The misadventures of coaching at TCU(TDCB) Special Deluxe Extended Widescreen Version

[HornedFrog Purple]

This is a continuation of my coaching sorriness from the old board. Here is the background:

Brief History:

TCU doesnt really have a great history as a basketball program. They will make the NCAA tournament once a decade, but we have had some colorful coaches. Jim Killingsworth took the Frogs to a SWC title in the early 80's and a tournament berth. Moe Iba followed him but stunk. Moe tended to play boring ball hense the nickname "Slo' Moe". He never got the Frogs in the tournament. Then the Frogs hired Billy Tubbs who completely changed their style into a track meet. Tubbs would often get 20-wins and schedule cupcakes to get there. But the Frogs won a WAC title under him ('97?) and made the Tournament only to be eliminated by Florida State in the first round. Since then, TCU hasnt been back. Billy Tubbs retired to become athletic director at Lamar University where he originally started.

TCU plays in Daniel-Meyer Colesium which has maybe a capacity of 7500. Its small and old but gets loud when it sells out.

TCU has put a couple of players in the NBA in recent memory. The best was Kurt Thomas who plays for the Knicks now and Lee Nailon who I think is still with the Hornets.

TCU just joined Conference-USA last season where they went 16-16 in Tubbs last year. They were schooled by the big powers (Cincinnati, Memphis and Louisville) in the conference and just about by everyone else too.

So now I take over... what were they thinking?

At my press conference announcing my hiring, I simply announce we intend to put 5 players on the court at all times and go from there.

Update

Well basically we sucked or weren't very good, you make the call. My freshman season of coaching we achieved great heights with an 8-22 record. After reading many books of the occult and how they relate to the face on Mars, my sophomore season we ended up 11-18. I will pick this up at the beginning of season 3 after I worked extensively on my golf game.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Season 3: The Frogs Strike Back?

In the offseason I get 10 more job offers. Pepperdine, UTEP, Texas-San Antonio, Fullerton State, Utah State, CS-Sacramento, Eastern Washington, Rice, Prarie View and Pacific all think I am greatness. I am not interested in making them great, for I have more important things to do such as improving my golf game. TCU is my home.

I decide to redshirt incoming Freshman PF Jeff Campbell. I have 4 centers and Blackshear to play 2 positions. SG Mike Rawlings will play along with SF Rashon Miller, as I think they will get substantial minutes.

I fire my assistant Head Coach because well he was average at everything plus he would never arm-wrestle me and hire a 50 year old who is well good at almost everything and costs just 300 bucks more. I decide to switch scouting services to Basket Bytes which is a 4-star service. This leaves me a lot less money to recruit with so I have to be careful with who I choose to look at.

After the wailing and gnashing of teeth during the offseason working this group to the point of near death, I schedule these games for non-conference:

Georgia State
@ SW Texas State
New Mexico State
Vermont
@ Cornell
Georgia
Air Force
UTEP
Holy Cross
LSU
Monmouth

Thats right 9 out of 11 are home games. SMU wanted no part of me as I tried like crazy to schedule them. You might consider these games cupcakes but what are we?

So without further adieu, I present the 2004 Runnin', Fightin', Scrappin', Shootin' ourselves in the foot TCU Horned Frogs starting lineup!

PG Michael Rawlings Fr. 6'2 156 lbs. Chino Valley, AZ Rawlings has good ball-handling ability and can pass. If he struggles I can always revert back to Calton.

SG Robert Calton Jr. 6'1 159 lbs. Joliet, MT Another good ball handler and can score when not running the point. Averaged 8.1 ppg and 6.7 assists last season and did shoot 52% for the season.

SF Vince Gregory Sr. 6'5 192 lbs. Tuscon, AZ Good pure shooter and not bad rebounder. He replaces the great Colonial at the 3. Averaged 14.5 ppg and 4.2 rebounds last season playing the 2.

PF Nick Blackshear So. 6'7 195 lbs. Desoto, TX Pretty good rebounder and defender and as the year progressed, so did he. Averaged 3.1 ppg and 1.7 rebounds

C Darryl "Gurley-Man" Gurley So. 6'11 218 lbs. Alief, TX Gurley made quite an impression his freshman season averaging 7.2 ppg, 6.6 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game. He will have to step it up even more with Hite and Sanders gone to help him control the middle.

Key Subs:

PG Riyad Moreland So. 5'10 152 lbs. Olivehurst, CA Very good 3-point shooter but had trouble running the point with a lot of turnovers, should improve a lot in that area though. Averaged 3.6 ppg and 2.0 assists. Should be a good spark off the bench.

SF Rashon Miller Fr. 6'8 208 lbs. Kountze, TX Very raw with good athletic ability, not a great rebounder but good defensively.

