Is anybody else as sick of constant disappointment

[PX]

I'm curious, why do you say that Donatas is "nowhere in the vicinity of being able to hold his own in Division 1"? What have you observed about his ability that has lead you to say something like that, and what are the weaknesses you have seen in his game? Please be as specific as possible, is he too slow, not strong enough, make poor decisions, poor form on his shot, bad hands, bad footwork, etc? Why do you believe he is nowhere near being able to hold his own?

[BigEasyPony]

As this season fades to balck and we miss yet another post season we will do what we do every year, look forward to football. This basketball season has left such a bad taste that frankly I am convinced the athletic administration lacks commitment. As I saw the brackets announced and noticed the mid-major at large teams like Butler, So. Illinois and Gonzaga get called I was left wondering. When are we going to stand up and be counted.

Until our school shows that it is serious about winning then we'll be left out again. It is incumbent upon us that we demand excellence. Our goal should be 20 wins a year! Anything less is unacceptable.

[Charleston Pony]

While many Ponyfans are disappointed with the 17-13 finish, did your memory grow short when you say we now have to look forward to football? I'm sure Bennett would love to post a 6-6 season, with a 5-3 mark in WAC play next year. That's the equivalent of where we are in basketball.

Let's hope Bennett is here 5-6 years so we can see what he might accomplsih with a roster that is entirely his own recruits. For the past several years, at least basketball has given us cause for some optimism. The football program has been painful to watch, even for the most diehard loyalists.

[BigEasyPony]

My point is that we have been frustrated so many times that we immediately turn our attention to something else e.g. football. I think we need to get our basketball house in order 1st then.

If in Year 8 of the Bennett regime he fades like Dement's teams have done then I would be equally tough on him. In basketball 65 teams go to the NCAA's and 40 go to the NIT. During Dement's tenure we have been to the NIT once and vever been to the NCAA's. That doens't sit well with me. If Bennett had been to one bowl game in 8 years would that be enough? Not if it was 3-4 years ago. When a coach has been at an institution for a long period of time expectations naturally increase. At SMU our production has not increased. I am sure that Coach Dement is a good coach and is repected by his peers, BUT he has not gotten it done (for a variety of reasons, I know) at SMU so now is the time to think about a change.

Can anyone make the argument that SMU has not given Coach Dement enough time?

[BigEasyPony]

My point is that we have been frustrated so many times that we immediately turn our attention to something else e.g. football. I think we need to get our basketball house in order first.

If in Year 8 of the Bennett regime he fades like Dement's teams have done then I would be equally tough on him. In basketball 65 teams go to the NCAA's and 40 go to the NIT. During Dement's tenure we have been to the NIT once and never been to the NCAA's. That doesn't sit well with me. If Bennett had been to one (1) bowl game in 8 years would that be enough? Not if it was 3-4 years ago. When a coach has been at an institution for a long period of time expectations naturally increase. At SMU our production has not increased. I am sure that Coach Dement is a good coach and is repected by his peers, BUT he has not gotten it done (for a variety of reasons, I know) at SMU so now is the time to think about a change.

Can anyone make the argument that SMU has not given Coach Dement enough time?

[EastStang]

I sat in a bar on Friday night and watched my team allow 3 after 3 after 3. Why the zone against a team that lives by the three? When we started to play match-up zone, they had trouble. Secondly, we were definitely cold. Miller had several good looks at threes and bricked them all. B-Hop played out of control early and settled down after a little pine time. He turned the ball over and shot off balance. Q was trying to do it all and it showed. Simpson played a good game I thought. Game plan to start the game F.

[Stallion]

Contrary to what some on this board think I did make it out to 5 games this year including the exhibitions and saw the games on TV. It doesn't take a genius to see that the Rack is not physically mature and strong enough to contribute at the Division 1 Level at this time. I didn't say he was a dork or a wasted scholarship just that he is a PROJECT which is exactly what he is. The Rack's production undisputably has proven that he is physically overmatched at the present and got a scholarship largely because he is a tall guy who MIGHT someday mature into a decent player. The Rack as a senior in HS averaged 12.3 points and 6.5 rebounds a game which is really rather pathetic for an "alleged Top 15 Center" that some of you proclaimed. In a High School a 6-11 kid plays against 6-3 Centers and yet he was only an average offensive scorer as well as a pretty inactive rebounder. The Rack continued to prove unequivocally that he wasn't ready this year when he shot 5-19 from the field for .26% for an average of .7 per game. Total points were 15 points in 124 points minutes not exactly blue chip numbers. BTW Jon Koncak who also was a project managed to average around 25 points and double digit rebounds in High School even though he wasn't exactly a polished player when he got here. To suggest that SMU should of taken away minutes from Castro or Simpson to give The Rack the kind of minutes Bliss was able to give Koncak is simply unfair to Dement-especially since Koncak played in a complete rebuilding year.

[This message has been edited by Stallion (edited 03-17-2003).]

