by Charleston Pony » Sun Feb 16, 2003 1:37 pm
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.