C Douglas Richeson Sr. 6'10 213 lbs. Zuni, NM Worked on his defense and rebounding in the offseason and looks to get some more minutes. He will if Blackshear struggles. Averaged 4.4 ppg and 2 rebounds off the bench last season.

I have 4 scholarships this season, so I have targeted about 10 guys. Most are are forwards or centers.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Georgia State(0-0) @ TCU(0-0):

Our first game of the season is against Georgia State. The Panthers are starting 2 Freshmen to our 1. They are pretty big upfront with PF Marshall Lingle at 6'8 and C Jason Holmes a Senior at 6'10. Hopefully Blackshear and Gurley can keep them at bay. We have the edge in 4 matchups.

We start off the season on a 7-0 run with a Blackshear 3-pointer and the Panthers call timeout at 16:42. Gurley and Blackshear do a nice job inside with 4 points each and at 11:44 we lead 12-7. 7:59 and we still lead 17-13. Gregory is struggling so far at the SF. We work it some more inside and have built up a 26-17 lead at 3:33. Richeson gets injured going for a rebound and has to be carried off the court. The Panthers make s couple shots and at the half its 26-23 Frogs. Tyler leads them with 8 points and 8 rebounds. Gurley leads the Frogs with 8 points, 5 rebounds and a block, and Blackshear has chipped in 6. Both teams shoot poorly 38% for us to 27% for them and they have the edge in rebounds 24-22. Turnovers are even at 7.

We open up a gap to 32-26 at 15:53 as Rawlings has hit a couple of shots. At 11:58 its 38-32 us as Blackshear has piled up 9 points and 7 rebounds, Gurley already has 10 and 10. Emerson gets things going for the Panthers but we still have a 45-40 lead with 7:50 left. They manage to tie it up at 50 with 3:45 left on a pair of free throws by Lingle who is up to 13 points. We are not shooting well at the line going 6/14. Emerson is on fire as he is up to 19 points and with 1:13 left we find ourselves trailing 59-54. We just go completely icecold, cant buy a bucket and lose 63-54 as they hit their free throws.

Emerson paced them with 19 points and Lingle added 15 points and 13 rebounds. For the Frogs, Gurley led with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks, Blackshear added 11 points and 8 boards and Gregory had 10. We shoot 36.7% from the field to their 37.1. We also were 8/16 from the line, lose in rebounds 45-40 and committed 12 turnovers to 11.

We start off 0-1. We were doing fine until we couldnt hit the broadside of a barn the last 3 minutes. Rawlings did pretty good at the point, but Gregory got schooled at SF this game. Hopefully Richeson isnt out long.

Well Richeson is out for a month with a broken jaw.

TCU(0-1) @ SW Texas State(1-1):

We travel to San Marcos to take on the Bobcats. They are led by SF JJ Thomas(14 ppg, .5 rebounds) and Freshman PG Derrick Rueter(11 ppg, 8.5 assists). We have the edge in 4 matchups. Since we only have 2 road games in our first 11, this is an important game experience-wise.

Gurley and Blackshear score 4 each on dunks and the Bobcats call a timeout at 16:03 trailing 11-3. Gregory gets into the act scoring 8 points and at 11:30 we increase our lead to 21-9. We are on fire shooting 86% from the field and Blackshear has 10 points and at 7:21 we are way up 35-15. With 4 minutes left we are up 45-18. Gurley is dominating inside with 6 points, 8 rebounds and a block and Gregory has 13. The half ends 53(!)-22. We shoot 82.6% from the field and outrebound them 18-6. Gregory leads the team with 13 points and Blackshear has 12. This is just a beatdown thus far. Its nice to be on the other end of these once in a while.

57-26 at 15:58. Rawlings has had a good game with 5 points and 6 assists. 11:15 its 63-32, so I decide to Unleash The F****** Fury! and the end of the bench comes in for some minutes. 7:23 its 69-39 us. We are 17/17 from the charity stripe. The game ends and we win going away 86-50.

Gregory led the team with 19 points, Blackshear had 14. Miller came off the bench to score 9 points and Moreland added 10. Gurley ended up with 6 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocks. Rawlings at the point had 11 points and 7 assists. Wright led the Bearcats with 13. We kill them in every aspect of the game, rebounds 42-19, we shoot 64% to 35%, 18/19 from the stripe to 5/15. We did have 15 turnovers to their 9 though.

We even our record to 1-1. Yay us, I doubt they will schedule us next season.

[HornedFrog Purple]

New Mexico State(3-0) @ TCU(1-1):

This is the Aggies first road game. They are led by PF Abe Debro(18 points, 7.7 rebounds) and Rodney Harris(15.3 ppg, 2.7 assists). We have the edge in 4 matchups. Hopefully we can erase the 0-1 home record we currently have.

