Jimmy Tubbs, the right man for the job??????

[Hoop Fan]

Morris is effective at times, but just not strong enough yet in terms of stamina to run the offense through him 20 times a game. Pearson is not really a big guy, but he is strong. I'd like to see him inside battling more, but he isnt doing it. When he has been around the basket he hasnt finished nearly as well as he did even last year. He is just not a threat to post up. Rack, well he makes one pretty play a game, and then fumbles and stumbles around alot. I dont know how you can count on him to run the offense through him based on the what he has done so far.

[MustangIcon]

I would agree that Rack does fumble and bumble around sometimes, but that is not the whole story. Most of these times are when he receives the ball FACING the basket. This is due in part to the fact that we make no effort to establish a post game. I will go out on a limb here and say that I bet most 6'11 college players are not skilled in their face up game. Get it to him on the post where he is comfortable. From this position he can: 1. Go up strong to the hoop, 2. Kick out to a shooter, 3. Hit a cutter coming through the lane.

If the opposing defense plays a man to man, there is not a 3 we have played this year that could hold Pearson in the post. They would be forced to double team and then what happens.... kick the ball out for an open shot.

Morris does show very good flashes in the post. His footwork is excellent for a Freshman who has spent most of his time in college thus far getting in shape to play D1 ball. He might not be ready to run the offense through him all game long, but he does have the ability to be very eefective in the post.

I think between these 3 guys and eventually Fall, we have a very formidable post presence. Do we really think the amazing big men of powerhouses such as Louisiana Monroe, Toledo, Wyoming, Harvard, Savanah St., Harden Simmons, TX State, Long Island, Cetenary, etc are that much better than ours? In fact for anyone that watched the Utep game you will notice their big men were nothing to brag about, as will be true for much of our CUSA schedule. We do not play a schedule full of hoops dynasties. We play mediocre teams more often than not. Our big men can more than compete at that level if we give them any kind of chance. Thus far Tubbs has not been willing to do that. Forget about what recruiting we have done and what sort of talent we have. Tubbs is not doing the best job he could with what he currently has- bottom line.

[Hoop Fan]

No Drew and Gillespie get a pass because they are bringing in some big time recruits and not a guy who is averaging 6 pts a game and plays only ten minutes in high school. The direction of their programs are definitely moving up and i am not sure that the direction of ours is.

I see, well i guess you can start the campaign for a new coach. We could have probably hired Drew a few years ago, but do you think he would be recruiting better than Tubbs is HERE? Contrary to what you posted above, SMU's facilities are not comparable to Baylors at this moment. Drew is benefitting from the Big 12 affiliation, and whatever other 'intangibles' he has going on. Gillespie was a hot commodity who left Utep for the Big 12. He is a dynamite recruiter, but you werent going to get him at SMU. So whats your point here? Mine is that Tubbs is doing fine with the hand he was dealt and its EARLY, way early in his tenure. Fall, Willingham and Morris all appear to be solid recruits. Epps looks like a miss. Williams is injured and an unknown, but no matter what was a good legacy scholarship to give.

[MustangIcon]

friarwolf has made the best point of this entire thread. FUNDEMENTALS.

On the road vs Wyoming the Mustangs lose 75-69 after shooting a dismal 37.5% from the free throw line. If we shoot 75% from the line that game, it would have been tied going into overtime. These are things that are inexcuseable. 38% from the line!? I have not done the research to statistically back up more instances like this, but I would be willing to bet there more of them.

Good sound fundementals and a solid game plan can overcome other short comings. These are my problems with the coaching job Tubbs has done this far, not any perceived lack of recruiting (although I am wondering who we have coming in for next year to replace Hop).

[Hoop Fan]

so its Tubbs fault we didnt make free throws that night? Man is that a huge oversimplification. And you do realize that practice time is limited per week by the NCAA? I'm sure they work on free throws and give it its due, but you cant put the ball in the basket for people. Hell, it wasnt Dements fault when we missed free throws either.

And you guys dont think that Tubbs would love to be able to post up Rack? You dont think Hopkins and Dez would not like Rack to post up and get 10 assists per game. Come on, of course they would. But about the 10th time somebody loses the ball in the post, it tends to make you go away from emphasizing that.

[Stallion]

they don't have the fundamental ability to post up. That's why they aren't highly recruited-that's why they are struggling. Bamba is a long term project that's probably worth the gamble but anybody that didn't see this coming is blind. Did we really need Epps? Wasn't our real need a mature Post? Did we recruit one? If we found one could he be admitted to the university. Other teams who have won CHAMPIONSHIPS against SMU in the WAC 16, WAC 9 and WAC 10 did s because they found mature Division 1A transfers and/or JUCOs to add competent inside play. That's just a historical fact relevant to just about every champion during that period. SMU needed inside players but for whatever reason didn't get it. That's why we will struggle to get over .500 this year.

[MustangIcon]

Obviously Tubbs is not the one out there shooting free throws. I am trying to provide one of many examples of how our team does lack fundementals.

Getting the ball into the post is one of the most basic fundemental aspects of any offense. I cannot be convinced that they players we have are not capable of being productive getting the ball down low and creating more open looks than we currently do.

