How TCU basketball is preparing for the NCAA tournament
As TCU prepares for the NCAA tournament, coach Jamie Dixon was in a good mood, offering the media topography lessons on the altitude of Denver.
The atmosphere at Tuesday’s practice overall was light, not because the Horned Frogs aren’t taking the moment serious, but because TCU is in a unique position.
While most of the tournament field is preparing for one opponent, TCU has to be mindful of two as they await to see who will emerge victorious from Arizona State and Nevada’s clash in one of the First Four games on Wednesday.
“It’s a little unique with preparation with ASU and Nevada,” Dixon said. “We’ll go through a couple of each team’s sets today, kind of a walk through thing, but focus more on our rules when guarding something as much as what they’re doing.”
“We did a couple of their actions yesterday, both teams. It’s rare that you’re in this situation. Not knowing who you’re playing is a unique thing, but that’s how we’re handling it.”
Clarity will come late Wednesday night with Arizona State and Nevada set for a 8:10 p.m. CT tip. TCU will land in Denver a few hours before. The team plans to spend the evening together and watch the game to scout their next opponent.
“I think, if the timing works out, we’ll be eating dinner, so we’ll put the TV on,” Dixon,
Don’t expect Dixon to sit through the whole two hours though. Life as a coach has had a significant impact on his TV watching skills.
“I have trouble watching the games with all the commercials and stuff,” Dixon said. “We get an edit of a game when we watch the film, every second that we cut out, we cut out. If a guy is dribbling up the floor, we’ll cut it to right before they get into their actions.
“Our attention spans as coaches is short, our wives are right about that. We can’t focus for long and I’ve never been big on commercials. I guess this conversation has gone completely off the rails.”
The comment generated a number of laughs from Dixon and the media alike. The calm mood is a result of the experience of both Dixon and the roster.
They gained valuable insight into how to prepare with last season’s berth to the NCAA tournament and this will be Dixon’s 14th tournament as a head coach. While the jokes were flying and mood was light Tuesday, don’t get it twisted, TCU hasn’t lost sight of its serious goal of making the second week of the Big Dance since 1967-68.
Dixon has told his team constantly in March that now is their time. All the adversity the team has faced this season from injuries to the grueling Big 12 has prepared them for this moment.
“I just wanted us to have that mentality going into it,” Dixon said. “We’re healthy for the first time all year.”
