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SMU lead by as much as 14 points at one point in the game, but broke down late in the second half to lose to Tennessee 85-76. More info coming soon.
Your thoughts on the game?

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GO PONIES!

[This message has been edited by MustangMatt (edited 12-07-2000).]

We were in control of the game then totally lost control. Dement did a poor job substituting and keeping the team from making stupid mistakes. I know he can't do things for him, but there were too many fundamental and basic mistakes:
<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>Several inbound passes over thrown<LI>Stupid shots<LI>Too much standing around<LI>No set plays<LI>Lack of substitutions
</UL>
I thought the reason why we did so well in the first half and the beginning of the second half was because we controlled the tempo and took good shots. Also I think we did best when Sasser was on the bench. There were something like 13 scouts at the game, I would not have been too impressed with Sasser.
Niemi is not an offensive threat. He is a good player to throw in the game for a few minutes and grab a board or two, but just as a breather. Why was he in so much at the end? Jibran played well, Nigel never got a chance? That confused me.

Oh well, he played well for a while and we proved that we can compete with a top ten team, but this makes us look like we are a great team against decent competition but we cannot take it to the next level. I am so disappointed because this was our only chance against a top 25 team and we literally blew it. But overall, good game, it was an exciting game, too.

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Ponies to the NCAA Tourney in 2000!

[This message has been edited by Bballer (edited 12-07-2000).]

I felt coming into this game thaaat we would have match-up problems with Slay and Hathaway. We were able to take Hathaway out of the game with our quickness, but ultimately had nobody to control Slay.

I don't know how many minutes Damon played vs. Harris, but Damon appeared to have run out of gas down the stretch and we turned into a one-dimensional offense (everyone stand around and give the ball to Jeryl).

We probably win this game at Moody. This was one of those games where teams were very evenly matched , but Tennessee drew energy from the home crowd coming down the stretch and that was the difference.

Jeryl did not look impressive. Those free throws that he missed were a horrifying reminder of the Tulsa game last year. Why can't we make free throws? Niemi missed a bunch too, but he is a guy you would expect to miss them, Sasser should never miss a free throw in that situation, EVER. The NBA scouts know that and they now have seen how he can play against great competition...not very well. He started jacking shots up from everywhere. He did not play like a leader and team player.
We played best with the following lineup in the game: Hancock, Atkins, Ross, Davis, and Kelley. I think the smaller lineup helped us and the fact that Jeryl was not trying to take control also helped.
Before this game someone said we would see what kind of substitute coach Dement was, well, I don't think he is a good one. Seemed decent in the first half by keeping fresh bodies but he pulled people that were doing well.
We had a total breakdown. So many errors. Sasser dribbling off his foot, inbound passes sailing out of bounds, stupid fouls, tons of missed free throws.

We let this get away from ourselves. I think a home crowd would have helped, but if we played like that, we could have given the game to anyone.

Kelley played well, Hancock played well--but as CP said he got tired--Willie played great, Ross played well, Sasser played bad, Voc played very well, and I dont think Niemi should have been in there too much, especially at the end.

We need to kill Navy.

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Go Red, Go Blue, Go Mustangs, S M U

I thought Kelly played really well in a big time game. I think people need to chill a little- this was the first national exposure game that SMU has had in a long time and they need to get their feet wet a little bit. Everyone knows now that SMU is a good team. maturity doesnt just come with seniors, it comes with playing quality teams on the road. And that is what we did- we played with a quality team on the road and looked good. It was not luck that the game was close and that we were ahead, it was talent and strong defense, the latter being the ingredient we lacked last year. THe Mustangs WILL grow from this game and will beat OU. Mark it down. I am very impressed with the team, and the tourneys we have left will allow us to grow even more and show people what we can do. We are going to do well in the wac, we will beat OU, and this game also helps us get in the NCAA. I dont care about the top 25 at all. I just care about where we are and what we do at the end of the season. And some of you guys hopefully can see that too.

Willie Davis had one hell of a first half but seemed to drop off the face of the earth in the second half. What happened. Jeryl did indeed seem to be having a little trouble tonight, perhaps the scouts were getting to him.

Jason-

I wish I could be as calm as you. I just get excited for this type of game, because we won't have any more like it. Not even the OU game will be like this. I think people are all flustered because we are not used to playing this type of team.

The reason why I am mad is that when it comes time for the end of the year, we will find ourselves in this type of game. I don't want this to happen again. You are right we will learn from this loss. But we should not have lost. It was our own fault, UT did not out play us at the end, we killed ourselves.

We need more games like this. It will not only give us more exposure to everyone but it will prepare us for these types of games that we will face at the end of the season.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by ALL4SMU:
<B>Willie Davis had one hell of a first half but seemed to drop off the face of the earth in the second half. What happened. Jeryl did indeed seem to be having a little trouble tonight, perhaps the scouts were getting to him.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Willie might have fatigued, but you are right.

In regard to Sasser: I don't think it was the scouts. In big time games he chokes and then tries to take over and looks even worse. It happened at Tulsa last year, but in that game it was not his mistake that lead to his further mistakes. Does that make sense?



[This message has been edited by ponytalk (edited 12-08-2000).]