerce on New Year's Day.
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00:00 >> All right guys, you guys are out there doing long grabs,
00:04 I think one there, so that's good.
00:07 Obviously, I guess we talked the first, like what we did earlier,
00:10 I think the things we wanna do is guard the three, do a good job of that, not foul.
00:14 It's one of our things we've been doing, and really kind of progress with our
00:18 defense, and I thought we did that.
00:21 I thought we did it for the first 30 minutes or so, and then just kinda,
00:26 I don't know, maybe because we had to play guys more minutes, and
00:30 with the lead, we couldn't really rotate guys in,
00:34 because we're having Chuck and Tyler and Jacoby out.
00:38 So, yeah, I wish we could have sustained it, but I guess it's enough.
00:43 We had the 45, and they beat St.
00:46 Joe's, they beat some teams, so they're not like, they're in the 200s.
00:52 So we were fortunately missing shots, but
00:55 I thought we did some things defensively.
00:58 Got a little sloppy with the ball, it's too late, but
01:00 we're a team that does those things, and that's why we're not a perfect team.
01:04 So we've gotta do a better job of getting us to play every minute the right way,
01:09 like every coach in America.
01:10 And we just have too many to be a top ten,
01:16 top 20 team, that's why we're in the 30, 40, where we're at right now.
01:19 So we're gonna work on it.
01:21 Obviously, we've got a big one coming up here next week, start conference play.
01:25 And we've gotta go put 40 minutes together,
01:28 which we weren't able to do tonight.
01:30 But the opportunity's there.
01:33 And I think Jacoby, they'll see how it is.
01:36 I mean, they both were bothered, obviously, in the tournament in Hawaii.
01:44 Probably Chuck Price shouldn't have played in the second game,
01:47 he's been fingered that Jim in that first game.
01:49 So, but it seems to be getting better, and Jacoby felt better, and
01:54 doing a little bit more.
01:55 And Tyler's been out for a while, and probably won't make sure,
01:58 and he hasn't really talked about it, so.
02:01 So that's where we're at on those guys.
02:03 So, that's what we got, but thanks for coming out tonight, and
02:06 with all the football going on.
02:09 And I guess we're up 45 with five minutes left, and
02:14 then just went backwards from there.
02:17 But we got some guys in there too, it's good for them.
02:19 >> How encouraging was it to see him?
02:22 >> Yeah, I mean, we've seen improvement.
02:25 I mean, again, when he got here, it was like work to do, and he has.
02:32 And I guess one thing, he's really improved his free throw shooting, but
02:35 we didn't see it in the second half today.
02:39 So, but his activities there were just, it's motor, it's consistency,
02:46 it's focusing on the important things.
02:50 He's easily distracted, he likes to talk, he likes that personality.
02:56 And it distracts him, it takes him in different ways.
03:00 So we've gotta get him centered and constantly focused.
03:05 And that might be what happened on the free throw in the second half,
03:07 he was on that.
03:11 So, but yeah, I mean, we knew we had to get him better.
03:15 He didn't play at all last year, I don't know how much he's played in high school.
03:19 But not playing at all is not a great thing for him, and we're counting on him.
03:26 And so with him, he's on X.
03:27 We feel like we've had a very good group there.
03:33 But we played X at the four today, which I thought was kind of funny.
03:38 We had talked to him about, he's played a lot of form practice over the years,
03:42 but rarely plays in the game.
03:43 So I was kinda wondering, why am I doing this?
03:45 And then, well, here you go, you got 19 minutes at the four today.
03:48 So the time came, that's what we prepared for.
03:51 And so that was good.
03:53 But yeah, I guess we'll just talk about the 30 minutes, it was good.
04:01 30 minutes was good.
04:02 They had the highest, I think they were at 19 assists with 30 minutes left.
04:05 We ended up with 21.
04:06 That's disappointing, that turnover for us at the four, at halftime, seven.
04:11 I think at that time, we obviously know what we can do better.
04:17 But there's something to just gotta live with, playing other guys.
