Matt Doherty Q&A - cusa-fans.com

[mr. pony]

SMU’s Matt Doherty Previews The 2010-11 Season
By Rick Atkinson for cusa-fans.com
http://cusa-fans.com/

DALLAS – Matt Doherty begins his fifth year at the helm of SMU men’s basketball program on Friday, Nov. 12, at home against Arkansas-Little Rock. The Mustangs finished tied for seventh in C-USA last season, with a 14-17 overall record. Doherty’s record at SMU now stands at 47-75.

Losses from last year’s squad include point guard and leading scorer Derek Williams, forward Mouhammad Faye, guard Paul McCoy (transfer) and forward Frank Otis (transfer).

Key returning players include preseason All-C-USA pick and leading rebounder Papa Dia (6-9, 235), forward Robert Nyakundi (6-8, 220), guard Mike Walker (6-1, 195), guard Rodney Clinkscales (6-1, 190), guard/forward Justin Haynes (6-5, 192) and guard Ryan Harp (6-4, 195).

Doherty is high on incoming freshman guard Jeremiah Samarrippas (5-10, 160) out of Florida, who should see lots of playing time. Three international players, forward Leslee Smith (6-7, 245), forward Ricmonds Vilde (6-9, 230) and guard Aliaksei Patsevich (6-4, 180) await NCAA clearance.

Doherty has two new assistant coaches, Larry Mangino from the Denver Nuggets and Jerry Hobbie from the University of Houston.

On Wednesday, Doherty sat down in his office on the SMU campus to discuss the new season.



**What do you hope fans see as the biggest difference in this year’s team over last year’s?**

“I hope they notice a cohesiveness. I hope there’s that sense of ‘team’ that I always want, but I think this year more than any there’s a real chemistry, camaraderie amongst the group and a balance. Last year, we relied heavily on Derek’s scoring. I think this year you might see more of a balance. Pop should be our leading scorer but Rob [Nyakundi] has a chance to score a lot. I think Mike Walker is doing a really good job. Justin Haynes is doing a really good job. So there might be more balance, offensively. And as good as we were defensively last year, I think we could even be better this year.”

**Where do you see Dia now, as a leader and as a player?**

“He had a great year last year. I look for him to build on that. The biggest thing he needed to improve on each and every year was emotional maturity. And I think he’s done that each and every year. He can’t let fatigue or a bad call or foul trouble take him out of the game. … From a basketball standpoint I think he’s improved his low-post game, trying to add kind of a sky-hook to his game. Also, I think you’ll see him try to shoot a couple more three-pointers this year. I don’t know if there’s a better big guy in the league than Pop. And I think he’ll be one of the better big guys in basketball.”


Papa Dia

**What does Nyakundi have to give you this year?**

“Robert’s got to shoot the ball like he always does. But Robert’s got to be healthy. He’s the healthiest he’s ever been since he’s been here. Last year, he didn’t start out the season healthy. He didn’t really start playing much for us until the middle of January. But Robert can really shoot the ball. His athleticism is much improved, just working with Karl Jordan, our strength coach. He had heel problems last year. He had knee problems last year. I think he’s feeling a lot better. As a result, he’s quicker, he’s jumping higher. His ball handling’s improved quite a bit. He’s going to be fun to watch.”

**How well do you feel you’ve addressed losing Williams, Faye and McCoy?**

“Well, Paul was out since January, since he blew out his knee. And he wasn’t starting at that point.”

**But he was going to be your point guard?**

“Yeah, I was hoping. The plan last year at this time was that Paul would be the starting point guard this year at this time. He struggled some at the point guard position. So around Christmas time I knew we needed to look for another guard. That’s when we started recruiting. I think the piece that we’ll miss, we’ll miss some of Derek’s scoring, but I’m probably more concerned about missing Mouhammad’s rebounding. … Especially in light of the NCAA has not cleared Ricmonds Vilde or Leslee Smith. We recruited those guys to be that forward that can rebound and score, kind of like Mouhammad did for us. They’re both terrific players and would be in my probably top six rotation but the NCAA hasn’t cleared them because of international transcripts. So that’s probably the biggest void that we’ll have right now.”

