EXhibition Game

by **friarwolf** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 12:14 am

SMU wins by 19 or so. A fairly pedestrian effort on our part. Sadly, not many people there.

Good stuff: Doherty's offense works when our boys run it. There are still too many lapses where everyone stands around but it's getting better. We are playing much better help defense. Cam Spencer is a player. We can look forward to watching him develop. Pearson is a stud. Ike is going to have a big year. Bamba keeps looking better but still has a ways to go.

Bad Stuff: Rack went down in the first 5 minutes with some type of knee injury - don't think it was too bad but he was done for the evening. This guy just can't stay on the court. Our guards are way too slow in getting the ball into our big guys. Doh's offense gets the big men open early but our guards aren't looking inside first. When the do see the opening, it's too late. A huge area of improvement for us. Houston Baptist threw a press at us and we struggled. Jon Killen makes me nervous handling the ball. He runs the offense fine but I am nervous about what a really good defensive guard could do to him. It could be strip city. Killen is going to have to play the entire game as Dez just doesn't have the makeup to run point for Doh. If Killen gets hurt...........oh my. We give up the baseline way too easily and we need to get better on blocking out. Free throws...........

Someone has kept asking about the walk-ons. MIke Norton - a guard from California, Brian Remphrey, local kid from Bishop Lynch - forward who was on the team for a few weeks last year, and Thomas Andrews, another local kid from TCA -Addison.

by **saprissa13** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 2:49 am

I agree with pretty much all of your assessment. While I was there(3/4 game), our free throw shooting looked pretty good. I certainly agree that we looked sloppy and almost nervous at times with the ball, but when we kept the passes simple and crisp, easy baskets resulted. One thing that stood out for me was the overall hustle/desire, especially on second-chance baskets and loose ball situations. We realistically don't have the speed/athleticism to compete at a high level, but hopefully once the guys fully grasp Doherty's system, we can start making some progress.

by **bagice** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 6:39 am

like it or not, Killen is the man this year. He is the main focus of the offense, Dez has been demoted to a bit player, Killen runs the point, he is our shooter. I see Pearson as our guy, Doh is on his butt, but he lets him make mistakes and leaves him out there. All in all was a so so effort, but I saw a few good things..

This is a veteran team with many juniors and seniors and it is much better than most of CUSA....we will do better than last year

by **Charleston Pony** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 9:26 am

15 assists against 29 turnovers? Ouch

How many PGs are being signed for next year?

by **Pony_Fan** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:05 am

That sounds frightening. Killen has always been TO prone when I've seen him in the past. Passes as soon as possible and can't dribble penetrate.

Yes, a good defensive player could pick him all the time.

by **SMUltimedia** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 11:19 am

I got the sense from watching the game that Killen can clearly handle the leadership role, and running the offense - but I didn't see any of this improved shooting Doh was talking about on the blog.

Early answer to the "Who will score?" question appears to be Devon. He was effective in the post, and with his outside shooting.

Rack got the nod to start at center and it is clear why: Bamba doesn't have the mental part of the defense down pat yet. Doh spent a good portion of the first half in his ear, looking for adjustments.

Anyone else notice that Derrick Roberts, who looked poised to be the scoring heir apparent to B-Hop, appears to have been demoted? He wasn't getting open, wasn't getting the ball and I don't think I saw him shoot in the first half. Doh reamed Dez for poor shot selection at one point, and I think he sees some of that same poor decision making in Roberts.

Its clear that Rack will be a big part in this offense, lets hope his knee injury is just a sprain. The refs really put him in danger letting him lay on the floor for so long while play continued around him...

by **Cardinal Puff** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 1:56 pm

Pearson continues to improve year to year as we saw with Q. It looks like our fortune this year will be on Pearson, Ike and Rack. Not exactly a reliance we want. Our one recruit does offer some hope for the future.
Just where a backcourt will come from is the complete mystery.

by **jkflamebo** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 3:22 pm

yea i think pearson is gonna have a monster year, he seemed a lot more aggresive in all areas of his game, good to see. i'm actually surprised dez has been demoted, i really thought he was gonna be an intricate component of our offense but i guess Doherty sees more in Killen. roberts and bamba were practically nonexistent last night. i also hope epps will be healthy when the season starts rolling, we could also use his shooting. i think ike looked great as well. im excited for the season

by **mavsrage311** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 7:51 pm

SMUltimedia wrote: Its clear that Rack will be a big part in this offense, lets hope his knee injury is just a sprain. The refs really put him in danger letting him lay on the floor for so long while play continued around him...

If i'm not mistaken, Coach Doh recruited him to play at UNC while he was there

by **Stallion** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 8:47 pm

No I think not-where do you get these ideas. It was South Carolina.

by **SMU Football Blog** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 9:43 pm

I went ot the game. If you were there, I was the guy in the SMU cap trying to wrangle a preschooler and a toddler. We left very early into it so I can't say much about the team. The one thing I will say is I was very disappointed in the crowd. If my 4 year old can tell there is nobody in the place, it is bad. I am stunned that a free game and our new coach's first game drew such little interest, even if it was an exhibition game.

by **mavsrage311** » Sun Nov 05, 2006 10:08 pm

Stallion wrote:No I think not-where do you get these ideas. It was South Carolina.

This is from the Donatas Rackauskas smumustangs.com player profile:
Committed to SMU over interest from Kansas, Missouri, North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest, Oklahoma, New Mexico and LaSalle.

So either you are wrong Stallion, or his player profile is

by PK » Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:31 am

Couldn't be Stallion...he is never wrong. :roll:

by PK » Mon Nov 06, 2006 12:40 am

SMU Football Blog wrote:I went ot the game. If you were there, I was the guy in the SMU cap trying to wrangle a preschooler and a toddler. We left very early into it so I can't say much about the team. The one thing I will say is I was very disappointed in the crowd. If my 4 year old can tell there is nobody in the place, it is bad. I am stunned that a free game and our new coach's first game drew such little interest, even if it was an exhibition game.

Other than on Ponyfans.com and smumustangs.com, there wasn't much advertizing of the game...and then we were playing Houston Baptist...whoever they are. Not to mention UT was playing a football game on TV and then A&M had a game on TV all about the same time as our exhibition game. Football is still king...the turnout will improve as we get farther into the season and play teams with names we know.

by **bagice** » Mon Nov 06, 2006 1:35 am

Actually, as a veteran of many an exhibition game at Moody, crowd seemed about the right size....what I expected.

Rack looked pretty good, he was making some strong post moves and throwing his weight around underneath. Bamba looked awful, missed several shots and even had a few of his shots blocked, one positive, he hit all his free throws.

Was also suprised at the lack of focus on Dez and Roberts. Doh's game plan is definitely for Pearson, Killen and Rack to be the scorers this year.

On a side note...Pearson has an awesome beard this year, looks just like Lawrence Fishburn

EXhibition Game

EXhibition Game

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