How Larry Brown put SMU and big game in same headline
Mike DeCourcy Sporting News
SMU is playing a big basketball game Saturday.
If you want to take a moment and gather your thoughts after reading that first sentence, we’ll understand. It’s a lot to process.
The SMU Mustangs, absent from the NCAA Tournament for more than two decades, take an 18-5 record and third-place standing in the American Athletic Conference into a 7:30 p.m. ET home game against No. 7 Cincinnati that will be televised on ESPNU.
That SMU basketball is this good is no particular surprise given that it is coached by the great Larry Brown, a Hall of Famer and one of the game's true geniuses. But for the Mustangs (7-3 AAC) to get this good this fast is shocking. It’s hard to believe he’s only been the coach two seasons.
“I’m thrilled for the school,” Brown told Sporting News. “When I came here, I was hopeful we could be special right away. It’s changed quicker than I guess we thought, but you still want more. You want your kids still to get better. The opportunity to play Cincinnati, Connecticut, Memphis, Louisville—that makes you have to be better. I think we’re all excited, but you want more.”
It's hard to say whether this is the biggest regular-season basketball game in SMU's recent history because, well, who really remembers SMU's basketball history. There's Jon Koncak, that fluky slowdown in the NCAA Tournament against Georgetown and Patrick Ewing and, well, a lot of empty seats.
Brown admits when Temple came to town Thursday, it was hard to convince fans the Mustangs had a home game. "Everybody thought our next game was Cincinnati," he said.
A year ago, the Mustangs were 15-17, their seventh losing season in the previous eight years. There won’t be another this time around, but there might be an NCAA Tournament bid. The Mustangs are 26th in the Pomeroy ratings and 49th in the RPI, with quality wins over Connecticut and Memphis and opportunities for more still to come against each of the American’s high-level teams.
That starts with the Bearcats (22-2, 11-0) who are on a 15-game winning streak, with star guard Sean Kilpatrick averaging 25.3 points over his past four games.
The Mustangs struggled to score in games against major opponents early in the season, getting only 55 against Texas A&M, 57 against Cincinnati and 63 against Louisville. They often took tough, quick shots that undermined the attack and left the defense vulnerable.
“I’ve never been a real good offensive coach. I’m tough on kids, and I’m trying to do a better job,” Brown said. “I harp on good shots so much that early in the year kids are looking at the bench and wondering: Good shot? Bad shot? When we struggle early, it’s because of what I’m asking them to do.
“We talk about all the time: We’ve got to keep people from getting easy baskets, and you don’t do that by taking bad shots. There’s a fine line there. I think they have a better understanding of good shot/bad shot.”
In victories over Temple and Memphis, the Mustangs were extremely effective on offense, converting 56 percent of their field goal attempts. Big man Markus Kennedy, a transfer from Villanova, dominated inside with 16-of-19 shooting and averages of 17.5 points and 12 rebounds in the two games.
“When we defend and rebound and share the ball, that’s when we play the best,” Brown said. “We’re playing against a team that does that better than anybody right now. They defend and rebound, make it difficult for people to score.
“I just admire the way they play. It’s going to be fun for us.”
http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketb...ll-of-fame
/
How Larry Brown put SMU and big game in same headline
