Ready For Good Things in Conference Play

[bagice]

I am hoping many of us will need to offer Coach Doherty an apology when this season is over. Yes, up to this point, there have been questions, fair questions, on what level of talent we had and how he has coached a game, especially around substitutions.

After looking closely at this and listening to what he has had to say I am thinking that he may end up being right. I believe the poor play we have seen was all centered around on his willingness to try as many combinations and as many players as possible to see what worked. He was willing to take some early lumps to try and figure out this very young team and what would work best. I think he now has it figured out and he will cut down the minutes of quite a few players and stick with the 6-8 guys that he feels most comfortable with. We saw him unveil this against Corpus, a team that was no slouch, and we humilated them. I think anyone that saw or heard the game can agree that his player rotation and coaching was very different in that game as in the previous ones.

He spent all this time getting an inexperienced team ready for conference play this year and much bigger success in the next 3 years to come. I think he knew what he was doing all along and it is going to pay huge divedends down the road.

Course, maybe I am wrong, but we will see. I think this team has good talent and great prospects going forward this year and beyond. At the end of year, I will man up and say i was wrong, but I think we are about to see the start of SMU Basketball on the rise, and it is starting right now.

[apisarna]

I hope you are right as well. I'm a big supporter of Coach Doh since UNC. Make us proud! Bring back this SMU program, so I will have two BB teams to cheer for.

[PonyDoh]

I've always been skeptical of Doh as a game coach. He's never proven anything in that regard, here or at UNC. That said, I've always felt him an elite recruiter and truly believe talent is the bottom line, not Xs and Os. Also, he's a pseudo-profile coach, and one I regarded as a good hire for SMU. Having him fail is an absolutely awful option for the program and fans alike. We need him to succeed, that simple.

All that said, I don't buy the whole 'he's done this tinkering, to prep a young team for league play' garbage. The fact is, he knew what he returned, he spent the Africa trip w/them, and it's painfully obvious to close observers, who is ready and who isn't. As Stallion said in another thread, its pretty ironic that we finally see some success, when we kept w/the line-up most of us have been advocating since this summer or close.

In a one, maybe two bid league, you don't write off the OOC schedule. It's no more or less important then league play. Honestly, beating Big 12 Colorado, Big 10 Northwestern, or Big East South FLorida is better for the program and our RPI then stepping up once vs Tulane.

I'm not saying this team can't gel and be solid in league play, I'm saying that if the potential is there to do just that, it could have done for the OOC schedule. All Doh needed was to stop micro-managing, take his egomaniacal tendancies out of the equation, and play the kids we knew would contribute from Day 1. Based on the last game, he's corrected that mistake, but it could have been corrected weeks ago, and maybe we'd be 7-4, not 4-7. It goes in the pile of Doh mistakes. To make up for it, he needs to win a bunch Vegas gives us no chance in.

[817pony]

I've always been skeptical of Doh as a game coach. He's never proven anything in that regard, here or at UNC. That said, I've always felt him an elite recruiter and truly believe talent is the bottom line, not Xs and Os. Also, he's a pseudo-profile coach, and one I regarded as a good hire for SMU. Having him fail is an absolutely awful option for the program and fans alike. We need him to succeed, that simple.

All that said, I don't buy the whole 'he's done this tinkering, to prep a young team for league play' garbage. The fact is, he knew what he returned, he spent the Africa trip w/them, and it's painfully obvious to close observers, who is ready and who isn't. As Stallion said in another thread, its pretty ironic that we finally see some success, when we kept w/the line-up most of us have been advocating since this summer or close.

In a one, maybe two bid league, you don't write off the OOC schedule. It's no more or less important then league play. Honestly, beating Big 12 Colorado, Big 10 Northwestern, or Big East South FLorida is better for the program and our RPI then stepping up once vs Tulane.

I'm not saying this team can't gel and be solid in league play, I'm saying that if the potential is there to do just that, it could have done for the OOC schedule. All Doh needed was to stop micro-managing, take his egomaniacal tendancies out of the equation, and play the kids we knew would contribute from Day 1. Based on the last game, he's corrected that mistake, but it could have been corrected weeks ago, and maybe we'd be 7-4, not 4-7. It goes in the pile of Doh mistakes. To make up for it, he needs to win a bunch Vegas gives us no chance in.

