Grading Doherty - January 2012 Report Card

by **Digetydog** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 5:34 pm

After reading Hoopmanx's defenses of Doherty and the changes he brought, I decided to do a more detailed look at SMU's record in the past two seasons. Before doing that, I decided to set some "expectations" and see where we are.

My Expectations: SMU should be able to.
1) Beat all the patsies all the time. In addition, we should be able to schedule a better class of patsy without risking a defeat.
2) Finish in the top half of CUSA with a consistent winning record in conference play.
3) Be ready to play Big East BB when we move there in 2013. While we can't expect to collect the trophy at MSG, we should have some hope of winning a game.
4) We should have some hope of beating a Top 25 team.

At this point, I would give Doherty failing grades for all four of the above. While SMU will usually beat the patsy, it is much more difficult than it should be. Although the team might have a winning record in CUSA play, it is not a sure thing. As for the Big East, we would likely be picked to contend for a bottom 3 position. As for competing with Top teams, the only impressive win in the past two seasons was Memphis last year.

On the other hand, the current players are young and show some signs of talent. Without anyone to play in the post, there really isn't much he can do to fix SMU's complete lack of an inside game. Looking at last year's record, it was a little better than I remembered and this year isn't "that" bad.

What to do? As much as it pains me to say it, I say give him another year.

by **smubrooks** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 5:49 pm

what ever happened to that Coach Doh show on FSSW? I thought it was nice to get a look behind the scenes of the program.

by **SMUer** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:34 pm

What's the grade below an F...G?

by **Digetydog** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 6:41 pm

SMUer wrote:What's the grade below an F...G?

Aggie Diploma<F

by **SoCal_Pony** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 8:25 pm

You have to include recruiting to grade Doh and on that score he is hardly failing.

Look at the offers on Blaise.

by **SMUer** » Thu Jan 19, 2012 9:50 pm

So he studies like a sonofabitch but still fails majorly every exam...

by **hoopmanx** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:09 am

W/those expectations, I don't think we're that far off. Most concerned about losing to teams we shouldn't, cause I have no doubt we'll beat teams we shouldnt

by **GiddyUp** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:06 am

Lack of a Papa Dia type big man just kills us. Will Smith or Blaise be able to do that at all at any point?

by **hoopmanx** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:04 am

GiddyUp wrote:Lack of a Papa Dia type big man just kills us. Will Smith or Blaise be able to do that at all at any point?

Blaise has a chance to be excellent, he's just very different than Papa, who was a bull in a china shop. We need a a brusier or two for Big East purposes, but I imagine we'll get better in the post just w/age & experience. Kids like Cannen, Smith, Vilde, Blaise are talented, but not back to the basket kids. I just wish we'd let Smith work off the high post more. He can get by bigs from just outside the FT line. He's shown an up n under, ability to play over either shoulder, and a drop step. That's a bigger arsenal than Papa ever had, we just don't force the issue very much and let the big kid work. That could be a knee thing, not sure.

Honestly, I think we need a a slasher or two worse than a big. We spread the floor pretty well, but we have one kid that can get to the rim one on one. I expected Cotton to be far better at that than he is. I think Russell, Uche, Bernardi help in that regard.

by **1983 Cotton Bowl** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:24 am

Hard to defend the losses to Jackson State and Rice, but otherwise this team seems to be performing just about exactly as Doh predicted. If I remember correctly, Doh's first remark in the PF hoops preivew piece was that this team will be better at the end of the season than at the beginning. Makes sense. There's talent there, but they are playing in a complicated offensive system and the guys are young and don't have much experience playing together.

Before the season, I spoke to someone with a high level of basketball knowledge and he said to expect SMU to be "up and down" this year. He likes the nucleus, but they haven't gelled yet. I think that's held pretty true.

So between those comments and Doh's, I guess I'm just not that surprised about the team's performance. I feel like expectations were set appropriately and the team is performing about as expected. With the exception of a few games, the Ponies have been in every contest. They just haven't been able to finish consistently. Right now, they're 10-8. They could easily be 14-4. They could just as easily be 6-12. So I think 10-8 is not too bad considering the experience level.

I fully expect going forward that these guys will begin to consistently find ways to win the close ones. If that doesn't happen, then I'll be concerned about how far Doh can take this thing.

Just my two cents.

by **mustangxc** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:44 am

The loss to Rice was actually not bad, remember they beat Texas A&M on the road! Jackson State, Oral Roberts and Fresno State are the ones we can look back on and scratch our heads. Wish we could have had one or two of the games against UTEP, OSU and Ole Miss! The biggest problem facing Doherty is reconciling the fact that the team is not where it should be six years into his tenure. If you throw out the first 2 seasons as a loss and look at the forward progress beginning with his third season then it is actually going well. The team has improved its win total each of the last few seasons. As long as he is able to maintain that forward progress, as slow as it may be I think we should continue with the current path. That said, it is not my money and if a fellow alum wants to throw money out there for his buyout and a marquee coach I'm all for it. I just think that regardless of who coaches SMU, it is going to be a process.

by **RGV Pony** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 10:47 am

Rice may not have been bad given their resume but our guys simply didn't "show up"

by **hoopmanx** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:07 am

RGV Pony wrote:Rice may not have been bad given their resume but our guys simply didn't "show up"

I think that's fair. Rice has a good coach in Braun and recruits quite well considering they're Rice. Most of their marquee recruits had better offers etc. That said, no excuse to get blown out of the building, none. That's as angry as I've been about a loss in years, maybe Jackson St

by **shadowman** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:10 am

Digetydog wrote:After reading Hoopmanx's defenses of Doherty and the changes he brought, I decided to do a more detailed look at SMU's record in the past two seasons. Before doing that, I decided to set some "expectations" and see where we are.

My Expectations: SMU should be able to.
1) Beat all the patsies all the time. In addition, we should be able to schedule a better class of patsy without risking a defeat.
2) Finish in the top half of CUSA with a consistent winning record in conference play.
3) Be ready to play Big East BB when we move there in 2013. While we can't expect to collect the trophy at MSG, we should have some hope of winning a game.
4) We should have some hope of beating a Top 25 team.

At this point, I would give Doherty failing grades for all four of the above. While SMU will usually beat the patsy, it is much more difficult than it should be. Although the team might have a winning record in CUSA play, it is not a sure thing. As for the Big East, we would likely be picked to contend for a bottom 3 position. As for competing with Top teams, the only impressive win in the past two seasons was Memphis last year.

On the other hand, the current players are young and show some signs of talent. Without anyone to play in the post, there really isn't much he can do to fix SMU's complete lack of an inside game. Looking at last year's record, it was a little better than I remembered and this year isn't "that" bad.

What to do? As much as it pains me to say it, I say give him another year.

Nice categories, need to add recruiting. Also, while I like your categories, not sure about your grading scale. How can you give failing grades in all categories?

I can agree with a pass/fail grade on beat Patsies, lose to Jackson state, you get a fail there.

But the rest? seems odd. We definitely can finish in the top half of C-USA, conference play has barely started. At this point, I would give us a C.

I think we do have hope in beating a top 25 team here in the near future and we could be ready for Big East play. I wish we were closer, but I don't think we are failing either.

by **smubrooks** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 11:46 am

We are so far from being ready for the BE. Our first season in the BE is going to be a very embarrassing and sobering reality check as to how far off we are. You can argue that Doh has moved the program forward, but we really need to accelerate the improvement!!!