SMU has uphill battle in the WAC

Rebels at SMU

When: Thursday, 5:35 p.m.

Where: Moody Coliseum, Dallas

TV: KFBT, Channel 6

Radio: KXNT, 840 AM

It started long before the season began when the star guard broke his foot. And it has been uphill ever since.

The incline seems to only get steeper for Southern Methodist's basketball team. The challenge to coach Mike Dement is to keep his players' faith, that all is not lost despite an 0-3 start in the WAC Mountain Division and a 6-10 overall record.

"It's hard," Dement said from Dallas, where his Mustangs will host red-hot UNLV at Moody Coliseum on Thursday. "You try to find the positives and look to build on them. I try to tell them that every game is an opportunity to start building something."

SMU has yet to find a rhythm. The team, which was searching for a replacement for departed senior center Jay Poerner, had to start the season without point guard Stephen Woods. The 6-foot junior broke his right foot before the season and missed the first three games.

Then the Mustangs got Woods back, but lost freshman forward Mike Niemi to a broken hand shortly after Woods' return. Compounding the problem was swingman Willie Davis and a couple of others breaking team rules, forcing Dement to bench or suspend the violators. That caused a setback in the team's continuity.

Throw in that SMU has struggled shooting the ball all season and has been prone to turnovers, and the team hasn't given itself an opportunity to play itself out of its struggles.

"We've been out of sync the whole time," Dement said. "We started our non-ability to shoot against Stanford (in the preseason NIT). We haven't taken good shots. We miss Jay's offense. He could shoot threes and score inside and that's something our freshmen haven't been able to give us, though they've done a good job giving us more defensively, rebounding and blocking shots.

"We've been through a lot. But the easiest thing to do when you struggle is to give up. In this division, everybody is going to beat each other. If you can hang around a little and get a win or two, we can get back in it."

To that end, Dement talks to his team about last year's UNLV squad, a team which struggled to find its chemistry. But once the Rebels did in early February, they carried the momentum all the way to the NCAA Tournament.

"Vegas is a great example of what it means to not give up on the season," Dement said. "They had their problems. But they kept working hard and never gave up and they were rewarded.

"We talk to our kids about staying together and working hard and being unselfish and looking for each other."

UNLV coach Bill Bayno knows that scenario all too well. He knows the Mustangs have talent and they're not far from putting things together.

"They're a dangerous team," he said. "You look at the record and you might believe they're not very good. But they played TCU tough at their place and they went on the road last week and had a chance to win both games.

"Woods is back and (Jeryl) Sasser is one of the best players in the league. Those two play well together and they're as good a combo as any in the entire WAC. They've got guys like (Chad) Elsey who can shoot it and Davis is a great athlete."

Despite being mired in a slump, Elsey, a 6-7 sophomore, is averaging 15.3 points. Davis is averaging 12.5 points and 5.7 rebounds and Sasser, who has led the team in scoring from day one, is averaging just under 18.

Still, with such a young team, it remains a struggle. SMU has nine underclassmen in its program and it's basically on-the-job training for people such as starting center Nigel Smith, forward DeWayne Floyd and guard Damon Hancock.

The trio of freshmen, along with sophomore transfer Renaldo Bratton, who came to Dallas from Louisiana State, represent the program's future. But the present has been a rough ride.

Dement's job is to get his youngsters to make progress, even if the reward still awaits.

archive