An Invitation to XTC, Hoop Fan, and LA Mustang...

[ponyboy]

...and others with some basketball wisdom.

I'd be interested in hearing your take on the state of the basketball program. Personally, I'm not interested in any discussion on attendance. That's simply a function of the fact that people will come out in droves and support a winner and -- in Dallas particularly -- will treat you like a two day old burrito if you're losing. It's a natural law and part of the territory, so lets stop [deleted] and moaning about it.

Why are we struggling so right now? Is BHop THAT important? Were last year's seniors that important? Is it Tubbs' coaching? Is it simple lack of talent? Bad luck?

What is in the tea leaves for the short and long term future of this program?

[friarwolf]

See my rant under the hardin simmons thread.

[Cardinal Puff]

I see a team that has not yet come together. Perhaps B-Hop will make a difference, we will see next week. There is a lot to like about this team, Pearson continues to improve and is the key at this time. You can only hope that Robert's stats will sooner or later match his mechanics-his shot looks good, it needs to go in. Dez has very good vision but does not have confidence in anticipating his teammates moves. Dez is not fighting through on defense like B-hop and Killen did last year. Ike has had some much improved moments compared with last year, he still has an ability to disappear in the game. Morris is a one man effort to shake our bad free throw rep. Morris has soft hands and an instinct for the offensive board, he has made some horrible decisions on defense. Perhaps the Oliver Miller summer camp will help. Rack has some good moments at both ends, will he build up endurance and be more willing to just take it up instead of dribble out? Epps has gotten better at understanding what his team is doing and how he fits in, need to see more of him. Ritter can do a great job of playing bridge abutment in the paint, why he sets up over in Arlington on offense is a mystery, he makes it four on five when he goes to the corner and meditates.
On the whole, the play of Dez, Epps and Morris make it hard to a critic of our current recruiting. While overall attendance may be a continuing hurt to those of use who have seen better days, our crowd does have high school and AAU coaches who have not been around before-I think that is a very positive sign for future recruiting.

[WorldStang]

Cardinal Puffs.. great memories! Loved the Puffs Punch..

Oh yeah.. welcome to the board.

[LA_Mustang]

Yes, Hop is by far our best player and this team needs his scoring badly. The loss of Castro and Simpson really hurts. Those two were very solid and each good for 10-15 pts and 6-8 boards a game. Right now we have two guys starting in the middle who are D-1 backups at best.

I think Coach Tubbs can get the job done, but until we get better facilities (practice court, locker room, and renovate Moody) we are looking at .500 seasons and no post season play. You have to understand that the big-time local guys we are all expecting Coach Tubbs to land are also being recruited by schools with much better facilities in better conferences (UT, OSU, OU, Kansas, Missouri, Indiana and TT). He can only do so much. Just like Dement before him, his hands are tied.

[Hoop Fan]

I agree that we are missing Castro and Simpson alot right now. Not so much their skill sets in my opinion, but their consistency, intensity and senior leadership. We are really lacking those things right now. There is no leader on this team. BHop needs to be that when he comes back, Roberts is too young to be that, Dez is too new, and i'm not sure Pearson is vocal enough or can do it on his own.

I never thought that we would get to the next level with Castro and Simpson as the 4 and 5 together. Just not enough overall combination of strength, jumping ability and size. Thats why I thought we could replace them by committee with Pearson, Rack, Bamba Fall, Morris and Ritter. Well, Fall is out, Pearson has been floating on the perimeter too much in my opinion, and Morris is not in as good of condition as it takes, but he is helping. Same with Rack, just way too inconsistent, even from minute to minute.

Our real hope is that the Rack and Morris improve steadily as the season goes on and that BHop is hopefully ready and able to give a big lift. As for the future, I still think Tubbs gives us the best chance to overcome our obstacles at least somewhat or occasionally. He will eventually get us a squad that plays tougher defense, is more capable and physical on the boards and shoots better than where Dement left off. That will happen. Will it be enough for some of us or will it happen soon enough for others, I dont know.

[Pony_Fan]

I think Castro was huge last year with his consistency. He was getting better - too bad we don't have him this year. He was one of the most improved for sure.

