Why is our D so good lately?

[PonyDoh]

I'm asking this off of the points that have been raised. Since it appears the athleticism will be far better in 2011-12, do some of you believe Doherty and his staff will have a more difficult time/easier time implementing and demanding the discipline to this system?

Obviously there was a reason why the players signed/transferred here. Kids like to to run up and down the floor. And I'm not familiar with the backgrounds from where they came only their HS.

There's just a part of me that thinks that if Princeton is what we're doing in 2011-12, it's going to be like starting all over again because of all of the precise movements required within it and the massive roster turnover.

Thanks.

General, the only kids who haven't been practicing for a year are the '11 recruits, and I don't think anyone would bet on any of those kids starting. Cotton/Williams/Smith/Vilde/Losh have been practicing it all year. Frog/Nyuk/Haynes/Clink have it down as well. Jones/Cunningham/Manuel/Norman are rotation kids next year, and need to earn minutes, not play 30 per. IF I were to guess, Cunningham is the 4th big by necessity. The rest are at the bottom of the food chain.

You are right about one thing, and its very important. The more talent you get in the princeton, the weirder it gets from an execution standpoint. Take a look at Georgetown. Over the years, they've integrated elite athletes w/very mixed results. Many want to equate their chemistry issues and relative struggles w/having too many athletes for the princeton. I'm not sure it's true, but it's a raging debate. Other tempo-control teams in elite conferences seem to get hazed as well. Wash St did wonderfully for them under Bennett, but UVA fans are pretty mixed about that style in the ACC.

Donahue is trying the same approach at BC w/slightly better results early. We all know the debacle that is going on at Wake Forest, and that's Mangino's old boss at Air Force etc. All that said, I expect both Donahue and Bennett's teams to play well when they get the right type of players for the system.

Lastly, we don't call our offense the princeton, it's the sprint motion or something catchy like that. Basically, they'll sell it as princeton-like w/pace. Ultimately, their really isn't anything in Carrills philosophy about eating the clock, as far as I've read. Its just about working for the best look, and if that presents itself in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock, more power to us.

[PonyKai]

I'm asking this off of the points that have been raised. Since it appears the athleticism will be far better in 2011-12, do some of you believe Doherty and his staff will have a more difficult time/easier time implementing and demanding the discipline to this system?

Obviously there was a reason why the players signed/transferred here. Kids like to to run up and down the floor. And I'm not familiar with the backgrounds from where they came only their HS.

There's just a part of me that thinks that if Princeton is what we're doing in 2011-12, it's going to be like starting all over again because of all of the precise movements required within it and the massive roster turnover.

Thanks.

General, the only kids who haven't been practicing for a year are the '11 recruits, and I don't think anyone would bet on any of those kids starting. Cotton/Williams/Smith/Vilde/Losh have been practicing it all year. Frog/Nyuk/Haynes/Clink have it down as well. Jones/Cunningham/Manuel/Norman are rotation kids next year, and need to earn minutes, not play 30 per. IF I were to guess, Cunningham is the 4th big by necessity. The rest are at the bottom of the food chain.

You are right about one thing, and its very important. The more talent you get in the princeton, the weirder it gets from an execution standpoint. Take a look at Georgetown. Over the years, they've integrated elite athletes w/very mixed results. Many want to equate their chemistry issues and relative struggles w/having too many athletes for the princeton. I'm not sure it's true, but it's a raging debate. Other tempo-control teams in elite conferences seem to get hazed as well. Wash St did wonderfully for them under Bennett, but UVA fans are pretty mixed about that style in the ACC.

Donahue is trying the same approach at BC w/slightly better results early. We all know the debacle that is going on at Wake Forest, and that's Mangino's old boss at Air Force etc. All that said, I expect both Donahue and Bennett's teams to play well when they get the right type of players for the system.

Lastly, we don't call our offense the princeton, it's the sprint motion or something catchy like that. Basically, they'll sell it as princeton-like w/pace. Ultimately, their really isn't anything in Carrills philosophy about eating the clock, as far as I've read. Its just about working for the best look, and if that presents itself in the first 10 seconds of the shot clock, more power to us.

Uneducated question...do you think that the sprint-motion, or a system like that, ultimately limits our ceiling as a basketball school. You've mentioned it's a [deleted] to deal with in CUSA, as we've seen, and little old SMU is aways away from being hazed by elite blue-bloods, but does it ultimately limit our potential?

