OFFICIAL GAME 1 THREAD: Gardner Webb vs. SMU

[Stallion]

Shake hasn't yet shown he's anywhere close to ready to be an NBA PG. Good basketball player but he's still in development stage if he wants to be a complete player. Its exciting to have an NBA prospect but I think he's got a ways to go

[Rebel10]

Shake is an NBA level shooting guard imo. But since he has to play the point this year his scoring production might be down a bit.

[deucetz]

Shake looks like an NBA point guard with his length and athleticism..... But not a college point. College points are smaller and quicker to take advantage of other teams gaps in athleticism. Whereas NBA PG are ball distributors and 3 point shooters. Not necessarily penetrators - unless you are Kyrie Irivng.
Semi is the man. He and Shake will take over games this year. It will be quite a show. Ben Moore looked lost..... Needs to be in the high post not down on the blocks. Sterling did a great job slashing and being a catalyst around the ball .
Ben E. .? Not sure what his role is..... Maybe he spells Sterling and plays his role.

But we looked good against an opponent that ran out of gas in the 2nd half.

NBA points should be able to take advantage of gaps in college. Hope Shake gets better

[Rebel10]

First half was ugly - they weren't posting anyone up, they had one guy at the free throw line, everone else on the perimeter and nobody was driving. Just bad offense.

Second half the spacing was much better and we took them off the dribble. Opened up space on the perimeter and allowed us to use our athleticism on the boards.

Really using Shake, Sterling, Gu as combo guards. No true point. Could be interesting but will hurt us in close games with nobody taking over.

The might one of the few times that we have agreed on everything.

[LA_Mustang]

Jarrey needs to be in the starting lineup. Dude is a baller.

[Pony81]

I may be projecting Shake a bit but you can sure see the ability. He may not be an. NBA PG now but you can see a path. He will play in the league.
Semi and Shake together will be a load for any team.

[Rebel10]

Jarrey needs to be in the starting lineup. Dude is a baller.

Jarrey is definitely playing well.

[Rebel10]

Looking at Harvard play Stanford now. Stanford has major length at every position.

[JasonB]

Watching KU and IU, we lack quickness and inside size against the elite teams. The only player who looked quick was Foster. None of the 3 frosh looked ready to play at the college level, which is a huge concern. Hopefully they will smooth out by conference with experience, but Wilson has really skinny legs and Froling is not good at all defensively.

Two questions to be answered against good teams:
- Is our athleticism and length on the perimeter enough to allow us to play off the ball to both protect the inside and eliminate the speed dribble but still enable us to guard the 3.
- Is our size and athleticism enough to make up for the lack of speed when we try to dribble penetrate on offense. Can we muscle guys down into the paint to create space and then kick it out. It worked tonight in the second half; it will be interesting to see if it works against good teams.

I think we find out next week in NYC. That will be the difference between a team that goes a little over .500 in conference and one that can compete for the title.

[PonyLawExpress]

Sloppy First half. Better in the second. I agree with most of what everyone has said. Jarrey had the foul trouble, but has to play more he looks poised to take a big step forward this year. Semi looks like he is gonna be a monster. Sterling looked more aggressive. Not worried about Ben. Ben E played okay overall, his offense doesn't look much improved, but hustles and plays good D. Shake will be an NBA player a likely first rounder one day, not ready to be an NBA PG yet (maybe SG). Excited to see how him and Semi play this year. The Frosh looked like Frosh BIG time. Wilson impressed me the most (even though he made alot of mistakes) he looks like when he gets comfortable he will have a role on this team. Fro trying not to react to just one game, but he really needs to reshape his body and work on quickness in the offseason. He seemed to work harder as the game went on.

Got the win. Will have an interesting test with EMU on Sunday before heading to MSQ. 1-0. PonyUp!

[PonyUpPaula]

Game production isn't on it's game yet either

I agree. It was awful. The atmosphere was so quiet and boring. Also, that entrance video was not as exciting as in the past. My family and I usually have fun, but my kids were begging me to leave. Very disappointing. I would also suggest getting the football DJ. He is much better.

[Stallion]

actually although late arriving-it was probably one of the best attended November cakewalks in SMU History. Historically Texans don't pay attention to Basketball until January

[sadderbudweiser]

First half was ugly - they weren't posting anyone up, they had one guy at the free throw line, everone else on the perimeter and nobody was driving. Just bad offense.

Second half the spacing was much better and we took them off the dribble. Opened up space on the perimeter and allowed us to use our athleticism on the boards.

Really using Shake, Sterling, Gu as combo guards. No true point. Could be interesting but will hurt us in close games with nobody taking over.

Actually they WERE trying to post up but they could't get the ball inside. The turnovers were almost all bad passes from the outside in.

Defensively We made some good adjustments at halftime. It was a very good defensive game....except for Harry.... He looked glued to the floor on D.

I would have liked to see Deshawn for 5 minutes or so. I hope he doen't dissappear on the bench.

I liked what i saw from Ben E. He will be a key contributor.

Jarrey? He's going to be great. Nailed his free throws too! I like him off the bench but getting starter minutes.

Sterling was Sterling. Steady Eddie. Lve that guy.

Ben Moore? He has good games, bad games and great games. We need him to have ( at the very least) good games against the better teams.

Semi and Shake will be fine. I'm way more concerned about losing Semi to the NBA than Shake though.

[NastyStang]

Game production isn't on it's game yet either

I agree. It was awful. The atmosphere was so quiet and boring. Also, that entrance video was not as exciting as in the past. My family and I usually have fun, but my kids were begging me to leave. Very disappointing. I would also suggest getting the football DJ. He is much better.

We do need the football DJ and playlist. Hardly any music played - zero music during starting lineups was weird!

[Arkpony]

There was music?