Inexperience no longer excuse for TCU men at this point, Johnson says

Approaching the halfway point of the Big 12 schedule, TCU continues to learn “painful lessons,” in coach Trent Johnson’s words.

The Horned Frogs (9-9, 1-5 Big 12) committed two turnovers in the last minute of the first half and one in the last minute of the game against Texas Tech on Monday, costing them in a 76-69 loss. It was not the first time this year; the Frogs rank last in the league in assist-to-turnover ratio.

But 18 games into the season and six into the conference schedule, Johnson believes he should be seeing sharper performances.

“Experience isn’t an excuse,” Johnson said. “It’s all about being able to execute defensively and offensively versus good teams, well-coached teams and good players. That’s the bottom line. We watch too much tape and break down too much tape. They’re showing when they’ve had success — whether it’s one possession versus Baylor or two possessions versus Kansas — that’s what you teach and that’s what you coach. So, painful lessons learned.”

Only three players came into the season with significant playing time over the previous two seasons. On top of that, sophomore forward Kenrich Williams, a starter a year ago, is out for the season recovering from knee surgery.

Monday night against Texas Tech, the end of the bench for TCU had three players in street clothes: Williams, Trent and transfer Alex Robinson. Trent was missing his third game because of a violation of team rules. Robinson won’t be eligible until next season.

“Nobody really knows the impact that those guys can have on this team, especially with this group of guys,” sophomore guard Chauncey Collins said. “Our bench is short, but we still come out and give it all every night. But when we do get Kenrich back, as well as Alex and Q, the sky’s the limit with this team.”

For now, it’s hard not to miss the veteran presence of Kyan Anderson and Trey Zeigler from a year ago. Johnson could count on them for precise execution. The lack of it hurt the Horned Frogs in the final minute of the first and second halves against Texas Tech.

“What I told the guys is, the sooner we get to the point where we can concentrate for a full four-minute segment in terms of doing exactly what we want offensively and defensively — when we can do that — we’ll have some success against some good teams,” Johnson said.

“Right now, the way we don’t finish halves, it puts us in a bad spot. I told them what they need to do right now is concentrate on school and blocking out the noise. We’re 1-5 in the league. We’ve got a long way to go.”

The Horned Frogs visit Texas on Tuesday then come back to finish the week in a nonconference game against Tennessee, part of the Big 12/SEC challenge.

This story was originally published January 22, 2016 at 9:30 AM with the headline "Inexperience no longer excuse for TCU men at this point, Johnson says."