Time for a \"Culture\"Change

[pony91]

Realize it or not but we have grown to accept being a bottom of the barrell(WAC) program. Our change needs to start at the top. Our team has quit and this program needs rejuvination fast. I swallowed the "Committment" and now I want our illustrious AD to practice what he preaches and show me a committment to fix this program. Don't even tell me we are .500 ballclub in the WAC and its not that bad. If you believe that then you have accepted being a mediocre program. Come on Stangs lets get this fixed.

[mulletmike]

You are correct, sir. Eat the contract, its the only way

[Sic_em]

It's unfortunate when you have an AD who won't make a move when it's obvious to everyone else that the coach isn't getting it done.

For example, at Baylor, Kevin Steele's teams were horrible, especially in the way they were coached. Yet Baylor's Athletic Director Tom Stanton, made all types of ridiculous statements trying to defend Steele, even saying that his only regret was not hiring Steele two years earlier than he did. Steele was 3-19 at the time he said it.

Stanton stubbornly defended Steele for 4 futile years before pressure from big money donors became so great that he was literally forced to fire him.

I am not as close to SMU's situation as I was to Baylor's, but I ask this: Has Mike Dement not had enough time to build SMU's program into a consistent winner in the WAC? If he hasn't gotten it done after all this time, why do you think the future will be any different?

[FloridaMustang]

Trust me, we completely agree. He's brought us to the middle of the pack in the WAC. Now it's time to move on to bigger and better things. We make money, god knows how...let's hire a coach that can take this program into the tourney...we have a solid foundation in Bhop, Castro, and Simpson. If Texas Tech can do it, we sure as hell can too.

[Ikus]

Agreed. Defending the 3 has killed us all year. And when Swanson hit the game-winning 3 in the last minute or so, 4 of the 5 SMU players were in the lane. I realize you have to defend everyone, but they'd had better luck outside the stripe than they did inside, and the way WE shoot 3s, we would have had a lot more luck trying to tie it up if we were only down 2, so we could go inside. (With that said, Simpson darn-near got the 3-point play - his layup just missed.)

Does anyone know how many fouls we had at that point? I think we were in the first bonus, so i almost think we should have fouled anyone who even thought about shooting a 3. If we got him while he was still on the floor, it would have been a 1-and-1.

[Nacho Cheese]

UNF, that money you think we're making, check the accounting before you believe those numbers. Enron and Worldcom were telling the same story to their shareholders, right up until bankruptcy.
Look at the "revenue" SMU reported for football. Even if every game were a sellout, it wouldnt come to that amount. Even if you add in the club level seats and the pitiful bowl and TV split every team gets from the WAC. Its too much. Way too much, off by more than a million. Add it all up, see what you get.

[OldPony]

Do players get any of the blame? We keep hearing how it is unfair to criicise Hopkins because he isn't 100% but he is the best we have. Is he a reason that we can't defend a 3? He is a reqason we can't make one. You guys talk out of both sides of your mouths. I'm not happy with Dement but the players other than Q ansd Simpson don't look very good either. Castro on occasion is very good but disappears sometimes. Isham can't seem to get out to defend the 3. Dement has been stressing this as hard as he can. he worked their butts off last week. He scolded them in public. Imagine what you guys would be saying about Dement if he did what Knight did this week. Get a grip. At worst, Dement is an average basketball caoch and an above average recruiter. At best--- we'll find out over the next year.

[Pony_Fan]

By all means the players need some blame.

If you are playing a game and another team lights it up on you from 3 all game, wouldn't that [deleted] you off? Wouldn't you stick in the players face and make sure there is no way he can get a 3 off..especially when the game is on the line? TU wasn't doing much in the paint.


On another note, Blake for Maryland is a joy to watch. I had to stay home due to illness and watched that game. I believe Maryland was down by 3 and they double teamed him and nobody could get a shot off.

[cowboypony]

Time for a change? What an understatement. This program has been a below average in Division 1 for the better part of 20 years (actually longer, but, I'm going to speak of the time that I have personal knowledge). Why is that? Well, I think most of the answer have been discussed, debated and tossed around here many times. Coaching, money, recruiting, recruiting restrictions, etc. Yes, they all play some part. However, there are too many reasons why SMU should be a highly competitive program in Division 1. In fact, we should always win, or be in strong contention, for the WAC. Hell, we even have a former player currently in the NBA. There are many top 25 teams in the NCAA this year that will have NO ONE go to the NBA. In my opinion, BB is the very place we should strive to gain some success and attention. So many programs around the country can field a very competitive program. Basketball is a world apart from building a football program. Yet, SMU continues to be below average and is getting further behind.
Why does no one go to our games? The answer is b/c we continue, year in and year out, to put the exact product on the court. Why should anyone venture halfway across the metroplex to watch. During that same 20 period, we've seen Super Bowl stretches for the Cowboys, a Stanley Cup for the Stars, a highly competitive Mavericks team in the mid-80s and now, and, even the Rangers teased us a few times. However, in that same time period, other than a few isolated conference championships, we have remained very bad.

There are few people more loyal to SMU athletics than me; however, I'm really struggling to maintain even a passing interest in the BB program (I'm crossing my fingers on the FB program). What's the point. What has the administration given us who desparately want to support the program. Nothing!

