Here's the thread where we lament the UTEP loss

[Charleston Pony]

we may have finally bottomed out when we can be encouraged by only 3,000 showing up for a Sat nite game against UTEP. Granted, our non-conference schedule was so ridiculously weak that "crowds" of 1,000 had become the norm...but UTEP is capable of bringing 3,000 themselves and in the future, this needs to be a game played in front of at least 7-8,000.

Believe it or not, young Mustangs, that was once the norm for SMU basketball on a Sat nite against an in-state foe. Jim Haller, the former Baylor coach, once called Moody "one of the great holler houses". Let's hope Doherty can turn this thing around and that future generations of Mustangs can enjoy Moody the way we old-timers once did.

Long live the 1500

[Pony_Fan]

CP, you always dwell on attendance. It's been the same for as long as you have been posting. With no wins in conference, that does not help. "Bringing Moody Back" takes a few wins. I just don't feel like we will ever see a packed house unless it's against A&M, Baylor, UT, etc.

It was a nasty cold & rainy night last Saturday night. It would be nice for the CUSA to have conf games on Sat afternoons like all the other big boy conferences. We've all posted about different times, but Sat nights are tough for most people (students and fans)

Doherty is doing all he can to promote the program which is good. He is good at PR. We need wins too. My friend who hasn't been to a game in several years thought about going but noticed the 0'fer start.

[friarwolf]

This one hurts. We had our chance to bury them early and didn't. Ike missed 4 point blank shots early on when we were taking it to them down low and he missed several free throws as well. Our basketball IQ is just not very good. We looked completely lost trying to run inbound plays. Sad.............The tall referee last night completely sucked - for both teams. I bet he made over 70% of all the calls. He probably had to replace his whistle after that game..............The one thing that disappoints me about how we reacted to the way the refs called the game - they were letting the guards mug the ball handlers coming up the court and called tickey tack crap down low. UTEP took advantage of that - they mugged us coming up the court - we of course, didn't...............

Good news: Our guys now have on red, not pink jerseys on the jumbo tron!!!! Now if we can just adjust the color so that the band and cheerleaders don't look like they are wearing maroon uniforms...............

[78pony]

PF, I thought the crowd was larger than announced. Some decent student support. Really good effort on the court by a group that simply is not a very good bunch of bball players.

In the "Run-Sonny-Run" days, as I suspect you remember, we had to rush chapter dinner on Monday's in order to get in line at Moody for SWC games, including TCU & Baylor. Those 8-9,000 crowds were great and incredibly loud. Sadly, I think the culture has changed enough with the student body that until we go to Monday/Tuesday night and/or Saturday afternoon games, good student turnout is not likely. Once we get to the point where we have a solid top 25 program, who knows. I would like to think games would become the 'in' thing on campus.

[MustangIcon]

Didn't catch the game last night here in Houston so I don't have much input but had a couple comments/questions for those in attendance.

-Ike was 3-11 from the field AND had 7 turnovers. Another terrible game from him in spite of the 14 pts he netted, much of which at the line.

-With Ike missing everything in site how do you play Rack only 12 minutes when he was 3-6 for 10 pts including perfect from the line? Of his 3 misses 2 were 3 pointers.

- How did Bamba look in the post? Was he assertive in creating space and receiving the entry pass like he was at the UH game?

- Roberts needs to be more assertive. He is a talented player and often preforms well but then dissappears. When he is on the floor for 30 minutes like last night he should be getting a heck of a lot more than 3 shots. Makes me think he must not have been attacking much.

-Lastly, someone previously mentioned the team has lost it since Roberts was sent to the showers that one game which is complete hogwash if you ask me. Roberts came out the very next game and had possibly his best night of the season. 19 points if I recall, and we won handily. While I am sure Doherty and his staff come down on players hard, they probably build them back up too, its just not apparent at games from the stands. The DMN article even commented about the team lacking confidence and being down so they put together a highlight reel to pump everyone up.

