Morals should be team priority

It’s getting to be that time of the year.

It’s going to start warming up a little around North Central Texas, which usually means March Madness.

It’s mid-February, and conference races are heating up all over the nation. TCU, on the strength of wins over Fresno State and Nevada, is trying to play itself back into NCAA Tournament contention.
Much like a loss to Rice damages those hopes, head coach Billy Tubbs took a step toward burying his team’s hopes under Daniel-Meyer Coliseum. Before Saturday’s blowout win at home against Nevada, Tubbs dismissed junior guard and crowd favorite Greedy Daniels and senior forward Myron Anthony from the team.

Talk about a move that took some serious guts.

I’m not going to go into whether it’s right or wrong because quite frankly, there are only a handful of people who know the real reason the two players were removed from the team.

Tubbs obviously cited the ever-popular “violation of team rules” as the reason for the dismissal.
I’ll say this, whether done because you had no choice or because it may have stemmed from an altercation with Fort Worth Police, kudos coach.

I would go as far as to say that whatever was done by these two, was serious to warrant such a surprising turn of events at such an important stretch of the season.

TCU had just picked up its biggest win of the season against then No. 20 Fresno State Thursday night at a stage of the season where a win was a must. As of Friday morning, things seemed to be headed in the right direction for TCU going into the WAC tournament.

Then, boom! Before we in Frogville knew it, the heart and soul was gone.

Just another bump in the road? I think not. Daniels was arguably the most exciting player on the court for the Frogs. His presence on the court always had every person in the stands on the edge of his or her seat.

Statistically, Daniels holds the single-season steals record at TCU with 108, he led the team with 144 assists and was second on the team in scoring at 16.7 points a game. His presence, on and off the court, will be sorely missed.

Let’s not forget, however, about what the absence of Anthony will bring. He’s averaged 14.3 points a game and was second on the team with 7.4 rebounds a game. Anthony has been a big body down low that did a lot of banging.

With these two losses, the nation’s top scoring team took a huge blow. Yes, I am aware that TCU put up 110 points Saturday night against Nevada without Daniels and Anthony. However, it’s important to mention that the game was played at Daniel-Meyer where the Horned Frogs’ offense has been much more potent this season. Of the 12 times TCU has scored more than 100 points, 11 of them were at home.

The big question will come when this diluted offense, now playing with only seven players in the regular rotation, has to travel West or play several games in a row in the conference tournament and not get tired.

In “Billy Ball,” which requires 100-percent intensity and aggressiveness, depth is tantamount. TCU’s depth has taken a devastating hit. Tubbs knows this.

A similar situation has taken place at Louisiana State. The Tigers have been decimated by injuries this season and head coach John Brady has been playing with just five scholarship players since Jan. 6. And since that date, the Tigers have gone just 2-11, including 1-11 in Southeastern Conference play.

When there is no depth on the bench, the pressure mounts. Players can only go so long before fatigue becomes a factor. It will be interesting to see how the remaining Horned Frogs respond.

Who’s going to have to respond? If the Nevada game is any indication, 30-point nights from sophomore Bingo Merriex, and double-doubles from freshman Nucleus Smith will have to become the norm.

After Thursday’s win, Tubbs told the media that Merriex played several more minutes than he had originally planned. I guess that game became a tryout of sorts for Merriex taking the place of Anthony down low. He should create problems for opposing defenses as he has a dangerous mix of ability from in the lane and behind the three-point arc.

The timing is what makes this move all the more surprising, but at the same time all the more gratifying. Tubbs has basically said that it doesn’t matter who you are within this program, you will follow the rules — NCAA or otherwise. It apparently doesn’t matter if you’re Greedy Daniels or Chris Campbell, all rules apply.

And for that, I congratulate Tubbs on a bold move that could kill the Horned Frogs hopes in the postseason. It’s good to see the image of the program coming before the necessity of victory.

Associate Editor Danny Horne is a senior broadcast journalism major from Carrollton.
He can be reached at (d.m.horne@student.tcu.edu).