SMU/Mi Cocina tournament

[giacfsp]

Get ready to spend your weekend on campus. In addition to the football game with Tech, who's going to this tournament? Schellas Hyndman has recruited (again) some extremely talented players, who should help the team improve over last year. And they don't have a lot of home games, so get out and support the guys.

The tournament has a great field, with Tulsa, Kentucky and perennial power Stanford. Should be a hell of a weekend.

Go MUSTANGS!

[PonyFan]

Of course I'll be there. I'm even going to the non-SMU games in the tournament. Stanford's always loaded, and Tulsa and Kentucky are better than many people think. This is like the football team opening with .... Tech, TCU and Oklahoma State - a hell of a challenge. And SMU can win this tournament.

[DallasDiehard]

Interesting weekend. The guys looked great beating Kentucky, 3-1, and pretty awful getting shut out by Stanford, 2-0. (It should be noted that D Ugo Ihemelu - the best player on the team and a candidate for soccer's Heisman - played less than a half against Kentucky, and not at all against Stanford).

Kellen Zindel has arrived. He's moved from F back to midfield and plays like a man possessed. He always did, I guess, but he looks so much more comfortable now that he's not getting the ball with his back to the goal. And he still has a hammer shot. He scored against Kentucky when he ran on to a loose ball and pumped a shot that the UK goalie still hasn't seen.

Jake Jackson could finally show us all this year why he was so highly touted coming out of high school. For the first time in his career at SMU, he appears healthy, and it shows. He's moving MUCH better than he has in the last three years, and scored a gorgeous goal Friday against Kentucky.

Duke Hashimoto is still overmatched, physically, in the opponents' box, but the fact that he absolutely never stays still is why he survives against bigger defenders.

Freshman MF Israel Jones is going to be a good one. It looks like he's trying too hard right now, but that's not unusual. But he's extremely strong and looks like he's more than willing to be physical. He seems to be good at simply possessing the ball in the midfield, which combined with the hard physical play makes him sort of like Kevin Hudson with more of an attitude. Hudson was a great player, but I always thought he played too nice.

David Chun might well be the most technically gifted player on the team. He's one of those guys you'll never notice, because he never picks the flashy option and he doesn't make mistakes. But he's extremely calm with the ball and makes Diego Walsh-like passes. Very creative. Against Kentucky, he moved back to defense (after Ugo got hurt) and was toying with the Kentucky defenders, making them chase him all over before dishing out passes.

Same with Jay Needham: the sophomore is nearly boring to watch, but as a defender, that's not a bad thing. If you don't notice him, he didn't make any mistakes. He's a terrific player who probably will never be as appreciated as he deserves.

Then there's Adrian Chevannes. Big defender who transferred from Clemson. Looks like he can muscle people around if he has to, although he didn't last weekend. Very strong in the air, and willing to take risks in his own end (check back later in the season to see if that's a good thing or not....) Between him, Ugo, Needham and Ross Spencer off the bench, you have four very strong defenders who can be as physical as any group of forwards and attacking midfielders. Looks like the days of SMU getting pushed around because of a size difference might be over.

Hard to tell with T.J. Tommasso. He struggled at the end of last year, and now they have some stud recruit waiting on the bench. At least one goal from Stanford was very soft and should have been saved. But when he's "on," he's excellent. Glad I'm not the coach who has to make that decision.