Maybe it’s a little bit too late but how about them Mustangs in the Hawaii Bowl! To be honest with you, I was thrilled that SMU made it to the bowl to begin with after the 25 years of no postseason action. But I did not expect the Mustangs to come out and put such a beating on a pretty solid Nevada team. As soon as I found out about our bowl destination I wanted to go be there as well (what a better way to spend December than being on the beach with a nice cocktail in your hand?). However, I had already planned a trip to the Motherland (Lithuania, in case you didn’t know) so I couldn’t change that. My family would not understand that! Still, I was able to watch the game at home and I could not be happier for our team. (Shawnbrey) McNeal, (Kyle) Padron, (Chase) Kennemer, (Emmanuel) Sanders, my boy Margus (Hunt) — they all played amazing! And it was not just a victory; it was a complete domination from the opening quarter all throughout the game. Coach (June) Jones has done an amazing job turning the program around that was a laughingstock of college football. Just like most of you, I am really looking forward to the next season and can not wait to see our team in the Ford Stadium again!

Rackauskas says one of the most encouraging signs this season has been the vast improvement Papa Dia has shown since last year (photo by Travis Johnston).

Speaking of the programs that are in the middle of rebuilding, let’s talk about the team that plays in Moody Coliseum. It’s been quite a rocky ride for SMU men’s basketball team so far this season. Just like I mentioned in my previous piece, the year was not going in the direction that we all expected so far. We were expecting a huge improvement in our record, as it was the first year that we returned the core of the team from the previous season. However, at the end of January we are 10-10, with 2-4 in the conference play. Just a few weeks ago, most of you called this season a complete failure, stopped attending the games and tried to find someone to blame.

Hold on, my friends — the season is nowhere close to being over! Yes, we did play poorly at times and lost a few games that we should’ve won. The game against UAB was particularly tough to overcome because we built such a great lead in the first half, only to let it slip away.

But recently the team finally started playing the entire basketball game as opposed to just one half or three-quarters of the game. I think the team finally realized that it is not at that level where we can just play hard for part of the game and expect to get a W. And look what happened — we are currently riding a three-game winning streak and play against Memphis this Saturday. In the past, I would have definitely called this game a pretty guaranteed loss, because Memphis has been a national powerhouse and pretty much has dominated Conference USA over the past few years. This year is a different story. Memphis is still a very good team, but it is not playing at the same level as it used to. With a great effort and a bit of luck, the Mustangs can easily extend their winning streak to four.

Although the season has been up and down this year, I could not be more proud of the effort that our team put night in and night out, and even if the outcome of the game is sometimes not the one we all want, our team has constantly played very hard. It’s been pleasure to see the guys hustle and fight for every single possession during the games. I think they probably remembered that “Show Up” speech that Hubert Davis gave during the Basketball Tipoff dinner – (that and they probably read my previous article!)

I do want to single out one player that has taken his game to the next level this year. Before the season started I told everyone who asked about the SMU basketball one thing — the Mustangs are really thin inside, and we need to have a huge year from Papa Dia in order to be successful.

Maybe we are not where we want to be in terms of our record, but Papa has played really well. Papa played really well as a freshman and clearly deserved to be named to C-USA All-Freshman team. Just like many freshmen, Papa went through the sophomore slump last season, dropping his averages significantly. This is pretty common in college basketball as your opponents learn about your strengths and weaknesses, and make their gameplans to stop you. Most sophomores do not have enough experience to adjust to such heightened defenses and typically struggle during the second year. However, Papa started playing again this year at the level we all knew he was capable of playing. He definitely learned from his experience last year and adjusted nicely to the defenses that are thrown at him. Papa has started each game for the Mustangs, leading them in rebounds and trailing only Derek Williams (who has been great all season!) in scoring.

What impresses me the most about Papa is his ability to play inside and outside. He is very effective rebounder and gets a lot of his points of the offensive rebounds inside. In addition, Papa is very capable at knocking down the 15-footers against the slower opponents. I was really impressed with his performance against Tulsa when he clearly outplayed Jerome Jordan, an NBA prospect. Papa’s ability to score points inside takes some pressure away from Derek and Paul McCoy, and keeps the opposing defenses off-balance. If Papa continues to play at this level, I strongly believe that SMU can turn the season around and surprise a few people. Keep up the good work, big fella!

Just like the last time, I want to finish it again by urging everyone to go to Moody as often as possible. How fortunate we are to see teams like Memphis, Houston and Tulsa come to Moody every year. What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than cheering for your Mustangs and seeing them take on the defending C-USA champions. This team needs your support and we should be there for them. I like our chances this Saturday and I hope to see us finally beat the Tigers in Moody. So wear Red and be loud on Saturday! See you guys in Moody!