Q

[LA_Mustang]

was simply outstanding tonight. Three games of 28-28-32...that is a very impressive three game streak against quality teams. The real All-American candidate out there tonight was The Q, not Davis.

[Charleston Pony]

I can't imagine him sustaining this scoring pace, but if he does, Q might finish his career 3rd on the all-time scoring list behind Sasser and Gene Phillips, who was truly the most prolific scorer in SMU's basketball history. Phillips played in my era on the hilltop and could score from anywhere on the court. Phillips did in 3 yrs what Sasser did in 4, without the benefit of a 3 pt line.

[LA_Mustang]

I am seeing Q in a different light after these last three games. He is obviously playing at a different level than everyone else around him. Where Sasser really didnt improve after his sophomore season Ross has continually improved and in my opinion he is ahead of Sasser at this point. Not only was he scoring at will last night but he completely shut down UNT's best player Chris Davis. I never thought Q had NBA potential but early on he is playing himself into the NBA draft.

[PX]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by LA_Mustang:
<B>I am seeing Q in a different light after these last three games. He is obviously playing at a different level than everyone else around him. Where Sasser really didnt improve after his sophomore season Ross has continually improved and in my opinion he is ahead of Sasser at this point. Not only was he scoring at will last night but he completely shut down UNT's best player Chris Davis. I never thought Q had NBA potential but early on he is playing himself into the NBA draft. </B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Q has always been good, but this year the team is leaning on him more. They need him to score, because no one else has his ability to reach the basket, the offense completely stagnates without him. Also, there isnt anyone on the team this year who refuses to share the ball, so Q gets more touches.

The reverse side of Quentions great games is a trend thats a bit disturbing. Texas Tech: Q-28, the other 4 starters combine for 6 points, no one with more than 2. UNT: Q-32, the other 4 starters combine for 12, 6 from Voc and 2 points each from the other 3.
From here on we will probably see alot of junk defenses, alot of zone and/or Box and one on Q. If Q has a cold night we have to find someone else who can score.

[LA_Mustang]

The difference I see between Ross and Sasser/Hancock is that Ross doesn’t force the issue, he allows the game to come to him. He gets his shot in the flow of the offense as opposed to being isolated and creating his own shot...he is shooting .560 from the field thus far. I think the 12 points from the other starters is a little misleading because normally Castro and Simpson are starters and they had 14 and 11 points respectively. A funny stat is look at the starters last night, minus Ross, and they all had less minutes than the first 5 off the bench. Dements rotation still really puzzles me. One more thing, someone tell smumustangs.com that Sasser was not a lottery pick.

[Hoop Fan]

pretty decent win, Unt has several good athletes. Q was on a mission. He has always been a nice player, now it seems he has the physical strength to assert himself at this level. Last night he got some strong rebounds and huge putbacks in traffic. If Hopkins can get healthy, that will lessen the burden on Q for two reasons, Hop can score and create easy looks for the big guys. If Hop stays hurt, its gonna get tougher for Q. I happen to think he is developing nicely, but the guy we need to step up the scoring in a big way is Pat Simpson.

[Pony_Fan]

Q is simply getting better and better. I don't think Hancock or Sasser really improved that much. Q is slashing to the hoop with much more efficiency. He used to wait for a kick out on the wing and now is being more aggressive with rebounding and points in the paint. He also looks pretty confident at the free throw line which is good.

Castro seemed to be more confident last night but Simpson didn't...I would like to seem him be more aggressive in the lane rather than be a 'touch' player. He is tall enough to just dunk over most players.

If Hopkins ever gets healty, I would think he would make Q even better which is scary.
Where is Kris Lowe? He has been a little disappointing to me.

LA - I don't think we'll ever solve the Dement mysteries of subs

[PX]

Who starts and who gets minutes is a seperate question. Castro and Simpson started against Tech, but Castro played fewer minutes than Smith or Kelly. This was part of my point, we need to establish continuity and people who can produce reliably, other than Q.

[Higher Authority]

Q is a man in every sense of the word. He's picked up this team on his back, and so far, he's carrying the team, to the tune of 29.3 points per game. He obviously needs help, or as "PX" says, we'll see gimmick defenses built around Q and teams will dare other guys to score. The amazing thing about Q is his physique. The guy could add 100 pounds and still look slender. But the guy never gets tired - he's moving as fast late in the second half as he is at the start of the game - and he also not only doesn't mind going under the hoop and mixing itup with the big boys, he excels at it. 8 rebounds, including 6 on the offensive end? He's a student of the game who has improved every year. I promise you, Q has known for a couple of years that he has the offensive ability to carry this team. But in the past couple of years, he was being the ultimate team player, sharing the ball (sometimes too much) in deference to our star seniors: Jeryl Sasser, Willie Davis, Damon Hancock, etc. He has always understood his place on the team. His place now is that of hired gun.

I liked what I saw of Eric Castro last night. Let's face it, this guy isn't the most athletic cat in the world. But he's a hard worker, he's well-coached (i.e. in the right place at the right time), he's relentless and he seems willing to push his body to its limits. He seems to be having an absolute blast out on the floor, whether it's scoring (a little) or pulling down one rebound after another. He is the kind of player every team needs.