A 3-pointer by Rawlings gives us an 11-7 lead at 14:56. We maintain the lead 17-13 at 11:47. Gregory has 6 points and Blackshear and Gurley have 4 each. Harris is leading the Aggies with 9. Harris and London keep shooting away and at 7:33 the Aggies have a 23-21 lead. The hold the lead 29-27 at 3:59. The half ends with Gurley hitting a hook and we grab a 34-33 lead into the half. Harris leads the Aggies with 13 and London has 8. For the Frogs, Gregory leads with 10 points and Gurley has 8 points. We are shooting 54% to 42% and lead in boards 16-15. We have given the ball away though 8 times to 5.

Harris and London keep going for the Aggies and at 15:57 its tied again at 42. Calton has picked up his 3rd foul. A Calton jumper gives us a 52-46 lead at 11:52. Blackshear is up to 10 points and 6 rebounds, and Gregory has 16. We are up to 15 turnovers but still have a 58-54 lead at 6:31. Both teams hold serve and at 3:58 its 62-58 Frogs. Harris is up to 16 points for the Aggies and 5 assists. Blackshear hits a money bomb from downtown and Williams fouls out of the game with 56 seconds left and the score 67-62 Frogs. We bury 4 free throws and with 20 seconds left lead 71-62. The game ends 73-62.

Harris led the Aggies with 18 points and 5 assists and London had 12 points and 5 boards. For the Frogs, Gregory led the way with 20 points, 6 rebounds. Blackshear had a double-double with 15 points, 10 boards and Gurley had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 blocks and 4 assists. We shoot 55% to their 38%, seal off the boards 40-26 and hit 15/18 from the charity stripe. We did commit 18 turnovers to their 8.

The win propels us to 2-1 for the season. We played very well in the 2nd half and never gave up the lead one we started to pull away in the last 7 minutes. A great win.

Vermont(2-2) @ TCU(2-1):

Vermont is 1-1 on the road. The Catamounts are led by SG Shawn Lenzly(18.5 ppg, 3 assists) and PF Hayden Kimbrough(16.3 ppg, 5.5 rebounds) We have the matchup edge in 4 positions. I do a little change and try Calton back at the point and move Rawlings to shooting guard. Calton was a good ball distributor last year and Rawlings is a little better pure shooter.

Calton must love playing the point because he starts off with 6 points and we have a 10-9 lead at 15:47. Gurley gets sick of giving up some rebounds so he starts blocking shots as we still lead 12-11 at 11:44. Poor shooting by both teams, but a Moreland 3 gives us a 19-16 lead at 7:49. Still sloppy and we still lead 24-23. Vermont starts warming up behind Kimbrough who has 6 points and take a 31-26 lead with 46 seconds left. The half ends 33-29. Kimbrough leads Vermont with 8 points. Calton leads us with 8 and Gregory has 6. Both teams shoot 38%, we have a slight edge 23-19 in rebounds and have 7 turnovers to 6. They were also 10/12 from the line and we were 4/8. We need to get the offense going in the 2nd half.

Calton and Gregory get things going, but we still trail 43-39 at 15:32. Gurley is starting to take over in the paint as he is up to 8 points and 10 rebounds, but we still trail 47-43. We have no one that can contain Kimbrough who is up to 16 points and we still trail 56-53. With 3:16 left its 58-56 Vermont, we have had a couple of chances to tie but have missed. 2 free throws from Strohm give them a 62-56 lead with 2:05 remaining. We miss a 3, then a dunk and Calton fouls out of the game with 55 seconds left trailing 63-57. They hit enough free throws and we lose 67-63.

Kimbrough led Vermont with 17 points and SG Lenzly added 9. Gurley led the Frogs with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. Gregory added 12, and Calton had 12 points and 5 assists before fouling out. Both teams shoot 43%, we are +12 on the glass 43-31 and had 14 turnovers to 11. We did struggle at the free throw line going 8/14.

The loss evens our record at 2-2. This was frustrating and Rawlings only scored 2 points. Blackshear was closed down with only 7 points.

[HornedFrog Purple]

TCU(2-2) @ Cornell(2-3):

We take our undefeated 1-0 road record to Cornell who are 2-2 at home. The Big Red are led by SF Steve Thurman(19.4 ppg, 4.6 rebounds) and SG Peter Lewis(15.6 ppg, 2.2 assists). We have the edge in 4 matchups. I will continue to use Calton at the point and hope Rawlings gets off the snide. This is what non-conference games are supposed to be about arent they? In 4 games, Gurley is averaging a double-double with 10.8 pts and rebounds.

