Strength: Smothering defense
I'm going to go ahead and just start referring to this as Larry Brown's SMUthering D.
Led by the inside-outside duo of Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy, SMU had nine different players record at least 17 steals last season. Even top turnover-forcing defenses like Louisville and VCU can't make that claim.
Two of those nine players graduated, but Brown picked up Justin Martin (27 steals last year) and Jordan Tolbert (26 steals) on the transfer market this summer.
In addition to a proclivity for forcing turnovers, SMU had one of the best two-point defenses in the nation during the 2013-14 season. The Mustangs finished the year ranked ninth in that category per KenPom.com—joining No. 1 seeds Arizona and Virginia as well as Connecticut in the top 10.
Once they figure out how to stop committing so many turnovers on the offensive end of the court, the Mustangs will be a very difficult team to beat.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2143 ... 15/page/15