[OldPony]

I hate to agree with Stallion but on occasion he sees more with his stats than many do watching the game. The Rack is too slow, has poor footwork, on occasion gets lost and is not an offensive threat. He is tall and appears to be trying to learn and improve strength, footwork and defense. Only time and continued effort will tell the whole story. He should not have played anymore than he did this year. Hopefully next year, he'll be ready to contribute more from the bench.
While I think Simpson, Castro, Isham and BHop are quality players, there was nothing I saw this year to make me believe that they will play at the next level. They MAY but a lot of improvement is necessary for all of them to even be considered. They are young and showed great improvemnt this year. With only one really big hole to fill next year replacing Q, I expect to see a much better team.
There are some quality players on the bench next year to rest the starters and let us play more man defense and I expect BHop to learn his role better. Simpson and Castro both shoot well for the 4-5 positions and I think their confidence and range will improve. Isham is a big IF. Either he becomes a better offensive threat or he may not start. I think he has the tools to improve. I think the Ponies will go to the dance next year.
Dement has had to build this program much slower than he or we would have liked because of SMU restricitions. He is at the very worst a pretty good recruiter and a decent coach. He will be held accountable next year if results aren't forthcoming and he should be. There have been no shortcuts taken to reestablish this program and we are all impatient. Next year is DO or Die for Dement but we can thank him for bringing us about half way back under trying circumstances. He represents SMU well and so do the kids he recruits. Let's all hope he finally gets a team put together next year. Best of luck to us all.

[PX]

There arent alot of 6'3" kids playing center at New Hampton prep. Nor at Oak Hill, or St. George or Hargrave or Winchendon, or any of the other schools they play. Most of their guards are taller than that. The power forward that played beside Donatas was 6'9" Adam Tancredi, who also went on to play in D1. Niether Rack, nor Tancredi, nor point guard Wes Miller (playing now at James Madison) were the first option on offense for New Hampton, though, because Rashad McCants (North Carolina) was also on that team. The others all averaged about the same number of points, while McCants was the star. Before you compare Donatas's stats to Koncaks, or call the guy pitiful, take a look at who he played with, and against. Koncak didnt have a teammate who was a national top-10 recruit, who took most of his teams shots and they didnt play against other prep schools that recruited the best high school age players from all over the US, and overseas. Last week you went on for days about how Devon Pearsons stats are affected by the team he plays on, and their low scoring average. Before you rip on Donatas, look at who else was on the court at the same time.

I agree completely that Donatas needs to get stronger, but I dont see that as his primary need. He's strong enough to hold our own post players out of the lane in practice, and I didnt see too many other post players in the WAC who could move him around. Donatas is thin but he still weighs about 245, and he doesnt seem to have any problem throwing his body around and mixing it up in the paint. What he needs to do is be a little smarter about the fouls he commits, sometimes he's a little too eager to bang around. He cant try to block every shot. He also needs to work on his low post game, he has a very good touch on his jumper from 10 feet out, but he sometimes looks lost when he gets the ball under the basket.

Donatas is definitely a work in progress, and I never said he should play the minutes Koncak did as a freshman. But if we are trying to develop him this year, he should have played consistent minutes every game. Not 4 minutes a game, and only 23 of the 30 games. Playing him that little is virtually a waste of a year of eligibility. If he was that far down on the depth chart, and that unready to play he should have been redshirted.

I'm not suggesting that people watch practice, I hardly have time for it myself anymore, but I dont see how you can make any kind of judgement about Donatas just from the limited minutes he got in games this year, or from trying to analyze his statistics. Jibran Kelly played more than 4 times the minutes Donatas did, but were his statistics that much different? 2 points a game?

From what I've seen, Donatas is a physical presence on defense and a solid rebounder. He needs to improve his footwork under the basket and get stronger. As the season went on he seemed to lose some of his agression on defense and became more passive, perhaps he was wearing down and needs to improve his conditioning. But if you saw the exhibition games, where he actually got a few more minutes of playing time, I dont see how you can say the guy cant hold his own.

Going back to the prep school argument for just a moment, the last time I looked Paulius Joneliunas was averaging just 13 points a game at Roanoke Catholic, not far from Donatas's pitiful numbers, but that hasnt stopped half the teams in the AP top-20 from offering him a scholarship. South Carolina seems to be the frontrunner for Paulius now, we've dropped out of the picture, so I havent checked lately, but he was being recruited by the biggest programs without putting up amazing numbers, because they understand the context that he competes in.

Finally, I never said anything about Rack being a top-15 center. That came from the recruiting lists that people love to dig up. I said a long time ago that those lists were often a joke, and the fact that some had Chris Reay in front of Warren Carter this year is all the proof you need.

[Charleston Pony]

Joneliunus' coach reports tonight he has committed to S.Carolina

[NCPony]

On a side note of McCants, there is speculation on the UNC boards he, among others, is not happy with Doherty and is going to transfer. There are player accounts of Doherty being rough on them. This may be avoided by firing Doh. We'll find out after the NIT.

[50's PONY]

OldPony, did you really say that this team will go to the big dance next year? Unbelievable!

[OldPony]

Hey 50's- I truly believe that next years team can get to the dance. I expect modest improvement from Castro and Simpson, much improvement from a healthy and year older BHop. I have concerns about Isham but he should be better than this year. Our bench should be vastly improved with some quality players who will allow us to play a very up tempo game especially on defense. I thought this past team had a shot at the NIT but unfortunately we fell a game short. We will definitely miss Q in many ways but that is the way with college basketball. Someone will have to take up the slack and leadership role but our juniors are capable of doing that. I've always been a little optimistic but I saw flashes of very good team play the last half of this year. It all depends on how hard these guys work in the off season.