TCU started the basketball season Monday night against Eastern Michigan.
I know it was the fifth game of the year.
But the 87-69 win at Schollmaier Arena was the first time the Horned Frogs were together on the court as the Horned Frogs everyone thought they would be seeing on Nov. 7, when the official year began with a short roster.
That night, they opened with only four players who had played a college minute.
But Monday night, there was Jaylen Fisher. There was Kouat Noi. Teamed with running buddies Alex Robinson and Desmond Bane, they all got their groove back. Shots were plentiful, balls landed in the net and everybody was in uniform. No gray warmups anywhere on the bench.
At halftime, there was a double-digit lead.
Just like the old days.
Fisher played 31 minutes and made four 3-pointers, looking entirely pre-knee surgery. Noi scored a career-high 27 points in 27 minutes, active all over the court, very much resembling his form from a year ago.
They are vital to this team. Without them, TCU was basically playing with a half-deck, loading the offense on Robinson’s and Bane’s shoulders for the first four games with a little help from veterans JD Miller and R.J. Nembhard and freshman guard Kendric Davis — all while trying to get new center/forwards Kevin Samuel, Lat Mayen and Yuat Alok up to speed quickly enough to chip in.
Now minutes and roles make more sense. Against EMU, the Frogs functioned like freshly installed software. Smooth, quick and clean.
Friday night against Central Michigan marks Game No. 2 for the new good-old Frogs.
“We’re a team in the making,” coach Jamie Dixon said. “It’s been pretty obvious to me for a while. Guys have to get their legs underneath them in situations and play with each other. We’ll see how it carries over into our next one. We’ll get there. It’s just playing with each other.”
There is plenty of time to do that before the Big 12 season starts on Jan. 5. That’s a good five weeks away.
Injuries kept more than Fisher and Noi out of action. Mayen sat out a game with leg discomfort. Kaden Archie missed the Eastern Michigan game with an illness. Angus McWilliam sat out recovering from a concussion in practice.
All in all, TCU is probably a couple of weeks behind schedule in jelling. It caught up to them in a loss last week.
But then, the season hadn’t really begun yet, right?
“It just takes time. They’re not back; they’re just not,” Dixon said. “We’re talking about two guys that haven’t played in 11 months in Lat and Jaylen. Kuoat hasn’t practiced in three weeks. It’s not an excuse, it’s just facts.”
The season went ahead and started on the Frogs, ready or not. Dixon is trying to make up for the lost time by sneaking an extra mph or two.
“We had four good days and had to take a day off by the rules, or I would have gone the fifth day, too,” he said. “We did a lot more five-on-five stuff, live stuff. That’s what we had to do. We got right back after it after the loss and just five-on-five. Usually after a game, you want to pull back and do some shooting and walk-through stuff. But we need to play, and play with each other, at game speed and full speed as guys get back to where they need to be. There’s some progress in that.”
In Fisher, that was clear. The junior played with bounce and life. He gave off an opening-game vibe.
For him, even though he had played seven minutes against Lipscomb, it basically was the start of a new year — his first action since Jan. 17 of last season.
“Man, my year? My year started when I was doing rehab like a whole year ago,” he said. “I’ve been working for this point. So that’s when my year started.”
Fair enough.
For everybody else, that may have been Monday night. Sure looked like it. And felt like it.
