Best/Worst Case by EJ Holland

[PonySnob]

Just showed up on the DMN Blog from EJ:

Best-case/worst-case scenarios for SMU basketball this season
By EJ Holland [email protected]
9:00 am on November 13, 2014 | Permalink

Here is a look at the best and worst-case scenarios for the Ponies this season.

Best-case: Markus Kennedy gets eligible and continues his dominance down low, point guard Nic Moore is even better than before and Keith Frazier becomes a lethal shooting guard after an up and down freshman year. Along with these three cornerstones, SMU uses its depth to win the American Athletic Conference and lock up a No. 3 seed in the big dance. From there, Larry Brown leads the Mustangs all the way to the Final Four before bowing out valiantly. SMU once again becomes the hot school on the recruiting trail and fans begin to ask the question: Emmanuel Mudiay who? Brown signs an extension to coach until he’s 90 and helps lure Mack Brown to take over the football program.

Worst-case: Markus Kennedy never gets eligible, leaving SMU with a big hole in the paint. Nic Moore gets injured and with no Emmanuel Mudiay on the roster, SMU struggles with Ryan Manuel running the show at point guard. Ben Moore and Sterling Brown both undergo sophomore slumps and Keith Frazier regresses. New transfers Ben Emelogu and Justin Martin don’t fit in well and fail to make major impacts. Still, Larry Brown finds a way to make this team competitive, but the Mustangs once again miss the NCAA Tournament and return to the NIT. Fans begin to wonder what could have been if Mudiay had stuck with his original decision. SMU loses its luster and Brown decides to retire at the end of the year. Mack Brown doesn’t leave his ESPN gig, and SMU permanently makes Tom Mason its head football coach.

Predictions:

– Number of wins: 25 (regular season)

– Conference prediction: First in AAC

– Postseason prediction: NCAA Tournament, Sweet 16

EJ Holland is the Associate Editor at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football. You can follow him on Twitter @EJSports4.

[Rebel10]

For the most part I go with the best case scenario.

[redpony]

and reality is somewhere in between.

[SMUstangs22]

Except Larry coaching until 90.

Nic Moore getting injured worries me.

[PonyPlayer4]

That worst case scenario really is worst case in every aspect.

[PonyFan32]

EJ should have stuck to the headline of "SMU basketball". Where I diverge is on the football talk.

Mack Brown is not the best case scenario by a longshot.

Nor is Tom Mason the worst case scenario. June somehow staying on another year was always the worst case scenario.

In general, I agree with the prediction and best/worst case. The likelihood of sophomore slumps from all our super sophs and minimal impact from the transfers seems vanishingly small, thankfully.

[GiddyUp]

Id prefer not to read EJ, lets us know about what other people say about 90% of the time. Weak.

[SMULaxer]

How is Mack Brown not the best case scenario? Instant recruiting credibility in the state of Texas. I don't know if you've noticed, but we have a bunch of 5'11, 180lb atheltes running around out there....

[PonyFan32]

I personally would take several of the up and coming assistants (Herman and Morris as 2 examples) over current Mack Brown, due to a variety of factors (age, cost, recent history being among the top ones).

Recruiting credibility is certainly one of his major pluses, but if that recruiting credibility doesn't translate into legitimate recruiting, it doesn't really mean all that much. The list of QBs that were passed on by Texas during his time there and ended up solid players at other schools is long. It was a disaster after Colt McCoy, and that wasn't solely due to injury.

Plus I don't want any more 60+ coaches trying to recruit. We have enough of those already, and none of them cost $4 million or more (what I assume Mack would cost at minimum, given other jobs that will be available).

Didn't intend to start a football discussion on the basketball board. Figured it wasn't that controversial to say Mack Brown isn't my ideal candidate .

[Charleston Pony]

don't underestimate this year's Soph class and their impact on this season...should be HUGE