Beg to Differ w/ PonyDoh...SMU BBall has Been

[ponyscott]

10 NCAAs in 100 years in not relevant. Will San Francisco hoops rise again? At one time, Army and Navy were the best football teams in the land. We are recruiting kids born in '92 and '93 and you're preaching history where the players wore Chuck Taylor's and segregation was the norm.

I'm not trying to poop on the old timers and their fond memories, but let's be real here. Even when we're good, the fan support is poor. We throw money at problems, not actual solutions.

I'm the first to believe we can be a truly elite private program, but let's call it like it is. Even when we were great by our standards, it barely rippled nationally

Sorry Doh you are sounding like several posters like Stallion was early last year about JJ and the Football program. And yes you still have to sell the past because it IS relevant too as Football did have the same problems selling old tired programs and history that is supposedly irrelevant to young recruits born after thoise days. The regime in place has changed the face of our athletic programs for the forseable future and it will happen with Basketball just as it has in Football.
We have never been elite nor great in Basketball but we can create a successful mid-major program here and it WILL happen. It may not happen with Doh but the building blocks are there and if Doh doesn't do it some one else will. We could have been an elite program and changed the face of SMU Basketball IF we had of allowed Larry Johnson to matriculate after taking his SAT's twice, and hell we may still have had a Southwest Conference if he was allowed to play here. That's another thread entirely, but it just takes the right coach with the right tactic in recruiting and one or two difference maker players to totally turn around this program around. Then all those barber shop folks that say 'we killed Jimmy Tubbs' will stop talking bad about SMU and maybe they will even come to our games.
No we won't pack the house every night here but we will get respectable crowds and we will be relevant sooner than later.
All this current Bball bashing is somewhat productive as it WILL force change because we that follow SMU demand it, and fortunatly we have benefactors that write checks to back up our pride.
What other private universities have raised the kind of crazy money we have in the last 10 years to improve our campus with hundreds of millions in improvements ( Not a U of San Francisco thats for sure)with even more hundreds of millions to come, which WILL include money for the right coach and improvements to Moody just as they have for the rest of the campus.
Sorry Doh you know alot about Basketball through your shoe contacts and I respect what you say normally but I still think you are too close and are too influenced by what is said out there.
Those mind sets will change when the program improves, and it will. Damn it has to.....

First off, there is no such thing as being too close to real information. No offense, but this isn't a guessing game for me. I know how all these players (Doh, Orsini etc) are perceived in the marketplace, by professionals.

We've never had a shortage of money, but commitment requires understanding of our issues, or that money will be misplaced. Crum is wonderful, but it doesn't address program problems, it's just another show of wealth. Having the proper model matters, and we don't seem to have it, nor am I convinced that Orsini understands how to properly address this matter.

Again, I'm the first that thinks we can be elite, but I'm certainly not leaning on sub-par tradition or gaudy displays of wealth for hope. Hope comes from tackling problems head on, admitting what we are and aren't as a university and program, develop the model accordingly, and hiring to the model w/an eye on grassroots infrastructure.

Thanks Doh...We are cool and I really respect you for responding to each and every post from all and you do, but being too close sometimes means you don't have a proper perspective and no offense Doh as you know your game, but its not Orsini, as he has had successful teams at his previous stops, is smart and knows when the wheels are off globally, and they look like they may be off. Its not about just the money as SMU gets its self into trouble sometimes because we have access to so much, but read...its the desire to be the BEST! and thats what I love about SMU...we demand the best and the City of Dallas/SMU both have a "Can-Do' attitude and all this ranting here on these boards means we will get/demand the BEST.....stay tuned Doh don't be discouraged, we will make it happen. Orsini has been criticised everywhere on these boards, but he is not a fool and has been to the games and can see what we don't have and he will make it right......there are issues here and some are on the Contract that was signed but hey it seemed like a good hire at the time....and remember I got cloned early last year because some thought I worked for the Athletic Dept and was a 'sunshiner'..but its not that.....the wheels are in motion here...it doesn't happen overnight...

[ontheedgeofmyseat]

aaannnnd RVG's hot dog was cold and the usher was rude...