The game is even at 15:38, 8-8. Gurley has been a force with 6 points already. Just after the timeout, Calton pulls up lame and has to leave the game. No more then 40 seconds later, so does Gregory! This puts Moreland, Rawlings and Miller in the game. Naturally, Cornell starts taking advantage and at 11:22 they lead 16-9. We go into turnover mode and Cornell increases its lead to 23-12 at 8:11 so I call timeout to lay into the refs and anyone else who will listen. Blackshear and Miller bang in some shots and at 3:54 we trail 31-23. Thurman has 10 for the Big Red and Parmer has 9. We go on a 9-4 mini-run to end the half and only trail 35-32. Miller has put in 7 points, Blackshear has 8 and Gurley has 9 points and 3 rebounds. We did shoot 55% for the half to their 48% and boards are even at 15. We committed 11 turnovers to 6. We will just have to figure out a way to score with Gregory and Calton out of the game.

At 15:42 Cornell extends its lead to 44-38 as we are getting no scoring from our backcourt. Its slipping away as Parmer is up to 18 points and The Big Red lead 54-40 at 11:54. It gets worse at 7:48 as they now lead 63-45, we just cant get anything going. We make a little bit of a run to close it to 69-57 at 3:31, but we are running out of time. We dont have enough in the tank left and lose 74-64.

Parmer was Michael Jordan for the Big Red with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. Fleming had 8 points and 5 rebounds. For the Frogs, Blackshear led with 17 points, and Moreland had a nice game off the bench with 13 points. Gurley-Man had 13 points, 7 rebounds and 5 blocks. They shoot 53% to our 48%, edge us on the glass 34-30 and we lose the turnover battle 14-12.

We fall to 2-3 and I vow never to schedule an Ivy League school again. They are too rough and we never beat them.

Gregory tore his hamstring and is out 1-2 months, Calton is ok though. Now I have to figure out who is going to play the 3 and more importantly how the Ivy League gets big-time players and why I end up with wusses.

Recruiting News

We get our first recruit:

Rahmeen Baker, SF 6'3 174 lbs. Converse Judson HS, Converse TX Ranked #63 Regionally, averaging 11.5 ppg and 10.6 rebounds. He is a 3-star rated recruit.

Georgia(5-4) @ TCU(2-3):

The Bulldogs come to town 1-2 on the road. They are led by SF Lataryl Webb(17.8 pts, 11.6 rebounds) and PF Ben Duncan(17.4 pts, 10.1 rebounds) They have the edge in 3 matchups and with our depleted bench we could be in for a long game. Freshman Rashon Miller gets his first ever start for the Horned Frogs.

A Calton 3-pointer gives us an early 10-6 at 15:36. We hang on 16-14 at 11:51 as Miller and Blackshear each have 4 points. We switch to a zone to rest, but Keams starts busting 3's and at 7:51 we trail 26-20. With 4 minutes left in the half, we trail 31-27, but Miller has been great in his first start with 11 points. We are 2/10 from downtown though. Georgia increases their lead to 10, 37-27 at 1:58 so I call timeout. The half ends 39-29. Keams has 12 points and 5 rebounds for the Bulldogs, and Miller leads us with 11. Gurley has been somewhat quiet with 4 points and 5 rebounds and 3 blocks. They shoot 50% to our 32% and we trail in rebounds 20-15. We go 2/12 from downtown, so there is 10 miles at practice.

Gurley tries to spark something on the defensive end, but no dice as Georgia now leads 45-33 with 16 minutes left. We cant contain Keams who is up to 18 points and at 11:56 its still 53-43 Georgia. I offer a renewal of scholarship for anyone on the team who can stop Keams and no one volunteers as he is up to 25 points and we call a timeout at 9:01 trailing 62-46. This is disgusting and I make them all stand while I yell. It gets out of hand at 4:47 as we trail 68-50 so I call another timeout. I hope these guys enjoy running 14 miles because we are 5/19 from beyond the arc. We get absolutely destroyed 81-52.

Keams led the Bulldogs with 25 points and 9 rebounds, SG Turner added 13. For the Frogs, Miller led the way with 15 points, Calton had 13 points and 5 assists and Blackshear had 10. Gurley tried inside with 4 points, 11 rebounds and 7 blocks. We shoot 29.8% for the game to their 50%, get pummeled on the glass 44-29 and commit 11 turnovers to 9. We also went 5/22 from beyond the arc. This means 17 miles they gotta run, hope they enjoy it.

We fall to 2-4 for the season. Disgusting 2nd half, shooting that many 3's should be outlawed.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Air Force(3-5) @ TCU(2-4):

The Falcons come to town currently 3-3 on the road. They are led by PF Jeremy Harper(11.8 ppg, 7.5 rebounds) and PG Broderick Moye(10.8 ppg, 7.6 assists). We have the edge in 3 matchups. Blackshear(12.3 ppg, 6 rebounds) and Gurley(10 ppg, 10.2 rebounds) have really worked hard on the inside and we will rely on them with our backcourt struggling.

