It’s finally that time of year again. For those of us hardcore basketball fans, it has been a long seven months since we have seen our teams play. It’s a new season, and with that comes a new sense of hope to see what this team can do, compared to what last year’s team did.

But what about this year? The Mustangs just lost one of the top players — if not THE top player — in SMU history in Janielle Dodds. What can we, the fans, expect? What does the team expect? How does the team prepare? How do the coaches prepare?

Delisha Wills will get her shots and her points, but who will emerge as the Mustangs' 2008-09 team leader? (photo by Travis Johnston).

The Mustangs are facing a similar challenge to what the team and I faced my senior year for the 2000-01 season. We were coming off our fourth straight NCAA tournament appearance, but we lost two of our top players — Nici Johnson and Karlin Kennedy — to graduation.

Immediately after the previous season, once the wounds have healed, there usually is a brief moment of “what the heck do we do now?” Hopefully the players did what they needed to over the summer and put the time in the gym and the weight room to prepare for this season.

With this team, the immediate thought, or fear, is: who is going to put up the points that Janielle provided for the team during her career? Usually, finding someone to shoot is not the issue. Delisha Wills will get her shots in, and hopefully Alice Severin will take a look at the basket a little more this year. In addition, this team has a strong scoring backcourt in Brittany Gilliam and Jillian Samuels.

What the Mustangs will need this year more than anything is leadership. The leaders they depended on for the last two years are gone. Who is going to be the leader on the floor to help the team stay calm when the get down by a few points? Who is going to be the leader on the bench to keep the team motivated? Who is going to be the leader in practice to help get the team focused? The leaders of this team may not show up until mid-season, but that is what the Ponies will need to be successful this year.

We all know the coaches can scout, teach and prepare this team like they did with their previous championship teams. We all know the coaches can get this team to run, score and defend like their previous championship teams. What can’t be forced, but is vital for success, is leadership within the team. The leaders aren’t necessarily the upperclassmen; the next leadership team could surprise even the coaches. Who it’s going to be is going to be a matter of who wants the role and how well they do in that role.

So, how do I think this team will do? Honestly, I don’t know — it all depends on the leadership.