Shooting is everything

[PonyPride]

SMU shot 53 percent from the field in the win at San Jose State, improving to 29-6 under Mike Dement when shooting 50 percent or better.

After averaging 4.8 points in his first five contests, freshman Bryan Hopkins is averaging 20.8 points over his last five games.

[OldPony]

That is interesting. So why don't we shoot better? Could it be that we don't work the ball for good shots? Why are our assists so low? Same reason?
I would be more impressed if Hopkins had 10 assists and 15 points per game with half of his current turnovers after hearing all year about how we finally had a true point guard. Right now, we have another scoring point just like the last 6 or so years. I hope Bryan develops into a complete player. He is young and inexperienced so I am hopeful of rapid improvement with all the playing time he is getting. There is no doubt that we are better with him than without him. Let's just hope for a point guard-team player once under Dement. It would be a nice thing to go with Q's team ethic.

[Charleston Pony]

Let's face it...we are incredibly fortunate to have a guy the caliber of Bhop at the point. It all starts there. I like having a point who can hit the trey...kepps the defense honest knowing they can't pack it in on the low post guys and leave Bhop with good looks. If they come up on him, he can drive. Therein lies the key. When he drives, the guys off the ball have to be anticipating, moving, screening...getting in position for a dish and good shot or into rebounding position. I haven't seen us play this year, but judging from past years, I've seen too much "standing around" by the other guys, waiting for Jeryl or Damon to play one-on-one. I'd love to see Bhop go double/double pts/assists, but it takes involvement from his teammates to make the latter happen.

[Pony_Fan]

"Therein lies the key. When he drives, the guys off the ball have to be anticipating, moving, screening...getting in position for a dish and good shot or into rebounding position"

CP, that is the problem....no movement, no anticipation....same old story. I'd love to see more than 2 assists from anybody. I still can't comprehend why he and Q can't feed off each other...could it be the offense sucks? It is rare we shoot the ball well both halves of a game. Last year it seems like we did ok for a bit in the 1st half and then go on 5-7 minute serious scoring droughts.

Hopefully we can pull it together these conference games...at least at home.

[This message has been edited by Pony_Fan (edited 01-14-2003).]

[PonyPower]

Hmmm. You shoot better and you win games? Interesting!

[OldPony]

The real point here is that a true point guard makes the others better by getting them the ball in scoring position. BHop is scoring but that's not what we need most. Last year we said that Damon was not a point but a scorer. So far we are seeing the same from BHop. I watched Wyoming play KU last night. Wyoming lost by 30 but was impressive the way they kept the spacing, passed the ball quickly and worked for good shots. Other than an unbelievable run by KU for about 5 minutes in the first half, Wyoming played just about even with them with far less talent and certainly didn't embarrass themselves like we have done so often this year aginst lesser competition. At some point, we must say our team isn't playing like a team and the blame goes to the coach. I think we are at that point. If Hop is a point guard and he can't get more than 3 assists in a game, who's fault is it?

[Charleston Pony]

that's EXACTLY the point...a quality point guard makes everyone else better by setting them up...but those guys have to learn to put themselves into position to be rewarded and that appears to be what's lacking. Whether coaching, a "hangover effect" from the Jeryl/Damon days, or hopefully just a case of these guys needing more time together and learning to play together...we just have to hope this team continues to improve and shows more balanced scoring. We need different guys to step up night after night to keep opponents off-guard. Let's see what happens tonite!

[OldPony]

No my friend, that is coaching when your role players don't play their role.