As I See It

[SoCal_Pony]

There is a 75% chance we end the season either 3-2 to 2-3.

Which means our likely 1st round tournament opponent will be LA Tech, Tulsa or Hawaii. Which means we go one and out.

A big complaint I have with Dement this year is our current recruiting class. It appears that no momentum was created from our last 2 classes of Simpson, Castro and especially BHop. Next year will be more of the same. The further development of these three 'stars' will be offset by the loss of Q, our ultimate star.

I see another above .500 non-championship, non-tournament season. I am not happy.

[Charleston Pony]

So Cal: I agree we've got a good chance at finishing 2-3 for another .500 season. Can't see us beating Boise at their place or beating Tulsa & La Tech at Moody. Our best chances for wins in these last 5 are Rice and UTEP. Any of the other 3 will please me at this point. You're right about the WAC Tourney. If we are fortunate enough to win a 1st round game, that's about as far as I see us going because we just don't have any depth. We showed against both Nevada & Fresno we're capable of playing good defense for about the 1st 5 minutes...then I don't know whether fatigue sets in, or what.

As for next year's recruiting class, it looks promising to me. Bennett looks like a shooter/scorer, which we desperately need with Q graduating and Voc looking like he will never return to form. Pearson looks like a versatile 3 that could push Lowe for playing time. Reay looks like an inside banger and if he and Rack can contribute in the low post next year, we'll have a little more depth behind Castro and Simpson.

SMU has been so sorry for so long that we're a tough sell for Dement and his staff, but it looks to me like it's coming along. I agree with the DMN writer who said last week that Dement deserves the right to finish this thing. He has 2 yrs left on his contract and next year looks like the critical year. Let's see what happens with a healthier and more experienced Bhop at the point; Castro, Simpson & Isham playing in their 3rd year and a bunch of Froh/Sophs pushing for playing time. I might be singing a different tune if I thought we could bring in a high profile coach who could recruit top 100 kids, but Dement's bringing in that next tier kid who just might develop into very good players. I think Castro & Simpson have shown significant improvement from last year. I may be the last patient man on this board, but I didn't come into this year expecting us to be much more than a .500 team.

So far, this team has pleased me with early season wins over TCU, UNT & Baylor and with the win at Tulsa. They've disappointed me with those early season losses at ORU & App State and the home loss to Boise. It's also been disappointing to see how often we get blown out in our losses. It's as if we reach a point in those games where the guys decide they aren't going to win, so they pack it in. I think Dement alluded to a lack of heart in his post game comments last night.