No way around it: OUTCOACHED

[Sam I Am]

Losing gets harder and harder for even this old die hard fan. I remember the 1954 team and Doc Hayes. We've never really been the same after Dave Bliss (Boo!). On to spring training and hopes for next year.

[PoconoPony]

I watched the 2d half on All Access. Seemed like we were playing well for the first few minutes and were on a roll with Fall receiving some nice assists and making some emphatic dunks. Confidence and enthusiasm was flowing. After the first time out everything changed and we fell apart. I'm not impressed with the talent or chemisty on this team. I will leave the coaching critique aspects to those more knowledgeable that I.

In November I posted a prediction that the best we could do was 8 wins. This posting was at a time we still had the preponderance of the non-conference schedule yet to play. I saw no front line players who had the strength, bulk, intensity, determination or offensive skills for us to win. I think true talent quickly overcomes the inexperience argument.( Just watch the Big East and you will see what frosh can do starting with the first game of the year.) I am now fearful that 8 wins is not achievable especially when we could not beat a team like ECU which is not particularly good or gifted team.

[papawasamustang]

We are just a bad team is a very weak/bad conference.
These teams we are losing to are not any good.
You can all listen to the future looks bright speeches & talk about next year & the year after but I ain't buyin it.

[ClickClack]

we could really use brian morris up front this year...kid was gonna be good. too bad he had academic/off court issues

[Glenn Sosbee]

Losing gets harder and harder for even this old die hard fan. I remember the 1954 team and Doc Hayes. We've never really been the same after Dave Bliss (Boo!). On to spring training and hopes for next year.

Blaming Dave Bliss for SMU's recent basketball failure is like blaming Jimmie Johnson for 12 years without a Cowboys play-off win. You can trace the demise of SMU's basketball and football programs to two things, the NCAA death penalty and the collapse of the old Southwest Conference. It's just that simple. We may never recover.

[gostangs]

B.S.

Death penalty? are we seriously dragging that out still? Plenty of teams with less to go on then us have had much greater success (Houston for goodness sake - that school is worthless and they punch out solid basketball teams every three years or so).

There is no reason SMU cannot be good at basketball. No excuse for losing to Rice, Pine bluff, and ECU. None. Doherty must now look in the mirror.

Dia and Bamba have to both grow a pair. We would be better off playing an all freshman team.

[Glenn Sosbee]

B.S.

Death penalty? are we seriously dragging that out still? Plenty of teams with less to go on then us have had much greater success (Houston for goodness sake - that school is worthless and they punch out solid basketball teams every three years or so).

There is no reason SMU cannot be good at basketball. No excuse for losing to Rice, Pine bluff, and ECU. None. Doherty must now look in the mirror.

Dia and Bamba have to both grow a pair. We would be better off playing an all freshman team.

You and many other well meaning ponyfans still don't seem to understand just how far SMU's athletic dept. was set back, due to the sanctions dealt by the NCAA. Why is it so hard to understand? I'll drag it out as long as I damn well see fit.

[Jumpshooter]

B.S.

Death penalty? are we seriously dragging that out still? Plenty of teams with less to go on then us have had much greater success (Houston for goodness sake - that school is worthless and they punch out solid basketball teams every three years or so).

There is no reason SMU cannot be good at basketball. No excuse for losing to Rice, Pine bluff, and ECU. None. Doherty must now look in the mirror.

Dia and Bamba have to both grow a pair. We would be better off playing an all freshman team.

You and many other well meaning ponyfans still don't seem to understand just how far SMU's athletic dept. was set back, due to the sanctions dealt by the NCAA. Why is it so hard to understand? I'll drag it out as long as I damn well see fit.

Glen,

It has been 20 years. The breakup of the SWC has done far more damage to the SMU athletic program than the death penalty.

[The XtC]

[quote="Hoop Fan"][quote="Stallion"]SMU still trying to play 11 different players in a close game. 4 ECU players rarely left the Court. Which team ran out of gas. No wonder this team doesn't have any chemistry. I'm glad we got Harp in there for 15 minutes of nothing.[/quote]

harp is like the 10th guy off the bench in the first half and then he is on the court at crunch time? makes no sense when he did nothing to make an impact.[/quote]

At the end of the game it looked like Harp and Haynes were being subbed in and out for Nyakundi and Faye, defense/offense, so that Harp and Haynes could commit fouls. It wasnt really neccessary, considering none of our players were in foul trouble, but that;s what the strategy looked like.

