PonyFans.com

1 - Do you see any difference in Bhop's play? Is he being more selective?
2 - I think Roberts could have helped a lot this year being fully healthy
3- Their record should be 14-9, no reason to lose the UTEP home game and at La Tech games...

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SMU players, coaches see signs of improvement

02:13 AM CST on Friday, February 25, 2005

By CALVIN WATKINS / The Dallas Morning News
UNIVERSITY PARK – The SMU men's basketball program has moved from Greek tragedy to one slowly inching toward a Broadway musical.


MICHAEL AINSWORTH/DMN
One of the things SMU basketball coach Jimmy Tubbs (left) has done is get standout guard Bryan Hopkins (right) to play a more controlled game, which includes better shot selection. At least that's what the players believe.

Entering tonight's game at Boise State, the Mustangs (12-11, 7-7) stand in sixth place in the Western Athletic Conference. With four regular-season games remaining before next month's WAC tournament in Reno, Nev., SMU has a chance to move up to the fourth seed.

Last season, the Mustangs were jumbled and headed nowhere, ultimately watching their coach get fired with three games remaining. This season, they are better statistically and in developing their players.

"We just have a different vibe right now," said SMU guard Bryan Hopkins, who leads the team in scoring at 17.6 points a game. "We just have a different outlook on the season. We have some new people and new hopes. We still have some work to do, but we've changed how we do things."

The Mustangs finished 12-18 last season, marking the first time in seven seasons they didn't finish with at least a .500 record.

For the first time since joining the WAC for the 1996-97 season, SMU didn't have a player named to the all-conference first or second teams.

Colleges

WAC men's standings
There were nine double-digit losses and chemistry problems that led to the firing of coach Mike Dement. The firing came after an 89-50 home loss to Boise State on Feb. 26. That night, athletic director Jim Copeland decided Dement was done, fired him the next morning and named Robert Lineburg interim coach. The Mustangs finished the season winning two of their last three games.

Copeland went on a nationwide search for a replacement, but he knew the man he wanted was just up the road. Jimmy Tubbs, a longtime assistant under Dement, was at Oklahoma, where he left to become the SMU head coach last March.

Copeland says Tubbs is doing a very good job. Each day Copeland watches the team, he says it confirms that he made the right decision to hire Tubbs.

When Tubbs arrived, the first thing he did in individual and team meetings was raise expectations.

Tubbs stressed defense and told the team it needed to play smarter. He wanted the players to take better shots, make smarter passes and improve defensive positioning. He asked seniors Patrick Simpson and Eric Castro, along with Hopkins, a junior, to become more vocal in the locker room.

Tubbs changed Hopkins from a hyper, shoot-first, ask-questions-later point guard, to a thinking-man's point guard. Take the shot, but only if open, Tubbs said. After some rough stretches, Hopkins has slightly increased his assists while dropping his turnovers.

"You have to build something first to weigh success," Tubbs said. "I'm still in the process of building a basketball program. To get here and say we should have X number of wins isn't fair. It's about building a program. Once we do that, then we set goals."

Tubbs' prodding of players and assistant coaches has worked.

Last year, SMU lost two games to Rice by a combined 45 points. In the WAC opener on Dec. 30, the Mustangs lost to Rice in overtime, 66-64. SMU's double-digit defeats are down to six this season.

Tubbs' 12-11 record in his first season is better than nine of his predecessors, including Dement.

Statistically, SMU appears better.

SMU is shooting .453 percent as a team; last year it shot .431 percent. It holds a plus-2.4-scoring margin against opponents. Last season, it was minus-4.1.

It appears Castro and Hopkins have a chance to be named to the all-WAC team. Castro is averaging career highs in points (14.6) and rebounds (7.5). Hopkins is sixth in the conference in scoring and fourth in assists.

Injuries to key players such as Hopkins (wrist), Simpson (ankle) and talented freshman starter Derrick Roberts (knee), have slowed some progress and probably cost SMU at times.

"We feel better about ourselves and believe what Coach Tubbs has brought in," Castro said.

no reason to lose the Utep home game and at La Tech huh? Truly one of the most clueless statements I've seen on this board and thats saying something. I'm surprised at you Pony Fan. Bryan Hopkins was not in uniform for the Utep game. A freshman named Jon Killen played alot that night. But that didnt matter huh? I don't care if you don't like Hopkins or whatever, that statement takes the cake.

Clueless statements? - we should have won it....Hmm...had no bearing on whether or not Hopkins was dressed. Didn't even think about that. You are just making assumptions.

We could have won it, not should have. I am not making assumptions, I'm not the one who brought it up by saying there was "no reason to lose" the Utep and La Tech games. Well, there were reasons, big reasons.

according to the majority on this board we SHOULD HAVE gone to at least the NIT in each of the last 5 years. Ain't happening. You can't play that game because we probably SHOULD HAVE lost to Montana St not to mention Louisiana Tech.

Let's get back to the orginal post #1 and comments on the article.

Yes, you are right...we should have lost to Montana State.

The media said good things about SMU - Be Happy.

This is good for SMU and for Tubbs recruiting. I love it when a plans works out.

YOU TELL THEM BUS,

AT LEAST WE GOT SOME

POSITIVE COVERAGE.

03-04 .440 FG .404 3PT FG assist to to= 1.12
04-05 .410 FG .354 3PT FG assist to to= 1.02

His ppg and assist/game are about the same

I'm not sure that he has improved all that much and this is where I get a little disappointed. I am really not trying to bash Hopkins.....he is our best player, I just think he isn't maximizing his potential. (He is not completely all to blame) He does need to get more consistent with his play though and make better decisions. I really don't have a big problem with his FG pct. He will be getting a lot of attention and he should take most our shots.....but the assist to turnover ratio is pretty bad. A PG should be doing more to do more to make the guys around him better. All in all I would have to disagree with that piece of the article.

Stats are a great thing if you know what they are all about. The point most are trying to say is that the team is improving from where they were at the beginning of the season. They actually played pretty bad at the start as they were getting used to Tubb's way of playing the game. Stats are cumalative and being bad at the start and good at the end averages out...average. If you have been to the games you have to have seen that they are playing better now then they did early on and certainly better than last year. Take the game stats from the last 12 games and recalculate the cumalative stats for just those twelve games and see what you come up with. Bet it will be much better than last year.

One thing I will agree with is that this team seems to be improving week after week. I was among those who had higher expectations, but didn't expect Simpson, Hopkins & Roberts to battle injuries most of the season and didn't expect to lose rack for the year. I still say if this team gets healthy, SMU is the group that nobody wants to have to play in the WAC tourney. Tulsa also appears to be coming on late. The Boise game would be huge...to win one on the road will really help our seed in the tourney.

Pony_Fan wrote:1 - Do you see any difference in Bhop's play? Is he being more selective?

Absolutely. No question about it. He's 10 times the player he was last year and the year before. His numbers might be down a little from last year, but he's so much better as a point guard. He's making much smarter passes and playing under control, and he's taking smarter shots.

Pony_Fan wrote:2 - I think Roberts could have helped a lot this year being fully healthy ....

Without question. There have been times this year when Roberts, even on one knee, has appeared to be the most talented player on the team. I'm like you, I've wondered sometimes what he might be when totally healthy.

Pony_Fan wrote:3- Their record should be 14-9, no reason to lose the UTEP home game and at La Tech games....

Not sure about that. Losing to UTEP, while tough to take, was no embarrassment. They are, after all, a good team. But that game showed that we can play with them -- hopefully we pull off the upset tonight.