Early season assessment
Posted: Wed Nov 28, 2001 2:37 pmNote: This was originally written for the other board in reaction to ridiculous doomsaying.
It's typical of SMU fans (and Dallas fans in general) to overreact and jump ship after two hard fought, entertaining, gutty and gut-renching losses. But here's the deal:
1. While Tech and Baylor are middle of the pack in the Big XII they played outstanding games against us. Tech played virtually mistake free ball, and Baylor seemed to hit every three they took (except Elsey thankfully) -- yes, even many fairly well-defended and contested ones.
2. I was impressed by the way that our Mustangs did not give up in the face of double digit deficits late in both games. They could have easily folded, but showed cajones clawing back.
3. Should they even have been down in the first place? Maybe not. But see point #1. Yes, our free throw percentage is horrible. But those calling for Dement's head and screaming at him to drill free throws in practice are barking up the wrong tree. You think you're telling Dement anything he isn't already aware of? You actually think he doesn't practice free throws? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you are an idiot. Free throws are 99% mental. And our guys are fighting themselves at the line every trip. There's not much Dement can do, except maybe bring in a sports psychologist. I'd like to point out however that free throw shooting was 70% against Tech and greatly improved to 11-15 in the second half at Baylor, and the guys were hitting down the stretch. Even Niemi hit his 2 -- a small miracle.
4. As others have mentioned, Castro is giving us a presence inside. We are always going to be a guard-oriented team, but with some production inside, it will give our guards more open looks and room to work. And, let me remind you, Castro is only a freshman, are 3 others who were often on the floor at the same time as Castro. This is a young team, and they will need time to develop into players that will win those tough down to the wire games.
5. One thing we are really lacking from a personnel standpoint is a true shooter, like Elsey used to be. I know Brian Miller is supposed to be our guy, and I hope he can develop that consistent shooter's touch (but he has badly badly missed many of his shots so far this season). Is still think we need to recruit a shooter, as opposed to the 'athletes' that seem to be are targets these days. This will also help the free throw issue late in games, when we can put someone solid at the line.
6. Absence of Voc really hurts us. It disables Dement from sitting Damon when he repeatedly dribbles, drives, draws a triple team, but instead of kicking the ball out to one of his open guys, forces a bad shot himself. I like a lot of what Damon does, and he does put up the numbers, but his decision making is not always good as a point guard. We need someone oriented to the assist as well as the shot.
I believe in this team, and I think by the end of the year, they will be winning the nail biters. They have shown good development already in 4 games so far. There is certainly room for improvement, but that is no reason to start calling for a coaching change or abandoning this exciting, promising young team.
It's typical of SMU fans (and Dallas fans in general) to overreact and jump ship after two hard fought, entertaining, gutty and gut-renching losses. But here's the deal:
1. While Tech and Baylor are middle of the pack in the Big XII they played outstanding games against us. Tech played virtually mistake free ball, and Baylor seemed to hit every three they took (except Elsey thankfully) -- yes, even many fairly well-defended and contested ones.
2. I was impressed by the way that our Mustangs did not give up in the face of double digit deficits late in both games. They could have easily folded, but showed cajones clawing back.
3. Should they even have been down in the first place? Maybe not. But see point #1. Yes, our free throw percentage is horrible. But those calling for Dement's head and screaming at him to drill free throws in practice are barking up the wrong tree. You think you're telling Dement anything he isn't already aware of? You actually think he doesn't practice free throws? If you answered yes to either of these questions, you are an idiot. Free throws are 99% mental. And our guys are fighting themselves at the line every trip. There's not much Dement can do, except maybe bring in a sports psychologist. I'd like to point out however that free throw shooting was 70% against Tech and greatly improved to 11-15 in the second half at Baylor, and the guys were hitting down the stretch. Even Niemi hit his 2 -- a small miracle.
4. As others have mentioned, Castro is giving us a presence inside. We are always going to be a guard-oriented team, but with some production inside, it will give our guards more open looks and room to work. And, let me remind you, Castro is only a freshman, are 3 others who were often on the floor at the same time as Castro. This is a young team, and they will need time to develop into players that will win those tough down to the wire games.
5. One thing we are really lacking from a personnel standpoint is a true shooter, like Elsey used to be. I know Brian Miller is supposed to be our guy, and I hope he can develop that consistent shooter's touch (but he has badly badly missed many of his shots so far this season). Is still think we need to recruit a shooter, as opposed to the 'athletes' that seem to be are targets these days. This will also help the free throw issue late in games, when we can put someone solid at the line.
6. Absence of Voc really hurts us. It disables Dement from sitting Damon when he repeatedly dribbles, drives, draws a triple team, but instead of kicking the ball out to one of his open guys, forces a bad shot himself. I like a lot of what Damon does, and he does put up the numbers, but his decision making is not always good as a point guard. We need someone oriented to the assist as well as the shot.
I believe in this team, and I think by the end of the year, they will be winning the nail biters. They have shown good development already in 4 games so far. There is certainly room for improvement, but that is no reason to start calling for a coaching change or abandoning this exciting, promising young team.
