This team is soft

[Charleston Pony]

Coach Tubbs about summed it up in this quote from the DMN article:

Tubbs was even more to the point about getting outrebounded.

"Rebounding is nothing but going to get the ball," he said. "It's a toughness thing, and they were tougher than what we were. That's what rebounding is."

We really miss Brian Morris. This team has played "soft" since he went down. Need to go back and look at how badly we've been out boarded since Morris went out. Might be an interesting stat.

[Pony_Fan]

Coach Tubbs about summed it up in this quote from the DMN article:

Tubbs was even more to the point about getting outrebounded.

"Rebounding is nothing but going to get the ball," he said. "It's a toughness thing, and they were tougher than what we were. That's what rebounding is."

We really miss Brian Morris. This team has played "soft" since he went down. Need to go back and look at how badly we've been out boarded since Morris went out. Might be an interesting stat.

Totally soft...

Didn't Dement have a quote saying the exact same thing about this time last year??? He said "we need to recruit tougher players...or something to that effect.

[Charleston Pony]

had to look it up... for the year, we hold a slight rebounding edge over our opponents...35.4/game vs 34.0/game Since Morris went down, we've been out rebounded 5 of the last 6 games, with last night's (-15) the sorriest effort since OU whipped us on the boards

[mr. pony]

Yeah, Dement said that. Got him in trouble with Copeland too.

[Pony_Fan]

Yeah, Dement said that. Got him in trouble with Copeland too.

Well, I think he was right....Simpson was pretty soft, Castro was soft - no hard bangers....and this year we have softies too. I thought Pearson was going to be a tough rebounder based on what I saw last year but he has sucked this year except maybe a game or two.

[MustangIcon]

Castro was soft? Have you ever seen him play. The guy was the ultimate blue collar banger who was our only rebounding pressence especially on the offensive glass. Fault the kid for only being 6'7. Do not fault him for being soft, bc he simply wasnt.

On the other hand, Simpson sat out at the top of the key too much for my liking and never really developed the potential he had. As long and athletic as he was he should have dominated in the post in the lowly WAC.

[Pony_Fan]

Castro was soft? Have you ever seen him play. The guy was the ultimate blue collar banger who was our only rebounding pressence especially on the offensive glass. Fault the kid for only being 6'7. Do not fault him for being soft, bc he simply wasnt.

On the other hand, Simpson sat out at the top of the key too much for my liking and never really developed the potential he had. As long and athletic as he was he should have dominated in the post in the lowly WAC.

Dude, I love Castro and played his heart out somethimes but he was only a decent rebounder. Getting blow out by 30 pts more than once ...yes he was soft at times..and got outrebounded on several occassions.

Yes, Simpson's upside was big...never got there. He was soft for sure and never fought in the paint, all finesse.

[MustangIcon]

You are right, he was not a great rebounder, but I think that is attributed to his lack of height and jumping ability. His senior year he was 7th in conference with over 7 boards a game on a team that had absolutely no other inside pressence. That is certainly not bad, just not great.

I will admit I am a little touchy on this subject bc Castro is one of the few Mustangs in the past couple of seasons that to me appeared to bust his butt every single night. The guy gave it his all and it made me a big fan. I am really tired of what appears to be SMU players dogging it and going through the motions. Unfortunately, I have seen all too much of it from nearly all players on our roster the past 2 seasons. He was the one guy that I never questioned the effort he was putting forth on the floor (although Killen is slowly growing into that same sort of unquestioned effort category to me as well).

[EastStang]

I think overall last year and the year before our front line was just not getting it done on the boards whether due to lack of height or lack of desire or a mixture of the two, I don't know. Wes Unseld used to lead the NBA in defensive rebounds. He couldn't jump more than an inch off the floor due to really bad knees, but he knew how to block out even the likes of Chamberlin and Jabbar. Rebounding is all about looking for a body to block out and then going for the ball and that is desire. I was a 5'11" power forward in high school and while I didn't play much, I usually had a rebound every game because I knew how to block out.

[abezontar]

Maybe we are just getting rid of all our guys who got where they were through work and not talent...from what I remember of Paulius Ritter and Chris whatshisname from last year, they both busted their asses for the few minutes they got a night, and both are no longer with the team.

[DickerJames]

Castro was soft

That statement is completely false. He certainly needed more talent, (don't we all) but to call him soft makes me wonder if you ever saw him play. I garantee you if this was Castro's senior season instead of last year, we would all be happier with the won-loss results.

With the loss of Morris, unless Ritter has raped or murdered someone he needs to be reinstated ASAP!

[Pony_Fan]

ok, i am corrected - soft was the wrong word...he worked hard. I do think he could have grabbed more rebounds....He did fail to show up in many games. I am not faulting him as he did get better. His post moves continued to improve during his SMU career. But, as a whole, Dement was right and that team was soft.

you guys can chill out. I've only been to about 80% of the games the last 10 years. I sure as hell would love to have him on this team right now.