In my opinion, our biggest hinderance is NOT the abundance of other sports and activities in the metroplex. Our biggest hinderance is ourselves. It should not take that much to change the fate of our BB program. Keep in mind that we don't have to play the Big XII teams every 3 days. We can put a program in place that wins 20 games and the WAC (or whatever mid-tier conference we're in).

All of our problems can be answer by looking in the mirror. Please, someone a little higher up than me do something about it before it's too late

[The CPC]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by OldPony:
<B>Do players get any of the blame? We keep hearing how it is unfair to criicise Hopkins because he isn't 100% but he is the best we have. Is he a reason that we can't defend a 3? He is a reqason we can't make one. </B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes players do get some of the blame, but since we're singling out Hopkins, tell us this, was he on the team last year, or the year before? Is the 3-point problem something new? A quick check of last years stats show that we gave up almost the exact same percentage and total number of 3's last season, as we are now. CPC doesnt think much of that blame can be laid at Bryans feet, since he was busy winning a high school state title for most of last year, and not really involved in SMU's perimeter defense. At least not at that particular time.
From CPC's viewpoint, defensive schemes seem to be as much to blame as anything else. Our guards sag way to much into the lane to help on the opponents post people, and they cant get back to the perimeter fast enough to defend the kickout. Particularly, when SMU is in the 1-3-1 zone, or halfcourt trap. When we play straight man-to-man, our opponents have a difficult time even getting off a 3-pointer, as best demonstrated by the last 7-8 minutes of the Nevada game.

[TUfan]

Just a thought-- mostly just a thought because I have only seen two SMU games in person, one on TV-- I expected SMU to back off Tulsa's guards and the 3 point shot and collapse on KJ. (Shoot everyone else has done it this season...) Tulsa's guards have NOT been very hot this season, while if KJ get's the ball in/near the paint (heck-- pretty much anywhere) without considerable pressure there is a really good chance he will score. I also noticed that SMU wisely guarded him out at the 3point line. This might have something to do with the way he lit up Boise State from out there last week (5-7).

I've read in the past on this board about the 3pt D, but in this case, slacking was warrented. However, when Tulsa was hitting the 3, I have to agree- there really wasn't an adjustment made. At the same time-- that 3 that Swanson made was not easy-- he was leaning backwards and shot over two SMU players and a TU player setting a screen of sort. Which brings me to another topic-- your bigger men are really good at getting teh ball on the perimeter, back to the basket, passing it off to a guard, and then standing there--setting a screen of sort-- so that the SMU guard can get a clean shot off. I was impressed by that execution.

[Lawgrad]

Last night was the first b-ball game I've attended in some time, but it does not appear that a lot has changed. I was impressed with a number of players at various times, but it does not appear that the bench is very deep, and the inside play leaves a lot to be desired. Granted, this was the first game in person I've seen him play, but Castro did not impress me at all last night. In fact, if anything, the word that comes to mind is "plodding". Was he off his game last night, or is this a regular occurrence?

I've always thought Dement was a good coach, and I still do, but I am not sure if he is the right coach for this program at this time. However, I will be the first to say that I am woefully underqualified to address that issue, as my knowledge of SMU b-ball in the past two years has largely been through the paper.

For a traditionally "big" game, as this one against Tulsa was, the crowd was fairly lifeless neither team appeared to be very excited to be playing. Ultimately, we ended up leaving the game at the half, went to 1st & 10 for some tasty grub, and watched the Bedlam Series (OU v. OSU) which was out of control. I would really like to see that type of atmosphere again at Moody.

[OldPony]

TU Fan-It is nice to have the perspective of a basketball fan with knowledge on the board. Everyone seems to be saying that it is Dement's fault that 3's are being made. Maybe some of it lies with him and his use of the zone. I think he uses the zone a lot becuase he doesn't have an 8 deep team that can play man and he needs it to protect players with fouls and to "protect" players with less ability when subbing for our starters. We all hope that Hopkins will be a superstar but today he is a freshman who isn't 100% healthy so, even though we need him on the court, he isn't a dominate player in any sense yet. Perimeter defense is the responsibility of the 1,2 3 players mostly. They simply aren't getting out to the ball in time. The why of this is complicated because it depends on the defense at the time and the foul situation and the percieved ability of the opponent to light you up. Dement seems to be doing everything he can but there are poor results so everyone wants his job. My guess is that if he left, he'd get a better job than SMU. When you say he didn't adjust, what should he have done thaqt he didn't?

[Ringer]

Hey Ikus TUFAN is correct. There were not five mustangs in the paint on that last three pointer by Swanson. There were two mustangs on him with one of his own teamates in front of him. He was leaning back and shooting over people. It was just a great shot. Tell me I am crazy but has anyone noticed that good ole Kris Lowe's shooting has improved tremendously. Word has it that he has been staying after practice and working by himself to improve. I still say he should have been in the game at the end. He and Quinton were the only ones hitting threes in the second half. My heart goes out to Castro. He can shoot the three. It just did not happen on Wednesday. Odds were that he would make at least one out of the three he took. Just didn't happen.