BHop

[Mickey]

2-13, 2 Assists, 6 Turnovers. Kid cannot shoot. Dement may have another Sasser on his hands.

[Nacho]

You obviously are no judge of talent. BHop will be in the NBA one day.

[Q fan]

It looks like Bhop may be hitting the "freshman wall" a little bit as we head down the stretch. He has been inconsistant of late. Same thing happened to Simpson last season. Last night was no big surprise. Like I said before, if we can split on this trip, I'll be happy.

[Q fan]

Oh, PS -- you bet your [deleted] Hopkins will be in the NBA one day! He's the most talented player to come through SMU since I've been following the ponies.

[Waz]

This isn't about B-hop, or Q, or Simpson etc. This is about the same sad story year after year after year. This is a pretty solid hoop team, not deep, but soldid, that will under preform down the stretch yet again. Players are supposed to develope during the year and from year to year. Aside from improvement based on physical maturity, ie strength, weight, etc., attribute SOMETHING to 'the program'. Where do you see it? Dement came in here and took a sorry bunch of under performers and pounded them up to a new level because he had an entirely different approach than Shu. It's called a honeymoon period. Even the most marginal coaches enjoy this in a new environment. Since then, he has recruited well and his teams have consistently underperformed. Where do you see Senior leadership? By the end of 4 years there aren't enough contributing seniors left to provide it. Why? Where do all these promising freshman and sophomores go? Our young guys are doing well, but they can't carry a team for an extended period of time without some help from the upper classmen and specifically upper management. Q is doing his part, what about management?

[Nacho]

Which seniors and juniors are missing from this team?

[Waz]

They are not physically missing, as in left school, transferred etc., but they aren't the on floor leaders of this team. It is very infrequent that you have successfull teams, on a consistent basis, without a significant presence of contributing upper classmen. My point is that the freshman and sophomores do not continue to develope to the point where they become the leaders of the team as Juniors and Seniors. Q is doing a great job, but where is his support from a couple of more Srs and Juniors. That is what is needed to make a successful program, and we don't seem to be getting that. I blame coaching for that. Freshman and sophomores are going to make mistakes, both physical and mental that Juniors and Seniors should not. I think that Knight said this, but maybe not, "The best thing about freshman is that they become sophomores." He has had some pretty fair freshman in his time.

[OldPony]

I don't think you guys are following the same team I am. Last night's loss doesn't upset me. Road wins are hard against decent competition. The problem last night was shooting pure and simple. Some days you go cold. BHop's shooting has been horrible but I believe it will come around. He is not the ball hog that Sasser was and this group plays like a team. The game actually went much the way I thought it would except for 37% shooting by the Mustangs and 25% from 3 point. It amazes me that we were ever in it with that kind of shooting. Castro had the kind of game I hoped he would and Simpson was good again. Q had a lot of rim outs it seemed but played well. When BHop gets his eye back, this team can still be very good. I really don't think this is a freshman wall for BHop. He played this many games in HS. This is freshman inexperience and maybe trying to hard to make shots. If he relaxes a little, I think it will come back. On to JUCO U.

[Pony_Fan]

we started off strong but let Nevada take complete control.

Hop is no Sasser. the kid is showing his inexperience. if it's not your night...give up the rock and ASSIST. I really don't like the 6 TO's though.

[Nacho]

WAZ, Nigel is lucky to be alive. Voc has had very serious knee problems and is lucky to be playing at all. Kelley has become a good 6th man. Lowe contributes off the bench.

As far as Dement I am very ambivalent. I'm as frustrated as anyone about our lack of postseason play in his tenure. There does come a point when you have to take a close look at the past, present and future. Can Dement lead us into the future? That is the question Copeland will have to answer as the frustration mounts.

[Nacho]

BTW Fresno lost to La Tech las night at home. They may be ripe for the pickings as things fall apart for the scholars of Fresno High.

[Mickey]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Nacho:
<B>You obviously are no judge of talent. BHop will be in the NBA one day.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Ihave seen BHop play twice as much as you. I didn't say he was not a good player. I said, like Sasser, that he is not a good shooter. I don't care how you spin it. In the last two games, he is 6-27 and 0-7 from 3 pt. This is not good shooting, and he is not a good shooter. For the year, he is shooting at a 35% clip and 34% from 3 pt. You had better quit reading the press clippings and watch the game.

I saw him play numerous tmes in HS. He was the beneficiary of running with Chris Bosh. Do you want to bet who goes higher in the NBA draft- Bosh or Hopkins?. The problem this year with BHop is that he has been injured and cant play his agressive penetration game and has had to resort to shooting threes. Unfortunately, he is not a pure shooter, he is an athlete.

Why do you think he didn't start last night? It certainly isn't because of the lack of ability. It is because of immaturity. I have no doubt that he will get squared away, but he has had several incidents this year where his immaturity has hurt the team, which is reminiscent of Sasser.

Regarding your comment that it is obvious that I cant judge talent, you are barking up the wrong tree! I have been around this game longer than you are old. As I said, he is a good BBall player, he is just not a good shooter. Keep reading the press clippings about BHop, but he is a long way from where he could be and will be.

[This message has been edited by Mickey (edited 02-14-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Mickey (edited 02-14-2003).]

[FloridaMustang]

BHop didn't start because he was late to practice and a team function.

[Mickey]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by UNFMustang06:
<B>BHop didn't start because he was late to practice and a team function.</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

And this wasn't the first time something like this happened.

[Charleston Pony]

All I know is that we are a lot better team with Bhop on the court than without him. Would you rather have a Frosh Bhop who struggles at times with his shot and turns the ball over more than we'd like (maybe because he is a Frosh),or bring back a Senior (Damon) and watch the whole game depend on what your point guard does while everyone else stands around?

I like our starting 5 but they won't shoot well every night out. We have very little off the bench and until we have an 8-deep roster of guys who can contribute consistently, don't look for SMU to chanllenge for the WAC title.