ESPN: Jeff Goodman's top 25 (plus 25 more) - SMU #19

[KWhiz77]

Wilfong keeps his role :-/
Poor kid will be lonely w/out Dunleavy and JMM

[PonyTime]

Wilfong keeps his role :-/
Poor kid will be lonely w/out Dunleavy and JMM

Actually - Dunleavy will still be on the bench, but will be wearing a suit and tie.

[KWhiz77]

^^^ True.

[LA_Mustang]

As someone pointed out before, maybe Hoopmanx, it is great how guys are sticking around as graduate assistants. It's a great sign of a family atmosphere.

[KWhiz77]

Totally agree & KD is a great kid and perfect for the GA position. Also awesome that Shawn wants to stay on the staff as well. KD could prob go anywhere after grad with great job in his major and he chose to stay on...

[sadderbudweiser]

The way I see this we have two potential weaknesses.

1) The bigs get in foul trouble. To avoid both Tolbert and MK sitting with two fouls 10 minutes into the game I think you start MK and bring Tolbert off the bench for either MK or Ben. You start MK and Ben.

2) Perimeter shooting. So maybe Gu shoots lights out this year…problem solved. But if he doesn't we'd better hope that Keith is legal to go and Shake catches on quick. Either one will suffice.

I agree that one year in LB's system is needed. I think shake and Sed will contribute towards the very end of the conference schedule. Sooner would be nice but I don't really expect consistency until March at the earliest.

Semi? I hope he turns out to be Ryan Manuel x 2. Monster jams, huge blocks and athleticism that rocks the building. A huge spark off the bench.

I like this group and I think the 20-ish ranking is accurate for now.

[Morris Code 11]

The way I see this we have two potential weaknesses.\\

Semi? I hope he turns out to be Ryan Manuel x 2. Monster jams, huge blocks and athleticism that rocks the building. A huge spark off the bench.

.

Our outside shooting, and perimeter defense were 2 huge holes all year last year, and ultimately cost us the game vs. UCLA. Nic can't guard on the perimeter, taller guards just shoot over him (Alford, Pangos etc.), and LB philosophically prefers packing the paint and letting outside shooters get theirs, so that may be a part of it as well.

Manuel was great in a bunch of different ways, but he cannot shoot, and Gu was bad too. When Nic went cold or to the bench, we had no guards to pick up the slack. This happened in the first half vs UCLA and we were in a hole we never should have been in. Semi really needs to be able to shoot for us to take the next step, and obviously Shake and Sed should help in that department as well.

Keith can only shoot well at home, so I don't think him being around would have made much of a difference in the tourney.

[blackoutpony]

Totally agree & KD is a great kid and perfect for the GA position. Also awesome that Shawn wants to stay on the staff as well. KD could prob go anywhere after grad with great job in his major and he chose to stay on...

Extra practice bodies too.....