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He is right, the job of recruiting is never done. This class sounds like a great foundation to establish progress on for the three to four years.

Thanks, coach, for the update. BTW, bring the team to the Midwest next year!!! Perhaps, Notre Dame? Northwestern? DePaul? Loyola, UIC, Northern Illinois, Bradley, Wisconsin?

You'll enjoy the weather!

Water Pony wrote:He is right, the job of recruiting is never done. This class sounds like a great foundation to establish progress on for the three to four years.

Thanks, coach, for the update. BTW, bring the team to the Midwest next year!!! Perhaps, Notre Dame? Northwestern? DePaul? Loyola, UIC, Northern Illinois, Bradley, Wisconsin?

You'll enjoy the weather!

Email Malcolm Farmer ([email protected]). He is the Director of Basketball Operations. I sent him an email saying SMU needs to come to Austin or San Antonio and he replied they are working on the schedule right now.

Doh Blog wrote:As you can see, I put a premium on the ability to pass, handle and shoot the ball.

I'm not being facetious, but what else is there to consider?

smu diamond m wrote:

Doh Blog wrote:As you can see, I put a premium on the ability to pass, handle and shoot the ball.

I'm not being facetious, but what else is there to consider?

Plenty to consider. I think basically what he means is that he wants skilled basketball players with refined games, not just great athletes. For instance, I don't think a player like Justin Isham would have fit the mold Doherty looks for. However, he was a fantastic athlete and one of my favorites to watch- always a threat to come through with a monster dunk.

smu diamond m wrote:

Doh Blog wrote:As you can see, I put a premium on the ability to pass, handle and shoot the ball.

I'm not being facetious, but what else is there to consider?

Defense (which is where his premium should lie), rebounding, speed, quickness, strength (7'1" beanpoles get pushed around a lot), smarts, character, to name a few. There's a lot more to playing hoops than there is to playing the bassoon.

Are we really questioning Doh's recruiting ability?? I really hope we are not that dumb.

NickSMU17 wrote:Are we really questioning Doh's recruiting ability?? I really hope we are not that dumb.

You have to understand that some of the characters on here think they know more than all the coaches combined. I think I will go with Doh on this.

I would love to see players who can shoot. That's something we haven't seen in a very long time. When you have to bring up Troy Matthews and Jay Poerner as your best shooters in the last 12 years that's pretty sad.

Who are the best outside shooters of the incoming freshmen?

What you want are well rounded players.! I would take a team full of Rosses who play good D and who are effective on offense. But we also need to be realistic. We are a mid-major school in a mid-major conference. We are not going to get a team full of great players, so we have to mix and match. We might get a good defender who has weaknesses in his offensive game. We might get a good shooter who doesn't play D very well. We might get a 7'1" bean pole rather than a Shaq. Now Doh has to turn this mixed set into a team that wins games.

NickSMU17 wrote:Are we really questioning Doh's recruiting ability??

Not me, I was just answering the non-facetious dude's inquiry and stating my opinion that defense is the most important aspect of the game. See, no matter how great a shooter you are, on some nights you are not going to be able to hit the broad side of a barn. A good defender can play good defense every time he steps on the court. That can win you some games.

I am going to have faith in Doherty. I could practice all day every day for a year and never become a good shooter, great passer, and great ball handler. But, I could practice all day every day and become a great defender. I think defense is easier to teach, although as you say perhaps the most important aspect of the game, than shooting and ball handling. A lot of that comes with God given talent that is then refined with practice. That is the way I read his statement, in just my opinion. Give me ball handlers that will cut down the turnovers and shooters that can put the ball in the bucket and he can turn them into defenders.

mrydel wrote:I am going to have faith in Doherty. I could practice all day every day for a year and never become a good shooter, great passer, and great ball handler. But, I could practice all day every day and become a great defender. I think defense is easier to teach, although as you say perhaps the most important aspect of the game, than shooting and ball handling. A lot of that comes with God given talent that is then refined with practice. That is the way I read his statement, in just my opinion. Give me ball handlers that will cut down the turnovers and shooters that can put the ball in the bucket and he can turn them into defenders.

Great post. Exactly on point. I am convinced enough by what Doh has done up to now to go ahead and pull the trigger on season tickets next year. Last time I had them was in the 80's. My Mustang Club dues then were obviously spread around a lot of football players. Dropped out for around 20 years and now my two sons, who I raised as pony fans back then, are pulling me kicking and screaming back into the mustang fold.

Good defense certainly can be learned on any level. And I'll even go so far as to say that the team played better defensively last year than in prior regimes, even with many of the same players. But I have my doubts that kids who aren't good defenders by the time they get to this level will ever become them. In my book, defense is part of the fundamentals. If you haven't learned them by now it'll be hard to break down the problems and build in the corrections after they are so ingrained. Fortunately, although he states that he puts a premium on offensive skills, I suspect most of these guys would have to have good fundamental defensive skills to work wtih just to make Doherty's radar in the first place.

jtstang wrote:Good defense certainly can be learned on any level. And I'll even go so far as to say that the team played better defensively last year than in prior regimes, even with many of the same players. But I have my doubts that kids who aren't good defenders by the time they get to this level will ever become them. In my book, defense is part of the fundamentals. If you haven't learned them by now it'll be hard to break down the problems and build in the corrections after they are so ingrained. Fortunately, although he states that he puts a premium on offensive skills, I suspect most of these guys would have to have good fundamental defensive skills to work wtih just to make Doherty's radar in the first place.

I do agree with you. It is like Dexter Manley not being able to read in college. It was not the college's fault, it was his elementary school's fault.

I am sure these kids have good defensive skills already, but like you said, I think we saw a noticable improvement in defense this year with last years kids. That makes me believe there is still some defense to be learned.