As TCU players spent Monday recounting their first taste of the Big Apple as NIT participants, guard Brandon Parrish offered a subtle reminder that there is work to be done in Tuesday?s semifinals matchup against Central Florida in Madison Square Garden.
?At the end of the day, it?s a business trip,? Parrish said. ?We don?t want to just go to the semifinals. We want to win the championship. That?s what our main goal is. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we want to enjoy it. But we?re going to be focused.?
TCU (22-15) heads into Tuesday?s game against UCF (24-11) with the top RPI (No. 67) of any NIT semifinalist and under the direction of first-year coach Jamie Dixon, who has won more games in Madison Square Garden (26) than any other coach among the four competing teams. But he?ll be staring across the arena at UCF coach Johnny Dawkins, who won two NIT titles during his tenure at Stanford (2012, 2015) before taking over the Knights? program this season.
When the teams take the floor at 8 p.m. Tuesday, the Knights will lean on a defense anchored by Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-6 sophomore who is the tallest player in major-college basketball and the American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year.
Fall stands 7 inches taller than the two tallest players on the Frogs? roster (forwards Vladimir Brodziansky and Karviar Shepherd, both 6-11) and has averaged 11.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.
?That?s never happened to me before, at any level of basketball,? Shepherd said Monday. ?I?ve been on the shorter half of the spectrum before, but never by 7 inches.?
Dixon recognizes the challenge and has spent the last three practices addressing ways to offset Fall?s rim-protecting presence.
?Obviously, he changes the game inside defensively,? Dixon said. ?But there are some other things that you hope that we can take advantage of in transition or bring him out on the perimeter to guard some ball screens or create matchups more to our liking. With strengths come some weaknesses and as we go, we look at those and we attack those.?
A TCU victory means a berth in Thursday?s championship game against Georgia Tech or Cal State-Bakersfield. The Frogs have won five of their last six games, capped by last week?s 86-68 victory over Richmond that sealed their berth in New York.
TCU guard Kenrich Williams turned in the first triple-double of his career (11 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists) in the victory over Richmond, the second in school history. The performance allowed Williams, who missed last year?s 12-21 campaign because of knee surgery, to continue a bounce-back season that has seen him produce 17 double-doubles in 35 contests since being cleared to play Nov. 18 against Jacksonville State after sitting out 618 days between contests.
Dixon acknowledged that Williams, a junior from Waco, has been a driving force in the team?s postseason run and a pleasant surprise to members of the first-year coaching staff.
?I didn?t know what we had in Kenrich,? Dixon said. ?We?re still finding ways to get him more involved with the offense. His versatility is unbelievable. Just look at how good he is. He?s part of the reason that it?s March and we?re still getting better.?
Williams played a major role in helping TCU post a 39-22 rebounding edge against Richmond, a key factor in helping the Frogs advance to New York. He understands Fall?s presence could make it difficult to repeat such a performance but suggested the Frogs can still be effective on the glass. That?s the plan, once again, for Tuesday.
?Once we got selected to the NIT, this is what I expected. I said, ?We?re going to go to New York and win the championship,? ? Williams said. ?Offensively, we?re playing great. We have a lot of confidence. The defense is where we?ve really picked it up the last few games.?
Parrish, one of four seniors who were part of TCU?s 0-18 record against Big 12 opponents during the 2013-14 season, soaked in his surroundings Monday and smiled.
?When I committed to TCU, this is what I was hoping and dreaming for,? Parrish said. ?This is phenomenal. Right now, we see the light. We feel like we?re playing our best basketball and we?re going to have a beautiful experience. Someone?s going to win it. Why not us??
?At the end of the day, it?s a business trip,? Parrish said. ?We don?t want to just go to the semifinals. We want to win the championship. That?s what our main goal is. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and we want to enjoy it. But we?re going to be focused.?
TCU (22-15) heads into Tuesday?s game against UCF (24-11) with the top RPI (No. 67) of any NIT semifinalist and under the direction of first-year coach Jamie Dixon, who has won more games in Madison Square Garden (26) than any other coach among the four competing teams. But he?ll be staring across the arena at UCF coach Johnny Dawkins, who won two NIT titles during his tenure at Stanford (2012, 2015) before taking over the Knights? program this season.
When the teams take the floor at 8 p.m. Tuesday, the Knights will lean on a defense anchored by Tacko Fall, a 7-foot-6 sophomore who is the tallest player in major-college basketball and the American Athletic Conference defensive player of the year.
Fall stands 7 inches taller than the two tallest players on the Frogs? roster (forwards Vladimir Brodziansky and Karviar Shepherd, both 6-11) and has averaged 11.0 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.
?That?s never happened to me before, at any level of basketball,? Shepherd said Monday. ?I?ve been on the shorter half of the spectrum before, but never by 7 inches.?
Dixon recognizes the challenge and has spent the last three practices addressing ways to offset Fall?s rim-protecting presence.
?Obviously, he changes the game inside defensively,? Dixon said. ?But there are some other things that you hope that we can take advantage of in transition or bring him out on the perimeter to guard some ball screens or create matchups more to our liking. With strengths come some weaknesses and as we go, we look at those and we attack those.?
A TCU victory means a berth in Thursday?s championship game against Georgia Tech or Cal State-Bakersfield. The Frogs have won five of their last six games, capped by last week?s 86-68 victory over Richmond that sealed their berth in New York.
TCU guard Kenrich Williams turned in the first triple-double of his career (11 points, 14 rebounds, 10 assists) in the victory over Richmond, the second in school history. The performance allowed Williams, who missed last year?s 12-21 campaign because of knee surgery, to continue a bounce-back season that has seen him produce 17 double-doubles in 35 contests since being cleared to play Nov. 18 against Jacksonville State after sitting out 618 days between contests.
Dixon acknowledged that Williams, a junior from Waco, has been a driving force in the team?s postseason run and a pleasant surprise to members of the first-year coaching staff.
?I didn?t know what we had in Kenrich,? Dixon said. ?We?re still finding ways to get him more involved with the offense. His versatility is unbelievable. Just look at how good he is. He?s part of the reason that it?s March and we?re still getting better.?
Williams played a major role in helping TCU post a 39-22 rebounding edge against Richmond, a key factor in helping the Frogs advance to New York. He understands Fall?s presence could make it difficult to repeat such a performance but suggested the Frogs can still be effective on the glass. That?s the plan, once again, for Tuesday.
?Once we got selected to the NIT, this is what I expected. I said, ?We?re going to go to New York and win the championship,? ? Williams said. ?Offensively, we?re playing great. We have a lot of confidence. The defense is where we?ve really picked it up the last few games.?
Parrish, one of four seniors who were part of TCU?s 0-18 record against Big 12 opponents during the 2013-14 season, soaked in his surroundings Monday and smiled.
?When I committed to TCU, this is what I was hoping and dreaming for,? Parrish said. ?This is phenomenal. Right now, we see the light. We feel like we?re playing our best basketball and we?re going to have a beautiful experience. Someone?s going to win it. Why not us??
