PonyFans.com

The last opponent we allowed to shoot over 39% from the floor or over 29% from three was TCU. (TCU shot just over 40% and 30%, respectively).

Prior to that streak of games, we had allowed opponents to eclipse one of those two marks in every single game. For the most part, they were shooting well over 40%.

A mix of both adding Jarrey and the whole being able to practice thing?

Our defensive efficiency is only 118. But over the last 3 games we are 15th. At the beginning of December we were 181.

Our defensive performance is the key to the rest of the season. That is what gives us a chance at Memphis and at UConn.

Our offensive efficiency is outstanding. Our offensive efficiency now sits at 24th in the country. Pre-cancun we were #86. We have gone from decent to very good.

I hope no one really believes the not being able to practice 5-on-5 garbage. Our small fan base has to be smarter than that, right?

Let’s hope it stays the same as we move up the ladder competition-wise.
It’s going to be a dog-fight this season in the AAC.

UCF, Tulsa, Temple, SMU, Memphis, UCONN, WSU and USF are pretty tightly bunched between the (obviously) two best and the two worst.

LA_Mustang wrote:I hope no one really believes the not being able to practice 5-on-5 garbage. Our small fan base has to be smarter than that, right?

But we hear it every press conference!

DanFreibergerForHeisman wrote:

LA_Mustang wrote:I hope no one really believes the not being able to practice 5-on-5 garbage. Our small fan base has to be smarter than that, right?

But we hear it every press conference!

I stopped listening to his pressers long ago because he has a loser mentality. There is no debating that the guy is terrible at promoting the program and energizing the fanbase. Both of which are musts for any coach at SMU. But I digress, this should be about our guys, not the HC. We have a talented team.

JasonB wrote:Our defensive efficiency is only 118. But over the last 3 games we are 15th. At the beginning of December we were 181.

Our defensive performance is the key to the rest of the season.

In the past few games we have done a much better job not getting beat off the dribble.

Of course it should be noted our last 3 games were against Cornell, ECU and Tulane. I would hope we would have good stats during that stretch of games.

Then again we lost to Southern Miss, Lipscomb, and Bradley in a stretch of 4 games to start the season so winning and posting positive statistics against any team is an improvement.

sadderbudweiser wrote:Let’s hope it stays the same as we move up the ladder competition-wise.
It’s going to be a dog-fight this season in the AAC.

UCF, Tulsa, Temple, SMU, Memphis, UCONN, WSU and USF are pretty tightly bunched between the (obviously) two best and the two worst.

Cincy should be added to the list. They lost to ECU.

SMU_Alum11 wrote:

sadderbudweiser wrote:Let’s hope it stays the same as we move up the ladder competition-wise.
It’s going to be a dog-fight this season in the AAC.

UCF, Tulsa, Temple, SMU, Memphis, UCONN, WSU and USF are pretty tightly bunched between the (obviously) two best and the two worst.

Cincy should be added to the list. They lost to ECU.

Cincy has a good team. I think it shows that anything can happen on the road. Even if a team like Tulane is bad, don't discount the road win when we lead from wire to wire and lead by more than 10 for most of it...

DanFreibergerForHeisman wrote:

JasonB wrote:Our defensive efficiency is only 118. But over the last 3 games we are 15th. At the beginning of December we were 181.

Our defensive performance is the key to the rest of the season.

In the past few games we have done a much better job not getting beat off the dribble.

But we are also doing a much better job of closing out threes. Typically you sacrifice one or the other.

I think the biggest changes are:
1) Pressing higher against the three
2) Staying with backdoor cuts (this was a huge problem early in the season, specifically by some of the players not getting much PT anymore. White plays well on offense, but he is a step slow defensively, especially when his player is off the ball).
3) Not sagging in to help too much. We left the cross court three wide open at the beginning of the season because the players didn't trust other players to do their job, and we left guys wide open for the baseline three. We aren't doing that nearly as much now.

I practice against my shadow because nobody can guard me better!

smubrooks wrote:I practice against my shadow because nobody can guard me better!

https://youtu.be/88fG2oWEiKI