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...someone tell me how the rest of CUSA compares to FSU

Taking the Sagarin, not too accurate at this point, but they would be about 3rd or 4th in our conference.

FSU would be right there with Memphis in CUSA. They are considerably better than anyone else in the conference. Rice was destroyed at Gonzaga last night but they will continue to be a pesky team due to Morris Almond who is perhaps the best player in the conference. UTEP will not be as good. ECU lost to Richmond in OT last night-they will be better but still not very good. UAB and Houston are very talented and I would pick them to finish 2nd and 3rd. Tulsa is fair. Tulane is awful. UCF is very average. Marshall lost Patton from last year who was a very good forward and they have a lot of young players.

If we can stay healthy(we are very thin) we can certainly finish in the top 5.

I think this team is going to have serious trouble with the lack of depth as the season goes on. I am excited about the future for this team but I think we are still a couple of years away from being "year long" competitive. Hopefully I will be proven wrong.

Everybody says that Doherty is big on conditioning and I sure hope everybody's right.

The PonyGrad wrote:Taking the Sagarin, not too accurate at this point....

Or at all.

From looking at the boxes, Killen and Roberts were the only ones playing 30+ MPG per game. Need to find a way to rest Killen a bit more, though a zone defense can aid in that.
Would not be surprised to see the team overachieve for much of this year. They may sag near the end as other teams catch on and superior in talent/depth teams improve through the year. But hopefully, can make a good run at an NIT bid--Not certain CUSA will be strong enough this year to get 4-5 teams in the NCAAs. And almost certainly there will be a few clunkers along the way.

We're definitely a couple years away from real success.. I'm interested to see if they can keep up this level of play into midseason... for the first time as an SMU fan though, I have expectations, real expectations for the basketball program.

And oh yeah.. I love Doh and Orsini!

carolsmu wrote:From looking at the boxes, Killen and Roberts were the only ones playing 30+ MPG per game. Need to find a way to rest Killen a bit more, though a zone defense can aid in that.
Would not be surprised to see the team overachieve for much of this year. They may sag near the end as other teams catch on and superior in talent/depth teams improve through the year. But hopefully, can make a good run at an NIT bid--Not certain CUSA will be strong enough this year to get 4-5 teams in the NCAAs. And almost certainly there will be a few clunkers along the way.

FSU/SMU Box Score minutes played:
Devon Pearson 35
Ike Ofoegbu 30
Jon Killen 36
Derrick Roberts 38
Donatas Rackauskas 34

Not sure that CUSA can get 4-5 bids this year? What did CUSA get last year? 2? I know Memphis and I think UAB. Did UTEP? I know UH went to the NIT and had 21 wins including W's over LSU and Arizona.

While I am VERY excited about the program under Doherty and can't believe how much he has helped in the developement of players thus far, but this roster is still thin as can be, much less talented than most our conference competition, and not even in the realm of needing to think about an NCAA tourney bid this year. If Doherty got this team to the NIT it would be an utterly amazing accomplishment. I will personally be impressed with being a couple games above .500. Lets give the man some time to get a full roster at least before we start considering NCAA tourney slots. Or at least take it to the Braketology thread.

Is Dez Willingham that far in the coach's doghouse that he can't spell Killen when he needs it?

FloridaMustang wrote:We're definitely a couple years away from real success.. I'm interested to see if they can keep up this level of play into midseason... for the first time as an SMU fan though, I have expectations, real expectations for the basketball program.

We haven't had really any success since the last Dave Bliss coached team.......when will things change on the Hilltop????

PonySnob wrote:

FloridaMustang wrote:We're definitely a couple years away from real success.. I'm interested to see if they can keep up this level of play into midseason... for the first time as an SMU fan though, I have expectations, real expectations for the basketball program.

We haven't had really any success since the last Dave Bliss coached team.......when will things change on the Hilltop????

The success is starting now. We just signed a great recruiting class with 4 3 star players and 1 2 star player. One of those guys was offered scholarships by OU and Louisville (two prominent national programs) and chose SMU while 2 other of the guys are ranked in the top 25 players in the state of Texas. And that was with Doherty getting a late start on the recruiting trail.

On the court even without a deep or very talented team, Doherty is already showing that he can work wonders for our program here at SMU. If you aren't at least a little excited about the direction of SMU basketball right now then you simply don't want to be excited.

PonySnob wrote:

FloridaMustang wrote:We're definitely a couple years away from real success.. I'm interested to see if they can keep up this level of play into midseason... for the first time as an SMU fan though, I have expectations, real expectations for the basketball program.

We haven't had really any success since the last Dave Bliss coached team.......when will things change on the Hilltop????

He said in a couple of years, can't you read? He's living on the end of the thin branch with those expectations, though.

jtstang wrote:Is Dez Willingham that far in the coach's doghouse that he can't spell Killen when he needs it?

Pretty far back in there. He needs to stop taking 3's when there are still 20 seconds left on the shot clock, making dumb turnovers by dribbling too much, and use some of that energy on the defensive end.

I wonder if that would explain why he and former Kansas State coach Jim Woolridge had a falling out.