UTEP Observations from the Rafters

[regis]

...The first half was an absolute embarrassment. But as unmotivated and awfully as we played, we were not totally out of it. UTEP is not 13 better than us.

...The second half was a much better effort. Nice to see the boys had some fight in them. Too bad they were in that big hole. UTEP is not 13 better than us.

...Derrick Roberts has got to be the hardest playing guy we have. He never takes a moment off. It's so fun to watch him play.

...Killen seems afraid to do anything.

...BHop needs to settle down. He tried to force things way too much down the stretch.

...Bamba is going to be a good one. Once he learns how to keep is ground and to switch back on a pick-and-roll, there will be no stopping the big guy.

...Doc Sadler has got be to the whiniest, jerkiest coach we've ever seen from an opponent.

...The game day production is pretty bad. Thanks to alumni and students taking time out of thier busy schedules to play in the band over the winter break. However, it seems the new director wasn't quite prepared for basketball season. He needs to learn that basketball band starts in November. Also, the guy in charge of the canned music / sound effects needs to learn his place. Too many times, he was playing over the band.

...Where are the cheerleaders?

[Corso]

...The first half was an absolute embarrassment. But as unmotivated and awfully as we played, we were not totally out of it. UTEP is not 13 better than us.

Absolutely true.

...The second half was a much better effort. Nice to see the boys had some fight in them. Too bad they were in that big hole. UTEP is not 13 better than us.

From the Department of Redundancy Department .... absolutely true.

...Derrick Roberts has got to be the hardest playing guy we have. He never takes a moment off. It's so fun to watch him play.

Actually, I disagree. He is without question our best athlete, aand when he's focused and concentrating, he looks like the budding star we all want him to be. But he absolutely takes plays -- segments of the game -- off. I watched one play in the second half when Dez Willingham led the break, and Roberts took off down the right side, yelling to let Dez know he (Roberts) was open. Instead, Dez pulled up and shot a jumper (never mind the fact that he made it). Roberts scowled at him -- to be fair, the alley-oop would have been a higher percentage shot, and would have gotten everyone's excitement level up a notch -- but Roberts disappeared after that. He went through the motions on both ends of the floor for about five minutes, before he got "back into it." When he wants to be, he can be unbelievable. But there are way too many times when he disappears. I don't know if it's because he's upset that he's not getting enough shots, if a defender gets in his head, if he doesn't like the way the camera guys are sitting in front of the band .... whatever the reason, it happens. If there was some way to make him play hard all the time, we're looking at an all-conference player.

...BHop needs to settle down. He tried to force things way too much down the stretch.

I agree, he did try to force things. But he has to assume that every team we face is going to do what TCU did and UTEP did for part of the time last night: Box-and-1 defenses, running different guys at him all night. At the moment, Hop is our only proven scorer, and when teams gang up on him, that's when we need Roberts to produce and we need Pearson to re-discover his shooting stroke.

...Bamba is going to be a good one. Once he learns how to keep is ground and to switch back on a pick-and-roll, there will be no stopping the big guy.

Agreed. He's extremely raw, but he is very gifted, and not just because he's tall. He seems to understand the game a hell of a lot better than any freshman we've had here since .... I can't remember a freshman who understood positional defense and had the timing and instincts he has on the defensive end. Couple that with the fact that he's 7-1 and has arms that reach from Texarkana to Abilene, and Koncak should be sweating the career blocked shots record.

...Doc Sadler has got be to the whiniest, jerkiest coach we've ever seen from an opponent.

Nobody will ever snatch that title away from Roy Williams!

...The game day production is pretty bad. Thanks to alumni and students taking time out of thier busy schedules to play in the band over the winter break....

No kidding -- those folks have jobs, families, etc., and they came down all through the holidays. Hats off to them, huh? They sounded great, too. (And is it just me, or does the alumni band have a different play list than the current band?)

...Where are the cheerleaders?

Getting ready for sorority rush?
There were more students last night, and that was to be expected. Rey Pellerin, Sean Lobo and DeMyron Martin were there (although the entire football team should have been there, and those three and the rest of the athletes should NEVER leave a game early .... but I digress.) My nephew is back on campus, either holding fraternity rush or getting ready for it. There's no reason the cheerleaders shouldn't have been there. I'm not saying they should give up time with their families to be at the Harvard game, but last night? School's a few days away, this is a conference rival, the first C-USA game in SMU history? Nice showing.

[MustangIcon]

Corso is correct about it being rush week for the Greek system. Classes do not start until Monday or Tuesday so pretty much the only people back on campus are Greek or are going through rush. Most of the cheerleaders are in sororities.

[Corso]

If they're on campus, they should have been there.
Most sororities have what .... 80 members? 100? They can spare a couple for one night. Maybe when they sign up/try out to be cheerleaders, they should be asked "do you want to actually attend games?" Very disappointing.

[MustangIcon]

I agree. Cheerleaders are asked to make a commitment to the SMU athletic program and there should have been a squad at the game. I was simply stating the most likely reason as to why there was not.

[ponygirl08]

I was waiting to see if anyone said anything about Pella, Demyron and Sean being at the game. Yeah, its nice to see other athletes at the game - but why not give credit to the few(maybe 10-15) students that are continually at the games - let alone the women's basketball team who have been at ever game(at least) that I have been at. I agree that at least a handful of cheerleaders should be there - but at least give the students some credit - rush IS is big deal around here...and will be over on Saturday and we just came out of the holidays. It won't be a huge increase, but I'm sure we'll see more students once they trickle back to Dallas.

[DiamondM75]

...The game day production is pretty bad. Thanks to alumni and students taking time out of thier busy schedules to play in the band over the winter break....

No kidding -- those folks have jobs, families, etc., and they came down all through the holidays. Hats off to them, huh? They sounded great, too. (And is it just me, or does the alumni band have a different play list than the current band?)

You are correct. The alumni band has a different book (playlist) than the Mustang Band. There are charts that are the same in both, but the alumni band selects their music and rehearses in the summer. The Mustang Band selects their music in late summer and rehearses in the fall. Since the alumni band can only rehearse once a week, instead of everyday, we need a little more time to get ready, so our music is selected and rehearsed before the Mustang Band gets started.

[Hal]

I was waiting to see if anyone said anything about Pella, Demyron and Sean being at the game. Yeah, its nice to see other athletes at the game - but why not give credit to the few(maybe 10-15) students that are continually at the games - let alone the women's basketball team who have been at ever game(at least) that I have been at. I agree that at least a handful of cheerleaders should be there - but at least give the students some credit - rush IS is big deal around here...and will be over on Saturday and we just came out of the holidays. It won't be a huge increase, but I'm sure we'll see more students once they trickle back to Dallas.

I agree, the students who do show up deserve some praise. I also agree, however, that any athlete who knows what it's like to play in front of even one empty seat should stay -- and be loud -- until the final whistle. Lead by example, and maybe more fans will be more vocal.