Air Force jumps out early 11-6 at 15:54. Nothing seems to slow them down defensively at the moment and we trail 20-13 at 11:48. Bell and Harper have led the Falcons with 6 and 7 points, and Miller has hit a couple of 3's for us to have 8. We trail by 29-19 at 7:59. They are getting a lot of offensive rebounds, and Harper is up to 10 points. Gurley has been a non-factor and picks up his 3rd foul at 5:24. Nothing goes right and to end the half we trail 48-29. Ferguson (10), Harper(13) and Bell(11) lead the Falcons. Miller has 10 points for us and Blackshear has 7. Rawlings also has 6 points and 3 assists. They shoot 63% for the half and kill us on the boards 19-7. Turnovers are even at 7. I am at a loss at what to do.

Nothing changes much at 15:39 as we still trail 56-37. Harper and Bell are just killing us. We are just trading baskets with them and at 11:39 still trail 66-49. Miller is up to 20 points. Its about at the hopeless stage as at 7:40 we trail big 75-53. A couple f 3's by Moreland cut it to 76-61 at 3:53 but this game is basically over. This final is 83-63 Falcons.

Harper led Air Force with 27 points and 8 boards, Bell had 22 and Moye had 9 points, 9 assists. For the Frogs, Miller had a nice game with 24 points and Rawlings had 10. Calton did have 8 assists. Blackshear and Gurley were really non factors. They shoot 57% for the game, killed us on the boards 35-22. We had 14 turnovers to 12.

We fall to 2-5. Not much to say here, we refused to play defense or rebound, but it was a branch of the Armed Forces we were playing so I am more forgiving.

UTEP(1-7) @ TCU(2-5):

UTEP is winless on the road. They are led by SG Coupe Young(21.6 ppg) and SF Tyson Young(12 ppg, 7.4 rebounds). They are extremely Young as they start 4 sophomores. We have the edge in 3 matchups. We really need to get something going here at Daniel-Meter because we are 1-4.

We start off better and have an 8-6 lead at 15:42. Gurley is much more of a presence this game as he has 4 points and 2 rebounds already. He keep the lead 16-12 at 11:42 and are doing a better job on the boards as we lead early 8-6. We hold on to a 20-17 lead at 7:55, as Rawlings is up to 6 points. Gurley is starting to wreak havoc inside as he has 6 points and 7 boards and at 2:18 we lead 30-22. The half ends 32-24. Coupe Young leads the Miners with 10 points. Rawlings leads the Frogs with 8 points and Gurley had a nice half with 6 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks. We hold them to 37% from the field, we only shoot 39.5%, and are leading in rebounds 24-17.

UTEP comes out smoking and have cut the lead to 38-37 at 15:35. We go on a little spurt led by Rawlings and up the lead to 48-43 at 11:57. The Youngs remove that deficit quickly so I call timeout at 9:27 tied at 48. We cling to a 53-51 lead at 7:36. Richards for the Miners has come out of nowhere to score 14 points and they are up to 50% for the game and doing a much better job on the glass. UTEP goes on an 8-0 run and lead 59-53 forcing me to use my 2nd timeout at 5:18. Rawlings and Gurley bring us back to 61-59 at 3:43. Trailing 62-61 with 54 seconds left, Miller buries a bomb to give us the lead 64-62. They miss their shot with 20 seconds left and start fouling. Miller gets fouled and makes 1 of 2, they miss a halfcourt shot and we escape 65-62.

Richards and C. Young led the Miners with 14 each and T. Young had 11. For the Frogs, Rawlings had a game high 21 points, Miller added 11 and Gurley had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 blocks. They end up shooting 47% to our 43%, they edge us on rebounds 35-34 and we force 10 turnovers to our 6.

Well it wasnt pretty but we improve to 3-5. This is probably an indicator of how good(bad) we really are, although we are missing a couple of players and our bench is woeful besides Moreland. Matter of fact that coaching is woeful too.

[HornedFrog Purple]

Recruiting Update

We pick up two more recruits:

C Adrian Chandler 6'9 235 lbs. Marshall HS, San Francisco, CA Averaging 5.3 ppg and 2.1 rebounds. Rated as a 3-star recruit.

PG Andy Jones 5'11 153 lbs. Stickney HS, Stickney SD Averaging 30.0 ppg and 3.2 assists. Ranked #90 in the West. Rated a 3-star recruit.

I have one more scholarship to give, so I will try and get the best available of anything.

Holy Cross(3-7) @ TCU(3-5):

The Crusaders come to Fort Worth with a 2-4 record on the road. They are led by PG Brendon Spence(18.3 ppg, 1.9 assists) and PF John Favors(18.9 ppg, 5 rebounds) We have the edge in 3 matchups. Our guards played a little better last game and hopefully they will keep it up. It looks like Gregory will be gone for a while still. But we have a bit of good news as Richeson has recovered.

