PX/Hoop Fan

[LA_Mustang]

I wasnt able to make it to the game last night. I would love to hear your thoughts on the game. It is great to see that Bryan is finally starting to overcome his injury. We are a completely different team with him on the floor and near 100%.

[Nacho]

BHop wasn't 100% but he was close enough to make a big difference and play 38 minutes. He showed flashes of his old self. I would say that he was about 85%. When is at 100% you will know it because he will show quickness that you have never seen before and will, as they say, jump out of the building. He is not doing those things yet.

[Hoop Fan]

I agree that Hop was very effective, but I dont think he is even 85% yet. Part of it is probably conditioning, but his legs have no where near the explosion that he had last spring in high school.

Otherwise I thought both teams were flat and appeared to lack confidence. SMU's grew as the game went on, but we were pretty shaky on offense at times, not surprising though. The defense on the other hand was strong. After giving up some easy threes early in the game really clamped down and rebounded well. Isham played with alot of energy on both ends, which was really needed. Pat Simpson didnt start in a move that looked like it was intended to motivate him. He played alot and played well on D, but he had very little confidence in his jumper. I dont think the Rack played at all, which is a little disappointing because he needs to develop. Q was completely out of sync and had a serious off night. Thats what makes it a good victory, beating an old rival with Q having his worst game I remember.

[LA_Mustang]

That is what I was wondering about. I have yet to see him display that explosiveness he had last year, or anything close to it. If he can somehow get that back he should be a force in conference play. We are still waiting for that first time he gets the ball, blows down the court, jumps from just inside the free throw line, elevates, and throws one down a couple of people. Making everyones jaw drop. Similar to what he did last year to Bracey and Deron in that tourney against The Colony. I will never forget that. There was soooo much talent in that game and our kid shined the brightest. Funny thing, in that game we were watching the two likely favorites for national Freshman of Year in Bracey and Chris Bosh. That was fun stuff.

[PX]

Defensively we played pretty well the entire game. We were stagnant on offense for awhile, but we held them to just one field goal in a stretch that lasted around 7 minutes, and that was when we took the lead and held it. We rebounded better last night than we didn on the road trip, as well.
Bryan had one of his best shooting nights last night, 5/10 from the floor and 3/6 from the 3-point line. He brought the ball up the court on most possessions, but in the half court he sometimes seemed to be playing the shooting guard rather than point. He was off the ball with other people setting him up more often than we have seen before.
We shot pretty well, and the defense was strong, those are the positives. On the minus side, we shot a boatload of free throws and only made half of them. 17/32, I believe. That wont cut it against a good team. Also, just 8 assists and 23 turnovers. Normally a 1/3 assist/turnover ratio will get you beat.
We lead by as much as 17, but after Roberts fouled out Baylor turned up the defensive pressure, pressing full court and trapping in the halfcourt, and we literally fell apart. They cut the lead down to 8 before we stopped their run. From there the game was pretty even, Baylor never got much closer, but we had the game in control and should have put it away. Instead we almost lost control. Hopkins and Simpson got tagged with most of the turnovers in the Boxscore, but really it was everyone. Twice we threw the ball away on Inbound passes. No one took care of the ball very well.

Hopkins doesnt have the explosiveness he had last year, not yet. We'll see how much another week of rest does for the muscle strain, but thats not the whole problem. He's also a bit heavier than his normal playing weight, and after he has played for a few minutes his legs get tired and he loses the ability to really jump. He still plays well enough to be one of our best players, but it might be next year before we see the real star quality.

No playing time for Rackauskas, and now that I think about it I dont really recall seeing him sitting on the bench. Does anyone else remember, was he there?

Our post players were effective when we fed them the ball. Nigel and Castro were 6/7 from the floor.

Voc, Nigel and Jibran all started but only played around 10 minutes. Isham, Castro, and Simpson didnt start, but each got around 30 minutes of court time. Go figure. 9 different players have started at least 2 games, and we have had a different starting 5 for every game. Q is the only one who has started every game.

[Eddie P]

Actually, I saw Rack probably 30-40 minutes after the game, but not at Moody. I was dropping my buddy off at the Radisson across the street immediately after the game was over. We stayed for the playing of Varsity and then went straight over to the Radisson. We threw his bags into his room and were walking out the lobby when I saw Donantas walking into the hotel. I even stopped to congratulate him on the game. He was wearing the standard SMU bench attire. I then commented to my friend that I did not recall him playing in the game.

[Hoop Fan]

I'm pretty sure Rackausus was there. My guess is Dement felt he really needed to win this game and didnt plan to use Rack. Some people dont like to admit it or face it, but I see this season as a building block. As good as Q is, he isnt strong enough to carry us to a postseason bid. With Hopkins no where near 100%, part of this season now needs to be setting the lineup for next year. Next year Hopkins is gonna need guys who are ready to roll with him. Kelly and Smith are seniors and our only real physical presense on the post. Castro is fairly strong, but vertically challenged so to speak. Unless Chris Reay or Devon Pearson are early bloomers, Rack is the defensive stopper on the block by default next year. Better get him some game experience now.

[Nacho]

Rack was definitely there but DNP.

[Charleston Pony]

I thought the "Rack" was nursing an ankle sprain from the N.C. road trip. I expect that with the other post guys playing well, Dement didn't want to risk aggravating the injury...just a theory...I have no 1st hand knowledge.