Comments - Wake Game

[Pony_Fan]

First of all, I am happy we kept it close and frankly was surprised after being down by 17pts to get within 4.
Wake had a little trouble penetrating the zone and I am not sure they are used to playing against that much of it. Gray made 6 tres in the 1st half! What was Dement thinking - 14-14 - guess what - he does the 5 man rotation and Wake goes on a 10-0 run. That upsets me so much... Leave your starters in!

My friends says to me: "that Hopkins kid is sloppy and plays street ball, how can he expect to get through 3 guys in the lane?" I know LA_Mustang is a big fan but he isn't playing any better than HS...tries to do too much. He is unfortunately the only guy who can really play the point. When he leaves the game we turn the ball over even more....Isham and Voc really have trouble at the point. When he fouled out, the game was over...We have no automatic 3 pointer shooters.

Castro held up pretty well against Williams and the refs made some terrible calls on both sides but I really wish he would keep the ball off the floor. Isham seems to be improving nicely, Miller played within himself, and Lowe was a non factor.

The crowd was maybe 3K?..lots of empties.

Let's beat App State.

p.s. Let's can that halftime show - that was embarassing.

<small>[ 12-15-2003, 07:15 PM: Message edited by: Pony_Fan ]</small>

[Pony_Fan]

Good recap from ESPN -


Final
(12) Wake Forest 78
SMU 66

DALLAS (AP) -- When Justin Gray was making 3-pointers from practically anywhere he wanted, Wake Forest seemed headed into ACC play with another high-scoring, easy win.

Instead, the 14th-ranked Demon Deacons had to work on their late-game tactics.

Gray made six 3-pointers in the first half, then didn't score again until hitting a driving hook with 2:05 left that helped Wake Forest start a late run that carried it past SMU 78-66 Monday night.

The Demon Deacons (6-0) led by 17 points early in the second half, then found themselves up only 68-64 before Gray's basket. The Mustangs (3-2) answered quickly, but Wake Forest held on with eight straight free throws in the final minute, six by freshman Chris Paul.

It wasn't the best way to prepare for a road game against No. 4 North Carolina on Saturday. Then again, it could have been worst.

"You'd like to beat everybody by 180, but that's not going to happen," coach Skip Prosser said. "You play games like this to be challenged on the road. ... I thought we showed some true grit. We had to make some stops, get some rebounds and we did that."

Gray finished with a season-high 22 points, five assists -- including a lob over two defenders while on his backside near midcourt -- and four rebounds.

He was 6-of-9 on 3s in the first half and 0-of-2 after halftime, but he still made one more than his career best.

Gray had 20 points by halftime, with several shots falling from well behind the arc. He followed most by pointing at whoever set him up, but he celebrated the fifth with a fist pump. It was worth it considering at the time he had more points (17) than SMU (14).

Eric Williams had 22 points, 11 in each half, and 10 rebounds, while Paul added 12 points, nine assists and six steals. The assists and steals were each one shy of the school's freshman record.

Jamaal Levy added 14 points, but the rest of the team scored just eight points. Wake Forest made just nine field goals in the second half, sending the nation's sixth-highest scoring team (89. to its lowest total of the season. The Deacons also had a season-high 22 turnovers.

"We're concerned about our execution and what we did wrong," Williams said. "As of yet, we hadn't been challenged by a team like that. We know every team won't lay down because we're Wake Forest."

Hosting a ranked, non-conference team for the first time in nine seasons, the Mustangs were sloppy with their passes and shots in the first half. They made better decisions during their comeback and brought to life a small, but loud, crowd.

Justin Isham, who scored 15 points, gave them their final reasons to cheer when he blocked a shot by Paul and turned it into a layup that got SMU within 70-66 with 1:10 left.

But the Mustangs didn't score again, falling to 0-22 against ranked teams under coach Mike Dement. At least they played Wake Forest much tougher than they did in a 73-49 loss last year.

"We weren't in the best of shape coming off a 12-day break," Dement said. "You could see that in our legs and in some of our shots and some of our shot selection."

Patrick Simpson had 13 points, Brian Miller 12 and Eric Castro 10. Bryan Hopkins, usually SMU's top player, was just 2-of-10 from the field and scored nine points.

The tight second half prevented Wake Forest from using its lone Dallas native, Alan Williams, until there were 13.9 seconds left. A fan favorite at home, the end-of-bench reserve got a big ovation from his family and friends when he entered, and when he drew a foul seconds later.

[Hoop Fan]

Hopkins did not have a good game at all. He did play well against Texas Tech, but at this point I am convinced he has a chronic injury. There were two fast break chances tonight that he just didnt have the speed or elevation to make a play. Anybody who saw him in high school knows that Bryan Hopkins could finish on a fast break. He can barely dunk now. He did have his first dunk of the season tonight on a total breakaway and barely had enough lift to throw it down. Something is wrong with him physically.

[DickerJames]

I will definetly call this a "moral victory", and I was very pleased that we actually had a real shot at winning this game with 1:30 left in the game. I did'nt believe this team would be better than last years with the loss of Ross, but they are. They are doing alot of good things and playing more as a team, but they always seem to revert to "street ball" at very crutial times in the game. I don't want to be too negative, but if Hopkins would concentrate on finding the open man instead of trying to do it all himself, this team can be pretty good.
Question for Dement. Why did you pull Miller with 1:30 left for Lowe, and why did you allow Simpson, Hopkins, and Isham to throw up prayers at the end of the game without passing the ball once or even think about looking for an open man. A 4 point game turned into 12 points in about 35 seconds. Was that the plan you discussed during the last timeout?