10-8 we lead at 15:34, Calton has jumped out of the gate with 5 quick points. Spence goes on fire and is up to 11 points for Holy Cross and they lead 21-17 at 11:16. Spence and Favors are basically their team right now as they have 22 points between them and Holy Cross leads 27-21 at 7:52. We go on a 10-2 run led by Rawlings and Blackshear forcing a timeout from Holy Cross, and we now lead 35-31 at 4:17. We continue our play and at the half lead 45-36. Rawlings and Blackshear led the way with 11 points each and Spence had 16 for Holy Cross. We shoot 64% for the half to their 56% and have an edge on rebounds 13-10. Turnovers are 6 for them to our 5. I switched to a 3-2 zone to try and make Spence give up the ball the last 8 minutes or so and it seemed to work a little bit.

Blackshear is a Frog possessed as he is up to 15 points and Gurley has gotten 7 points and 6 rebounds and at 15:59 we lead 53-41. We are able to hold the lead to 59-49 at 11:39. Favors and Spence are trying everything to get the Crusaders back in the game. They make a bit of a comeback and cut it to 63-56 at 7:41 as the refs decided if we look at them funny its a foul. Despite going ice cold from the field and turning the ball over at will we still have a 67-59 lead. The refs have called 9 fouls on us to their 3 so I give them a piece of my mind. Spence drills a 3-pointer for Holy Cross and with 1:35 our lead is only 67-64. They cut it to 1, but Miller hits a shot so its still 69-66 with 33 seconds left. Favors cuts it to 1 again and they foul Rawlings who misses so they have the ball with 4 seconds left..... Spence drills a damn 3, and we lose 71-69. Unbelievable.

Favors has 27 and Spence has 26 for them. Blackshear had a nice game with 19 points, Rawlings and Miller had 13 each and Gurley-man had 9 points, 9 rebounds and a block. We shoot 53% to 50%, outrebounded them 32-24 but had 21 turnovers to 15.

We fall to 3-6 for the year. We got shafted by the refs in the 2nd half. Unreal, we deserved a better fate, thats my story and I am sticking to it.

LSU(3-8) @ TCU(3-6):

The Tigers come to town 1-5 on the road, of course we are 2-5 at home. They are led by SG Jamel Knight(12.1 ppg and 2.8 assists) and PF Lamond Reeves(11.5 ppg, 6.5 rebounds) They have the edge in 3 matchups. Rawlings is starting to get comfortable at the 2, and if Miller, Blackshear and Gurley can hold their own we might be ok.

LSU takes the early lead 11-8 at 15:56. They go on a spurt led by Martin and C Reis and lead 19-12 at 11:52. We are having trouble getting anything inside and Reis is cleaning up inside for them with 10 points and we trail 23-16 with 8 minutes left. We go on a little bit of a spurt to cut the lead to 30-24 at 3:47, led by Miller and Calton. The half ends 35-30. Reis has dominated inside with 12 points, 5 rebounds and 4 blocks. Rawlings leads the Frogs with 7 points. They shoot 58% from the field to our 455, lead in rebounds 15-12, but we have forced 9 turnovers to our 6. If we can get anything going inside in the 2nd half we might be ok.

LSU takes over the 1st 2 minutes and leads 42-30 so I call a timeout. They are just schooling us inside and lead 48-32 at 15:11. It gets worse at 11:29 they lead 54-35. Reis is owning Gurley with 18 points and 9 rebounds, and we cant do anything on offense. Blackshear gets it going a little bit but we still trail 58-41 at 7:32. Its gone to hopeless as we trail 71-45 with 3:50 left. This means one thing and only one thing: UNLEASH THE F****** FURY! Thankfully it ends with the score 80-51 Tigers-alas the Fury was for not.

Reis killed us with 22 points, 11 rebounds and 4 blocks, and Anderson added 14. For the Frogs, Rawlings had 13 and Calton had 9. They shoot 60% for the game to our 39%, spank us on the glass 37-23 and had 12 blocks.

The misery continues as we fall to 3-7. They were just a better team and better looking.

[HornedFrog Purple]

So after 10 games lets see whats going on elsewhere:

 



American Division



(21)Louisville			11-1

(23)Cincinnati			10-2

Charlotte			                 7-5

DePaul				 6-6

Marquette			 5-6

East Carolina			 5-7

St. Louis			                 3-8



National Division



UAB				7-4

Memphis				7-4

Houston				7-4

Southern Miss			6-5

South Florida			5-7

TCU*				3-7

Tulane				2-10  



Top 10:



1. Indiana			13-1

2. UCLA				13-1

3. Illinois			                12-2

4. Michigan State		                13-2

5. Arizona			                13-2

6. Tennessee			11-1

7. Wisconsin			11-1

8. Iowa				11-2

9. Syracuse			11-1

10. Florida			12-2

Frog Stats

Points:

Blackshear 11.1
Miller 9.5
Rawlings 9.2
Gurley 9.1

Rebounds:

Gurley 9.1 (8th in conference)
Blackshear 5.8

Assists:

Calton 4.3 (12th in conference)
Rawlings 2.4

Team Stats

Scoring Offense: 64 ppg (13th)
Scoring Defense: 69.3 ppg (8th)
FG Offense: 45.1% (10th)
FG Defense: 46.7% (7th)
Turnover Margin: +2.7 (1st in conference!)
Rebounding Margin: + .5 (6th)
FT Shooting: 66.2% (7th in conference)

[HornedFrog Purple]

Monmouth(8-3) @ TCU(3-7):

The Hawks come to Fort Worth 5-2 on the road. They are led by SG Edmund Rencher(18.7 ppg, 3.7 assists) and SF Joe Purvis(16.3 ppg, 5.3 rebounds) We have the edge in 3 matchups. They look to have a pretty big frontline so ours will have its work cut out for them. Rawlings and Miller will have to step it up.

We start off in front 9-5 at 15:53, Miller has 5 points. A 3 by Rencher for the Hawks cuts the lead to 16-13 at 11:41, Gurley has been effective with 5 points and 4 rebounds. The Hawks go on a run to take a 19-18 lead with 9:04 left so I call a timeout. It goes to worse and with 3:06 left we trail 36-24. We cant do anything. The half ends 41-28. Rencher leads Monmouth with 11 and Purvis adds 10. Gurley leads us with 9 points and 6 rebounds, and Rawlings has 8. Its real easy to tell why we are losing: We dont shoot(37%), we dont rebound(23-18 Hawks) and we dont play defense(they did slow down to 45%). They shoot 6/14 from downtown too.

We trade baskets with them to start the half and at 15:53 we make no progress and trail 49-34. Gurley is up to 15 points but its pointless as we still trail 59-42 with 11:43 left. 64-46 at 7:49, Rencher, Purvis and Curry are just shredding us. 73-56 with 3:36 left, Miller is up to 11 points. The final is 79-62.

Curry had 21 points and 13 rebounds for the Hawks, Purvis added 16 and Rencher had 8. For the Frogs, Gurley had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Miller had 11 and Blackshear had 10 points and 9 boards. They shoot 52% for the game to our 40%. We actually ended up outrebounding them 39-37 and only had 8 turnovers. They were 7/20 from 3-point land.

Down we go to 3-8. Looking at this team, we are worse than last year when I maybe thought we would improve. We are pathetic, but the coaching and game-preparation is marvelous and my 3-piece suit looks wonderful.

We now start conference play. Here are our 1st 6 games:

@ Marquette
South Florida
Southern Miss
Tulane
@ UAB
@ Memphis

Although 3-3 would be nice, I dont see it happening. But I am going to make some changes to the starting lineup and see if we can do anything correctly. Since I have decided this season is hopeless anyways, Moreland will be the starting PG and Calton moves to the bench.

TCU(3-8, 0-0) @ Marquette(6-6, 1-0):

We actually have a 1-1 record on the road and travel to Marquette where they are 4-2. They are led by PF Jermaine Ford(16.8 ppg, 7.9 rebounds) and SF Pat Thomas(12 points, 4.2 rebounds). We have the edge in 3 matchups. Moreland gets his 1st start at the point.

The Eagles get an early 9-4 lead as Thomas has 7 points. A slam by Ford makes it 17-7 at 11:51. We come back with a little run led by Blackshear and Gurley and at 7:50 trail 23-18. It gets back up to 31-22 so I call a timeout with 4:59 left. Another timeout at 1:27 because we are trailing 38-26. The first half ends 43-28. Thomas has 18 points and their PG Williams has 13. For the Frogs, Calton leads with 6, Moreland has 5. We are shooting 52% for the game, only trail by one board 16-15. Why are we behind by 15? We have 9 turnovers... they have ZERO.

Thomas just keeps hitting whatever he wants at will and with 15:42 left we trail 53-35. Moreland and Rawlings warmup a bit and we have cut it to 57-46 at 11:31. Thomas says no-sir to that and drills a 3 and at 7:29 its back up to 67-52. Its Thomas and his 4 friends as he is up to 31 points and with 3:46 left this one is over 75-54. The final is 81-59.

Thomas ended up with 31 points and Ford added 14. For the Frogs, Rawlings had 12, Moreland had 11 with 5 assists and Calton came off the bench for 11. Gurley was non-existant with 2 points and 8 rebounds. They shoot 52% to our 48%, we hang in on rebounds 31-30 but of course we turn the ball over 12 times to their THREE. Insane.

We fall to 3-9 and 0-1. Nothing I can do really, we just gotta find a way to get a win. TCJC could have caused more turnovers and Dunbar High School would have killed all three of us.

