Game observations

[PonyDoh]

bagice is spot on, every one else is playing chicken little a little early. McCoy didn't finish or shoot well. That's his game, and when they don't fall, people think he doesn't want to be here? Give the kid credit as a competitor. He was off, and sulked after missing some chippies. He knows how he has to perform to give this squad a chance at success. When he's missing lay-ups, he's gonna be peeved, big deal. He'll light up his share this season.

Also, some of you think you were watching last years USF squad. That team has brought in a ton since we last tipped.

Lastly, we need to have far more in the way of team assists, but ball movement was ok last night. We had some nice backdoor cuts, some more advanced passing etc. There were points I was quite impressed w/our patience. My biggest complaint is that we need to man the wings w/shooters, if our goal is to let McCoy/Will get into the lane. Then, they need to actually drop a dime.

Here's the great little secret, our two best players are lead guards that shoot first. It's hard to be critical of them b/c they are our best players. On the other hand, they don't exactly help floor chemistry. Somebody needs to be a PG, get people involved. Right now, we have two kids who look for each other, and eat up the whole clock, waiting for that tiny window they can crawl through, and attack the rack. Both Will and McCoy are high major kids, no doubt about it. As lead guards though, they haven't figured out how to make everyone else better.

[SMU89]

bagice is spot on, every one else is playing chicken little a little early. McCoy didn't finish or shoot well. That's his game, and when they don't fall, people think he doesn't want to be here? Give the kid credit as a competitor. He was off, and sulked after missing some chippies. He knows how he has to perform to give this squad a chance at success. When he's missing lay-ups, he's gonna be peeved, big deal. He'll light up his share this season.

I hope you are right. I watched the guys sitting on the bench too. Maybe I missed something but didn't see a group that was pumped-up. First game, at home, and never out of it -- we need to show a little more excitement -- some fire.

[Charleston Pony]

teams draw some of their enthusiasm and fire from the crowd; it's tough getting jacked up playing in scrimmage conditions. Hopefully attendance will be much better for A$M and the team will respond with a high energy performance

[SMU89]

teams draw some of their enthusiasm and fire from the crowd; it's tough getting jacked up playing in scrimmage conditions. Hopefully attendance will be much better for A$M and the team will respond with a high energy performance

Agree. Kind of ckicken or egg. Crowd or enthusism/wins.
My bet is we need players to be enthusistic/win then the crowd part comes.
If you're bustin your hump in practice, bring it to the game.

[Hoop Fan]

teams draw some of their enthusiasm and fire from the crowd; it's tough getting jacked up playing in scrimmage conditions. Hopefully attendance will be much better for A$M and the team will respond with a high energy performance

Agree. Kind of ckicken or egg. Crowd or enthusism/wins.
My bet is we need players to be enthusistic/win then the crowd part comes.
If you're bustin your hump in practice, bring it to the game.

agree 89, unfortunately smu basketball is going to have to pull itself up from the bootstraps at this point. Fan enthusiasm is not going to appear out of nowhere. the football team has done it this year. It can be done and moody will rock once again.

[Cardinal Puff]

I was frustrated with some substitutions and just don't get Harp starting. USF is a good team-to me it was watching Memphis with an average point and less bench depth. Dia just seems to fade as soon as he has an easy miss or fails to get position; thought part of McCoy's frustration had to be from how early they picked up and stayed on him-he never had a chance at getting in to his rhythm.
Our team looked more athletic, thought the new guys all made a solid debut. Let them play.

[mustangxc]

Not a bad loss after all!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300320058

[PonyDoh]

Not a bad loss after all!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300320058

Never was a bad loss. Those guys are 14-7 playing w/o Gus Gilchrist pretty much the whole season, other then our game. He's arguably their best player and an NBA talent. They'd probably have 4 more wins w/Gus

[mustangxc]

Not a bad loss after all!

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300320058

Never was a bad loss. Those guys are 14-7 playing w/o Gus Gilchrist pretty much the whole season, other then our game. He's arguably their best player and an NBA talent. They'd probably have 4 more wins w/Gus

I never looked at it as a bad loss myself, but everyone reacted as if the sky was falling after that loss. I am simply trying to add more perspective to that loss as I think we are moving in the right direction and barring a disastrous finish think that staying the course is the most sensible decision.

[mustangxc]

USF keeps getting better and better!

http://espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=300350046