Johnson eager to get TCU ready for start of Big 12 play
The start of the Big 12 schedule is fast approaching for TCU, and coach Trent Johnson said after Sunday’s victory against Abilene Christian that he’s looking forward to preparing the Horned Frogs for it.
“After we get through Bradley and Delaware State, I really am looking forward to it,” Johnson said. “Just because we’ve got an ability to score the ball, we’ve got an ability to really take care of the ball — it just has to be done by committee.”
The Horned Frogs beat Bradley on the road 53-49 Wednesday night.
Sophomore forward Vladimir Brodziansky is ninth in the Big 12 in scoring at 14.5 points a game.
Karviar Shepherd ranks ninth in rebounds (6.4 per game), and Brodziansky is 16th (5.7).
Sophomore guard Malique Trent is tied for ninth in assists at 3.5 a game.
Time and score doesn’t matter as much as you executing and you doing exactly what you’re taught.
TCU coach Trent Johnson
But as a team, TCU (7-4) is last in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.84) and eighth in turnover margin (plus 0.82).
“My biggest worry with this group, and the responsibility is on me, is to get them to take care of the ball, be strong with the ball in critical situations,” Johnson said. “Time and score doesn’t matter as much as you executing and you doing exactly what you’re taught.”
Johnson still sees the lack of experience on the Frogs’ roster.
“I haven’t talked about last year, but since you asked that question, we had a couple of guys last year that played a lot of basketball in Trey Zeigler and Kyan Anderson,” he said. “You look at our league. The best teams in our league are a bunch of senior-laden, talented players that are top-heavy.”
TCU returns to action Monday with a home game against Delaware State. The Big 12 opener is Jan. 2 at Oklahoma State, followed by a Jan. 4 home game against West Virginia and a Jan. 9 game against Texas.
Every team in the Big 12 has a winning record.
Carlos Mendez: 817-390-7760, @calexmendez
Delaware State at TCU men
7 p.m. Monday, FSSW Plus
This story was originally published December 21, 2015 at 11:17 AM with the headline "Johnson eager to get TCU ready for start of Big 12 play."