[ponyscott]

The Hot dogs were really good in Hawaii BTW...Mestango had ...what 3 of them?

[Mestengo]

Best hot dog I have ever had at a college event .They truly respect the dog, unlike Ranger's $ dog night. They crush them they smush then. Respect the dog!

I know I did not see the 1900'. In this post..

[SoCal_Pony]

OK, we've had a few moments, but to use the 10 NCAA appearances and 2 NIT ones as proof of our relevancy is laughable.

Sarge opines about a team that won 1 ncaa tourney game.

While we are at it...how about this one...SMU defeats Kentucky @ Kentucky, then North Carolina @ North Carolina and only has to defeat a good Tech team @ Lubbock to become the #1 ranked team in America....we lose.

Overall, PonyDoh's assessment of our proud history is dead-on

[PlanoStang]

Somebody check how many of those 10 NCAA, and 2 NIT appearances were back when only 8, or
16, or 32 teams were invited to the dance

SMU used to hang with the big dogs back when Doc Hayes was coach Also the 80s, and a last
SWC championship in 90s before Copeland fired Shumate just because he could.

[RGV Pony]

37-36.

[PlanoStang]

I got that game on tape.....dang it's beta

[RGV Pony]

I got that game on tape.....dang it's beta

and you don't have the Louisville game?

...while we're on the topic of imploding, how about a whole season imploding? wasnt it the next year we got up to a #2 ranking, then all hell broke loose, and we got run out of the gym by Loyola Chicago in the tournament?

[Charleston Pony]

OK, we've had a few moments, but to use the 10 NCAA appearances and 2 NIT ones as proof of our relevancy is laughable.

Sarge opines about a team that won 1 ncaa tourney game.

While we are at it...how about this one...SMU defeats Kentucky @ Kentucky, then North Carolina @ North Carolina and only has to defeat a good Tech team @ Lubbock to become the #1 ranked team in America....we lose.

Overall, PonyDoh's assessment of our proud history is dead-on

I believe his comment was that we have NEVER been relevant and that simply isn't true. SMU bball was one of the better programs in this part of the country during the Doc Hayes era. While I agree today's recruits aren't going to be impressed by that, it's simply not true that SMU was NEVER relevant. Just like in football, our brief periods of success were just that...and have never been sustained through different coaching eras.

[PonyDoh]

OK, we've had a few moments, but to use the 10 NCAA appearances and 2 NIT ones as proof of our relevancy is laughable.

Sarge opines about a team that won 1 ncaa tourney game.

While we are at it...how about this one...SMU defeats Kentucky @ Kentucky, then North Carolina @ North Carolina and only has to defeat a good Tech team @ Lubbock to become the #1 ranked team in America....we lose.

Overall, PonyDoh's assessment of our proud history is dead-on

I believe his comment was that we have NEVER been relevant and that simply isn't true. SMU bball was one of the better programs in this part of the country during the Doc Hayes era. While I agree today's recruits aren't going to be impressed by that, it's simply not true that SMU was NEVER relevant. Just like in football, our brief periods of success were just that...and have never been sustained through different coaching eras.

being relevant means sustained success, not one-offs. Program history would be about the last thing I bring up on a recruits couch. This isn't about my exact words, it's about national perception of the program historically. Not much to write home about, unless you are Mr Pony

[mrydel]

Why don't we try it this way.

In the past SMU has shown the potential to become a player in NCAA basketball. Moody filled to capacity, fans yelling in rabid delerium, a final four appearance, a few All- Americans, show that SMU could become relevant in today's game. Being the only major University in Dallas which is a hotbed for high school basketball talent would lead one to believe that with the proper guidance, SMU could ascend to the national stage and become a consistant visitor to the big dance.

I for one have seen some of the highs of SMU basketball. I have to agree however, that in the past several years there has not been any type of semblance to what we should or could be accomplishing. With the right diection, we could get there, and we should have no excuse for not being there. It is not like other schools do not "get it". A rebirth, or a first birth, which ever you wish to call it is needed and it is needed quickly.

[ontheedgeofmyseat]

What is the world does Baylor bring to a recruits couch? History? Tradition? Glory days?