Men's basketball to hold public scrimmage

[PonyPride]

MEN'S BASKETBALL TO HOLD PUBLIC SCRIMMAGE OCT. 13 AND PRACTICE OCT. 14

DALLAS (SMU) --- The SMU Men's Basketball team will have controlled scrimmage on Friday, Oct. 13 beginning at 9 p.m. in Moody Coliseum. The Mustangs will also open practice to the public at Moody Coliseum on Saturday, Oct. 14 at 10 a.m. The Mustang football squad hosts Marshall on Saturday afternoon at Gerald J. Ford Stadium at 2 p.m., so fans can arrive early to check out Mustang basketball.

Head Coach Matt Doherty and his inaugural SMU lineup will scrimmage for about an hour and a half on Friday evening as official practice begins for 2006-07 basketball season.

The week begins with the Mustangs' Tip-Off Dinner at the Radisson Hotel Central Dallas on Wednesday, Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. Former Mustang All-American Jon Koncak will serve as the keynote speaker and coach Doherty will give insight into his opening season on the Hilltop. Mustang Fans can sponsor a table for $450 or acquire individual tickets for $45 each. To register or get more information, contact Kristi Kaiser at 214-768-1319 or [email protected].

The Mustangs' 2006-07 season begins Nov. 12-14 in Tallahassee, Florida, in a three-day round-robin event where the Mustangs face Illinois State, McNeese State, and host Florida State, respectively. The Mustangs host the Dayton Flyers in the home-opener at Moody Coliseum on Nov. 18. The slate includes a home game against Texas College on Dec. 3, which is the 50th anniversary of the opening of Moody Coliseum when the Mustangs topped McMurry 113-36 on Dec. 3, 1956. The Ponies host Houston Baptist in an exhibition game at Moody on Nov. 4.

The Mustangs will have a football-basketball double-header on Saturday, Nov. 18. as SMU football hosts Tulsa at 2 p.m. with the Mustang' basketball squad hosting Dayton in the home-opener at Moody Coliseum at 7 p.m. For tickets to all SMU events log on to www.smumustangs.com or call 214-SMU-GAME.

[friarwolf]

The early word is that the boys are all in great shape and that everyone has vastly improved on their individual strength and conditioning goals including Bamba. Whether that translates to wins remains to be seen.............

[BringBackThePonies03]

I am student here, and our basketball team has definitely been in the weightroom. The players on the team on very confident in the prospects for this season, I think we could be in for a good one even in Doherty's first year.

GO PONIES!!!

[Pony_Fan]

The early word is that the boys are all in great shape and that everyone has vastly improved on their individual strength and conditioning goals including Bamba. Whether that translates to wins remains to be seen.............

Good to hear. Maybe they actually have a practice schedule now

[Terry Webster]

Before this gets lost in the football game, how did the bball scrimage look?

[Ponymon]

I am student here, and our basketball team has definitely been in the weightroom. The players on the team on very confident in the prospects for this season, I think we could be in for a good one even in Doherty's first year.

GO PONIES!!!

Lifting weights is great. How much have they been practicing their shooting? Do they make 100 baskets straight before leaving the gym like Larry Byrd used to do?

[friarwolf]

How did they look??????????? Well, let's just say Doherty has his work cut out for him. The team as a whole has no commitment to fundamentals. One of the walk-on guards looked the best in terms of just doing basic stuff like "man and ball" positioning, using his feet, blocking out, etc. The team for the most part acts like an AAU team where they are trying to "show their stuff to get noticed. I am being tough but whatever......

Pros: Doherty is busting their asses if they don't do things right. Rack looked really good and Ritter didn't look too bad. Bamba is running better and his footwork looks like it has improved.

Cons: Dez better start acting like a point guard instead of the second coming of B-Hop or he is going to work himself out of a scholarship. He dogged it on the running drills. Bamba still gets knocked off balance by the slightest little push and his hands are still not good. He had several passes that he fumbled that he should have resulted in easy scores for him. Pearson is a prima dona - he got run from practice today by Doherty. Still have no consistent shooters and we shot about 40% from the free throw line. Without the slightest provocation, we throw the offense to the wind and start freelancing. Defense consists of going for steals when the mood strikes.

Other observations: The twin towers were visiting and the team was busting their butt to make them feel welcome. I would have loved to have known what Doherty was thinking last night when he took the microphone to thank everyone for coming - all 75 of us. You know he had to be flashing back to when he was at UNC and he had 17,000 rabid fans there to watch the first scrimmage.........

[Ponymon]

I would have loved to have known what Doherty was thinking last night when he took the microphone to thank everyone for coming - all 75 of us. You know he had to be flashing back to when he was at UNC and he had 17,000 rabid fans there to watch the first scrimmage.........

Turner, Orsini and Doherty need to stir up the apathetic student body and get them to start attending some of these events. They can start by hitting up the frats and sororities and get them to plan their parties around SMU games. Maybe they can run a contest with the prize being a party with a big time band at the end of the year to the social group that has the best attendance?

[Pony_Fan]

Wow, Friar..

That is sad about the attendance. I guess maybe 15 of those people were students? I wonder if anyone showed up this morning?

[friarwolf]

I would guess there were 10 students tops.....Throw in the girl's team who popped in after showering, parents of a few players, and the rest were members of the old guard. Did see Fraschilla there..................

The takeway: Doherty will get this team to be disciplined or at least they will look good in their swim trunks next spring from all running to the top of Moody. Killen is the leader of this team. Rack has got to stay healthy and have a really good year. Someone needs to tell Dez that he ain't the prince anymore. We must get a lot of scoring from 5 feet in as we don't have any outside options - sorry Dez, but it's the truth.

At 44, I hope Doherty has the stamina for another rebuilding project.........

[Pony_Fan]

Killen sounded like a really sharp kid when he was interviewed. He just seemed very hesitant and tenative all the times I have seen him play.

Maybe Doh will instill some confidence in a few of these guys. Rack did show a little bit of improvement at the end of last year. I hope someone can make a 10 footer every now and then..it's been a LONG time since we've had any with consistent scoring ability.