[PonyDoh]

Uneducated question...do you think that the sprint-motion, or a system like that, ultimately limits our ceiling as a basketball school. You've mentioned it's a [deleted] to deal with in CUSA, as we've seen, and little old SMU is aways away from being hazed by elite blue-bloods, but does it ultimately limit our potential?

I don't think that's uneducated at all, and to be honest, it's a really hard answer definitively. I think coaches look at it as 'just another way of playing,' while fans/observers want to make it seem like a cheap ploy or something. The truth is that it's the antithesis of AAU ball, and is a little more like Jimmy Chitwood & the picket fence. Nothing wrong w/that at all.

The common thought outside of coaching circles is that you run the princeton b/c you don't have the horses, need to tempo control, limit possessions and shots etc. That theory has been tested in recent years at Georgetown, NC State, Arizona St etc. Butler runs tempo control motion, and Wisconsin under [deleted] Bennett, now UVA under his son. Air Force won the MWC several years in a row w/Mangino running this exact version of the princeton etc. It's even had success in the NBA, if you look at Webber/Divac teams in Sacremento etc.

Ultimately, you recruit skill more than raw athletes, which to me fits SMU. Whether there is a cap on a particular system, I'm just not sure. Gtown has been to the Final 4 w/it and maintained top 20 consistency etc. NC State made 5 tourneys in a row under Sendek running it, but State fans couldn't stand playing slow and winning, seriously. They preferred playing fast, and now they're in bad shape as a program.

What I will say is that in theory it keeps games close, even if you have the superior roster. By limiting your own shots, you can dumb yourself down to the level of your comp, even if you should be running them out of the gym. What's been amazing about SMU this year, is their ability to come from behind, while still limiting possessions. You really have to shoot lights out to make that happen. we can make a living keeping it close, not sure it's in our best interest to consistently play from behind. At some point, that'll catch up w/us

[ponyscott]

We don't want them coming from behind but the fact that they are able to do it is a building block for success. In the past few years they would or could have tanked the games, but not now. Maybe playing those smaller schools early helped build their confidence? A stroke of genius for Doh and his scheduling?.......point to ponder?

[PonyDoh]

We don't want them coming from behind but the fact that they are able to do it is a building block for success. In the past few years they would or could have tanked the games, but not now. Maybe playing those smaller schools early helped build their confidence? A stroke of genius for Doh and his scheduling?.......point to ponder?

It's funny, I was speaking w/someone who helped make the schedule this past weekend. I told him basically that they needed to schedule up some next year, but they were right, now that we're doing pretty well in conference, its more about the mounting win total, than who we did or didn't play early. He goes something like 'exactly, you need excitement and some wins before you can take that next step.' Still don't love the mentality, but it works for me for now, as long as we don't make it a habit

[RGV Pony]

They should consult whomever for some "name" teams that arent very good.

For instance, if we'd played LSU instead of Ole Miss this year, that could have been a W. How would we do vs Wake Forest?

Need a home and home w/ UTPA. They're spectacularly sucky this year even for them.

[PonyKai]

He goes something like 'exactly, you need excitement and some wins before you can take that next step.' Still don't love the mentality, but it works for me for now, as long as we don't make it a habit

Yeah, I had a back and forth with Andy Glockner on twitter after we beat Memphis at home. He threw out a sarcastic line somewhat along the lines of "Memphis just lost to SMU...yeah, SMU. That is bad folks, really bad."

I shot back saying hey it's been a rough few years but we aren't NJIT here. We're a proud folk, just going through a rough stretch under the current regime.

His answer was "If you all schedule like NJIT, I'm going to treat you like NJIT. This isn't a one-year thing either." Needless to say, we didn't see eye to eye on SMU's rank on the totem pole in the world of college hoops.

[PonyDoh]

He goes something like 'exactly, you need excitement and some wins before you can take that next step.' Still don't love the mentality, but it works for me for now, as long as we don't make it a habit

Yeah, I had a back and forth with Andy Glockner on twitter after we beat Memphis at home. He threw out a sarcastic line somewhat along the lines of "Memphis just lost to SMU...yeah, SMU. That is bad folks, really bad."

I shot back saying hey it's been a rough few years but we aren't NJIT here. We're a proud folk, just going through a rough stretch under the current regime.

His answer was "If you all schedule like NJIT, I'm going to treat you like NJIT. This isn't a one-year thing either." Needless to say, we didn't see eye to eye on SMU's rank on the totem pole in the world of college hoops.

LOL, NJIT schedules monsters OOC for the payday. They suck, but they aren't scared of a beat down. Memphis can't beat us..lol