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ready for the hoops season? Any thoughts, comments, predictions, concerns??? Let's get this board active. I sincerely believe there is a lot to get excited about. With a healthy Hop, a year older and wiser Simpson, Isham, Castro, and a quickly improving Rack, I believe we will be dancing for the first time in 10 years. Individually, Hop will prove to Pony Fans and the nation that all the hype was justified, and watch out for the I-Man.

is this thing working?

LA_Mustang: As the great McEnroe said: "You can't be serious" - about dancing. This is still a Mike Dement coached team...

Yeah- Let's start the season calling for Dement's job. Let's ignore that this may be the best overall talent he has had since being at SMU Let's get all over basketball for not performing to unrealistic expectations even though they are much, much more competitive than football although they have labored under the same stupid recruiting rules. Sure its easier to build a basketball team to a certain level but Dement isn't the problem, I don't think. If he falls on his face this year, let's talk but not before. This team could be pretty good. If Bhop is really as talented as most think and the rest mature as they did last year with some pretty decent rebounding help from the bench, this group could be Top 35 or so. Let's at least give them a chance before carping about Dement. Dement had a crippled point guard and 3 sophs playing last year with only one legitimate star. They played well toward the last half of the season as the younger guys matured and got healthier.
Isham is the guy we should be looking to to perform consistently ie slashing like he has shown the ability to do on an every game basis. For once, I would like to see everyone on this board with some positive expressions of support for this team unless and until they PROVE otherwise.

Wow PF that is pretty low. :hmm:

This team will need to be built on teamwork, especially when the star is a point guard. Dement has shown that he can do that. Think back to the early days when Dement had no star players. He made a team out of them and improved rapidly from the dismal team he inherited. :thumbupcool:

Wow, you guys are sensitive today....bball season hasn't even started yet

Hoops is much more fun than football in my opinion. I am sorry the fball team has been so dreadful. LA asked for opinions... OP, I know you've read my posts in the past...I am not calling for his head, I just don't think he can get it done (i.e., get this team to dance). I realize we really can't get anyone else here anyway. I would love nothing more to be in the field of 64. My opinion...I am not a Dement fan.

I am very excited to see Hopkins if he is at full capacity. I have seen it in HS and I know what he is cabable of. As I have said before, we need CONSISTENT play from everyone rather than one guy show up one game and another guy show up another. Castro showed me some promise but fell off completely the last couple of games. If I can see team play like the 1st half of Rice last year, I will be happy. Demen't teams, since he has been here, has lacked ball distribution and you cannot deny that. I will be very encouraged if Hopkins T/O ratio improves and people can start hitting open shots. Lowe looked timid and scared last year and we need him to build some confidence. Isham has potential but hasn't performed up to it.

PF, I do believe this team can contend for the WAC title and make it to the NCAAs. For the first time in a long time we have two solid, experienced inside players in Simpson and Castro, and I am very optimistic about the improvemnet of Rack. If he can contribute with some rebounding and blocked shots this team could get very interesting. As for Isham, I think he has consistantly improved in his two first years. He will now be "the" SG on this team and he should excel in an up tempo game with a healthy Hop.

Starting lineup?
Hopkins
Isham
Lowe
Simpson
Castro

How much PT will Bennett and Pearson see?

Sorry PF- I just didn't want to start the year off with a lot of negatives. While I think Castro is a serviceable big man, I would really like to see the Rack challenge for this spot though because I think his potential is greater. Isham had some great halfs last year and is quick enough to be a real defensive stopper along with BHop. Simpson is very solid and can shoot well enough to allow BHop access to the lane to dish instead of clogging it with our big guys on O. If some of the freshmen can play well enough to spell the starters, this team could actually play up tempo quite well. Isham didn't shoot enough last year but without Q, he may be the biggest key as to how far we go. He improved a lot from his freshman year as did Simpson. Castro played really well against the poorer competition but he needs to improve his footwork to hold his own against the better big men. Overall, I'm excited for the season and to try to objectively assess Dement when he has a point.