“We have three international players that the NCAA hasn’t cleared yet. Two are forwards, Vilde and Smith, and [guard] Aliaksei Patsevich. … That’s for different reasons. Amatuerism reasons.”

**Did the McCoy transfer thing happen pretty quickly?**

“Yeah. It surprised me. One minute he’s talking about being here all summer to rehab his leg and the next he calling and saying he wants a transfer. I didn’t even fight it. I was like, ‘Alright, it’s fine.’”

**How much did it mean to beat Houston and Memphis last year?**

“I thought it was big. I thought it was big for our program and big for our fans to realize that we are making progress. When I took the job, we were only playing Houston and Memphis once a year. We were expanding our conference schedule and I foolishly raised my hand in the league meeting and said we’ll play them twice. Well, it finally paid off, that we got to beat them.”

**Talk about Jeremiah Samarrippas.**

“I call him ‘J’ because Jeremiah’s too many syllables and Samarrippas is too many syllables too. ‘J’ is a quick little guard who is a winner. He won the 5A state championship on Florida, was the 5A player of the Year in Florida. He was kind of under the radar because he’s from a town in Polk County between Tampa and Orlando. He’s got great energy. He’s really a point guard. He can see and deliver a ball and I think he’s going to be a fan favorite before it’s all said and done.”

**How much are you relying on him this season?**

“Right now, I’m relying on him a lot, but I do think Rodney Clinkscales and Mike Walker have improved their ball-handling a great deal. And so has Justin Haynes. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Justin bring the ball up the court quite a bit.”

**Offensively, turnover margin, assists and scoring need improvement. In whom are you most confident as a ball-handler at this point?**

“I think we’ve all improved as ball-handlers. Derek was the primary ball-handler last year, but I think with what we’ve done in practice on a daily basis, plus our guys being more comfortable, more experienced, I do believe everyone’s a better ball-handler this year. … But Jeremiah is the most natural, in terms of a point guard.”

**Concerning this season’s non-conference slate, what do you say to fans who’d like to see more attractive, big-name schools coming in here?**

“I think if I had to do it over again, I probably would have had the schedule like this from the beginning. Because I think when you’re building a program, you need wins. And then you get wins, and then recruits come, and then the fans come and then all of a sudden you can improve your schedule. I think from the beginning we’ve played some teams, whether it be a UNLV or Texas A&M, home-and-home, or South Florida, home-and- home, that maybe we should have just tried to win games from the beginning. … I probably didn’t use that formula and that’s probably one of the regrets I do have. I think we’d be a little bit further along now had we done that in years one and two, versus year five.”

**How concerned are you about C-USA teams in big metro areas - Rice, Tulane and SMU - still bringing up the rear, attendance-wise?**

“I think a large part of that is, you’ve got to win. But I also think, Houston’s won some, but I think our league is still relatively new to the fan. … Of the new formation, we lost Louisville, we lost Cincinnati, we lost Marquette, we lost South Florida, we lost DePaul. We lost a lot of the big-name schools. It’s a new conference, especially for us. We’ve gone from the WAC to Conference USA and so for the fans they’re still stuck on a little bit of the Southwest Conference. I think it takes time, 3-5 years for a new league, to gain some traction with some fans. Tulane, ourselves and Rice have all been in a similar boat.”



**Defensively, your team was pretty good last year, ranking 3rd in scoring defense in the league. Who’s going to be biggest factor in keeping that going?**

“One, the team, as corny as that sounds, but it is a team defense. But I think Jeremiah, being a new player who’s going to play a lot, is going to have to understand defensive concepts and pick those up because they’re going to be different from high school. Derek was a senior and now we’re replacing much of those minutes with a freshman. I’m not saying Jeremiah’s going to start yet, but he’s going to play a lot. So I think his position, his role, is probably the most important to maintain where we were last year defensively.”