You left out that one of the main reasons he could not go with a steady line up is because Faye had to sit out the first semester. Faye on this team makes a huge difference. Also, yes he had this team in Africa, but the regular season is a very different and these players will react differently together. Finally, should it really matter what rotation he used against PB? I would like to think we could put any of our 5 players out there and beat them. Couldn't the wild rotation be due to lack of player effort? I don't know about everyone else but I have been at every home game and the Corpus game is the first time I saw this team play hard the whole time.

[The PonyGrad]

Pleeeese.. we are not going to the tourney this year so the OOC is not as important as showing results this year in the conference.

We DO have a young team with a lot of new parts that are expected to contribute. So.. it only makes sense to figure out how they work together.

However, I do not buy the idea that all is fixed. I believe the team has shown real improvement but I expect a lot of ups and downs as we go along this season.

[PoconoPony]

Pleeeese.. we are not going to the tourney this year so the OOC is not as important as showing results this year in the conference.

We DO have a young team with a lot of new parts that are expected to contribute. So.. it only makes sense to figure out how they work together.

However, I do not buy the idea that all is fixed. I believe the team has shown real improvement but I expect a lot of ups and downs as we go along this season.

I agree. I think that the youth and inexperience will cause us to see a team that exceeds our expectations at times and at other times will be exasperating. This is still a building and experience year whether we like it or not.

[papawasamustang]

I am hoping many of us will need to offer Coach Doherty an apology when this season is over. Yes, up to this point, there have been questions, fair questions, on what level of talent we had and how he has coached a game, especially around substitutions.

After looking closely at this and listening to what he has had to say I am thinking that he may end up being right. I believe the poor play we have seen was all centered around on his willingness to try as many combinations and as many players as possible to see what worked. He was willing to take some early lumps to try and figure out this very young team and what would work best. I think he now has it figured out and he will cut down the minutes of quite a few players and stick with the 6-8 guys that he feels most comfortable with. We saw him unveil this against Corpus, a team that was no slouch, and we humilated them. I think anyone that saw or heard the game can agree that his player rotation and coaching was very different in that game as in the previous ones.

He spent all this time getting an inexperienced team ready for conference play this year and much bigger success in the next 3 years to come. I think he knew what he was doing all along and it is going to pay huge divedends down the road.

Course, maybe I am wrong, but we will see. I think this team has good talent and great prospects going forward this year and beyond. At the end of year, I will man up and say i was wrong, but I think we are about to see the start of SMU Basketball on the rise, and it is starting right now.

I say lets beat the [deleted] out of Colorado first & then start worrying about conference play.

[Charleston Pony]

we are all pleased with that last outing, but let's not get carried away. One game does not make a trend. Still have the entire CUSA schedule ahead. Let's just hope we see continued improvement in conference play and that SMU can climb out of our expected/usual/customary spot at the bottom of CUSA standings. I would be thrilled if we could play .500 in CUSA this year, but certainly don't expect it from what we've seen so far.

[PonyDoh]

I've always been skeptical of Doh as a game coach. He's never proven anything in that regard, here or at UNC. That said, I've always felt him an elite recruiter and truly believe talent is the bottom line, not Xs and Os. Also, he's a pseudo-profile coach, and one I regarded as a good hire for SMU. Having him fail is an absolutely awful option for the program and fans alike. We need him to succeed, that simple.

All that said, I don't buy the whole 'he's done this tinkering, to prep a young team for league play' garbage. The fact is, he knew what he returned, he spent the Africa trip w/them, and it's painfully obvious to close observers, who is ready and who isn't. As Stallion said in another thread, its pretty ironic that we finally see some success, when we kept w/the line-up most of us have been advocating since this summer or close.

In a one, maybe two bid league, you don't write off the OOC schedule. It's no more or less important then league play. Honestly, beating Big 12 Colorado, Big 10 Northwestern, or Big East South FLorida is better for the program and our RPI then stepping up once vs Tulane.

I'm not saying this team can't gel and be solid in league play, I'm saying that if the potential is there to do just that, it could have done for the OOC schedule. All Doh needed was to stop micro-managing, take his egomaniacal tendancies out of the equation, and play the kids we knew would contribute from Day 1. Based on the last game, he's corrected that mistake, but it could have been corrected weeks ago, and maybe we'd be 7-4, not 4-7. It goes in the pile of Doh mistakes. To make up for it, he needs to win a bunch Vegas gives us no chance in.