[HornedFrog Purple]

South Florida(5-9, 0-1) @ TCU(3-9, 0-1):

The Bulls come to town winless in conference play also and 2-4 on the road. No big deal as we are a pitiful 2-7. They are led by PF Geoff Fisher(14.6 pts, 7.3 rebounds) and SF Nick Beerbohm(13.3 pts, 4.3 rebounds). I have decided to make some more changes to the starting 5, and Mueller will get a start at PF and Blackshear moves to SF. We have the edge in 4 matchups, but we got to take care of business.

Its a brickfest to start the game but we squeak out a 6-5 lead with 15:39 left. With 12 minutes left we have opened up a 14-9 lead. Mueller has made the most of his start with 6 points, Fisher has 5 for the Bulls. Ferguson gets going for the Bulls and at 7:57 our lead is only 21-20. We go into turnover mode but a Blackshear jumper keeps us with the lead 30-28 with 3:28 left in the half. No one feels like playing defense and the Bulls end up with the lead at the half 40-38. Ferguson leads them with 9 and Fisher has 7 points and 6 boards. Mueller leads the Frogs with 8 and Gurley has 6. We shoot 58% from the field to 52%, trail in boards 15-14 and turnovers are even at 9. Can we finally play a good second half? Please?

We hang around trailing 46-44 at 15:28. Blackshear is up to 6 points and 7 rebounds. We stil hang around and trail 50-49 with 11:46 left. Moreland has 6 points and 6 assists running the point. South Florida gets hot as Beerbohm and Ferguson hit some shots and at 7:45 we trail 61-54. Calton and Moreland spark a 14-4 run and with 3:59 left we have gotten a 68-65 lead. Lynch goes nuts for South Florida and has 3 dunks in a row and a blocked shot and with 49 seconds left we trail 75-71. The King of Blown Layups Richeson blows his patented shot so we have to foul. Calton buries a 3 with 14 seconds left. But of course Lynch hits every freethrow and we lose 80-74.

Ferguson led the Bulls with 20 points, Fisher had 11 points and 12 rebounds and Lynch had 18 points. For us, Calton led the way with 14 points, Mueller had 12 with 6 boards and Moreland had 11 points and 9 assists. Gurley had 8 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. Both teams shoot 51% for the game, they edge us in rebounds 33-29 and turnovers 16-17.

3-10, 0-2. We have lost 9 of our last 10 games. Wake me up when this is over.

Southern Miss(8-6, 2-1) @ TCU(3-10, 0-2):

The Golden Eagles come to town playing .500 ball on the road at 3-3. They are led by SG Orlando Tucker(15.4 pp, 2.3 assists) and SF Gabe Berry(14.4 ppg, 6.9 rebounds). We have the edge in 3 matchups. I will keep the lineup the same with Mueller in there as our bench did a better job helping with points with Miller on it.

Both teams start off hot and we have a 12-10 lead at 15:43. Moreland has hit two 3's early. At 11:57 its 20-19 Frogs. Moreland has 5 assists and 6 points. Neither team looks interested in stopping the other and its tied at 28 with 7:43 left. We go on a little 10-4 run to give us a 38-32 lead with 3:57 left as Richeson has scored 6 points off the bench. Our run continues 11-8 to end the half and we have a 49-40 lead. Tucker lead S. Miss with 14 points and Norwood has 11. For the Frogs, Rawlings has 11, Gurley has 8 points, 3 rebounds and Moreland has 6 points and 9 assists. We end up shooting 67% for the half to 60%, nick them on rebounds 12-11 and have 4 turnovers to 6. We will keep playing the 3-2 zone as it slowed them down somewhat.

They bust the zone with Tucker and Berry and our lead is down to 53-51 at 15:08. At 11:42 we cling to a 58-57 lead. Berry has come alive in the 2nd half with 12 points. We fall behind but a 3 by Miller ties up the game at 63 with 6:54 to go. Gurley and Mueller get something going inside and with 3:05 left we have squeaked out a 71-68 lead. Wouldnt you know Southern Miss comes back and a dunk by Taylor gives them a 75-74 lead with 28 seconds left, so I call timeout and draw up a play. Mueller misses and we are forced to foul. Moreland misses a prayer and we lose yet another one 77-74.

Tucker ended up with 20 points and Berry had 14 points and 9 rebounds for the Eagles. Mueller led the Frogs with 17 points and 7 rebounds, Rawlings had 15, Moreland had 7 points and 12 assists, and Gurley-Man had 10 points, 9 boards and 3 blocks. They shot 55.7% for the game, we simmered down to 49%. They had the edge on rebounds 35-29 but we had less turnovers 8-10.

We drop to 3-11 and 0-3. Nothing is going our way, even when we play better. We just cant buy a break.

Recruiting Update

We pick up our final recruit:

PF Wesely Hamilton 6'5 239 lbs Flandreau HS, Flandreau, SD
Ranked #59 in the West, a 3-star recruit. Averaging 5.5 ppg and 4.1 rebounds.