04:22 >> I think it was in Hawaii, but
04:23 I think I saw you tangle the starting line up, bringing John Yerl up.
04:26 I guess, what was the thinking behind that?
04:28 I guess, we're some- >> Yeah,
04:29 I mean, there's not much difference between the two.
04:32 Really, there's not much thought to it.
04:34 I mean, it's not that important to me.
04:36 It's probably more important to other people, but them, maybe so.
04:40 I've talked to them both about it.
04:42 They're gonna play the same amount of minutes, probably.
04:44 No one's really separated themselves from each other.
04:47 So one of our biggest concerns is they foul too much, and
04:53 we've gotta get that fixed, and it's something they've had.
04:57 But the other thing we've really talked about is they're improving their
05:02 assistant turnovers, and lastly, they're one-to-one guys.
05:06 They play a lot of minutes, they're one-to-one.
05:08 They're here, they're two-to-one, and so it's improvement there.
05:12 So, yeah, they might be point guards, but you gotta play like point guards,
05:15 and that's what we got.
05:17 That's what it's at.
05:19 I wouldn't read too much into the starting,
05:21 cuz really, we don't see much separation in the two.
05:25 They've both improved.
05:26 And Jameer's been, and probably, was the Jameer thing, he's a little banged up.
05:32 He's struggling a little in practice.
05:34 There's also been guys that have done a seven, really, or
05:39 guards that are one perimeter guard, so was that.
05:41 So I guess that might have been one of the factors, too.
05:43 So it won't be anything like this guy is all of a sudden great, and
05:46 this guy, the other guy's not good.
05:48 It's just there's not much difference.
05:50 And Avery's been fouled trouble a lot early in these games,
05:56 something we've had to address, and that was part of a coming off.
06:03 So I wouldn't read too much into it.
06:05 They're similar, but we knew both were gonna play a lot today,
06:10 cuz we didn't have Chuck and we didn't have Chicago.
06:12 So it's gonna be 30 minutes a piece for them both.
06:14 [BLANK_AUDIO]
06:21 Anything else?
06:23 >> I don't know, the non-conference, I mean,
06:25 over this week and 10 years of like encouraged periods, like-
06:28 >> I mean, there's some things.
06:30 I think our big guys have developed, Angerness, obviously,
06:33 like I talked to earlier.
06:35 But now you got Chuck, you got and Chicovia, so I don't know how you look into that.
06:39 I mean, we got ten guys, I really try to encourage this thing, ten guys and
06:44 all the major factors in it all playing double digit minutes.
06:48 And I don't know that we've got that,
06:51 [BLANK_AUDIO]
06:56 I don't know if they're as excited about that as I am.
06:59 I thought that could be a strength of ours, and
07:01 it hasn't been, I think, as much as I would like.
07:04 And so really, I mean, here we are today, and we got two guys out, so
07:10 I don't know how much today or this week helps us.
07:14 I think we got some things done defensively after the Hawaii game, and
07:19 then this one, our numbers are better, clearly.
07:23 And we were just giving up some points to teams that were not highly ranked teams,
07:27 like scoring at a high rate and higher efficient than they should have.
07:30 So I think we've made progress defensively, I think we have.
07:34 And we have at times offensive, but as we can and we will,
07:38 our half court, the ball sticks.
07:40 We are fighting, we have fought it all year long,
07:45 I thought I would have it fixed by now, but it's not quite there.
07:51 We have seven guys that all won't score, that's the first we've done,
07:55 and there's no question about that.
07:57 So I don't have a pass for a start or a point maker.
08:01 And we know that, we're trying to get there, and we'll get it fixed.
08:08 We need to get better.
08:11 >> Anything else, guys?
08:13 >> Did you get, are you out?
08:14 No, someone's walking in.
08:16 >> You might have something to speak to.
08:17 >> Okay, bye.
08:18 >> Okay, bye.
08:18 >> All right, thanks for being here, guys.
08:21 Good, it was a good crowd.
08:22 We'll meet you anytime, I just thought you guys were gonna be here.