thoughts

[EastStang]

It is of no surprise that Doh likes big teams. He was a big man. And you have to win the wars in the paint. For years SMU has been weak in the paint and strong outside and it showed in the wins and losses column against godd teams. A way to build from scratch is to build out. Get some quality forwards and center (even if its a building project) and try to find quality at the point and shooting guard positions. The easiest position to fill once the others are filled is the shooting guard. Teams start to have to pack it in on the big men, thus creating space for the shooters if the offense is run properly. True point guards are harder to find. Even the NBA has a dearth of true point guards. Defensive skills in todays game are harder to find. Kids want to play offense and don't work as [deleted] defense in high school. Finding a kid with the abililty to play Division 1-A guard with excellent defensive skills right out of high school is pretty rare these days.

[PonyPatrol]

Count me in as one who sees some promise in Harp. He seems heady in the way he moves w/o the ball and is not afraid to take his shot (which on a 3-11 3pt. night isn't always a great thing). Aside from the obvious hustle and rebounding, I think he will be a viable threat to score down the road. His shot has looked flat the last couple games, which may be a result of fatigue or need to hit the weight room. Either way, if his shot comes around, he's an instant spark.

So much is being made of Malone's potential, but I see a guy who is scared to put the ball on the floor or fight through a double team. He does a nice job of spot up shooting and cleaning up around the glass, but his ball handling and passing has been atrocious, which has been a liablity thus far.

Criticisms aside, these two guys, along with Papa will all be threats to score 20+ in any given game over the next few years. We haven't serious second and third scoring threats in some time....now as for the defense...

[mathman]

It is of no surprise that Doh likes big teams. He was a big man. And you have to win the wars in the paint. For years SMU has been weak in the paint and strong outside and it showed in the wins and losses column against godd teams. A way to build from scratch is to build out. Get some quality forwards and center (even if its a building project) and try to find quality at the point and shooting guard positions. The easiest position to fill once the others are filled is the shooting guard. Teams start to have to pack it in on the big men, thus creating space for the shooters if the offense is run properly. True point guards are harder to find. Even the NBA has a dearth of true point guards. Defensive skills in todays game are harder to find. Kids want to play offense and don't work as [deleted] defense in high school. Finding a kid with the abililty to play Division 1-A guard with excellent defensive skills right out of high school is pretty rare these days.

Not according to JUMPSHOOTER. He is already labeling ours " possible busts ". Seriously, I agree with you completely.

[friarwolf]

We dont have near the athleticism to guard the perimeter on defense, or create open looks on offense. Freshmen or no freshmen, you should see the ability if this is really the class we are going to ride.

I don't see future starters in Harp and Walker. Not on an NCAA tournament caliber team, and thats the goal right? that why i am worried. How long is this rebuild going to take? How many more nights like this?

Dead on. We do not have the footspeed or quickness that is required to compete with good teams. Doh can coach defects but he can't fix physical limitations. Until we put backcourt players that can move, we are going to be subpar to average teams.

Harp is a heady player who tries hard but the poor kid just doesn't have the footspeed to guard players. McKiver launched those 3's with no worries that Harp was going to close out on him. Walker can't look up and dribble very well with no pressure and doesn't look at all when someone is guarding him. Last night, Houston was giving us the corners early in the offensive possession and Walker never got the ball to Harp sitting alone in the corner. Walker has got to fix that hitch in his shot and stop shooting on the way down........

Doh can recruit all the tall Senegal players he wants but he has got to find backcourt players who can move and pass the ball into the big men early when they are open, hit the jumper when the ball rotates back out to them, as well as disrupt the other team's back court players with quickness and speed.............

[MustangIcon]

We dont have near the athleticism to guard the perimeter on defense, or create open looks on offense. Freshmen or no freshmen, you should see the ability if this is really the class we are going to ride.

I don't see future starters in Harp and Walker. Not on an NCAA tournament caliber team, and thats the goal right? that why i am worried. How long is this rebuild going to take? How many more nights like this?

Dead on. We do not have the footspeed or quickness that is required to compete with good teams. Doh can coach defects but he can't fix physical limitations. Until we put backcourt players that can move, we are going to be subpar to average teams.

Harp is a heady player who tries hard but the poor kid just doesn't have the footspeed to guard players. McKiver launched those 3's with no worries that Harp was going to close out on him. Walker can't look up and dribble very well with no pressure and doesn't look at all when someone is guarding him. Last night, Houston was giving us the corners early in the offensive possession and Walker never got the ball to Harp sitting alone in the corner. Walker has got to fix that hitch in his shot and stop shooting on the way down........

Doh can recruit all the tall Senegal players he wants but he has got to find backcourt players who can move and pass the ball into the big men early when they are open, hit the jumper when the ball rotates back out to them, as well as disrupt the other team's back court players with quickness and speed.............

We definitely need to upgrade our backcourt speed and athleticism and I think Doherty knows that too, but I don't think that means we have bad players either. In the brief moments I saw Bennie Rhodes play earlier this season he seemed to have a nice combo of size and athleticism that could lead to him being a very good defender as well as someone who can penetrate. However, I am speculating from a very small sample being that he got hurt. Harp was brought in with the expectation that he would be a heady player and a good shooter and is improving in those areas. He will never be confused with a lockdown defender or an athletic guy taking people off the dribble. Not quite sure what to make of Walker as of yet- I have not seen enough of him to really get a good feel. Also, none of us really know what type of players DuBois or Haynes are/will be.