Why can't Tubbs get the current group to play defense? They seem awfully lazy to me right now.

SMU has bad luck with injuries the last couple of years - Hopkins when he got here, Miller, Rack, Nigel Smith, Bamba Fall, Simpson, Roberts, TCA kid...etc,etc.

We haven't had a straight up shooter in a long, long time. I am not talking dribble penetration. The competition comes in here and lights us up with shooting.

I like Friar's Wolfs post on the other thread. We aren't going to compete with the Big 12 on recruits. Too bad we can't get Juco's easily. As you guys have said - not having practice courts and top notch facilities doesn't help. Needs to happen now to be built by 2008. With his hands tied, it's hard to have a huge turnaround year like some programs do.

Tubbs has a huge task ahead of him. He knew what he was getting into.

Sidenote: Penders/Cougar High is now in the Top 25 with a win over LSU and Arizona. (looks like 6-7 of them are Juco's) - 2 of them being leading scorers - must be nice!

[EastStang]

The good news is that SMU will be a bettor's dream right after Hopkins comes back. Our Sagarin rating is so low, we will not be favored to beat anyone in CUSA. Unless the odds makers pick up that distinction quickly, there might be some cash to be made in early January against say Marshall, Tulane or USM.

[Charleston Pony]

while BHop's return means instant offense, we should not underestimate what this could do for the defense. BHop lead the team in steals and with another guard in the rotation, Tubbs can put a pretty quick group on the floor and substitute enough to keep the guys fresh.

[jokerswild]

What are yall talking about. Let me get this straight. Epps is a jump shooter that cant shoot. Morris only plays well ahgainst shorter guys. Dez Ill give you that he has been a moderate success. We have beaten three D1 teams that are a combined 2-11 against D1 opponents. The three teams that we have lost too if you subtract wins against us and non-D1 opponents are now 5-10. In short we suck. As much as I love Hop we will have the shortest lineup in America with Dez, Hop, DRob, Devon (the only bright spot in terms of consinstent production), and Dnot or Bmorriss. What we have is a struggling program, a coach that has no clue (has anywone wondered why the man who the Dallas high school coaches wrote a letter to get the job but none of there players are coming to our school, maybe because the word is out he's crazy), and a lack of talant. Good times, I hope all yall stay positive though.

[Hoop Fan]

you're talking out of both sides of your mouth Joker. Tubbs hasnt been here long enough to turn over the roster with any experience, so the talent issue is not just his. You just sound like a hater with an axe to grind who came out of the closet to spread a little hate. Tubbs hurt your feelings or something?

[ponyboy]

Nope, Joker's just the latest stooge to mimic the drumbeat negativism of certain posters.

[FriscoPMG]

Unfortunately, Jokerswild is dead on. Let's face it, Tubbs was hired to recruit the Dallas area...so far he has recruited Matt Williams from the Dallas area, who most likely will not even see the light of the day at SMU this year. Hopefully Bamba Fall will be able to contribute at least 2 years of decent play, but that won't be happening this year. And as far as the schedule goes, this year was set up for some easy non-conference wins, but instead we've seen losses to UL-Monroe & Toledo. We were even called out as the Joke of the Week game by the Sporting News.

For those of you who defend Coach Tubbs, when can we honestly expect postitive results? Again, he was brought in for his recruiting, but other than Dez, we have yet to see a quality TX recruit. And as far as his in-game coaching goes, someone please tell me when they see a quality offensive set or in-game adjustment.

I would love to see SMU succeed as much as anyone on this board, but honestly, this program is far worse than what Coach Dement left it in. God bless & goodnight.

[NavyCrimson]

Cardinal Puffs.. great memories! Loved the Puffs Punch..

speaking of 'puffs, whatever happened to it?

are they still there?

[copeydopey]

the truth hurts doesn't it?....tubbs can't get the type of kids he wants that are going to unc, osu, baylor, a&m, ...anywhere but smu. until copey gets shown the door and smu really commits, same 'ole stuff folks.

not many of us can deal with this much longer...when can we actually compete for a title?