Anyone ever see a team not get called for a single foul, until under 3 minutes left in the half? That was kind of amusing. Then we had to foul 4 times intentionally just to put them on the free throw line.

[Glenn Sosbee]

B.S.

Death penalty? are we seriously dragging that out still? Plenty of teams with less to go on then us have had much greater success (Houston for goodness sake - that school is worthless and they punch out solid basketball teams every three years or so).

There is no reason SMU cannot be good at basketball. No excuse for losing to Rice, Pine bluff, and ECU. None. Doherty must now look in the mirror.

Dia and Bamba have to both grow a pair. We would be better off playing an all freshman team.

You and many other well meaning ponyfans still don't seem to understand just how far SMU's athletic dept. was set back, due to the sanctions dealt by the NCAA. Why is it so hard to understand? I'll drag it out as long as I damn well see fit.

Glen,

It has been 20 years. The breakup of the SWC has done far more damage to the SMU athletic program than the death penalty.

I agree that the SWC collapse was more damaging. I'm just saying that you cannot underestimate the harshest sanctions ever recieved by an NCAA school. There is no one else to compare ourselves to because we are the only school that ever recieved such a penalty. So how can you just brush it aside as if it were meaningless?

[The XtC]

[quote="Pony_Fan"][quote="Stallion"]SMU still trying to play 11 different players in a close game. 4 ECU players rarely left the Court. Which team ran out of gas. No wonder this team doesn't have any chemistry. I'm glad we got Harp in there for 15 minutes of nothing.[/quote]

Doh seems to still be tinkering. Haynes got some minutes, no Malone, Walker some, Dia off the bench = nothing, Harp has no business being on the floor for us. ECU had nice distributed scoring from all.[/quote]

No Malone? No, I guess not. Not on the bench against ECU, didnt go to Marshall, not practicing anymore.......

Starting to get the picture?

[Hoop Fan]

i thought harp was on the floor alot with 7 or 8 minutes left before Doh started doing the pointless offense-defense subsititutions at the end. but i digress. when you need a steal or even a stop, do you really want harp in there for faye? Like you say, no one was in foul trouble at all.

[The XtC]

I think it was more like 4-5 minutes left. I checked the play-by-play on Gametracker, and saw Harp coming in and out a bit. I guess I didnt pay attention to it during the game because Harp didnt do anything when he was in.

[Jumpshooter]

B.S.

Death penalty? are we seriously dragging that out still? Plenty of teams with less to go on then us have had much greater success (Houston for goodness sake - that school is worthless and they punch out solid basketball teams every three years or so).

There is no reason SMU cannot be good at basketball. No excuse for losing to Rice, Pine bluff, and ECU. None. Doherty must now look in the mirror.

Dia and Bamba have to both grow a pair. We would be better off playing an all freshman team.

You and many other well meaning ponyfans still don't seem to understand just how far SMU's athletic dept. was set back, due to the sanctions dealt by the NCAA. Why is it so hard to understand? I'll drag it out as long as I damn well see fit.

Glen,

It has been 20 years. The breakup of the SWC has done far more damage to the SMU athletic program than the death penalty.

I agree that the SWC collapse was more damaging. I'm just saying that you cannot underestimate the harshest sanctions ever recieved by an NCAA school. There is no one else to compare ourselves to because we are the only school that ever recieved such a penalty. So how can you just brush it aside as if it were meaningless?

Glen,

I'm not brushing it aside but there are programs that have started football and/or just moved up to IA within the last 10 years that have accomplished far more than SMU in that time frame.

As for hoops, I thought Dement did a really good job, best of any SMU coach in football or hoops in the last 20 years, he just couldn't get over that final hurdle.

The hoops program now is a complete mess.

[Pony_Fan]

If Baylor can have a murder and scandal and come back from that very quickly, there is no reason why SMU can't - granted they are in the Big 12 which helps but still.....this bball program has been through a lot as well. It's going to be sad when TCU surpasses us again -- probably next year or the year after.

X, Malone has been MIA lately? I didnt realize that.