This is our last chance

[LA_Mustang]

to win a WAC title in a revenue sport. Hopefully the boys are ready.


Mustangs try to forget last season

With new coach, SMU has more positive outlook heading into tonight's WAC opener
09:18 PM CST on Wednesday, December 29, 2004

By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News

UNIVERSITY PARK – SMU would like to finish its last men's basketball season in the WAC with some positives.

Last year, there were few.

The Mustangs finished eighth with a 5-13 record in the WAC, the first time since the 1997-98 season they finished below .500.

Tonight, the Mustangs open conference play at Rice. It's a difficult game for the Mustangs. Rice (5-3) is one of the favorites to win the conference and is led by Michael Harris and his 20.4 points and 10.4 rebounds per game averages. Both schools will play in Conference USA next season.

The last time SMU visited Rice (Jan. 20), the Mustangs were on the receiving end of an embarrassing 80-40 loss. After the game, then-coach Mike Dement said he needed to recruit tougher players.

Dement was reprimanded for those comments by athletic director Jim Copeland. Dement was fired nine games later.

"It's a way different team than last year," said SMU starting forward Justin Isham. "We have a different mindset in terms of defense and playing hard. We can't worry about last year, that was just what it was, last year."

SMU coaches are not sure which Mustangs team will show up. Will it be the team that didn't play well in that 40-point loss? Or will a more confident team under new coach Jimmy Tubbs be on the floor?

SMU (5-3) has beaten its last two nonconference opponents by a combined 71 points. Yes, it was Baylor and Arkansas-Pine Bluff, but the team's confidence is good.

"The last two games, we have played well," Tubbs said. "Our turnovers have been cut down, and we're just trying to stay on the positive side of things and not worry about last year."

One of the main issues for SMU has been point guard Bryan Hopkins. He was named WAC Player of the Week the last two weeks, combining for 58 points in two victories. He shot63.3 percent from the field in those two games.

But Hopkins went through a three-game stretch of shooting 13 of 39 from the field. Tubbs had a Tony Soprano-like chat with Hopkins to get the point guard more focused on running the offense instead of looking for his shot.

It appears to have worked as Hopkins enters conference play.

"I'm playing with more confidence," he said. "Coach Tubbs is challenging me to do things I've never had to do before. I think it's been good."

SMU opens its first two WAC games on the road. After the trip to Rice, the Mustangs visit struggling Tulsa on New Year's Day. There are home games against an improved Fresno State team and Nevada, a team that reached the Sweet 16 last year.

"This is a really good conference," Tubbs said. "Our nonconference record is what it is, 5-3. Could we have played better, sure, but we beat the teams we were supposed to beat."

[Pony_Fan]

A WAC title?, come on LA, you can't be serious...