Less Ben Emelogu

[ponyscott]

He just isn't making it work...this is way too many games for a quality player not to rise up. He looks like a real bust.

[SMUstangs22]

Ben E may be a bust but it is entirely too early to tell. Many people were touting KF as a bust last year. Lets face it, Larry has a system that is not easy to contribute in early.

I think this thread should be saved for next season. I look at a guy that has confidence issues. Not because he is not hitting shots but because he looks lost in the offense. I think it is translating into his FG%.

[SMUstangs22]

Also lets not forget we may have lost that UCF game in retro night if he didn't hit those 3 threes.

[Charleston Pony]

this thread could have been about Ryan Manuel until he started getting more minutes. We still have 2 plus years for Gu to show what he can do and if he's able to earn more minutes with the roster of guards we could have next season, that will really be saying something.

Speaking of Ryan, where did that FT touch go? He's not using his legs as much and is short arming his FTs this season compared to the past 2 seasons when he was one of our most reliable guys

[Stallion]

The futures of Moreria and Manuel and Frazier and Shawn Williams now Emelogu and even B. Moore have been questioned on ponyfans. Just sit back and watch Larry Brown develop their games into important contributors

[hoopmanx]

The futures of Moreria and Manuel and Frazier and Shawn Williams now Emelogu and even B. Moore have been questioned on ponyfans. Just sit back and watch Larry Brown develop their games into important contributors

Who are you giving credit for what? If anything playing in Brown's system has hampered Moreira's growth and gave Shawn Williams far more run than he gave in production. The development of Fraziers game was vastly overstated too, and it's easy to argue that playing Keith at the expense of Sterling, especially after Sterling's frosh campaign, hurt the team more than helped. We're more talented than 90% of the teams we play, which should translate into 19-5 or so at this point. This isn't a development thing or coaching them up etc. We're managing expectations given our talent level.

[Stallion]

Only 5 players can play at 1 time. Both you and I stated before the season that Moreria had greater upside potential than Kennedy based on from my perspective what I saw early last season before he was hurt. But as much as we wanted Moreria to contribute late last year it simply wasn't happening. Larry tried to involve him in the late run. I also think that Sterling Brown is a better all-around contributor than Frazier-not sure what set back his game in Larry's eyes at the start of the season but again he was not very productive when given an opportunity early this year. And what do you do with Cunningham? Some games he plays like he just got back from a Day at the Beach and on others he looks like he's got NBA offensive skills (definitely not rebounding or defensive skills though). I don't see these as easy calls-the team has benefitted by keeping all these players as involved as possible. I think Moreria, Kennedy and Cunningham are complementary post players that bring different skills that can be utilized in different scenarios. Each has been a major contributor to important wins. Just about every player has improved and contributed which will continue throughout their careers

[gostangs]

Are you trying to say larry doesnt develop players well? You will have a hard time defending that. Talent doesn't mean they have team chemistry and learn basics, particularly on defense. Was uconn or kentucky more talented last year? Yet uconn brought home the hardware

[Charleston Pony]

this new 8 man rotation is an opportunity for all the guys to step up. I don't like seeing guys play more than 35 minutes and this group of 8 can hold up reasonably well no matter who might have to hit the bench early with foul trouble. On topic of this thread, I think we can all agree that Gu is the guy we are all hoping can find his game before post season rolls around

[Junior]

Wilfong

[sadderbudweiser]

Wilfong

not

[hoopmanx]

Are you trying to say larry doesnt develop players well? You will have a hard time defending that. Talent doesn't mean they have team chemistry and learn basics, particularly on defense. Was uconn or kentucky more talented last year? Yet uconn brought home the hardware

He hampers as many as he helps, but that's coaching. The reality is that we're more talented than most we face, so we win at a very nice clip. I'm not even sure our system completely suits our players skill set, but talent matter

[SMUstangs22]

Are you trying to say larry doesnt develop players well? You will have a hard time defending that. Talent doesn't mean they have team chemistry and learn basics, particularly on defense. Was uconn or kentucky more talented last year? Yet uconn brought home the hardware

He hampers as many as he helps, but that's coaching. The reality is that we're more talented than most we face, so we win at a very nice clip. I'm not even sure our system completely suits our players skill set, but talent matter

So we would rather not "play the right way"? Talent without coaching, see Memphis. Our current system may not highlight players. However they are learning to be team basketball players and not MVP's. I guess that is the difference from the AAU and college mindsets. Larry may not put a superstar on a stand, but he does develop. One need not look further than Nic Moore.

I appreciate the insight you provide the board. However, you have seemed to turn sour on SMU and Larry. I for one trust LB.

In fact I will go as far as to say our play in the last 2 years has surpassed our talent level. Go ahead and hammer me for that thought.

[JasonB]

The futures of Moreria and Manuel and Frazier and Shawn Williams now Emelogu and even B. Moore have been questioned on ponyfans. Just sit back and watch Larry Brown develop their games into important contributors

THIS.

Just 2 months ago, we were all saying how Ryan shouldn't get any minutes. He had lost all confidence, and got whopped in the Ark game and was a major reason why we lost that game.

LB stuck with him, he found some confidence, and now we can't live without him.

Ben needs to do the same stuff RM did to get his confidence back - play hard D, take the ball to the rim, draw the fouls, and get your shot to fall from the free throw line. Once the stroke is down, then start hitting some jumpers, and finally knock down some threes.

[ponypatrick]

Are you trying to say larry doesnt develop players well? You will have a hard time defending that. Talent doesn't mean they have team chemistry and learn basics, particularly on defense. Was uconn or kentucky more talented last year? Yet uconn brought home the hardware

He hampers as many as he helps, but that's coaching. The reality is that we're more talented than most we face, so we win at a very nice clip. I'm not even sure our system completely suits our players skill set, but talent matter

Ridiculous comment !!!!