Our best five, Ala St and the season to come

[RGV Pony]

Out of another disappointing loss, it was clear we've got some players. Rhodes played quite a bit in the second half. Kwiatkowski played some in the first half...he looks bigger and stronger than Bamba was as a frosh, but needs to work on protecting the ball and his strength. At a couple of junctures it looked like Dia was about to take the game over.

Here's the bad: We suck at getting guys opened looks. Our big guys take the ball to the floor too often after getting the ball deep inside. Ryan Harp stood around a lot on defense; at one point he literally watched a guy take a shot, miss, then another guy got the rebound...all in front of Harp. Looks like he needs to get his confidence on his shot.

All this being said, I really think our best five would be:
Rhodes
Dia
Bamba
Malone
Killen (Walker)

Roberts for a change of pace at SG; seems like he played less today. Spencer is good for logging minutes as a banger. As mentioned, Harp needs to find his stroke.

Listening to Doh on the way home, I think he said 10 guys played in the first half. Really seems like he's using different combinations, like a preseason. Dia didn't play as much as I expected down the stretch.

[Duke Blue Blood]

Doh is trying to figure out who his starters should be. We clearly have A LOT more talent than the past. With that said, we are playing WELL below what you would typically like to see even this early as far as discipline.

They played hard for 5 minutes. The rest of the time, it was ALL over the place.

Disappointing that we are exposed against FAR inferior talent. Out-hustled, out-rebounded (crazy considering our size).

No real shooter, but Malone looked good and will emerge as a good player for us.

DBB

[Butts in the Stands]

Killen is an average pg at best. Walker should be a better option at some point this year. Malone has a soft touch and can shoot the 3. I've heard harp can stroke the 3 but i've seen nothing yet to justify much playing time. Papa seems to be a pretty decent rebounder and has a nice shot. Bamba doesn't seem to have made much progress. He's still weak, brings the ball down so that smaller guys can steal it and generally spins away from the basket to shoot when he has the ball under the rim. Overall, I realize we're young but we have quite a bit of work to do. We are basically a jump shooting team. We rarely get the ball in the paint and believe it or not we take it to the basket even less. We need some help in the paint and we need a couple of slashers who are willing to take it to the hole (or get fouled doing so). Passing the ball around the perimeter and shooting jump shots is a recipe for lots of losses. Our defense seems rather suspect as well. I'm hopeful this is all a result of lots of freshman trying to figure out the college game. I don't expect much in the way of wins but the young guys seem to have a lot of potential so I'm excited to see how they develop and mature this year.

[RGV Pony]

DBB: Ditto your signature. Copout response I've perfected to queries on the topic: "Well, I'm Methodist." And walk away.

[Duke Blue Blood]

Why we did not or for the future do not control the paint is incredible. The one thing we have is SIZE. This is a HUGE team. Two Seven Footers and two 6-9 players that are every bit of the 250 they are listed at.

Conditioning did seem like an issue. Some of the guys looked tired.

DBB

[mustangbill67]

Doh on the radio show after the game said that Dia has the potential to be a very special player at SMU. He just needs to tighten up his game and play under control.. This will come with game experience and maturity. After seeing both games, both Dia and Malone really stand out above the rest.

[ALEX LIFESON]

I thought we looked better tonight, and Alabama St. is better than Southern.

[PonyLove]

It is going to be fun to watch this team mature. They seem to have a lot of talent and are extremely athletic. At this point, they have that deer in the headlights look but can't wait to see what they can do in the future. Pony Up!

[abezontar]

It is going to be fun to watch this team mature. They seem to have a lot of talent and are extremely athletic. At this point, they have that deer in the headlights look but can't wait to see what they can do in the future. Pony Up!

we lost to southern....and alabama state....and you are excited?

[Hoop Fan]

It is going to be fun to watch this team mature. They seem to have a lot of talent and are extremely athletic. At this point, they have that deer in the headlights look but can't wait to see what they can do in the future. Pony Up!

we lost to southern....and alabama state....and you are excited?

funny, isn't it?

[PonyLove]

I didn't say I was excited we lost....I said I thought it would be fun to watch them develop...I really don't have any major expectations for the season so I was planning to just enjoy it for whatever it turns out to be...

[Duke Blue Blood]

Pathetic that we lost, just observations from the game.

[mustangklick]

we are going to get a lot better, but its going to take a few more games. You gotta have faith, chet

[EastStang]

I predicted that the first half of the season would not be as pretty as expected, nor would the opening half of the conference play. I do expect us to be much improved come the conference tournament. Freshmen players need time to adjust their games and to one another. This will be a very dangerous team come conference tourney time.

[Pony_Fan]

I guess this cupcake schedule is what we need. Hopefully we can beat Paul Quinn?