**Will you stay with the spread offense?**

“Yeah, we like it. As a matter of fact, we’re going to hopefully improve on it. That’s one of the reasons I hired Larry Mangino. Larry ran this offense when he was an assistant at Air Force. We like it. We’re committed to it. We think it’s really hard to guard and a fun way to play.”

**Who are the teams to beat in C-USA?**

“I think Southern Miss is going to be very good. I think UTEP’s going to very good. I think Memphis is going to be very good. There’s always a surprise. Maybe we could be that team that people aren’t talking about as much and go out and have a heck of a run.”

**Retiring any jerseys this year?**

“Not that I’ve heard of. We certainly have some guys that are worthy, but I don’t know if we’re going to have any ceremonies this year.”

**When you arrived at SMU in ’06 you mentioned a book you’d read, Emotional Intelligence, as having been beneficial to you. Do you still use things you learned from that book?**

“Oh, yeah. All the time. The body language thing, the value of laughter. Setting an emotional tone for practice each and every day. And I think now I’m more comfortable with the program and my staff. Part of it is I’ve know two of my new coaches for 20 years. Jerry Hobbie and I roomed together in New York in the late 80s. And Larry Mangino and I have known each other since the late 80s. So I think that carries over to the practice floor, when guys see me walk on the practice floor and I’m talking with Larry and Jerry and we’re laughing about something that has to do with New Jersey or New York. I think they see a more relaxed head coach.”

**Some fans say they like everything about you - except your win total. That you’re a consummate professional, great at public relations, a fine mentor to student-athletes and a solid fundraiser. Is it frustrating to “have it all” but the Ws?**

“I’m disappointed too, but yet I know that it’s coming. It takes time. And I wish we could have had more wins. I wish we could have had a winning season last year. And yet we were pretty close. That’s why the non-conference scheduling is so important. We could have easily been 17-14 last year and everyone would feel better about things. It’s a fine line. But I am more relaxed and confident now than I’ve ever been because I know the program is healthier than it’s ever been. And if we were to have these three [international] players eligible, I’d feel very confident saying we’re going to win 20-25 games this year. … We have a system in place, offensively and defensively. We have a coaching staff, we have young players in the pipeline, both freshmen and recruits. … Maybe we’re a year behind schedule, but it’s happening and they just need to trust. And hopefully it’s being built the right way. When it’s built they’re not going have to wonder, ‘OK how was it built?’ Some programs get built pretty quick and you wonder, ‘Why did it get built so fast?’” (A reference to NCAA violations.)

“And recruiting in Dallas, we now have some Dallas kids. That’s taken time to develop relationships in the community and we’ve done that. We’ve worked hard to do that and I think that’s starting to pay off. It just doesn’t happen as fast as we all want, myself included. But it’s happening. Trust me.”

[i phone money]

Lots of questions answered in there. Good read. thanks for the post

[PonyDoh]

You have to hand it to him, he's a good interview, and those were pretty directed questions. All I'm really looking for this year is team assists. His teams haven't shared in the past, and now they are spreading it out officially. There should be a dime most every made possession.

Poor Jfrog is under the microscope. Controversial, off the radar, late signing, expected to eat up major minutes at the point. This is Dohs genius moment or a profile miss. Excited to see the lil guy go.

The roster really is loaded by recent SMU standards in '11

[Harry0569]

Let's hope he does the same thing he did with Jfrog that he does with Killen.

[Harry0569]

As much as some people crap on Doh, I think he is a great guy and has the ability to be a great coach. Hopefully, we get the international kids cleared to have some depth.

[Charleston Pony]

You have to hand it to him, he's a good interview, and those were pretty directed questions. All I'm really looking for this year is team assists. His teams haven't shared in the past, and now they are spreading it out officially. There should be a dime most every made possession.

Poor Jfrog is under the microscope. Controversial, off the radar, late signing, expected to eat up major minutes at the point. This is Dohs genius moment or a profile miss. Excited to see the lil guy go.

