Nice job Mustangs...

[Corso]

We haven't had really any success since the last Dave Bliss coached team.......when will things change on the Hilltop????

You're right. Three games into the Doherty Era -- time to start complaining.

[bagice]

but this roster is still thin as can be, much less talented than most our conference competition, and not even in the realm of needing to think about an NCAA tourney bid this year. If Doherty got this team to the NIT it would be an utterly amazing accomplishment. I will personally be impressed with being a couple games above .500. Lets give the man some time to get a full roster at least before we start considering NCAA tourney slots. Or at least take it to the Braketology thread.

While I agree that we shouldn't get too excited this early on and tournament talk is definitely not warranted, not even NIT talk.....

In regards to the talent of C-USA, I think we could be near the top at the end of the season, barring injuries. Sure we are not as good as Memphis or Houston, but I see us as being in the ballpark with UAB and UTEP and possibly better than the rest of the conference.

Sure some of the other teams improved their teams from last year, but that is with young players or JUCO transfers.....SMU has a team of mostly veterans, upperclassman that have been together for a long time....I think that this gives us an advantage over a lot of teams.

If we can stay healthy, I would fully expect a top 5 C-USA conference finish with a better than 500 record in conference. The only bad thing here is that Coach D opened his big mouth (I am joking here) and got our two extra conference games against Houston and Memphis, that could hurt us in the final conference standings, I would have preferred an extra game with Houston and a similar talented C-USA team....but oh well.

I think we have some veterans that have learned they can play and will impress and suprise us this year.

[MustangIcon]

but this roster is still thin as can be, much less talented than most our conference competition, and not even in the realm of needing to think about an NCAA tourney bid this year. If Doherty got this team to the NIT it would be an utterly amazing accomplishment. I will personally be impressed with being a couple games above .500. Lets give the man some time to get a full roster at least before we start considering NCAA tourney slots. Or at least take it to the Braketology thread.

While I agree that we shouldn't get too excited this early on and tournament talk is definitely not warranted, not even NIT talk.....

In regards to the talent of C-USA, I think we could be near the top at the end of the season, barring injuries. Sure we are not as good as Memphis or Houston, but I see us as being in the ballpark with UAB and UTEP and possibly better than the rest of the conference.

Sure some of the other teams improved their teams from last year, but that is with young players or JUCO transfers.....SMU has a team of mostly veterans, upperclassman that have been together for a long time....I think that this gives us an advantage over a lot of teams.

If we can stay healthy, I would fully expect a top 5 C-USA conference finish with a better than 500 record in conference. The only bad thing here is that Coach D opened his big mouth (I am joking here) and got our two extra conference games against Houston and Memphis, that could hurt us in the final conference standings, I would have preferred an extra game with Houston and a similar talented C-USA team....but oh well.

I think we have some veterans that have learned they can play and will impress and suprise us this year.

We both agree that talk of postseason play is very premature and I think SMU does have a chance to finish top 5 in CUSA. I also find your last sentence to be very interesting. "I think we have some veterans that have learned they can play and will impress and surprise us this year." At no point last year or previous to last year had Ike or Killen shown that they had the ability to be a starter or possibly even rotation player on a good CUSA hoops team. The way our coaching staff has developed these players, is getting the most out of them, and getting them to buy into the SMU system is unlike anything I saw from an SMU B-Ball team under Dement or Tubbs since I have been following the Mustangs closely (2000ish). After last season and seeing what freshman/JUCOS everyone would bring in, evaluating all CUSA teams, SMU would be near the bottom in regards to the most talent returning. WHen this season is over, under our new coaching regime, we may very well sit back and say we had one of the top couple of rosters (albeit thin) in CUSA. I just don't think that would be the case under our past coaching staffs.

[Big10Ponyfan]

I couldn't disagree with you more. There is better talent here than how it was coached by previous regimes. Again, look at the non-conference schedule. Very soft. CUSA after Memphis, UAB, Houston, (Rice -- we'll see) is a total crapshoot.

This team can win 18-20 games. And with Doherty's name, the NIT eats that stuff up -- even with it's new selection process -- and will definitely consider us.

[CarMichael]

"How would FSU stack up. . . ?" Most people see FSU as a mid-level ACC team and a probable bubble team in the #40-#50 range. Their talent and experience is more in the #30-#40 range, but Hamilton's teams have tended to perform a bit below expectations.

Nice outing by the Mustangs.

[MustangIcon]

I couldn't disagree with you more. There is better talent here than how it was coached by previous regimes.

Not quite sure what your second sentence is suposed to mean. Can you clarify?

[Big10Ponyfan]

I couldn't disagree with you more. There is better talent here than how it was coached by previous regimes.

Not quite sure what your second sentence is suposed to mean. Can you clarify?

Read the other thread I just posted.

[The Falcon]

Is Dez Willingham that far in the coach's doghouse that he can't spell Killen when he needs it?

Pretty far back in there. He needs to stop taking 3's when there are still 20 seconds left on the shot clock, making dumb turnovers by dribbling too much, and use some of that energy on the defensive end.

Friar - you are right on with your quotes. I agree with all you say. He needs better shot selection, needs to focus on playing good defense,
and he needs to learn how to penetrate and dish. He can be a good shooter if he chooses better shots. I believe he can get out of the doghouse by improving in all of these areas.

[Charleston Pony]

for this team to be successful it's going to take 9 guys contributing and buying into the plan...and it's going to take a lot of blue collar ugly wins. I'm looking for a lot of games in the 50's. I'm assuming Willingham will learn to play with more discipline and that Epps will eventually heal and contribute and I assume Spencer will be called on to spell the low post guys as the season wears on.

Gotta be pleased with what this coaching staff is getting out of these guys so far. Yes, it would be nice to have more talent on the roster, but these guys have shown they can play Division I basketball and coaching DOES MATTER

[FloridaMustang]

We're definitely a couple years away from real success.. I'm interested to see if they can keep up this level of play into midseason... for the first time as an SMU fan though, I have expectations, real expectations for the basketball program.

We haven't had really any success since the last Dave Bliss coached team.......when will things change on the Hilltop????

He said in a couple of years, can't you read? He's living on the end of the thin branch with those expectations, though.

Yeah.. what a thin branch.. snap.