Will Douglas

[PonyLawExpress]

This is one of the reasons I am a Will Douglas homer. Once his confidence gets up (should over the offseason) he is gonna be a baller. He has the skill-set and work ethic. The game is just too fast for him right now and he needs to get some confidence. Those things come with age and are sometimes hard for freshman.

https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/colleg ... resses?f=r

Every morning at 7:45, like clockwork, William Douglas walks onto the SMU practice court.

The freshman starts out with a 15-minute dribbling and footwork drill. Then he spends 30-35 minutes putting up shots with assistant coach Jay Duncan. A shower promptly follows, then Douglas is off to his nine o'clock class before returning for practice five hours later.

"He's like Semi," says Duncan, in reference to current Boston Celtic Semi Ojeleye's renowned work ethic at SMU.

EXTRA:
Defense has been a notable area of growth for Landrum, who will return home to play at Tulsa for the first time as a Mustang on Thursday. He came to SMU as a score-first-and-second guard in high school. Now averaging 2.8 shots per game, he needed to find other ways to earn minutes.

Listed generously at six feet, Landrum was a liability on defense early in the season. As it's progressed, he's picked up his energy and done a better job of staying in front of his man and contesting shots.

It earned him some crunch time minutes in SMU's loss to Temple three weeks ago, after which Jankovich praised Landrum's play on defense.

"I felt like that was one thing that we really needed because we have a lot of scorers," Landrum explains. "It was hard at first but as I went on I was like, 'I'll do whatever I have to do to help the team win.'"

Likewise, Douglas hasn't gotten to show off the fruits of his early-morning offensive labors just yet, maxing out at eight points back in November against Northwestern State. He says the speed of the game and competitive level of the college game at first caught him off-guard.

But Douglas' confidence in his jumper and all-around game has grown as a freshman. He's seen a slight uptick in his minutes the last two games and is trying to replace some of the energy plays that Foster and Ray provided before their injuries.

"Just go out and try to get every rebound, bring a lot of energy to the court and try not to let my man score," Douglas says of his points of emphasis. "I just have to knock down open shots when I get them."

Both he and Douglas will see more of those opportunities as SMU hits the homestretch of the season. The combination of the injuries and Jankovich's increasing trust guarantees that.

[ponyboy101]

next year will be a big year for him after having 1 full offseason to develop and gain confidence

[sadderbudweiser]

You've gotta love the work ethic. I hope it works out for Will.

[LA_Mustang]

It is obvious he has all the tools. He just needs for the light to come on. I’ve noticed the last couple of games where he received the ball and had a clear lane to the bucket but he didn’t even consider driving. Hopefully soon we see him get the ball and just attack the rim, or pull up for a contested three. I don’t care if he misses, gets an offensive foul or whatever. I just want to see some aggressiveness.

[sadderbudweiser]

It is obvious he has all the tools. He just needs for the light to come on. I’ve noticed the last couple of games where he received the ball and had a clear lane to the bucket but he didn’t even consider driving. Hopefully soon we see him get the ball and just attack the rim, or pull up for a contested three. I don’t care if he misses, gets an offensive foul or whatever. I just want to see some aggressiveness.

Dead on LA. He has made some really athletic plays but never does he catch and just go to the hoop or launch a jumper. He still is looking those opportunities off. He got the minutes against ECU and I was hoping that Jank told him to "be a scorer" in garbage time. Didn't happen....

[LA_Mustang]

It is obvious he has all the tools. He just needs for the light to come on. I’ve noticed the last couple of games where he received the ball and had a clear lane to the bucket but he didn’t even consider driving. Hopefully soon we see him get the ball and just attack the rim, or pull up for a contested three. I don’t care if he misses, gets an offensive foul or whatever. I just want to see some aggressiveness.

Dead on LA. He has made some really athletic plays but never does he catch and just go to the hoop or launch a jumper. He still is looking those opportunities off. He got the minutes against ECU and I was hoping that Jank told him to "be a scorer" in garbage time. Didn't happen....

Yep. I hope the aggressiveness is there and he just needs to get over the freshman mental block of playing major college basketball. That remains to be seen. Maybe he needs to take “Get yours 101” taught by Prof McMurray lol.

[RI Stang]

next year will be a big year for him after having 1 full offseason to develop and gain confidence

I don't think it's overstating things to say that he may be THE key to how the season unfolds next year. Can Douglas make that huge Frosh to Soph jump that many make that we will desperately need to help offset the losses of Shake and Gu? Obviously can't do it by himself, but I think he has to be part of the group that does if we are going to avoid a big step back.

Like others have said, I really think it's there, just a matter of pulling it out. You can see it in warmups even, just hasn't translated to the court in games. Was really hoping ECU was going to be his coming out party. So much potential...

[PonyLawExpress]

Maybe he needs to take “Get yours 101” taught by Prof McMurray lol.

I LOL'd at this. So true.

I agree @RI, Douglas development will be key to next years team, even if we go get a Grad-Transfer guard. He needs to take the step and get past the mental block. He is too talented to be playing like he is.

[sadderbudweiser]

Maybe he needs a trip to Walgreens with Sterling.

[LA_Mustang]

This game does not give me confidence in his future.

[Pony_Law]

This game does not give me confidence in his future.

Your not looking at the right things. He was super athletic on the glass, was active on defense. He just missed shots. One of the biggest adjustments kids need to make from high school is how to deal with faster close outs and lengthier opponents. He will get there.

[mustangxc]

He was a glue guy tonight. We just needed more firepower.

[skyscraper]

He is a ghost and looks scared every time he shoots. Rebounding is not enough.

[Charleston Pony]

I thought he looked pretty good tonight but he just knows it's not his place to be taking shots. Needs to get past that pretty quickly. Just as soon as he knocks down a few shots, I think he becomes a serious player for us. Not unlike Gu when he couldn't make shots and everyone was dogging him...he contributed in other ways.

[PonySnob]

Article in the DMN talked about how much he practices his shooting......clearly something isn’t working