Coach Jank

[papawasamustang]

Although I appreciate Coach Jank, I think there is tremendous amount of room for improvement re: developing the bench. We are going to need Douglas, Landrum, Ray, & Agau to step up in conference. I've seem numerous opportunities to get the bench more PT, & it just hasn't happened. Last night the bench got a few more minutes, but not productive. These are his recruits, he needs to find a way to incorporate them more into the flow.
Last year the team had no bench, he had no other choice but to roll the dice, play the starters heavy minutes, & it caught up to them @ the end of the season. No excuse this season.

Chargois is doing great, a big surprise, but he's a freshman, & its very likely he will wear down when we get deep into conference play. Obviously adding McMurray will help if he joins the roster this season, but I'm just not satisfied with the way the bench is being used. In addition, we want our freshman to hit the ground running next year, not still being in a developmental stage.

On another disappointing note, I heard from a very reliable source that we aren't even recruiting R.J. Hampton from Little Elm. Contact is almost 0, & its very disappointing to many people around him.

Looking forward to the remainder of the season. Keeping expectations in check because there is going to be a lot of ups & downs. Conference is going to be tough. I've got us @ 17-18 wins.

[Pony_Law]

So you knowledge that freshman aren't usually ready to be big contributors but are upset they aren't getting more minutes? Chagois is getting meaningful minutes because he is the only freshman ready to contribute at a starter level for a team as good as SMU (like Shake was his frosh year). That said Douglas (14.2 mpg), Landrum (13.9 mpg) and Ray (12.4 Mpg) are playing the appropriate amount for freshman. Jerray only averaged 17 minutes a game as freshman and that was on a short team (Kennedy was suspended for half the year). His numbers were similar to Sterling browns. Ben Moore (14. and Keith Frazer (14. both only got 14 minutes a game as a freshman, and both were way better prospects/more game ready then Landrum and Ray.

As for Hampton he is a 2020 class member and plays on an addidas AAU team. We have offered him which is pretty much all we can do given his class year and him being on the Addidas circuit. We are a nike school that is not a big time blue chip college basketball program. I know he is local but a recruit that high playing under the wrong flag AAU team is near impossible for a team like us to get barring special circumstances. He will end up at Kansas.

[papawasamustang]

I didn't mention anything about freshman not being able to contribute. You can compare past seasons all you want, doesn't really matter. What matters is today's team, & Jank needs to do a better job of getting his recruits on the court every opportunity he has. I've seen a lot of cupcakes @ Moody this season, & the opportunity for these guys to play presented itself, & the reigns were pulled in.

Regarding Hampton, I spoke to someone very close to him & we discussed schools. There's no fav right now, so your Kansas comment is not accurate. Saying he is going to Kansas is a pretty good guess, but very premature.

[SMU Section F]

Right now there is a pretty big disparity between our starters and our bench, which is understandable given the number of freshman we have on the roster and Agau's injury. Chargois is far from a typical freshman, especially at SMU. It makes sense that Jank leans on our starters during tough games. If anything, I think some of the bench players have had a bit too much freedom at key moments. (Landrum's two ill-advised possessions going into halftime last night, for example.)

I've got enough faith in Jank to continue giving him the benefit of the doubt for quite a while. I think our depth is going to see significant improvement as the season goes on. McMurray alone will hopefully give us a nice boost starting with the next game.

[sadderbudweiser]

I've said this before but it's worth saying again: I can't friggin wait until we have our scholarships back. That way a mistake or two (G'day mates) won't kill us like it does now, nor will an injury.
My hat is off to Jank for his roster management from day one.

[Pony_Law]

I didn't mention anything about freshman not being able to contribute. You can compare past seasons all you want, doesn't really matter. What matters is today's team, & Jank needs to do a better job of getting his recruits on the court every opportunity he has. I've seen a lot of cupcakes @ Moody this season, & the opportunity for these guys to play presented itself, & the reigns were pulled in.

Regarding Hampton, I spoke to someone very close to him & we discussed schools. There's no fav right now, so your Kansas comment is not accurate. Saying he is going to Kansas is a pretty good guess, but very premature.

Those cupcake games are there to a) get the team used to playing together (including the starters) b) figuring out your strengths and weaknesses c) Getting the players you will depend on in b igger games in game shape. Anything your get regarding new players is bonus.

I didn't claim to say I had inside knowledge regarding where Hampton will end up, I was just saying SMU's ability to recruit him/contact him is limited by his year and his AAU team affiliation. I think he will go to Kansas because high level recruits often develop relationships with powers that be through their AAU teams association with Adidas or Nike. Adidas and Nike have ongoing relationships with both colleges and AAU teams and they direct big time players to big time colleges of the same association (with the ultimate goal of getting that player on a shoe deal in the NBA). Of Hampton's offers Kansas is an Adidas school.

[SMU_Alum11]

I wish we were an adidas school. Nike blows.

[Stallion]

Isn't R.J. Hampton a Sophomore? There are strict limits on recruiting Sophomores. See chart-left column

https://www.ncaa.org/sites/default/file ... rt2014.pdf

[Rebel10]

I wonder if our expectations for McMurray are a bit too high.

[PonyLawExpress]

Right now there is a pretty big disparity between our starters and our bench, which is understandable given the number of freshman we have on the roster and Agau's injury. Chargois is far from a typical freshman, especially at SMU. It makes sense that Jank leans on our starters during tough games. If anything, I think some of the bench players have had a bit too much freedom at key moments. (Landrum's two ill-advised possessions going into halftime last night, for example.)

I agree. There is a pretty big disparity from our starting 5 and our bench players. I hope Jank continues to get them pretty good mins in the easier (2) OOC games left and against ECU and USF, but against most everyone else we need to ride our starters and McMurray when eligible. Then sprinkle in Douglas and Ray/Agau when we need spot minutes in the first half. I wish Douglas would be more aggressive, because I think he is farther along than it appears and farther along than Landrum and Ray.

I wonder if our expectations for McMurray are a bit too high.

I guess it depends what your expectations are. If you expect him to come in and be a savior then yeah its too high, but I think its realistic he can give us 20-25 minutes and score double digits in alot of games. He averaged 15PPG in our conference as a freshman and hasn't suffered any injuries.

[Pony_Law]

I wonder if our expectations for McMurray are a bit too high.

People on the board are building him up but in actuality what don't need him to do too much. We just need something to help the offense when we are have a starter or 2 on the bench. If he can give us somewhere around 10 ppg of efficient scoring off the bench, it will make a dramatic difference in this team and make us much much better. Not to mention his particular skill set (knock down jump shooter, quick first step) will complement the other members of the team.

[Rebel10]

Sounds good. And if he does a lot better than that then it’s just icing on the cake.

[ponyboy101]

I agree, it will be very intresting to see how Jank's recruits do versus Larry's as the roster starts to turn more towards Jank's guys as Larry's starts to slowly graduate or go to the NBA. I believe we just have to give it some time, Chagois is already a solid piece and will definitely improve and be dominate next year and hopefully the year after unless he declares for the draft. William Douglas looks promising and seems to fit in very well, very unselfish player, too unselfish... I would like to see him take 1-2 more shots a game, because I believe he can shoot he will also be very good, reminds me of a poor mans Shake Milton. Everett Ray can really rebound and makes almost everything he shoots, but you can definently tell he is a frosh and has some growing up to do. but I expect him to be a 4 year guy and hopefully be able to be a solid contributor by his junior/senior year. and Elijah landrum, I have no clue what planet he is on, thats all I have to say about that...