[PonySnob]

Didn't catch the game last night here in Houston so I don't have much input but had a couple comments/questions for those in attendance.

-Ike was 3-11 from the field AND had 7 turnovers. Another terrible game from him in spite of the 14 pts he netted, much of which at the line.

-With Ike missing everything in site how do you play Rack only 12 minutes when he was 3-6 for 10 pts including perfect from the line? Of his 3 misses 2 were 3 pointers.

- How did Bamba look in the post? Was he assertive in creating space and receiving the entry pass like he was at the UH game?

- Roberts needs to be more assertive. He is a talented player and often preforms well but then dissappears. When he is on the floor for 30 minutes like last night he should be getting a heck of a lot more than 3 shots. Makes me think he must not have been attacking much.

-Lastly, someone previously mentioned the team has lost it since Roberts was sent to the showers that one game which is complete hogwash if you ask me. Roberts came out the very next game and had possibly his best night of the season. 19 points if I recall, and we won handily. While I am sure Doherty and his staff come down on players hard, they probably build them back up too, its just not apparent at games from the stands. The DMN article even commented about the team lacking confidence and being down so they put together a highlight reel to pump everyone up.

Don't forget our best turnover machine......Jon Killen.......

[ALEX LIFESON]

Jon is the 'old" turnover machine, the new one is Ike. Man I was surprised at the crowd last night. Much more than I expected, with the team playing so poor of late, the bad weather, and the bad parking situation, not bad at all.

[PonyLove]

We did have a decent crowd last night. But I hate the fact that the visiting team brings their fans into Moody and they try to take over "our house". I am definitely buying season tickets next year as this one game at a time thing is not working so well. I'm getting great seats but too close to the annoying visitors. I hope they all caught the bus back to El Paso last night.

[ALEX LIFESON]

I don't why SMU allows the visiting team to pack the area on the floor, behind their team's bench, with their fans.

[PonySnob]

Jon is the 'old" turnover machine, the new one is Ike. Man I was surprised at the crowd last night. Much more than I expected, with the team playing so poor of late, the bad weather, and the bad parking situation, not bad at all.

Have you ever seen a team have such a hard time to inbound the ball and then bring it upcourt?

[ALEX LIFESON]

NOPE

[Longtime]

Alex: That's a conference rule. Most conferences don't allow you to put your own fans behind the visitor's bench. It's to prevent trouble - fights breaking out and stuff.

It was a fun crowd. The place wasn't packed but it was just enough to have some atmosphere. There were a decent number of students there. The UTEP fans added to the atmosphere. I don't like hearing them chant in our place, but there's only one way to shut them up: beat them.

The weather was probably as much a deterrent as anything. Plus, we haven't won a conference game and the wins we do have won't impress anyone.

Loved the alumni game. I think they used to play this in the afternoon before the real game, but I like playing it at halftime in front of a crowd. Brought back some memories. Some of those names I haven't thought about in years.

I don't think the Roberts thing is the problem. I think we jumped on some good teams early before they had a chance to find their groove. Now that the good teams have improved, we've topped out because of our limited talent. We don't have a go-to guy or guys down the stretch to close out games like UTEP and USM. We sure didn't lack confidence in the early-going against UTEP, or in the comeback against USM. These guys are playing well for stretches and not being rewarded with wins. When you are as limited as we are, it takes a complete game. [/quote]

[angryfan04]

But at the same time we limited ourselves by taking Willingham out of the game down the stretch...as I posted earlier - he seemed to handle the press ok and was able to get the ball downcourt plus he's made big shots for us in the past down the stretch....maybe his play on defense gets him on the bench...but it sure did look like he was helping us last night

[MrMustang1965]

Props to the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity members (pledges?) who showed up last night wearing their letters and sat right behind their newest initiate, Coach Doherty, during the entire game.

[DickerJames]

Have you ever seen a team have such a hard time to inbound the ball and then bring it upcourt?

The blame for all of this belongs to the mighty NCA&T whose midgets totally exposed this teams inability to handle the press.