SMU 71, TCU 65 = Good lookin' score

[George S. Patton]

Went to the game and from what I watched against Alabama St. and Wednesday against the arch rivals was vastly different. I guess I missed the note that the team got to work out in Crum for the first time on Tuesday. Cool.

It's always great when you beat your Rival.

Some observations:
1. Derrick Roberts played the best game I've seen from him in 2 years. His leadership was huge, especially with calling the TO on the floor with about 54 seconds to play and of course, the 14-footer with 19 seconds. You could see he played with confidence.

2. Papa Dia continues to grow. Moves around the basket will get better. And he can hit that 12-14 footer. As he matures, he will be a tough matchup.

3. Killen was big with drives to the lanes with those layups. But his ballhandling is still yikes. Still, you can't argue with 6 assists, 1 turnover.

4. Alex Malone is instant offense, but his defense is going to be an issue this year.

5. Great turnout by the students. They were loud and sounded respectful. And a good turnout for us. I don't know if 3,219 is accurate. But it was between 2,500-3,000. When Moody gets loud, it's a difficult place to play in for opponents.

6. I understand why Ritter starts. He sets a tone as an enforcer. You don't need him to score, but his toughness is an important element on the floor. That's what we need. Now, if he can stop getting suspended. I wasn't a fan of Doherty doing that, but this game showed me why. 6 points. Whoa.

7. I think the win in San Antonio really kickstarted this team and why they were able to respond Wednesday. They battled back.

8. Mike Walker. Well, what can I say. Shooting wasn't great (0-6) but I still don't expect him to be a regular point scorer. Floor game was pretty solid. And his two points (2 FTS with 18 seconds to play) were the biggest two of the night.

9. I didn't like how we milked the clock with a 10-point lead with 4-5 minutes to play. The concept is good but I thought the ball was too far away from the goal when we were trying to start something, and we usually came up with nothing. Two shot clock violations. Not very good looks. I think if you start your play with 10 instead of 6, you give yourself a better chance at a put back. The only play I remember working was the pick-and-roll to Ritter.

10. Bamba Fall better in the second half. Still needs to be tougher. I think that will always be an issue with him.

11. Heck, we got the State Farm DFW Trophy out of it. Now, get to .500 Sunday against Houston Baptist and take care of Finals and be eligible for the spring semester.

Again, the Ws and Ls are not the big thing for me. But this group does look better and once they learn to play together, they will be interesting. I think that's another year or two down the road.

Nice to beat the Frogs!!

[Alaric]

Someone needs to introduce Bamba to Southlake Carroll's "supplement adviser"...some roids and a little HGH would do wonders for his game.

[Bergermeister]

Someone needs to introduce Bamba to Southlake Carroll's "supplement adviser"....

Chase Daniel will be in town soon....

[Pony94]

Someone needs to introduce Bamba to Southlake Carroll's "supplement adviser"...some roids and a little HGH would do wonders for his game.

I still stick by the Snuffer's Cheese Fries diet for Bamba...or break that should be all he eats.

[Dutch]

Someone needs to introduce Bamba to Southlake Carroll's "supplement adviser"....

Chase Daniel will be in town soon....

I don't think boogers will put much weight on Bamba.

[George S. Patton]

I know our free throw shooting blows!

But...

This is what we have done in the second half against UTSA and TCU
12-14 vs. UTSA
7-8 vs. TCU

That's 19-22 (86%) so at least in these two games, we're making them when it counts.

[OR-See-Nee]

I was pleased with the intensity last night.

I would have rather us continued to play a more "up tempo" game instead of stall ball with a lot of time left. That decision broke our momentum--the margin of victory could have been greater.

However, I am very pleased with a win. Any win.

Especially one against T-C-Who.

[SC Pony]

I think that Doh had made the decision to slow it up after our basket at around 5:20 with a 10 point lead, but TCU quickly made a 3 at 5:06. We tried to kill 5:06 with a 7 point lead. Too much time.

[hunters]

I posted this earlier and no one cared, but I looked up the dude and my buddies think it is pretty funny-

From the TCU observation thread - During warmups I made a verbal agreement with TCU #12 that if TCU won the game, we would swap shoes. I did not make a counter-offer. He liked my Air Jordans, and his shoes were not that bad either. I am glad we won.


Hackett (#12) finished with a team-high 17 points in the game where the TCU senior connected five three-pointers in 29 minutes of action. Hackett attempted 16 three-point field goal attempts - including his first 15 shots from the field.

Hackett's three-point field goal attempts were the most attempted by a Frog since Malcolm Johnson (versus Fresno State on January 8, 1998) and Anthony Burks (versus Montana State on January 7, 1996).

That dude wanted my shoes and I apologize for spurring his effort.