SFA 61, SMU 58

[George S. Patton]

Pretty much came down to whoever executed better in the final 3 minutes would win. SFA did.

The killer was when Papa Dia fouled out on a technical midway through the second half. He deserved it.

Walker was hobbled in the second half with an ankle injury. Bamba Fall fouled out. Thought Jon Killen took an ill-advised 3 with 1:30 to play and he left another drive to the basket short.

Actually, I thought Doherty got outcoached in the final 4 minutes of the game. We could have won.

But the good and bad of our freshmen: After Ryan Harp scored 14 points Saturday, he was scoreless Sunday. He actually had a couple of good looks on 3s. Just missed them.

We'll probably lose at Colorado and go into CUSA at 6-7. Not at all the record we thought they would have.

Again, they will struggle to get to 10 wins.

[BRStang]

I'll admit that I only recently began following SMU bball again, but why is it that we expected a better record this year? Or, do you mean going into C-USA? Aren't we pretty much a bunch of freshmen out there? Isn't this Doherty's first recruiting class?

Sorry for so many questions, but again, I'm new "again" to SMU bball. I'll admit that the Doherty hire got me interested again. (Hey, it's one more.)

[George S. Patton]

I'll admit that I only recently began following SMU bball again, but why is it that we expected a better record this year? Or, do you mean going into C-USA? Aren't we pretty much a bunch of freshmen out there? Isn't this Doherty's first recruiting class?

Sorry for so many questions, but again, I'm new "again" to SMU bball. I'll admit that the Doherty hire got me interested again. (Hey, it's one more.)

I mean 10 wins overall. I'm only expecting about 3-4 in conference. Yes, this is Doherty's first recruiting class. But this was a "cupcake" out of conference schedule that should have yielded a better record and didn't.

I hope they play better but they are just going through major inconsistencies.

Actually, I thought before the season we would be .500 overall and about 6-10 in conference but after watching the second game, my opinion changed.

Just have to go through the lumps with this group, like it or not. They show flashes of very good and flashes of confusion.

They haven't put two good halves together this year.

[BRStang]

I'll admit that I only recently began following SMU bball again, but why is it that we expected a better record this year? Or, do you mean going into C-USA? Aren't we pretty much a bunch of freshmen out there? Isn't this Doherty's first recruiting class?

Sorry for so many questions, but again, I'm new "again" to SMU bball. I'll admit that the Doherty hire got me interested again. (Hey, it's one more.)

I mean 10 wins overall. I'm only expecting about 3-4 in conference. Yes, this is Doherty's first recruiting class. But this was a "cupcake" out of conference schedule that should have yielded a better record and didn't.

I hope they play better but they are just going through major inconsistencies.

Actually, I thought before the season we would be .500 overall and about 6-10 in conference but after watching the second game, my opinion changed.

Just have to go through the lumps with this group, like it or not. They show flashes of very good and flashes of confusion.

They haven't put two good halves together this year.

Do you chalk it up to immaturity or do you think that all in all they are really not very good? What do you think about this team's potential in 2 or 3 years?

[mustangbill67]

I predict great futures at SMu for Harp, Dia, Malone and Walker. After that we have some big question marks. Some top JUCO's would help fill some of the tallent and maturity holes.

[mrydel]

I still think they look better than last year even though the results may not be there yet. Biggest problem is ball handling right now and that is being headed up by our seniors.

[mr. pony]

The killer was when Papa Dia fouled out on a technical midway through the second half. He deserved it.

What did he do? I missed it.

[mrydel]

The killer was when Papa Dia fouled out on a technical midway through the second half. He deserved it.

What did he do? I missed it.

I think it was something he said.

[George S. Patton]

The killer was when Papa Dia fouled out on a technical midway through the second half. He deserved it.

What did he do? I missed it.

I think it was something he said.

When he got whistled for a foul on a 3-point play, the official went over to make the call to the press table, Dia walked away and said something about the call -- I guess -- in the direction of the band. The official heard it and T'd him up.

