PonyFans.com

I agree with LA’s write-up. I think Band and Ray are both mysteries but both have the talent to contribute. They mystery will be more if they are high end contributors or just a few mins a game.

I really like Charles Smith. I think he will be a real good player here.

I think two things that are drastically different this season are: 1) attitude. Jolly and Davis bring winners personalities and personalities of two guys who want to grind. Them mixed with Hunt and Mike brings for a much upgraded culture over the nonchalant Jimmy Whitt and its all about Me McMurray. 2) Competition. I was told in preseason last year that a major concern was pressing guys like Chaggy and Co. with competition every day in practice. We didn’t have that. Now we have Ray and Jasey to push him for minutes and force him to grind.

We must get one waiver to be competitive in the league. We get both we should compete in top 3-4 in AAC. We will see.

I pretty much agree with all of your assessments LA.

SO then the question becomes: does this coach and his staff have the ability to bring guys like Chaggy, Freon, Jolly, Smith etc from “potential” to potential pro?

Would Nic, Sterling, Semi, Ben, etc be where they are today had Jank been the HC all along? I think not.

It will be interesting to see if guys like Chaggy, Mike, Feron and Young improve substantially this year.

Edited to add: auto-correct made Feron FREON. Actually would be a good nickname if he turns out to be a stone cold killer.

Nic was Nic when he arrived so I don't credit Larry Brown for him. I think full credit goes to Jankovich there. The issue is there haven't been more like him. Sterling, Semi, Ben, etc. are all Brown. I am still hopeful we can get back on the right track this season. If we get the waivers and continue to build on the recruiting from this past spring we are well on our way to regaining our perch.

mustangxc wrote:Nic was Nic when he arrived so I don't credit Larry Brown for him. I think full credit goes to Jankovich there. The issue is there haven't been more like him. Sterling, Semi, Ben, etc. are all Brown. I am still hopeful we can get back on the right track this season. If we get the waivers and continue to build on the recruiting from this past spring we are well on our way to regaining our perch.

I agree about Nic and LB. I think Nic drove LB crazy shooting so many treys...until coach realized Nic exercised really good judgment as to when to shoot the three and was one of our better long range shooters, but also rarely missed an opportunity to fee someone with a higher percentage shot

I think PonyLawExpress makes a great point about the attitude and competitiveness of the group. The program has really lacked a true vocal leader since Nic and Sterling left. I think Feron has leadership potential, and I've heard Jolly has that quality too.

LA_Mustang wrote:Yes, we are talking about practice.

PG - Davis
SG - Jolly
SF - Feron
PF - Mike
C - Chaggy

I like.

Not going to win the battle of the boards too often there. Chargois is big but likes to play on the perimeter and Mike is a little undersized as a 4.

Charleston Pony wrote:schedule is weak, but might not be a bad thing for a team with so many new faces

Exactly what I was thinking. Not pretty, but maybe the a decent recipe for all the new guys to get to know each other?

1) With the football team doing well and getting so much attention because of the transfers, there is no way our bball waivers get granted. They will find a way to deny both.

2) Chaggy is going to have to redefine his game. 34% from three and the line moves back. We don't have any returning players who are going to be high percentage shooters from that range. Mike won't be as impacted because his threes are from the wing.

The NCAA is going to be fascinating this year. A lot of teams will have to back off of the "three or drive" philosophy. Lots more zone this year will slow down the games. Many players, like Chaggy, are going to deep mid-range shooters, which defenses will give away because the analytics don't like that shot. So, players like him won't pull out defenders from under the basket anymore.

The lineup originally posted, I would just play a zone and play off the wings to prevent dribble penetration and dare the team to shoot to win.

PonyLawExpress wrote:I agree with LA’s write-up. I think Band and Ray are both mysteries but both have the talent to contribute. They mystery will be more if they are high end contributors or just a few mins a game.

I really like Charles Smith. I think he will be a real good player here.

I think two things that are drastically different this season are: 1) attitude. Jolly and Davis bring winners personalities and personalities of two guys who want to grind. Them mixed with Hunt and Mike brings for a much upgraded culture over the nonchalant Jimmy Whitt and its all about Me McMurray. 2) Competition. I was told in preseason last year that a major concern was pressing guys like Chaggy and Co. with competition every day in practice. We didn’t have that. Now we have Ray and Jasey to push him for minutes and force him to grind.

We must get one waiver to be competitive in the league. We get both we should compete in top 3-4 in AAC. We will see.

Great observations.

Practice has started per Fran.

sadderbudweiser wrote: “We have so many guys there aren't enough minutes to go around.”

Ah, those were the days.

and now we have so many minutes there aren't enough guys to go around.

From these "meet the Mustangs" interviews, it sounds as if this year's team could have good chemistry and as others have said, should have a deep bench so maybe we will be pleasantly surprised.

https://smumustangs.com/news/2019/9/19/ ... rgois.aspx

I am really interested how the team will be once aggie is eligible in December. Should be a big addition inside for us which will help out a lot.

We are going to need all of the eligible newcomers to contribute to have any hope of improving on last season. Looking like the JUCO and frosh guards are going to have to be more productive than Whitt and McMurray and that's a pretty tall order. Will also need Jasey and Ray to be strong defenders and rebounders which is something we lacked last year

I guess another year of no public practice or opportunity for fans to get a preview of the team. Wasn’t it nice when we had a coach who cared about the fans?