CBS: Jon Rothstein's Obersvations

[Harry0569]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketb ... r-kentucky

• SMU needs more out of Ben Moore. The 6-8 sophomore has gone scoreless in two of his last six games and only scored a single point in the Ponies' win at Temple on Jan. 14. Larry Brown has said repeatedly that Moore could be the most talented player on SMU's roster and for this team to truly become a scary team that no one wants to see in the NCAA Tournament, it needs more offensive production from Moore moving forward. The Ponies have currently won 13 of their past 14 games and are 15-4 overall.

[Harry0569]

2. Tulsa is like a watered-down version of Frank Haith's first team at Missouri.

Haith's first season at Missouri featured a 30-win team that played with a "four out, one in" approach and he's adopting that same type of formula at Tulsa. The 2011-12 Missouri team had a terrific perimeter featuring Phil Pressey, Michael Dixon, Marcus Denmon and Kim English with Ricardo Ratliffe operating as the sole low-post player on the floor. While Haith's team this season at Tulsa isn't nearly as talented as that Missouri team, the makeup is similar. James Woodard, Shaq Harrison, Rashad Smith and Marquel Curtis are four perimeter-oriented players who start for the Golden Hurricane with 6-9 junior D'Andre Wright rounding out things in the pivot. Tulsa isn't a great shooting team (33 percent from three-point range), but really keeps defenders on its heels with play makers like Woodard (15.6 points, 4.7 rebounds) and Harrison (15.5 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.4 assists) who both excel in transition. This team is currently 13-5 overall and an impressive 6-0 in league play.

[JasonB]

It will be an interesting matchup with Tulsa. We don't have the guard depth to go 4 small. I think we will see a lot of BM at the 4 because he can defend on the perimeter. YM and MK will have to sub for each other and not play together, and very little CC.

If our 4 can shut down their 4 from shooting the three, we have a good shot at being able to dominate inside.

[ojaipony]

It will be an interesting matchup with Tulsa. We don't have the guard depth to go 4 small. I think we will see a lot of BM at the 4 because he can defend on the perimeter. YM and MK will have to sub for each other and not play together, and very little CC.

If our 4 can shut down their 4 from shooting the three, we have a good shot at being able to dominate inside.

Like Tulane, our win will come because of our defense. I think we'll be able to score down low at them pretty much as much as we want and they will be fouling us in the front court a bit (YM/MK/CC/BM will have to score about 30+ among them). If we split a home win/road loss, I'll be fine with that. But we'll need to beat them in the AAC tourney should we face them of course.

[PonyFan32]

Inside out offense should offer us a lot of opportunities against a 4 guard lineup. No way they can guard 2 guys 6'8" or taller without collapsing.

[SMU1523]

Couldn't agree more. Ben m00re is a sleeping giant. Could easily be the best player on the floor next season with a productive off season.

[Stallion]

when Ben has a "bad game" you can still point to 5-6 major contributions he made during those games to help his team win