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| INSIDE THE NUMBERS |
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2000-01 record: 16-15;
6-10 in C-USA (Tied 4th/National)
Postseason: None. Last NCAA appearance was in 1998.
RETURNING LEADERS
Points: Blount 19.5
Rebs: Brown 9.0
Assists: Santee 5.8
FG: Merriex 45.9%
3pt: Merriex 39.9%
FT: Blount 86.4%
01-02 Stats:
TCU | C-USA
KEY LOSSES
Linton Johnson | 9.0 ppg
PROJECTED STARTERS
G | Nucleus Smith | Soph
G | Corey Santee | Soph
G | Junior Blount | Senior
F | Bingo Merriex | Senior
F | Jamal Brown | Senior
Player to Watch
Junior Blount
Senior Guard
Simply the best scorer left in C-USA. His 364 in conference set a record last season, highlighed by 42 vs. Tulane
DATE TO REMEMBER
The first league home game is against kingpin Cincinnati, a team TCU didn't play last year. If the Horned Frogs are serious about being contenders in the league, what better opportunity to show it?
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TCU HORNED FROGS
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Billy Tubbs had coached the past few years as if he were in semi-retirement, and at season's end he made it official. TCU enters a new era in which the players might actually be expected to play some defense. Neil Dougherty's first head coaching job after seven seasons assisting Roy Williams at Kansas should at least be interesting. Dougherty inherits the top five scorers from last year's run-and-gun bunch and brought in a couple of recruits who could make an impact, so the usual coaching-change optimism is warranted. Dougherty will have a trio of perimeter shooters in Junior Blount (83 threes last year), Corey Santee (50 threes) and Bingo Merriex (69). Jamal Brown, who averaged a team-high nine rebounds per game and excelled at getting to the foul line, will handle the interior offensive duties and should be the go-to guy. Keep an eye on freshman Chudi Chinweze, an athletic 6-6 forward from Houston. He played well in the Horned Frogs' exhibition win. And while holding Slovakia Select to 77 points won't exactly put TCU on the national radar, it beats the 80 or more it surrendered 19 times last season.
TOUGH ENOUGH..............................
Just watch: A Horned Frog will actually take a charge this year, and several of them might be spotted bending their knees of the defensive end of the court. That's the way they do things at Kansas, and Dougherty will bring that mentality to one of the laziest defensive teams in the country. Given the offensive weaponry -- led by an explosive perimeter -- just a little improvement in stopping the opposition could go a long way.
TOUGH ENOUGH?..............................
The faint-hearted Frogs were easily shoved around and outrebounded last year, and feature just one player on the roster who weighs more than 228 pounds. Eighteen out of 31 opponents last year scored more than 80 points on TCU, including 12 in 17 C-USA games.
BOTTOM LINE..............................
The key will be how the players respond to the culture shock of a radically different approach, and how Dougherty responds to being a head coach. If all goes well, TCU should have a legitimate shot at winning its division and earning its first postseason bid since 1999.
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