Being that I live in Houston and enjoy going to college hoops games I see quite a bit of the Houston Cougars here in town. Let me tell you that Fluff McKiver is intimidated by absolutely noone when it comes to launching threes. The kid will pull up from 5 feet back from the line with a 6'5 guy in his face. Penders gives him the ultimate green light and as a senior who has experienced success he has a great deal of confidence. He is also one of those guys that seems to shoot better with a hand in his face or on the move than he does when left wide open. On the season he shoots 40% from downtown and he shot 50% against us. Granted thats not great on our part, but we didn't make an all-conference player out of a dud or give a guy his career night (which we certainly have been known to do in recent years).

[mathman]

We dont have near the athleticism to guard the perimeter on defense, or create open looks on offense. Freshmen or no freshmen, you should see the ability if this is really the class we are going to ride.

I don't see future starters in Harp and Walker. Not on an NCAA tournament caliber team, and thats the goal right? that why i am worried. How long is this rebuild going to take? How many more nights like this?

Dead on. We do not have the footspeed or quickness that is required to compete with good teams. Doh can coach defects but he can't fix physical limitations. Until we put backcourt players that can move, we are going to be subpar to average teams.

Good analysis. All the kids we sign aren't going to be 4 year starters. It would be nice, but isn't going to happen. Let's give them more than 20 games before we write them off.

Harp is a heady player who tries hard but the poor kid just doesn't have the footspeed to guard players. McKiver launched those 3's with no worries that Harp was going to close out on him. Walker can't look up and dribble very well with no pressure and doesn't look at all when someone is guarding him. Last night, Houston was giving us the corners early in the offensive possession and Walker never got the ball to Harp sitting alone in the corner. Walker has got to fix that hitch in his shot and stop shooting on the way down........

Doh can recruit all the tall Senegal players he wants but he has got to find backcourt players who can move and pass the ball into the big men early when they are open, hit the jumper when the ball rotates back out to them, as well as disrupt the other team's back court players with quickness and speed.............

We definitely need to upgrade our backcourt speed and athleticism and I think Doherty knows that too, but I don't think that means we have bad players either. In the brief moments I saw Bennie Rhodes play earlier this season he seemed to have a nice combo of size and athleticism that could lead to him being a very good defender as well as someone who can penetrate. However, I am speculating from a very small sample being that he got hurt. Harp was brought in with the expectation that he would be a heady player and a good shooter and is improving in those areas. He will never be confused with a lockdown defender or an athletic guy taking people off the dribble. Not quite sure what to make of Walker as of yet- I have not seen enough of him to really get a good feel. Also, none of us really know what type of players DuBois or Haynes are/will be.

Being that I live in Houston and enjoy going to college hoops games I see quite a bit of the Houston Cougars here in town. Let me tell you that Fluff McKiver is intimidated by absolutely noone when it comes to launching threes. The kid will pull up from 5 feet back from the line with a 6'5 guy in his face. Penders gives him the ultimate green light and as a senior who has experienced success he has a great deal of confidence. He is also one of those guys that seems to shoot better with a hand in his face or on the move than he does when left wide open. On the season he shoots 40% from downtown and he shot 50% against us. Granted thats not great on our part, but we didn't make an all-conference player out of a dud or give a guy his career night (which we certainly have been known to do in recent years).

[Harry0569]

Being from Atlanta, I am familiar with Faye. This is what Paul Hewitt, GT coach said, "Hewitt said Faye is very long and skilled and possesses a great feel for the game. When one asked Hewitt to compare him to another player, he said Faye reminds him of Mike Dunleavy" I'll will certainly take someone like that. I think Faye will thrive next year in C-USA. He is a big time athlete, and I feel like he is meshing very well with the players. If you were at the game last night he was always giving guys high fives trying to be a positive influence.


As for the game last night, we were obviously over matched, but seriously we need a guy who can handle the ball. Time and time again we turned the ball over because we would get stuck in the corner. I cannot even count how many times Malone turned the ball over in the first half. I do believe he can become a big time player, he just needs put on some more weight to be able to bang and gain more experience. From day 1, I thought Dia would be a big time player, he just needs to drive when he catches the ball on the elbow and draw the foul or make the lay-up.

[abezontar]

Being from Atlanta, I am familiar with Faye. This is what Paul Hewitt, GT coach said, "Hewitt said Faye is very long and skilled and possesses a great feel for the game. When one asked Hewitt to compare him to another player, he said Faye reminds him of Mike Dunleavy" I'll will certainly take someone like that. I think Faye will thrive next year in C-USA. He is a big time athlete, and I feel like he is meshing very well with the players. If you were at the game last night he was always giving guys high fives trying to be a positive influence.


As for the game last night, we were obviously over matched, but seriously we need a guy who can handle the ball. Time and time again we turned the ball over because we would get stuck in the corner. I cannot even count how many times Malone turned the ball over in the first half. I do believe he can become a big time player, he just needs put on some more weight to be able to bang and gain more experience. From day 1, I thought Dia would be a big time player, he just needs to drive when he catches the ball on the elbow and draw the foul or make the lay-up.

I think I would prefer it if he was "long and strong and down to get the friction on."

[friarwolf]

I heard Bobby Knight once say that the most worthless pass in basketball was the one to a guy on the sideline where when he caught it, he was turned away from the basket. He said that the best thing for the player who received that pass to do was punt the ball into the cheap seats. I saw that pass about 10 times last night....................

[perunapower]

I think I would prefer it if he was "long and strong and down to get the friction on."

TWSS.

(Someone had to do it. (TWSS))