Comments on Tulsa game?

[Pony_Fan]

Didn't hear it until 2.5 min left. Again, low scoring - will be problem down the road and I predict a Fresno/Nevada loss due to travel. Sounds like bench play stunk it up.

[Charleston Pony]

bench didn't get any minutes to see what they might have contributed.

Sounds like another pathetic crowd. We have no real home court advantage. Sad.

[gostangs]

We have a great home court advantage when our students show up.

[Mustangs35SMU]

Played great in first half
2nd half dont even wanna talk about it. We have to! HAVE TO! Learn to play a full game if we expect to make it anywhere

[KnuckleStang]

Sounded to me like Tulsa missed their 3-pointers in the first half, and made them in the second half. Which is why we blew them out in the first half, and they came back in the second. Again, we can expect this all year. When they shoot horribly from outside, we will win, and vice versa. Nice clutch plays at the end, though (Isham, Hop), to pull it out.

[Diehard Pony]

I was in my usual seat, and from my perspective this is a team we should have blown out at home. It looked like we were on our way early in the game with good intensity, but gradually our offensive game diminished to the point we weren't scoring. This trend continued through the rest of the game to the point it looked like Tulsa was going to take the game and effectively end our season. Thankfully the Simpson steal and put back, followed by Lowe's 3 pulled the game out. The 3 of us that go to all the games together were shocked when they announced Bhop had 18. They were the quietest 18 points I think anybody has ever scored. Didn't see the leadership I expect from Bhop tonight, and he still had too many turnovers (don't know the #).

We managed to pull it out, but this team has to figure out a way to get more offense. We can't beat everybody 67-58. IMO this team should be scoring in the high 70's, or low 80's with the talent on the roster.

Crowd was not bad considering there were no students there tonight,only a handful of TU fans (different from the past) and we were coming off that ridiculous OSU game. Bottom line is we won, but we have to get a lot better than this.

<small>[ 01-06-2004, 07:11 PM: Message edited by: Diehard Pony ]</small>

[PonyTales]

Crowd was OK - I'll be interested to see what kind of attendance they announce.

Bryan Hopkins is interesting. He scores as well as any point guard we've had that I can remember, except maybe Damon Hancock and the great Kato Armstrong. But one freakin' assist? When so much of the offense is having him drive the lane and (if he meets any big guys in the lane) kicking outside to someone on the perimeter? ONE ASSIST? He is a very good player who might still become a special player, but he has to distribute better.

Isham has been a little inconsistent lately for my taste.

Simpson and Castro were great. They shot pretty well, rebounded, Simpson had a few blocks, and they're great passing big guys. I was very impressed.

Tulsa doesn't have half the team this year that it had last year. They've lost a ton of talent.

Any win - especially a win within the conference - is a good win!

[PG]

I swear, Hop could average a triple-double and some of you would still [deleted] about him. HE HAD 2 DAMN TURNOVERS. That's nothing. The TEAM only had 10. I'm sick and tired of everyone picking on him after every single game. He can't get assists when our guys are too soft to finish a 2-footer around the basket, or when Justin Isham tries to go around a guy instead of taking it up strong, if Pat Simpson or anyone else can hit a wide-open jumper. Our half-court offense doesn't provide many assists. Blame the coach for that. We don't run so he can't get any in the open court.

If you noticed, the offense completely stops when he's not out there. I sure as hell don't want rubber leg Voc out there dribbling for 20 seconds because he can't get by anyone or make a clean pass. Demetric Bennett plays like a freshman when he's out there. Can't put up with that when you're trying to win close games.

If Simpson, Castro and Isham would dunk the damn ball every once in a while, his assist numbers would go up. Those guys stay as far away from contact as they possible can. When he does make a great pass that's a sure assist, the guy gets fouled and he doesn't get credit for it. He did that tonight and in the OSU game.

<small>[ 01-06-2004, 10:40 PM: Message edited by: PG ]</small>

[Charleston Pony]

PG makes a good point. We don't run and part of that is undoubtedly that Dement knows there is a HUGE drop-off in talent once you get past past our starting five. I still think we are a year away from being a legitimate contender for post season play. Not sure how far 5 guys can carry this team. Surely by next year, Rack, Bennett and Pearson will be more productive and perhaps one of the incoming Frosh can contribute. This still promises to be an entertaining (albeit very up and down) year.

And guys...your perspective has become warped after too many years folowing this program. A home court advantage comes from having 7500 or more Moody Maniacs in attendance. I'm ready for renovation to begin and we can easily afford to give us another 1500 seats to accomodate a private club area and luxury seating in order to get more student courtside.

[The PonyGrad]

Bench play was really bad in this game.

Rack took at least three shots not even close to the basket. Person came in and in a few seconds made botches on both ends of the floor resulting in a critical 5 point swing.

Got to have better play from the bench.

Atkins played well in relief though.

[EastStang]

We are thin after the first five. Voc is a capable back-up to BHop. But other than that we have problems. At the Navy game, the OSU game Rack seemed out of position on the defensive boards and while he had a decent shot (a couple of nice hook shots), he is still a project. He still needs to gain about 50 lbs., he's too easy to move out of the way. Pearson plays out of control, is still learning how to shoot (a very awkward shot), and makes freshman mistakes. Actually, Ryan Hopkins may be a good 2 guard back-up, he has a nice shot from the outside. I would like to see a little more of Reay as a back-up to Castro, Simpson or Isham. He looks like he's got some size and bulk to at least hold his own on the defensive end. But I haven't seen him play enough to know that.

[OldPony]

I still found the effort lacking. Yes- they came out strong and ended that way but in between, they lost focus and quit playing with intensity. If these guys ever learn that you can't take time off and be a good team then maybe they'll make something of themselves. So far, they don't appear to have any real heart.
I thought maybe that they had learned at the start of the game but they soon went bacvk to the dtanfd around defense

[RGV Pony]

DMN listed the attendance as about 2800. Hopefully when school goes back in session there will be more students. One thing Bennett has over Dement is that he goes and works the frats & encourages students to show up. To coin a phrase, he intermingles with the common man. On the other hand, when I've seen Dement at Ford, he's sitting by himself in the endzone stands. Perhaps is Dement worked the student body more, it'd have a bigger effect. If anyone's ever seen Cameron Indoor Stadium, it's not exactly a palace compared to Moody. The difference is the students that show up. And stand up. And make noise. Lots of it.

[Hoop Fan]

Dement did that earlier in his tenure during his honeymoon period. Hell, he even sent Sasser and some of the players around to ask for support. It might have helped a little here and there, whose to say. I don't know if Dement has done it recently or not, but my guess would be he kind of gave up on that. I haven't gotten the impression he likes it much at SMU. It'll be interesting to see what happens come next year.

[OldPony]

Hey PG- Everyone wants BHop to succeed. It isn't un-American to point out that he had only 1 assist. You don't win many basketball games when your point doesn't get the ball to others. BHop has been a disapointment to many of us who heard continually that he was the best SMU recruit ever. So far, he isn't. He is the best PG we have and he should continue to improve with a lot of playing time. He still makes a lot of freshman mistakes and doesn't hustle all of the time. He is not alone in either department. I thought Simpson could be a very good college player but it doesn't look like he has the desire to do it. Look at the difference in the desire of the players on good clubs. They are flying all over the floor and diving after loose balls. I simply don't see that at SMU. That is my biggest complaint with this team. They are good enough to give a run for the WAC title but not nearly tough enough.