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LA_Mustang wrote:Then maybe I’m off. If 0-6 from the field and disappearing completely on the offensive end when this team desperately needs you is what a top 100 prospect is, my bad. He can rebound and defend. Never disputed that.

Your previous post cited a quote about not being able to teach “fight” and that is exactly what he did all night was “fight” he just didn’t convert on any baskets.

Charleston Pony wrote:

LA_Mustang wrote:Then maybe I’m off. If 0-6 from the field and disappearing completely on the offensive end when this team desperately needs you is what a top 100 prospect is, my bad. He can rebound and defend. Never disputed that.

I thought you were suggesting he had no "fight" in him. Effort is not his problem, but yes, shooting CLEARLY is.

Fair statement. My point with the fight is he plays very scared on the offensive end, in particular when he has the ball. He looks clueless. I don’t get that with someone who has his physical ability and talent.

mustangxc wrote:

LA_Mustang wrote:Then maybe I’m off. If 0-6 from the field and disappearing completely on the offensive end when this team desperately needs you is what a top 100 prospect is, my bad. He can rebound and defend. Never disputed that.

Your previous post cited a quote about not being able to teach “fight” and that is exactly what he did all night was “fight” he just didn’t convert on any baskets.

I’m talking about elite athlete fight. You can get any walk-on who will fight for rebounds and defend. You have to have that belief you can score on anyone to be a good player in college. See McMurray, Mike (next season) and Shake. Hell Manual had more scoring belief his freshman year than Douglas with the same tools, and more athleticism.

if you think a walk on could give you what Douglas gives you on the glass and defensively you are crazy.

Sterling and Ben M. had pretty good freshmen seasons as well. Not trying to compare Douglas to them but just saying.

Pony_Law wrote:if you think a walk on could give you what Douglas gives you on the glass and defensively you are crazy.

Come on, did I say that? I said a walk-on can give you effort and defense.

LA_Mustang wrote:

Pony_Law wrote:if you think a walk on could give you what Douglas gives you on the glass and defensively you are crazy.

Come on, did I say that? I said a walk-on can give you effort and defense.

I think we can all agree Douglas hustles and does the little things well. We can also all agree he can't buy a shot.

I get the worry about Douglas. I think I said this a few weeks ago, but I expect Douglas to be a solid player next season (5-6PPG 15-20MPG guy) for us next season, but I don't expect him to suddenly wake up "shooting wise" this season. It is going to take a full offseason of work and just that feeling of comfort of no longer being a freshman for him to get going.

I hope someone saves my comments and holds me to this when people are down on him, because I am fairly certain he will be a solid contributor for us next season. Has too good of a skill-set, size, athleticism and tools not to be. All of his issues are in his head and needing to settle into the program and the college game, which will take an offseason.

I think his PPG will be close to 10 than 5. It will be really interesting to see how Jank plays the team next year on offense. Next year will be the first time in 2 years we can play large. We could see a team similar that plays similarly to the yanick/Kennedy years. McMurry/Whitt running pick and roll with chagois/mike with akoy sweeping inside like Kevin Williams used to do when he was out there with Kennedy, with Jerrey and Douglas spotting up shooting/ driving/back cutting would be pretty sick.

I think we have seen the guys who come in and show they can play and those that seem a bit more fragile.

I would argue that while Douglas has good hustle and the right measurables, all of the other frosh have looked more ready to play than he has.

from SMU Mustangs web site - Player bios.

2017 Summer Tour (Canada – Aug. 7-14): Averaged 4.0 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals…had 10 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 assists in the opener at McGill.

Prep: Was a guard for Coaches William Luckett and Brad Luckett at Christian Brothers in Memphis… As a senior, helped the Purple Wave to a 24-5 record and a regional championship… Was named First Team All-Region… Played in Memphis High School All-Star Game…The four-star signee was a 2015-16 Tennessee Mr. Basketball finalist… He was ranked as high as the No. 26 shooting guard nationally and as high as No. 2 overall in Tennessee… As a junior, he was conference player of the year and first-team all-region after averaging 14.1 points, 4.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals as he led his team to 28-2 record… He played AAU for M33M.
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It is frustrating to see him on offense. He passes up open shot after open shot because he
is afraid to shoot. His high school career would indicate he is a good shooter. Maybe in a
blow out game (either winning of losing) Jank should design plays for him and tell him he
is the shooter and should take the shots for an extended period of time until he gives up
his fear of shooting. He has fight. He rebounds, He steals, and he plays defense.
Shoot the ball Mr. Douglas.

In 23 games, Douglas now 7-35 for 20% from the field, although he's slightly better (4-17 for 23% from three) and is the worst percentage shooter on the team right now. What I find encouraging is that he's hit 12-15 FTs for an 80% rate (when the game stands still). I agree with those who say he's got the skills but the game is just a little too fast for him to find his comfort zone right now. Hopefully he comes around before year end, but I don't think he's going to be counted on for significant minutes if/when Shake comes back (averaing 11 minutes/game after playing 19 last night)

skyscraper wrote:Shake and Foster came in as freshman and contributed. You didn't have to parse the second page of the stat sheet to produce numbers inferring they could be good.
I hope Douglas and the others develop, but we're in the final month of the season and it's still real rough looking.

They had great junior/senior leadership to take up the slack and ease expectations.
I agree with you that it is time now for Douglas and Landrum to show progress.... and many of us can see it coming. It’s more about the expectations of the fan base right now and lord knows our fan base can get a little ahead of itself.

Suppose we had the same expectations for Ben Moore and Sterling their freshman year?

Every kid has a different timetable and different surrounding circumstances.

It ducks that we are where we are but these guys are progressing and these next games....the rest of this season.... is a critical opportunity for them.

I hope we can look back when these guys are seniors and be as satisfied as we were with Ben and Sterling.

I think everyone had good expectations for Ben and Sterling and they did very well. Should be fun to see the development of the team’s players compared to the other teams in the conference.

sadderbudweiser wrote:

skyscraper wrote:Shake and Foster came in as freshman and contributed. You didn't have to parse the second page of the stat sheet to produce numbers inferring they could be good.
I hope Douglas and the others develop, but we're in the final month of the season and it's still real rough looking.

They had great junior/senior leadership to take up the slack and ease expectations.
I agree with you that it is time now for Douglas and Landrum to show progress.... and many of us can see it coming. It’s more about the expectations of the fan base right now and lord knows our fan base can get a little ahead of itself.

Suppose we had the same expectations for Ben Moore and Sterling their freshman year?

Every kid has a different timetable and different surrounding circumstances.

It ducks that we are where we are but these guys are progressing and these next games....the rest of this season.... is a critical opportunity for them.

I hope we can look back when these guys are seniors and be as satisfied as we were with Ben and Sterling.

Yes they are Freshmen. Yes, they will improve over time. No one is disputing that simplistic argument.

The question is can either make meaningful contributions on a Top 25 team, which is what we all aspire to. The verdict is clearly out on that one. I said last week I expect only 2 of our Freshmen to end their careers here. I’ll stand by that.

This class look so very Doh-like to me. I’m disappointed no one outside of Chargois has stepped up.

Will is only shooting a touch below what Ben Emelegou did his first year at SMU.

Ben turned out alright.

I was very encouraged by what I saw from Will yesterday.