[Pony_Fan]

You may be right b/c he certainly didn't explode on the dunk like in HS he would have unloaded.

As for Dement, god only knows what he's thinking 1/2 the time. Isham's prayer 2 pointer was utterly stupid and there didn't seem to be any type of drawn up play. I will agreed this team looks more like a team than in recent years of Sasser, Hancock.

<small>[ 12-15-2003, 07:27 PM: Message edited by: Pony_Fan ]</small>

[Diehard Pony]

Pony_Fan, I agree with many of your comments. My only adds are as follows: (1) where you at the same game I was at as to head count? It appeared to me to be very close to as full as it was for TT. My guess on attendance is 5.5k at least; (2) this appeared to be a break out game for Brian Miller. By far the best performance by him as a Mustang. His performance tonight merits more playing time down the road. Very nice contribution by a player that has previously been a non-factor; (3) the atmosphere was terrific as we all know it can be at Moody if people show up and you have a good game, and that's what we had tonight. The DMN said in today's paper that they were going to write a story in tomorrow's paper about the possibility of "Moody Madness" returning since the team is noticably improved. My guess is that it will be a very positive article. The crowd was loud and supportive all night; (4) like several other people have already said, BHop was more of a liability tonight than he was an asset. A combination of multiple turnovers and a bad shooting night. If he had stepped up tonight, we would have won this game. Now I am beginning to be concerned if he is ever going to perform to his billing. Let's hope he still does.

Overall, a positive performance, particularly in the second half. Like every one of you, I would love to finally win one of these instead of looking for the postives.

IMO, this team could dance if they keep improving and BHop elevates his game.

<small>[ 12-15-2003, 07:47 PM: Message edited by: Diehard Pony ]</small>

[Hoop Fan]

It wasnt a great crowd, even for SMU, but it certainly was more than 3K. I'd venture 5,000 sold with a couple hundred no shows in the blue seats as usual. I wish SMU would come up with an exchange program down there like Tech is working on.

[DickerJames]

Thursday worries me. I hope they don't have a let down from the big game atmosphere of tonight and not bring their A game.

[Sam I Am]

Dement still has no wins against a ranked team. Moral victories don't count. What we have seen is what we shall keep getting.

[Mike Damone]

I keep on hearing that B-Hop is injured and I'll buy that. But could someone please explain to me how that injury causes him to make one horrible decision after another. How many turnovers did he have? It seemed like 10.

[FloridaMustang]

Bhop = overrated.

Simpson is the real deal.

[No Cal Pony]

I have to agree with you Sam. Tired of "moral victories." No wins against ranked opponents is still no wins. Time to put up or shut up. Copeland and company better get the act together.

I am glad to hear we did better than last year, but SMU still has a ways to go.

(I like seeing bracey wright and indiana getting beat no problem. He should've stayed at home and be leading the Ponies.)

I hope Dement can show us more in the near future.

Go Ponies!

[StangEsq]

I really liked the toughness of our team. I think we can rebound with anyone. The problem (as everyone knows) is defending the 3. It was encouraging that in the second half our guys seemed to move a lot more quickly to the perimeter... seemed to have a lot more energy. If we could play like that for an entire game we'd be a very dangerous team. Oh yeah, and avoid the turnovers... we handed the ball off more times than Quincy Carter did yesterday.

[Buddha]

Here's what I liked about tonight's game:

- We got down 17 to a nationally ranked opponent and made a serious run to cut the game to within 4.

- Brian Miller has the most natural three-point range of any player I've seen at SMU since Todd Alexander.

- We got little-to-no production tonight from: The Rack, Pearson, Bennett, Lowe, Atkins and (hate to say it) Hopkins -- who quite frankly had a poor night, by his standards -- and we STILL hung in there with Wake.

- Castro and Simpson fought their hearts out inside against Eric Williams, who looked like Eddie Curry in there (program had him at 6-9, 275). They weren't going to win if it turned into a shoving match, but they held their ground and challenged him on both ends of the floor.

- Simpson looked scared at the beginning - turnovers, shots getting blocked, silly foul -- but he bounced back to have a decent (if not great) game.

- Justin Isham continued his emergence on both ends of the floor. He handled the ball, passed well, shot pretty well (50 percent), crashed the boards and played very good defense (including a nice steal late). He's becoming more and more dependable on both ends of the floor. He's no longer just a leaper -- he's a damn good player.

And Florida Mustang: I'm not ready to say that BHop's overrated -- we still haven't seen him at 100 percent -- and Simpson is very good, but had a very average game tonight. Interesting that you would pick tonight to annoint him as the real deal. I think without question that he is, but tonight wasn't his best effort.

[LA_Mustang]

Pony_Fan,

Hoop Fan summed up the Hopkins situation pretty well. It’s sad because he is a great talent but for whatever reason it is not happening right now.

I agree with most of your thoughts on the game. Once again, I have no idea what Dement is thinking when he pulls all 5 starters and puts in 5 subs???? When he did that last night the score was 14-14, and two minutes later we were down 22-14.

As usual, we were getting killed by the 3 in the first half. I really cant understand why we don’t play man to man sometimes?? The defensive effort in the second half was tremendous.

The Simpson three attempt with about 2 to go would have been huge. If that shot goes, we are looking a real chance to upset a top 10 team but it wasn’t meant to be. Wake is a very talented and well-coached team.

This game was a success in my eyes. We went toe to toe with one of the nations best and came away with a lot of positives (team showed heart, the play of Miller and Isham, second half team defense) and two negatives (the play of Hopkins and 3 point defense).