In college hoops -- for those who don't know -- a technical foul adds to your foul count. Dia was on 3. The personal foul gave him 4 and the technical fouled him out. It was really a stupid move on his part, and you can point to that as really hurting us down the stretch. We didn't have a playmaker from the inside. Ritter is a mess. Fall is limited in what he can contribute -- outside of his hook and jams.

[gregkinzer]

Didnt SFA just beat someone fairly good? I think I have heard decent things about them this year....

If that is the case then a 3 pt loss to them isnt the end of the world. We have had other losses that look much worse.

I do agree with the General that 10 wins will likely be the over-under this year.....At some point the focus will shift to see what we have going with the freshman, and hopefully some of those guys pan out....

[perunapower]

Didnt SFA just beat someone fairly good? I think I have heard decent things about them this year....

If that is the case then a 3 pt loss to them isnt the end of the world. We have had other losses that look much worse.

I do agree with the General that 10 wins will likely be the over-under this year.....At some point the focus will shift to see what we have going with the freshman, and hopefully some of those guys pan out....

They've only lost to Tech and beat OU a few weeks ago.

[George S. Patton]

I'll admit that I only recently began following SMU bball again, but why is it that we expected a better record this year? Or, do you mean going into C-USA? Aren't we pretty much a bunch of freshmen out there? Isn't this Doherty's first recruiting class?

Sorry for so many questions, but again, I'm new "again" to SMU bball. I'll admit that the Doherty hire got me interested again. (Hey, it's one more.)

I mean 10 wins overall. I'm only expecting about 3-4 in conference. Yes, this is Doherty's first recruiting class. But this was a "cupcake" out of conference schedule that should have yielded a better record and didn't.

I hope they play better but they are just going through major inconsistencies.

Actually, I thought before the season we would be .500 overall and about 6-10 in conference but after watching the second game, my opinion changed.

Just have to go through the lumps with this group, like it or not. They show flashes of very good and flashes of confusion.

They haven't put two good halves together this year.

Do you chalk it up to immaturity or do you think that all in all they are really not very good? What do you think about this team's potential in 2 or 3 years?

This is not a good team now. It can be a good team in 2009-2010. Top 25 or not, our freshmen are not like Memphis' Derrick Rose or UCLA's Kevin Love who immediately make impacts.

Our freshman have some good aspects to their games and sometimes, they just make dumb mistakes like Dia's technical.

And again, it's like Ryan Harp. He scores 14 Saturday and then is scoreless Sunday. Had some good looks on his 3s. Just missed them.

It's going to be rough before it gets better. Just watch them grow. I just hope that they will be flowing a little better in February.

[tristatecoog]

Coach mentioned that Papa's best attribute is his intensity but it's also his worst (referring to the tech). SFA won at OU and also beat San Diego which beat UK yesterday. This would've been a very good win. Hard cheese for TCU to lose at Rice (for SMU's immediate RPI), but it was good for the conference and better in the long run.

According to:
http://www.rpiforecast.com/
SMU is only predicted to get two more wins the rest of the way. The best shots are at home and away vs. Rice and at home vs. Marshall.

The team really misses Ike Ofoegbu.

[ALEX LIFESON]

I had hoped for 10 wins this year....it's gonna be real tough. We could easily have had 2 more wins though.

[papawasamustang]

The team needs to learn to play to win, not to play not to lose.
Big difference & something Doh has talked about re: mental toughness.

SFA is a good team & would be middle of the pack in CUSA this year IMO. Coach Kaspar has some very good recruits interested in his program & I think you have to give them credit for doing what it takes to win the game.

This game was a big test for our team. I was very anxious to see how they did @ home against a good team. Although we L, I think the team is beginning to play better just inconsistant. There are points in the game that I can see some of the pieces coming together.

Another good test will be playing @ Colo. I'm glad to see this type of team on the schedule. This is a game they should be very competitive in. I predict a close game.

This is a game that could be a great jump start confidence wise for us leading into conference play.