Lineup for next year?

[dirtypony]

So what does the starting lineup look like for next year and what players are coming off the bench?

[mrydel]

I think right now we are just hoping for 5 eligible. That would answer both questions.

[EastStang]

I was wondering the same thing. Tell who will be eligible and I'll tell you who will be starting. I hope any players facing academic probation are gonna bust butt this summer to get their grades up.

[The Falcon]

I know some of you have posted info in the last month that we have several players - I believe it was 3 guards and Bamba who were having
grade problems.

I spoke with 2 professors who are usually in the know about SMU players and grades and they say they do not know of any problems at this point.

Does anyone on this forum know for sure who the players are? If you know please let us know because this rumor is not a good one and should be substantiated to let us know where we are. Info that I have says that
Dez and Killen are both good students and have more than adequate grades. My sources did not know about Bamba or Roberts.

So if you know something for sure - please share with us.

[mrydel]

I know nothing (as noted on other threads, I am married). I am the Sgt Schultz of the grade situation and I do not want to let on otherwise. I only post substantiated rumors, not unsubstantiated. My comments were in jest and in no way should reflect on the classroom status of any of our athletes. I trust they are all to qualify and if having some toubles, are well on the way to correcting them.

[MustangIcon]

Well Coach D confirmed that Bamba had some work to do in the classroom this summer as per one of the articles posted here on the Bball forum. Not sure I have seen or heard evidence regarding anyone else- just speculation from people.

[bagice]

I will ignore the academic question and assume everyone is going to be eligible. I actually like the team next year and really do expect to see a marked improvement. This is regardless of the coaching change, I think Tubbs would have had a similar record. 07 and 08 is where we could really be hurting due to graduations, but this year, not so bad.

We should have a veteran lineup with players that SHOULD be able to play. This requires Pearson and Roberts to progress where they should be, they should have had big years last year, but played below potential. I look for them to rebound for their senior season.

At point, Dez should be solid, he is a good player that should only be better next year and is no longer in the shadow of BHOP. I look for him to have a great year.

Roberts as the off gaurd has all the tools, he is a good driver, he has good size and can post up smaller players and hopefully he can get his 3 shot down this year.

Pearson at small forward should be an animal. He is our best rebounder and he plays "big" and has a good outside shot, that for some reason was off last year. I look for him to rebound and have a good senior season.

The other forward spot...I actually like Rack there. People don't realize how good his shot is. In fact he can probably knock down 3 pointers better than anyone on the team. Now that Bamba is here, he may can roam a bit more. He cant handle the ball well, but he is good rebounder and has the sweetest shot on the team. This was seen in our last win in the tourny against Rice last year where he scored 10 of our first 15 points on those little pop out jumpers, just like Dirk does. He would float to the open spot, 18 - 20 feet, catch the ball, put it up....and nothing but net each time. He can also pop out to the 3 point line and catch the ball from penetration and drain it from there, we just haven't let him do that yet. I expect huge things from him next year, and if he is used right, could be our leading scorer. He is a shooter, not a bang em down center.

At center, Bamba should be solid, altering and blocking shots and grabbing the boards, only thing is can he stay healthy and out of foul trouble, if he can't stay on the floor, Rack will have to slide to center and we cant utilize his spot up shooting.

As far as reserves, we aren't deep, but we saw good things from Killen and Epps towards the end of the season. Epps finally started knocking down the threes and Killen seemed to be our only guy that could drive to the hoop and make his shot while being fouled. He is an excellent leaper as well.

Big forward and Center we are really thin. Need Ike there to step up and play big when we need him. Maybe Ritter will be back and we can use his Big Body when we need it.

So...starting 5 of Dez, Roberts, Pearson, Rack, and Bamba looks pretty decent to me. Play to potential and avoid injuries and foul trouble and I see a much better season this year. If I was coach, I would do lots of drives and kick outs and try and get Rack open set shots and I tell you, he will drain them like no one believes he can, but i tell ya, he will!

[BringBackThePonies03]

I agree with your lineup. That most likely will be the starting lineup, I think Fall, Willingham, and Roberts will start for sure. We need some people to step up next year if we are going to be good, we have the talent I think Doherty can help us turn the talent into success.

[MustangIcon]

While I have stated many times that I think Coach D will get us playing better than last season in spite of the roster being less talented, I think ya'll are a bit overoptomistic as to the talent on the roster. I think we have a few solid players but this team has no proven scorer and no depth whatsoever. I expect us to improve our record, especially in conference, but not as much as it seems some in this thread expect.

I agree with bagice in that Rack will be a good player this season, I think he showed that some last year. FYI Roberts will be a Junior this year, so we have him for this season and the '07 season.

[tmustangp]

rumors are that bamba is ineligible for next fall.. can anyone confirm that...and with only one recruit coming in, our bench will be very thin

[bagice]

I didn't mean to sound overly optimistic, I doubt we will do anything special, but I can see a much better record considering who our conference mates are and the weaklings we will play OOC.

I'll hold off on predictions till I see the final schedule and who we are going to play, but with the extra two games, I think 17-20 wins is doable, not good enough for any post season consideration, but an improvement.

[Pony_Fan]

4-10 in conference....short term memory? We'll have to see what rumors are true about ineligble players.

These are many of the same players that barely scored 50 pts on several occassions. Hop and Morris are gone. The Rack finally showed some signs of improvement though. Roberts needs to come out of his Isham shell and start scoring.

it will be a slight improvement. Most of the conf. teams will be better next year....I expect smarter play and MD to get more out of his players than Tubby.

[ALEX LIFESON]

We won't know the outcome on some of these players, until the end of summer school. Some of these players simply quit going to class.

[bagice]

I'll hold off judgement since everything to this point is still rumor, but if true and some of the boys are truly in academic trouble, that will be really sad.

Say what you want about Dement, but the man ran a clean program and recruited student athletes and always kept on their butts about school work. Hate to see that all go down the tubes in 2 short years. Hope this ends up not being true and everyone is eligible come "Go" time.

[EastStang]

The other unanswered questions are whether there will still be some defections due to the firing of Tubbs or even if there are not will there be some cancerous elements in the locker room. I would really be surprised if we equal last year's conference record of 4-10. I sincerely hope that we do. In fact if we are 4-10 or exceed that Doherty ought to be coach of the year.