SMU Beaten By Academic Risks....

[SoCal_Pony]

Originally posted by Hoop Fan:
Stallion and OP, I'm not saying you guys are wrong, but the bigger issue than casting blame is support and enthusiasm for the program.

The Biggest Issue facing us (and Rice) is that for the past 108 years, neither of us has been to a Bowl Game or NCAA tournament.

What should concern us (and Rice) is that of the 41 BB players signed during the 2003 season, SMU and Rice signed 0 JC/CC athletes and 7 High School athletes. The rest of the WAC signed 25 JC/CC athletes and only 9 High School athletes.

These petty arguments, like the one about whether or not Millsap, recruited by LSU and UT, was or was not a Top 100 athlete…….who cares????

[CoxSMU]

Old Pony...You really do have an interesting and valid point, but sometimes in your arguments, it seems as though you are overlooking the geniune ability to coach. Being able to coach is a talent. It is a combination of recruiting, attitude, gameplan, and the school you are at. But there is a reason why Coach A can win with X players while Coach B can't win with those same players. In the games I have seen, there was little offensive movement and little offensive gameplanning. Now, if we were to lose the same games we have lost with a good gameplan and such, then I might say "Dement isn't all that bad, we just don't have talent." But what I see out there is a bad direction and it looks like 5 guys playing out there instead of one team...

[BigEasyPony]

Does Rice have many JUCO recruits on their team? I don't know the answer to that question, but any team that blow us out by 40 has better players than us. I'd like to know if they have JUCO players OR do they have a similar recruiting situation as us and we just got beat by a team on a level playing field with us.

[PK]

Originally posted by CoxSMU:
In the games I have seen, there was little offensive movement and little offensive gameplanning.

I would have to think that to beat Tech or Purdue for that matter, we had to have some kind of game plans. I certainly don't know what is wrong with this team right now, but with the way they are playing I'm not sure you can really tell fairly if there is a game plan or not. Just like when Dement told them what to do in that one game about fouling immediately if they couldn't steal the ball on the throw in. The team waited until there was only 1.9 seconds left before making the foul...it wasn't a matter of not having a plan...it was a matter of not following the plan. That could very easily be what is happening in general...the plans aren't being followed. It may very well be a coaching problem, but I don't think you can divorce the players completely from the equation either.

[Stallion]

No but they haven't been to an NCAA Tourney in 34 years and Dement is what something 7 or 8 -1 against Rice in recent years. Rice will surely be firing their coach next week after their 27 point loss to Nevada. Again you don't design a Model to win 1 game against Rice but one that will allow you to go to an NCAA Tourney AT LEAST once every 33 years or so!!!!!!!!

[OldPony]

Cox- I reall do believe that coaching is important. What many here are whining about is a good coach making do the best he can with limited talent. That is the zone defense. If you can't match up with quickness, you better not rely on the man to man. I think Pitino is a coach (though a [deleted] as a person) is one who can get more from his material than most. I also think E Sutton is. Those guys are hard to find and don't want to go somewhere they aren't able to compete.t

[Pony_Fan]

OP - I want to know how many games you have been to in the last 5 years? If you went to every game you would be sick and tired of seeing the same garbage game in and game out regardless of our players. I don't care about zone defense, I am talking about running plays like Riley Wallace with screens, picks, rolls, and some motion.

[OldPony]

I only get to Dallas a couple of times a year so I don't get a chance to see them much anymore although I listen to most every game and I watch when they are on any kind of TV. I lived there the first 3 years of Dement's stay though and went to almost every one then. From the games I have seen since though I agree on the offensive end of the court that we don't do a very good job of interior screening. The lack of toughness is apparent. I haven't seen the plays that were evident in Dement's first years either especially coming out of TOs either. I thought Sasser was a problem that Dement couldn't control (promised him too much?) but liked what I saw last year when Q was the obvious team leader. Unfortunately, we don't have anyone who stepped up to be a floor leader this year. I don't know why. Dement? Selfish players? Unmotivated players? I don't know. I know that I thought both Isham and Bhop would be much better players this year and looked to them to be floor leaders. Neither has assumed the role unless you consider BHop trying to do everything himself at times as leadership. I really am no longer against getting rid of Dement if he fails to put this team back together this year. I will warn everyone right now that he is not a bad coach and what we get could very easily be much worse. At best we will get an unproven coach. Many suggest Tubbs (and I think he may be the best option we have) but he hasn't proven he can coach at the college level. I don't care how many HS championship banners people have. It is not the same game and I would suggest that he had as good or better athletes than most of the coaches he competed against. How has his old HS done since he left? Did they really miss him badly or are they still contenders every year. I do believe that no one without SMU or Dallas ties will take this job who has any proven D-1 record and that worries me. We then spend another 5 years to find out if a coach is really any good. I certainly wouldn't want the job and especially without a long term contract.