I'm more concerned about Patrick Simpson. Here's a kid who's got all the gifts in the world. He's tall, talented, blessed with the wingspan of a Pterodactyl, quick and also a smart player who understands the game thoroughly. Here's a guy who could - and should - break the all-time SMU blocked shot record, because of his length, his quickness and his timing/anticipation. And when he gets a wild hair .... where one gets wild hairs .... he can be a potent offensive force. He can shoot a 3, when necessary, and he can go to the hole. Against TCU, he took a pass in the lane, spun around and headed for the rim, visibly unconcerned about what Frogs were in his way (he ended up slamming it on the head of Junior Blount, I think.) But against Tech, he looked shellshocked (as did a lot of his teammates) and against UNT, he looked scared. UNT was not a big team. They have a couple of tall guys over there, but none with the quickness to stay with Simpson. He cam out of the game with 11 points or something, but Simpson looked very tentative - especially on the offensive end - in each of the last two games.

What is Kris Lowe doing? He looks confused on both ends of the floor.

Bryan Hopkins gave a great effort last night, but he clearly was hobbled. I can't wait to see that guy play at full strength. I just hope it's this year. Even on one leg, he shows signs of doing great things.

[Ringer]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Higher Authority:
<B>Q is a man in every sense of the word. He's picked up this team on his back, and so far, he's carrying the team, to the tune of 29.3 points per game. He obviously needs help, or as "PX" says, we'll see gimmick defenses built around Q and teams will dare other guys to score. The amazing thing about Q is his physique. The guy could add 100 pounds and still look slender. But the guy never gets tired - he's moving as fast late in the second half as he is at the start of the game - and he also not only doesn't mind going under the hoop and mixing itup with the big boys, he excels at it. 8 rebounds, including 6 on the offensive end? He's a student of the game who has improved every year. I promise you, Q has known for a couple of years that he has the offensive ability to carry this team. But in the past couple of years, he was being the ultimate team player, sharing the ball (sometimes too much) in deference to our star seniors: Jeryl Sasser, Willie Davis, Damon Hancock, etc. He has always understood his place on the team. His place now is that of hired gun.

I liked what I saw of Eric Castro last night. Let's face it, this guy isn't the most athletic cat in the world. But he's a hard worker, he's well-coached (i.e. in the right place at the right time), he's relentless and he seems willing to push his body to its limits. He seems to be having an absolute blast out on the floor, whether it's scoring (a little) or pulling down one rebound after another. He is the kind of player every team needs.

I'm more concerned about Patrick Simpson. Here's a kid who's got all the gifts in the world. He's tall, talented, blessed with the wingspan of a Pterodactyl, quick and also a smart player who understands the game thoroughly. Here's a guy who could - and should - break the all-time SMU blocked shot record, because of his length, his quickness and his timing/anticipation. And when he gets a wild hair .... where one gets wild hairs .... he can be a potent offensive force. He can shoot a 3, when necessary, and he can go to the hole. Against TCU, he took a pass in the lane, spun around and headed for the rim, visibly unconcerned about what Frogs were in his way (he ended up slamming it on the head of Junior Blount, I think.) But against Tech, he looked shellshocked (as did a lot of his teammates) and against UNT, he looked scared. UNT was not a big team. They have a couple of tall guys over there, but none with the quickness to stay with Simpson. He cam out of the game with 11 points or something, but Simpson looked very tentative - especially on the offensive end - in each of the last two games.

What is Kris Lowe doing? He looks confused on both ends of the floor.

Bryan Hopkins gave a great effort last night, but he clearly was hobbled. I can't wait to see that guy play at full strength. I just hope it's this year. Even on one leg, he shows signs of doing great things.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I agree with what you say exept the part where you portray Casto as not being all that athletic. I just don't see it the way you do on that one. They guy was simply very good last night. Talking about improving from one year to the next. I see tremendous improvement from Castro this year. Even from the first game of this season. He is getting more confident and agressive. He posted a double-double last night and hit a three pointer. If he can continue to develope his outside shot anywhere near respectable...Look out. Of course under the boards is where we need him. But, oh my, when he hit that three at that particular point in last night's game, let's just say it came out of no where and it was sweet.

Also, Kris Lowe is rushing his shot. He needs to ease up, relax just a bit and just shoot the ball. It almost seems as though he feels a player in his face everytime he shoots the ball while in reality he is getting alot of open shots. I have said it before, I think Kris is ths purest basketball player on the floor night in and night out. He has the feel for the flow of the game and is smart out on the floor. Just not when it comes to his shots. Granted, he has had a rough year so far. Hope things turn around for him soon.

[Higher Authority]

Hey Ringer, I wasn't trying to bad-mouth Castro. I love the way he plays, and would take a handful of Eric Castros on my team any day. All I meant was that he's not as quick as Bryan Hopkins, or can't jump as well as Justin Isham, or isn't as quick in the paint as Jibran Kelly. That was not meant to suggest that he's not a good player. He's a terrific player who makes the most out of his abilities.

[Duke Blue Blood]

I know that we have played only three games, but I sure do like seeing an SMU player as a top three scorer in the country. Please keep it up Q. You are our only hope until Hopkins get better.

DBB

[Hoss]

I knew he was off to a good start, but I didn't realize he was in the top 3. Who's ahead of him?