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After morphing into we expect to win in football, I wonder how long it will be before the same occurs in our men’s basketball program. Do you really believe we have more than a chance against TCU tonight?

I expect to beat TCU at home. If we don't, that's a bad loss IMO. Neither A$M or USF were bad losses.

I expect somewhere around 16-18 wins this season.
I expect the team to go at least 8-8 in CUSA. A lot of parity in CUSA hoops, with a few exceptions, just like CUSA football. Hopefully, this team will grow up & learn to win on the road this season & surprise some folks.
Outside of conference, I see us winning another 8-9 games, which includes the 2 we have already won. I expect a W tonight against TCU.

papawasamustang wrote:I expect somewhere around 16-18 wins this season.
I expect the team to go at least 8-8 in CUSA. A lot of parity in CUSA hoops, with a few exceptions, just like CUSA football. Hopefully, this team will grow up & learn to win on the road this season & surprise some folks.
Outside of conference, I see us winning another 8-9 games, which includes the 2 we have already won. I expect a W tonight against TCU.

Really?

Yes, I really expect them 2 be above .500

papawasamustang wrote:Yes, I really expect them 2 be above .500

Quite honestly, my expectations are a bit modest than yours... I looked through the remaining schedule during one of the games at home (it might have been during the last one) and my predictions are 12-12 with 6 games (including TCU) that could go either way... Now that's assuming that we will stay healthy, especially inside... So we could have a winning record or we could go just under .500... Tonight will show us a bit more what we can expect out of this team!!!

There may be a lot of parity in CUSA when you look at the rosters on paper, but we fall short on the coaching end - hence we don't see many wins.

angryfan04 wrote:There may be a lot of parity in CUSA when you look at the rosters on paper, but we fall short on the coaching end - hence we don't see many wins.

I hear ya. Can't disagree with that.
Did I see that Tulsa but an a_ _ whippin on Okla St. tonight?

papawasamustang wrote:Yes, I really expect them 2 be above .500

OK, .500 I can see, even after tonights loss, it's possible. But the numbers you mentioned, 8-8 in conference, plus 8 or 9 more OOC wins on top of the current 2, would be a final record of 19-11, and I dont see that happening. Frankly, I dont see 8-8 in conference play, either. Look at it this way, from where I sit Memphis,Tulsa, UTEP and Houston are all clearly better than SMU at this juncture, and those 4 teams represent 8 losses. Rice is better than the TCU team that beat SMU tonight, so the best scenario there is probably a home-and-home split. The other 6 games in conference could all go either way.

UAB at Moody: Before the season started I had this one down as a win for SMU, but UAB is playing better than I expected, their new players seem to be meshing well, but it is at Moody, so I see this one as a toss-up.

East Carolina: ECU is playing awful so far, but they have the three players that killed us last year (Young, Morrow and Abrams) all back, and the game is at their gym, so this one could go either way.

UCF at Moody; Central Florida is 6-1, including wins over Auburn and UMass. Playing at Moody gives SMU a chance, but have to lean a little towards UCF on this one.

Tulane: SMU won a squeaker at Moody last year, but Tulane is a little better team this year, and the game is in New Orleans. Could go either way.

Marshall at Moody: The Herd have started out a respectable 4-1 this season, nothing overly impressive, but certainly not bad. A winnable game at Moody, but SMU would have to shoot better than they did tonight.

Southern Miss: Similar to Tulane, SMU won at Moody last year, but USM is slightly better this year, and the game is in Hattiesburg.

So SMU would need to win all the "could go either way" games to make it to .500 this year. It could happen, but they need to play better.

and Yes, Tulsa crushed Oklahoma State tonight, 86-65, the Cowboys first loss. Houston had a big win over Oklahoma last week, as well.

when we talk about how awful some of the teams in CUSA might be, this SMU team has to be near the top of that list. this thing appears to be headed in the wrong direction

Charleston Pony wrote:when we talk about how awful some of the teams in CUSA might be, this SMU team has to be near the top of that list. this thing appears to be headed in the wrong direction

I think everyone optimistically thought that returning the same team from last season would mean another yr of experience and playing together. However, it appears to indeed be the same team from last season with the same coach...and that was a 9 win team in a bad conference. Same old, same old this season...

FriscoPMG wrote:I think everyone optimistically thought that returning the same team from last season would mean another yr of experience and playing together. However, it appears to indeed be the same team from last season with the same coach...and that was a 9 win team in a bad conference. Same old, same old this season...

That's exactly what I thought coming into this season.
Looks like we a team of up tempo type
players being forced to play a slow down
style of play IMO. Doh needs to unleash
the chains.

This team can't possibly have been assembled this way to play grind it out, half court ball. The scheme doesn't fit the personnel, that simple. As Papa says, run/press/trap and create easy looks. Play primarily man, cause they don't play well in the zone. Push the tempo. For chrissakes, we start two combo's, SG, SF, and a PF. Show me more 1 in, 4 out on O, and less junk D's like the triangle and 2 etc. If our roster looked like Butler's, I'd be fine w/o our scheme. As it is now, Doh is making it impossible on himself, not just b/c of the mounting losses, but b/c he's not putting these kids in the best position to succeed. That's coaching, and when the personnel says something different then your philosophy, you best adapt. Being stubborn gets you the boot.

yep, the best thing Doh could do is walk into practice today and say guys, this is your team. I want you to attack, press, run and shoot with confidence when you have an open shot. What I ask and demand is that you play as hard as you can from baseline to baseline and when you are tired, I'll give you a breather. I'm gonna give you a simple gameplan and its up to the captains to execute it. Then Doh needs to focus on managing the flow and tempo of the game, meaning timeouts to change momentum, not just to X and O. That means getting on officials here and there in a real way to show your team you support them, and to change momentum and get the crowd behind you. Last night after a critical play and call, I look over at doh immediately to see his reaction and he is staring down at some notecard. Is that a script, what is that? Doh could be a forceful and sometimes intimidating sideline presence that could be very effective if he used his "split personality" on the officials instead of his team.

Doh doesn't have to give his team the reigns, but how about adjusting to your personnel? We are awful in the half court. Our bigs are soft and we don't have a true PG to run the show and keep everyone involved. I do think we have some athletes who could do well in more of a full court up tempo game. I don't know...I really don't know what our talent level is right now...but I'd rather be losing games 90-80 than watching the product Doherty is directing right now.