The roster really is loaded by recent SMU standards in '11

I want more than just an increased assist total; we have to protect the ball better and improve that assist:turnover ratio...especially from the PG. Sounds like this has been a point of emphasis during the off-season, but let's face it, we need "J" to adapt quickly to the college game.

[PonyDoh]

You have to hand it to him, he's a good interview, and those were pretty directed questions. All I'm really looking for this year is team assists. His teams haven't shared in the past, and now they are spreading it out officially. There should be a dime most every made possession.

Poor Jfrog is under the microscope. Controversial, off the radar, late signing, expected to eat up major minutes at the point. This is Dohs genius moment or a profile miss. Excited to see the lil guy go.

The roster really is loaded by recent SMU standards in '11

I want more than just an increased assist total; we have to protect the ball better and improve that assist:turnover ratio...especially from the PG. Sounds like this has been a point of emphasis during the off-season, but let's face it, we need "J" to adapt quickly to the college game.

I want to see that as well, but the reality is that JFrog could get 30 minutes per this year and 10 minutes per next year. The roster loads up, so my main concern is if they are moving the ball and running the O and putting themselves in position to execute. I don't have expectation beyond improved team work

[Higher Authority]

Anyone know why Samarrippas is called "JFrog"?

Good read. Thanks, mr. pony.

[mrydel]

Anyone know why Samarrippas is called "JFrog"?

Good read. Thanks, mr. pony.

Three Dog Night....."Jerimiah Was a Bullfrog"

[skyscraper]

Good interview. Thanks for posting.
Hope Jfrog can be everything Doh needs him to be.

[Stallion]

I wonder-since there is so little depth Doherty might not be able to utilize such a quick hook that so many complain about. May just have to sit back and let 'em play and really doesn't have room for overcoaching. I quess the best that can be said for this group is that they got Senior leadership.

[The PonyGrad]

Not to rain on the parade, cuz I am optimistic for '11 and hopeful for '10 but this quote makes me cringe:

I think from the beginning we’ve played some teams, whether it be a UNLV or Texas A&M, home-and-home, or South Florida, home-and- home, that maybe we should have just tried to win games from the beginning. … I probably didn’t use that formula and that’s probably one of the regrets I do have. I think we’d be a little bit further along now had we done that in years one and two, versus year five.

The problem in the past has not been that part of the schedule but all the pasties we lost to.

Hopefully we do better this season.

[RE Tycoon]

With the Euros not being eligible, he actually has a legit built-in excuse for the first time. I wonder how quick (and often) he will go to it this season?

While I feel for the guy, some of the blame lays on him and the staff for not planning on this eventuality. If this was year 1,2 or even 3, I'd give him a pass, but I don't know how long I can put up with mounting losses this season. Here is hoping I won't have to.

[PonyDoh]

With the Euros not being eligible, he actually has a legit built-in excuse for the first time. I wonder how quick (and often) he will go to it this season?

While I feel for the guy, some of the blame lays on him and the staff for not planning on this eventuality. If this was year 1,2 or even 3, I'd give him a pass, but I don't know how long I can put up with mounting losses this season. Here is hoping I won't have to.

RE Tycoon, you happened onto something that has been puzzling me for quite some time. Most everyone seems willing to give Doh a pass b/c of the ineligibles, and the '11 recruiting class. Basically, drop any expectations at the door this year, but we're sorta locked and loaded moving forward. Lots to like about the personnel in the program & entering the program etc. Unfortunately, on paper, we freakin suck in new and egregious ways heading into this year. We're going to lose a bunch to an awful awful schedule.

Of all people, I have absolutely no expectations only 3 days from the season, none. I'd like to see Frog play well, and Dia go out w/a huge season. Improvement from Clink/Haynes/Nuk etc. Other than that, whatever. I'm excited for the season, so I'm not apathetic. Just very relaxed cause we have no chance of being legitimately good, at least not yet. All that said, it's gonna take everything we've got to beat UA-LR. Give'm hell fellas

[Used To Be]

PonyDoh, I've read the majority of your posts. Your one of the few who appears realistic about the present and future.

See you at all the games.