Well, it feels good to be writing about SMU basketball again. A lot has changed in the last two years, and I can't wait to see what is going to happen in the next two. It is definitely an exciting time to be an SMU fan, not just for basketball but for all sports. New facilities are going to be erected, new players are going to be recruited, and a renewed commitment to athletics is at hand.

However, we can't place too much emphasis and hope on the future. We are not promised tomorrow, only today (players can get injured, coaches can leave). Besides, it is not fair to the seniors on this year's basketball team to have low expectations for this year. I have read a lot of posts in this website's forum which state that this team will be lucky to win half of its games. People already are making excuses, with the most notable being (1) this is head coach Matt Doherty's first year and (2) this team only has 10 scholarship players. Statements like these imply that fans don't have any confidence in the players or Coach Doherty.

So why shouldn't we write off this year and dream of championships down the road? Why shouldn't we expect nothing more than a .500 season? Well, I'll tell you why not. It's because these players (all 10 of them) have the ability to win this year. You only need five on the court at one time, and 10 scholarships gives you a first team and a second team. That's one sub for each player out there. From my experience playing with these guys, I can honestly say that each one of them is capable of being a contributor. This team has talent, it's just a matter of putting that talent in a system in which it can flourish.

Luckily, this group was taught the fundamentals (help-side defense, blocking out, executing plays) by former coach Jimmy Tubbs. I personally learned more in one year under Coach Tubbs than I did in my previous 11 years of playing basketball. Therefore, Coach Doherty isn't working from scratch. The foundation is there, and from what I have seen (and heard), Coach Doherty is an excellent teacher of the fundamentals of basketball. At the exhibition game, it was apparent that two key areas of focus for this team are solid defense and good shot selection. You couple that focus and coaching with the talent that this team has, and you get 20-plus wins this season. You get championships. You even get 2,000-3,000 previously uninterested students to attend the games.

However, it isn't going to happen overnight. A coach can't teach every intricacy of a system in one week. As the season goes on, this team will get more familiar with the system, and with each practice, each film session and each game, this team will get better. But one thing has to be present for all of this to happen: expectations. Expectations have the power to make or break a team. If we, as fans, decide before the season even starts that this team will be sub-.500, what motivation will the players have to get better each day for the next five months? But if we have the expectation that this team will do well and show that expectation by attending the games, then this team will do everything in its power to meet our expectations. That is how programs rise to prominence, and that is how a group of 10 scholarship players with a new coach is going to be successful this season.