You left out that one of the main reasons he could not go with a steady line up is because Faye had to sit out the first semester. Faye on this team makes a huge difference. Also, yes he had this team in Africa, but the regular season is a very different and these players will react differently together. Finally, should it really matter what rotation he used against PB? I would like to think we could put any of our 5 players out there and beat them. Couldn't the wild rotation be due to lack of player effort? I don't know about everyone else but I have been at every home game and the Corpus game is the first time I saw this team play hard the whole time.

In response to Faye, Malone/Nyakundi should have gotten his burn almost exclusively until he became eligible. Hell, we didn't even know he'd be eligible, so we needed those guys w/confidence regardless. They played hard vs Corpus b/c they got into a rhythm and weren't in as much jeopardy of being yanked. Doh has been a momentum killer all year w/his substitution patterns.

Its funny, I watched Jared Dubois last night and wish he was a Pony. That said, its really clear why he wanted out. If he had stayed, you have to believe Walker would have had one foot out the door.

[PonyDoh]

Pleeeese.. we are not going to the tourney this year so the OOC is not as important as showing results this year in the conference.

We DO have a young team with a lot of new parts that are expected to contribute. So.. it only makes sense to figure out how they work together.

However, I do not buy the idea that all is fixed. I believe the team has shown real improvement but I expect a lot of ups and downs as we go along this season.

I'm not saying conference ball isn't important, it is. That said, you don't write off the OOC schedule. It includes teams from power conferences w/better RPIs. It's fine if you/me and the rest of the fan base don't think we'll make the tourney, cause we aren't and never were, but it's a crap message to your team. You play to win, not give out participation trophies.

Seriously, anyone thinking Doh needed to tinker ad nauseum to find the right rotation really isn't paying attention. It's been pretty clear forever who is legit. Nobody in the country worth a damn, goes 11 or 12 deep when it matters

No doubt we'll see ups and downs, no matter who is on the court. Its a young team and I expect we'll see even more attrition this offseason. Doh needs more ships, that simple. he finally has a piece he can point to in McCoy, when on the trail.

[papawasamustang]

I've always been skeptical of Doh as a game coach. He's never proven anything in that regard, here or at UNC. That said, I've always felt him an elite recruiter and truly believe talent is the bottom line, not Xs and Os. Also, he's a pseudo-profile coach, and one I regarded as a good hire for SMU. Having him fail is an absolutely awful option for the program and fans alike. We need him to succeed, that simple.

Its funny, I watched Jared Dubois last night and wish he was a Pony. That said, its really clear why he wanted out. If he had stayed, you have to believe Walker would have had one foot out the door.

What a great backcourt we would have had with Dubois & McCoy.
It looks like that ESPN agreed too from the article below.

Scouts Grade: 88

Position Rank: 31
PG Paul McCoy picks Southern Methodist
After months of deliberating 5-11 senior Paul McCoy has decided to join Matt Doherty?s up-and-coming SMU program. McCoy, a former Pepperdine signee, chose the Mustangs over offers from Kentucky and Virginia.

McCoy is the headliner of a group of solid prospects headed to SMU. Along with McCoy the Mustangs signed 6-5 Frank Otis (Oakland, Calif./ McClymonds) and 6-2 Jared Dubois (Los Angeles/ Westchester).

"McCoy and Dubois should mesh well together as McCoy has the innate ability to break down defenders to set teammates up for 3-point opportunities," Francisco said. "Dubois is one of the smoothest shooters on the west coast and should benefit from McCoy's penetration and passing ability. Overall, McCoy and Dubois should be one of the better backcourts in the years to come for coach Doherty."

[D1Football]

SMU....Win Conference USA!!!!

[bagice]

The time is almost here. I can really see a top 5 conference team here. Like I said before, I will man up if I am wrong, but I think we have turned the corner...we have good talent, we will get better talent, and will see the Coach do what we have paid him to do...

This team is going to surpise early and often...and we will go into the offseason feeling really good about Mustang Basketball. Coach Doherty used the "preseason" to figure things out, find his lineup and the style that suited them....We are going to win more than we lose going forward and have a much better conference ranking and touranment showing than people thought.

I am by no means predicting a post season tournament berth, but I am calling for at least a top 5 conference finish and two wins at least in the conference tourney. Mark it down!

You can check my posts, I have never been that optimistic or particulary a "sunshiner" but I like this team and I like our coach.......

Let the games begin.

[jkflamebo]

c-usa is 0-14 against ap top 25, pretty abysmal. hope we can end up with a respectable conference record this year and get ready to compete for a conference title soon