Establishing good post position is very teachable. Obviously guys like Rack and Bamba are projects, which is exactly why they were not highly recruited and were only 2 star ranked guys. But the point of a project is to WORK WITH THEM. I certainly hope they continue to work with Bamba and fully develope the talent he has.

We have talent enough to finish well above .500 with the schedule we play, and I can almost garauntee a below .500 season. I can only think this is a reflection of a flaw in Tubbs's coaching philosiphies regarding the X's and O's.

[mustangnation]

so its Tubbs fault we didnt make free throws that night? Man is that a huge oversimplification. And you do realize that practice time is limited per week by the NCAA? I'm sure they work on free throws and give it its due, but you cant put the ball in the basket for people. Hell, it wasnt Dements fault when we missed free throws either.

If you use that argument then nobody will be held accountable for anything.

[Hoop Fan]

Obviously Tubbs is not the one out there shooting free throws. I am trying to provide one of many examples of how our team does lack fundementals.

You might want to use some facts if you are going to make assertions like this to make conclusions about a guys coaching ability. Do I wish we shot free throws better? Yes, but I dont think its a sign of Tubbs ability to do the job. SMU is shooting 67.7% on the season. Our opponents are shooting 68.7. The great Billy Gillespie at A&M has them shooting 68.9%. Big differences there, just astounding. Near 68% is pretty typical in college basketball. Now what other fundamentals is Tubbs failing to instill in this team? And you know he doesnt try to teach right? Lineburg either right? Sure. The sour grapevine continues.

[Hoop Fan]

so its Tubbs fault we didnt make free throws that night? Man is that a huge oversimplification. And you do realize that practice time is limited per week by the NCAA? I'm sure they work on free throws and give it its due, but you cant put the ball in the basket for people. Hell, it wasnt Dements fault when we missed free throws either.

If you use that argument then nobody will be held accountable for anything.

see my response to Icon if you care to. SMU shoots free throws about like most college teams if you care to look at any stats on the subject. But you want him held accountable. You do that. Great stuff.

[Hoop Fan]

Hey, the #6 team in the country, Illinois is shooting 62.6% from the line this year. Thats more than 5 percentage points worse than SMU. Most people think Bruce Weber is among the best in the country at teaching fundamentals. Nah they must be wrong, Illinois should fire Weber asap and hire Tubbs to teach some friggin fundamentals.

[jtstang]

Relax, Hoop Fan, those who can't see the positive change in direction of the program since Tubbs took over don't really know where to look. Hint: it ain't wins and losses...not yet....

[MustangIcon]

Hoopfan, my example did have facts. If you read above you will see them. 37.5% from the line for the game and we lost by 6 points.

I used free throws as my example in saying that I agree with frairwolf in regard to his comment about fundementals. A team of SMU's talent level cannot afford to lack in basic basketball fundementals. Illinois can overcome shooting worse from the line than we can. Why? Because they can put up points in bunches and play good defense. Our team does not have that luxury.

The offense we run is plain wrong for the team we have. I have never in my years as an SMU fan seen our team look so lost on the offensive end of the floor, so I fail to see any improvement at all on that end. Also, sorry but there aren't any stats for "Settled for a contested 3 pointer with 4 seconds on the shot clock." If there were, I would find them for you and we could be proud that we are #1 in the nation.

[bagice]

Even though I am very frustrated with how the season has gone so far, I am not willing to give up on or even question Tubbs. It's way too early, he will deliver some recruits down the road that any other coach we could have hired would not have been able to. Sure, we came up a bit dry this recruiting season, but I really don't see what he could have done differently. At least a few of the top Dallas kids took a look at us, that was because of Tubbs, and next year, or the year after, he could very well land a couple.

I see nothing wrong with his coaching style or fundamentals. Our defense is much better and, lets face it, we have some tenative kids that make sloppy passes that can't or refuse to shoot in game situations. Like one previous poster said, I feel we really wasted BHOP in that we could never put together a decent team of support players. I thought this might be the year, but Pearson and Roberts are killing us. After last year, I really expected those two to step it up and along with BHOP and Dez really make things happen. Roberts seems to have climbed out a bit, hes been shooting better and been looking to drive more recently. Pearson, however, is a total mystery, I really looked for him to be a stud this year and am not sure what happened. It's really ashame too, since Bamba, Morris, and Rack are providing decent center play by committee

I think Tubbs has a good offensive plan, its just tough to run it when we have 3 outta 5 guys on the court at any given time that are playing passively. I think we will improve and hopefully get on a nice run. We can evaluate Tubbs at the end of the season, but I really have no complaints for him now.

[Hoop Fan]

oh, so SMU needs to be fundamentally sound, but Illinois doesn't. Yea right, that makes perfect sense. Illinois doesnt play any close games and doesnt shoot free throws. You couldn't be more wrong.

And you think the Wyoming game gives you some sort of basis for concluding Tubbs cant coach fundamentals. Are you serious? So that particular night, Tubbs forgot to tell his guys to bend their knees and follow through, huh? Damn him, cut him loose. Nevermind that they seem to make free throws at other times because stats dont lie on this issue. By the way, you brought up free throw shooting not me.