Official SMU-New Mexico Game Thread

[SmooBoy]

Even with a good ladies team, basketball season was:

meh

[Bergermeister]

very mediocre. same thing. ho-hum. Are we ever NOT going to CHOKE?

[mustangxc]

I find it amusing that everyone is up in arms over Doherty and no one is griping about RR. No comparisons to Baylor or TCU who we use to be much better than and now it is not even close. TCU and Baylor have both left us in the dust. I don't know enough about the women's game to be able to propose replacements nor do I think it is needed, but I am certainly amused that everyone is satisfied despite the fact that this program has flatlined. I am certainly not satisfied with Doherty's progress, but at least he has won more games each of the last 2 seasons.

[GrapevineMustang]

Left us in the dust? Baylor has done very well, but we've beaten the Frogs what, two of the last three years? Three of the last five? We are very comparable programs.

But the fact that we were near the top of the conference this year, won 20 games and made it to the postseason is exactly why nobody can gripe about Coach R. She lost her best player (Delisha Wills) for the year right before the season started. It's a bit of a stretch, but imagine if Dirk Nowitzki blew out a knee right before the season. There are still talented players around him, like Kidd (Gilliam) and Terry (Samuels), and some promising youngsters, but Dirk is the driving force on that team, right? The guy who can be counted on to perform each and every night. Wills is that kind of player for the Ponies, and the fact that the team didn't circle the drain after she got hurt was remarkable. She's back next year, as are two transfers from Oklahoma State who I gather are good and have a year of practicing with the team under their belts, and I hear a couple of the freshmen are pretty decent. Coach R doesn't get the heat Coach Doherty gets because she doesn't deserve it — she wins. I wouldn't have thought this team would have broken .500 this year, but she got them to 20 wins. Some of the other players (Gilliam, Samuels, Day, Severin, etc.) stepped up in Wills' absence, and did a nice job. New Mexico is a solid club, and the Pit is a hell of a place to play. We should be extremely proud of our team. I sure am.

[CA Mustang]

I find it amusing that everyone is up in arms over Doherty and no one is griping about RR.

You are joking, right?

...I am certainly amused that everyone is satisfied despite the fact that this program has flatlined.

If they have hit a plateau, I'd much rather be around 20 wins a year than 14!

I am certainly not satisfied with Doherty's progress, but at least he has won more games each of the last 2 seasons.

So is going from 9 to 14 wins something brag about? What about the DECLINING seasons?

[Bergermeister]

Left us in the dust? Baylor has done very well, but we've beaten the Frogs what, two of the last three years? Three of the last five? We are very comparable programs.

But the fact that we were near the top of the conference this year, won 20 games and made it to the postseason is exactly why nobody can gripe about Coach R. She lost her best player (Delisha Wills) for the year right before the season started. It's a bit of a stretch, but imagine if Dirk Nowitzki blew out a knee right before the season. There are still talented players around him, like Kidd (Gilliam) and Terry (Samuels), and some promising youngsters, but Dirk is the driving force on that team, right? The guy who can be counted on to perform each and every night. Wills is that kind of player for the Ponies, and the fact that the team didn't circle the drain after she got hurt was remarkable. She's back next year, as are two transfers from Oklahoma State who I gather are good and have a year of practicing with the team under their belts, and I hear a couple of the freshmen are pretty decent. Coach R doesn't get the heat Coach Doherty gets because she doesn't deserve it — she wins. I wouldn't have thought this team would have broken .500 this year, but she got them to 20 wins. Some of the other players (Gilliam, Samuels, Day, Severin, etc.) stepped up in Wills' absence, and did a nice job. New Mexico is a solid club, and the Pit is a hell of a place to play. We should be extremely proud of our team. I sure am.

That's quite a list of excuses. Rhonda has either played or coached in the program for 50 years. It ain't gonna change.

[Charleston Pony]

I would imagine the women are disappointed, but we do have a good group coming back and as long as they can stay healthy, things are looking up. At least the ladies are making post season appearances, even in what is now viewed as a disappointing year.

How long has it been since we were disappointed by the men's 1st round NIT road loss?

[MustangMac]

I agree with Charleston Pony.

[EastStang]

I would wet myself if we played well enough to even get a Men's NIT invite. Heck, right now I'd be happy with the CBI tourney. We have not been to the post season in Men's hoops since 2000. Ten years. 11 years in a row for the women in making postseason. Night and day my friends.

[mustangxc]

I would wet myself if we played well enough to even get a Men's NIT invite. Heck, right now I'd be happy with the CBI tourney. We have not been to the post season in Men's hoops since 2000. Ten years. 11 years in a row for the women in making postseason. Night and day my friends.

Men's NIT and Women's NIT is not apples to apples. The women have 64 bids. Additionally, this was merely the 3rd consecutive season the women made a post-season tournament. We had several down years from 200-01 to 2006-07 excluding our lone WNIT appearance in 2004-05.

[CA Mustang]

Men's NIT and Women's NIT is not apples to apples. The women have 64 bids.

If you add in the CBI and CIT, there are the same number of non-NCAA postseason bids for men and women.

[HorsePower]

The women would have made the 32-team NIT field, too, just like last year. RPI was 68, and after the NCAA took its teams, SMU was one of the higher-seeded teams. The conference tournament winners and the real national heavyweights soaked up all of the NCAA spots, so we weren't going to get an at-large NCAA bid. But consistently getting to the postseason is more than a lot of teams can say. Sure, these things go in waves at schools other than Tennessee and Maryland and Connecticut, where they pour huge money into women's basketball, but not only is it impressive that this team got there without Wills this year, the fact that they made the postseason in the two seasons after the Dodds/Cobb/Shepherd class graduated is really impressive.
Looking forward to another postseason run next year, and with this team, I feel pretty confident saying that.

[mustangxc]

The women would have made the 32-team NIT field, too, just like last year. RPI was 68, and after the NCAA took its teams, SMU was one of the higher-seeded teams. The conference tournament winners and the real national heavyweights soaked up all of the NCAA spots, so we weren't going to get an at-large NCAA bid. But consistently getting to the postseason is more than a lot of teams can say. Sure, these things go in waves at schools other than Tennessee and Maryland and Connecticut, where they pour huge money into women's basketball, but not only is it impressive that this team got there without Wills this year, the fact that they made the postseason in the two seasons after the Dodds/Cobb/Shepherd class graduated is really impressive.
Looking forward to another postseason run next year, and with this team, I feel pretty confident saying that.

I'm pretty sure 31 spots were already spoken for based on conference championships so I don't think the women would have made a 32 team field.