DMN Article: Doherty 'Encouraged' By Loss to NC A&T

[mustangbill67]

Spencer was Doh's sole signee from last spring. He looks like he has the potential to be a good player. Spencer, Epps and Ritter did so well in Doh's toughness drills on Friday, they started last night.

[DickerJames]

Again, I repeat, we were 13-16 last year with more talent on the floor, what were you expecting this year?

We FINISHED the season 13-16 last year. We played the first 8 games last year without Hopkins which is the exact team we have right now except for Spencer who played significant minutes for the first time last nite. Of those 8 games only the loss at Monroe was an upset. We lost at Ok. State by 10 and by 12 to Toledo at home. Toledo was in the MAC championship game and finised 20-11.

Unless there is a drastic change in this teams play, there are many more losses on the horrizon this year. Sugar coat last nite all you want, but we should not have lost to that team at home.

[angryfan04]

same product as last season.......

[MustangIcon]

Again, I repeat, we were 13-16 last year with more talent on the floor, what were you expecting this year?

We FINISHED the season 13-16 last year. We played the first 8 games last year without Hopkins which is the exact team we have right now except for Spencer who played significant minutes for the first time last nite. Of those 8 games only the loss at Monroe was an upset. We lost at Ok. State by 10 and by 12 to Toledo at home. Toledo was in the MAC championship game and finised 20-11.

Unless there is a drastic change in this teams play, there are many more losses on the horrizon this year. Sugar coat last nite all you want, but we should not have lost to that team at home.

Not seeing any difference between "we were 13-16 last year" and "we FINISHED the season 13-16 last year". But if your point was to restate the record you did a fantastic job.

[ponydawg]

We were a bad team last year. We lost one of our best players. Before the season pretty much everyone thought it would be a long season and it would be an improvement if we went .500 this year. Then we beat some really weak teams and people are expecting us to go to the tourney. It is still going to be a long season. Hopefully we can win some conf. games and have a good enough record to ride coach's name into the NIT. If that were to happen it would be a fantastic season, but I am not going to be let down if it doesn't. Two years from now if we are not having major success on the floor then I would be dissappointed, but until then these kids are learning game by game.
Happy new year.

[DickerJames]

Not seeing any difference between "we were 13-16 last year" and "we FINISHED the season 13-16 last year". But if your point was to restate the record you did a fantastic job.

Sorry you can't understand that comparing our current 9-3 record to last years season ending record is apples and oranges.

[ponydawg]

Not seeing any difference between "we were 13-16 last year" and "we FINISHED the season 13-16 last year". But if your point was to restate the record you did a fantastic job.

Sorry you can't understand that comparing our current 9-3 record to last years season ending record is apples and oranges.

Who was comparing a current 9-3 record to a "FINISHED" 13-16 record last year? My point was that we were a bad team last year at 13-16, so while I don't like losing to NC A&T I don't expect this season to win every game we should. Again, two years for now I will be judging doh and the team differently. What were your expectations before the season?

[mathman]

[quote=" What were your expectations before the season?[/quote]

Good question. Can't wait to hear this answer.

[CarMichael]

How about comparing 9-3 to 7-5, then? By this week last year all SMU's wins were sub-#225 and they had lost to a team worse than A&T. This year they have two respectable wins. Surely nobody was entertaining hopes of making the NCAA this year, but it looks like there is real improvement.

[mustangbill67]

This is basically the same team we had last year without Hop. Last year we were undisciplined and in my opinion, after being at every home game, not very well coached. This year we have for the most part played up to our talent level and appear to at least have some degree of organization and understanding as to how Doh wants things done. This is a work in progress and I for one do see progress regardless of the outcome in the last two games. I have no high expectations for the remainder of the season from a won and loss standpoint. I just want to see a team that works hard all the time, does not make mental errors, enjoys playing and is well coached strategically. These players deserve our support.

[RunningStang]

I'd like to see just one team peak in March instead of the usual peaking in December or January. I think Coach Doherty will do that this year.

[ponydawg]

I think this team under most other coaches is not 9-3, I think Doh has them playing very nicely.

One of the reasons I was not to disappointed after the a&t game was that it was fun, and the kids kept trying to win it instead of rolling over.

[Pony_Fan]

I was out of town for this one. Can't be too surprised after the debacle....I've seen much worse losses. Seems like Doherty is trying to figure out who really wants to play. Epps pts were encouraging.

Back to the same problems as we have discussed over the last few months. It will be interesting to see how many 3 pointers we give up in conference play and if any adjustments are made.

[DickerJames]

Not seeing any difference between "we were 13-16 last year" and "we FINISHED the season 13-16 last year". But if your point was to restate the record you did a fantastic job.

Sorry you can't understand that comparing our current 9-3 record to last years season ending record is apples and oranges.

Who was comparing a current 9-3 record to a "FINISHED" 13-16 record last year? My point was that we were a bad team last year at 13-16, so while I don't like losing to NC A&T I don't expect this season to win every game we should. Again, two years for now I will be judging doh and the team differently. What were your expectations before the season?

Let me make it very clear that I am thrilled to have Doherty at SMU and I am convinced he will eventually assemble a top 25 team here with the current commitment to basketball by the administration. My original post in this thread said he is the right man for the job.

I assumed by you pointing out the fact this was a bad team last year and posting their record twice you were comparing the two seasons. When you said "Hopefully we can win some conf. games and have a good enough record to ride coach's name into the NIT.", I assumed you thought this team was playing better than last year. The only point I was making is that this is STILL a bad team this year with a very misleading 9-3 record.