Improving the defense is key to Frogs’ success
By Adam Williams
Skiff Staff

The 2002-03 men’s basketball season marked Neil Dougherty’s first full season as the Horned Frogs’ head coach. At season’s end, the Frogs compiled an overall record of 9-19, with a Conference USA record of 3-13. Dougherty knew if the Frogs were to get back to their winning tradition, the focus would need to be on their defense.

Last year’s team averaged 77 points a game, the 4th highest scoring average within C-USA. However, the Frogs also allowed 81 points a game, ranking last in the conference. This season, Dougherty is determined to improve on last year’s defensive results.

“We weren’t tough enough on opponents last year,” Dougherty said. “With a conference as tough as ours, if you don’t have a hand in their face, they’ll make you pay.”

Dougherty also accredits his team’s poor defensive results last season to their lack of rebounding.

“Offenses looked good against us even when we played well defensively. If they missed a shot, our inability to rebound allowed them two or three good looks on the offensive end. That is just too many opportunities if we plan on improving defensively.”

This year’s team may be a young squad that is still learning and adapting to Dougherty’s system, but they are stronger and prepared to make a statement on defense.

“We have four freshman and three transfers who have never played in our system before,” Dougherty said. “The adjustment period has been difficult at times but our work ethic has been tremendous. The harder we work, the quicker we will come together as a group.”

Senior guard Nucleus Smith said despite a few of the players lacking experience and knowledge of Dougherty’s system, the players are learning quickly.

“Everyone picks up the system very fast,” Smith said. “We are ahead compared to last year’s team.”

The Frogs’ ultimate goal for this season will be building upon defensive successes, such as their 101-66 drubbing of Vilnius Sakalai in an exhbition game, and continuing to improve as a unit. TCU faces tough competition in C-USA, which features three teams, Louisville, Cincinnati and Marquette, ranked in the pre-season Top 25 USA Today Coaches’ Poll.

Despite the talentented teams in C-USA, Dougherty thinks the Frogs, who are ranked 11th of 14 teams in the C-USA preseason poll, can compete with any opponent.

“The preseason rankings are meaningless to us,” he said. “We are out here to work on a being where we want to be come conference play. If we are at our best come conference play, we know we can compete with any team in the league.”

Smith said the players are confident in their ability to compete in C-USA.

“We feel very confident going into C-USA because last year we were in most of the games that we lost,” Smith said. “I think we have a deeper bench than last year, and we have more of an idea of what it takes to win.”

With continual improvements to both their rebounding and defense, the Frogs hope to shape up as a formidable opponent within the conference. With a further learned defensive system under Dougherty, along with a growing crop of healthy young talent, the 2003-04 Frogs could become just that.