San Diego Game

[FloridaMustang]

88-82! Woohoo! What a great win! The 2nd biggest comeback win in SMU basketball history...is not bad. Hopkins with 19, Q with 20...5 players in double figures. Castro played amazing! We're really seeing what a healthy B-Hop can do. It also looks like Q is out of his slump. Can't wait to see us against La Tech on Sat. to open up the WAC schedule.

[Pony_Fan]

Great win Mustangs!

Observations:
1)Very pitiful 1st half (See Wake game)
2)Hopkins still looks hobbled despite what people say. He is not his true self.
3)San Diego has pure shooters which we miss dearly. #4 has the quickest release I have ever seen from 3 point land.
4)Thank god for Castro's prayer 3 pointer shot - he had no idea what he was going to do with the rock.
5)Keep is a complete clumsy thug....that kid is huge and belongs on a football field. Thank goodness he fouled out.
6) Can someone explain the "top of the key" cut offense to me please? It is horrific...what in the world does it accomplish?
7) Simpson played a good game - I still wish he would be more agressive.
Did you see that block by Isham - totally amazing how that kid can jump.
9)Clutch 3's by Hopkins - why did he only start to really shoot with 3 min left in the game?

Great comeback win and good start before conference play. To be honest, I thought we had zero chance after that 1st half.

[Charleston Pony]

Great comeback, indeed. Only wish it could have been witnessed by more than the usual "fifteen hundred". Was good to see the big man foul out. That really opened the door for SMU's comeback. All in all, a great non-conference home run with wins over all our local rivals and SD. Now...can we go unbeaten at Moody in WAC play???

[HorsePower]

Yeah, they announced an attendance of 2,989 - not exactly accurate.

I've got to disagree with Pony_Fan -- I didn't think Jason Keep was a clumsy thug at all. At the beginning of the game, when SMU was playing man-to-man, he was having his way down low. He's enormous and very quick for a guy that size. Switching to a zone helped, but I can't figure out why the SD coaches sat him so long in the first half when he wasn't in foul trouble (he had 2 at halftime).

Castro was out of his mind at the end. Going to the hole with both hands, and that spin to the baseline and the up-and-under shot in OT were reminiscent of Olajuwon doing his Dream Shake - the guy covering couldn't do anything to slow him down.

OK, be honest: how many of us were screaming "No! No! No!" when he shot that 3-pointer, and then screaming "Yes! Yes! Yes!" when it went in? I sure was.

[Hoop Fan]

It was a great effort and really an amazing win. San Diego was thoroughly dominating the game in every way. I'm still not sure how we won other than pure guts by Hopkins to will some tough shots in and of course the foul trouble of their two big guys. Hopkins is still hurt, could barely jump and never went to the basket hard. I thought the key to us getting back in the game was Isham's energy. I see him as the glue right now. Looking forward, our offense (?) is not clicking and seems to have taken a step backward from the TCU game when we had lots of assists; and the team spent a ton of emotion and energy last night. Not exactly what you want to do 2 nights before a conference opener on the road. The La Tech score could be ugly I'm afraid, but its just one game. We all know the future rests on a healthy BHop and that means next year at this point.

[Nacho]

The next 3 games will be a very tough road trip in this nutty conference that would make Magellan envious--La Tech, Hawaii and SJSU. I would much rather play SJSU then Hawaii. Playing Hawaii then going back to SJSU is just plain hard. One win out of those 3 is about all we can hope for. After that the Dement haters will be out in full force.

They hate him when he wins
They hate him when he loses

[MustangFan]

I still can't figure out how that happened. What a comeback!
The team showed more heart than I've seen in ages.
Great win!

[The CPC]

SD kept Keep on the bench for most of the first half because he had 2 fouls, and SMU never did anything to indicate he was needed back in the game. SD streched their lead from 7 points to 18 while Keep was sitting. They beat us in transition, knocked down 3s, and Blair still scored inside whenever he wanted to. They didnt put Keep in for so long because they didnt have to, they were kicking our [deleted] without him.
Castro was unstopabble at the end fof the game because 4 guys had fouled out, and SD didnt have anyone left over 6'4" to guard him.

It was an unbelievable comeback, really, but we shouldnt have been in that position in the first place. You cant spot a team that kid of lead, then suddenly wake up and play.

[Pony_Fan]

Well stated CPC!

[Eddie P]

Haven't slept in two days so I'll make this brief...

Good to see the Crippled Pet Chicken over here at PonyFans. He's well versed AND funny. You cannot find a better combination in my book.

That is all...

[No Cal Pony]

After reading the dmn, and posts about Coach Dement and this thread, I've got to remain astonished. Dement seems like a decent coach, but not one to take us to the next level. I've only seen one game on tv, paid as much attention to the others as I can via internet. But to call the win against san diego so big? Please. san diego is a third rate team out here. We should be killing a team like that, not having to stage a big comeback and win in ot. sd is not a stanford, cal, ucla, or even a pepperdine or uc santa barbara. I'll take the win, but sure seems sad.

I like the future, but how bright is it really other than Hopkins? Will the rest of the kids play to their potential?

Go Ponies!

[PK]

Speaking of the CPC, saw him at the game being given close security by a large body guard. Understand CPC is going to supply a scouting report on LaTech even though it means going deep into fried chicken land. Looking forward to the report.

[Airpony]

Yes, SD is pretty 3rd rate but had a big win against ULCA at Pauley where Keep had 30pts but then again just lost to Nevada by 11. I think they can shine if Keep and the outside shooters are on all cylinders. We got our @sses kicked in the 1st half and could have easily lost by 15pts if things kept going the way they were going.

I think the conf will be very tough for us this year and figure we go a little over .500.

[This message has been edited by Airpony (edited 01-03-2003).]

[Hoop Fan]

No Cal -

I dont think anybody is thrilled to beat San Diego, but it was a pretty incredible game to witness. SMU won with some luck and frankly sheer determination. I would agree that does not bode all that well for the upcoming road trip. I dont offer it as an excuse, but 4 of our primary 5 players are freshmen or sophomores. There is still plenty of upside in this group if Hop can get healthy. People might not want to hear that, and the upper echelon of college hoops does rely more on young players today, but the programs like SMU need veteran, experienced guys who know how to go on the road and beat good opponents. The fact that we are 5-0 at home, including wins over nemesis rivals like TCU and Baylor is right where most realistic people thought the Ponies would be.

[Eddie P]

So Cal Pony-

I have to respectfully disagree with your statement about San Diego. That was a solid team we beat and I don't believe we are a good enough team at this point to be whipping anybody, much less a team that has beaten more top 25 teams in the last few months than we have beaten in the last few years.

I was very worried about this game. I think it is a good win because it showed the team's ability to not completely crumble when faced with a large deficit. We have really gotten out of whack on some of our previous losses when down by as much as we were in the first half of this game. I think it is a positive step.

And most IMPORTANT OF ALL...

Our very own Rally Monkey-esque good luck charm, the YMC Peruna Beanie Baby, is now an impressive 6-0 when at a game. Peruna was in attendance for the win against Gardner-Webb in Las Vegas. However, he was left in the cab ride back to the hotel and thus was lost forever. We then proceeded to lose to UNLV.
However, the great Gerry Hedgcock had a back-up Peruna at his house, which he brought to the game last night. The Streak Continues!!!

[This message has been edited by Eddie P (edited 01-03-2003).]