A Word With ‘Coach Doh’

The Matt Doherty Era of SMU Men’s Basketball Enters Year Three

DALLAS – Head coach Matt Doherty sat down Monday to talk about the new season, his third at SMU, and the challenges facing the school as it attempts to become a winner. Thirteen of 14 players on this year’s squad are Doherty recruits, including 11 freshmen and sophomores.

SMU finished 10-20 overall last year, with a 4-12 C-USA mark, (eleventh).

The Mustangs opened on the road last Friday with a 60-46 loss at South Florida. The home opener is Friday against Houston Baptist.

Doherty’s overall head coaching record is 114-109, including stops at Notre Dame, where in 1999-00 he led the Irish to their best season in a decade, and North Carolina, where he led the Tar Heels to 26 wins and a share of the ACC title in 2000-01, earning Doherty AP National Coach of the Year honors.

Talk about the pressure to turn things around this year.

“I feel pressure every game. I want to play well. I want to win. But the reality of turning around a program is it takes three to five years. And the tough thing about this situation is they haven’t won consistently here in 25 years.”

“So, it’s easier to change the culture of players, but you’re talking about changing the culture of an institution, the community. And that takes time - from people understanding what it takes to support the program, and I’m not just talking financially. I’m talking about from a fan standpoint. That’s all part of it.”

“It’s easier to turn around a North Carolina. You’re going to recruit good players and it’ll take three to five years - if everything goes well. At North Carolina, that’s what it took. So, … here, reasonably, it may take longer because they [ North Carolina] have access to the best talent and they’ve got great fans and TV exposure and that kind of thing.
Where, here, OK, you can get really good players but it doesn’t mean we’re in the top three in the league.”

Center Bamba Fall is the lone senior on this year's squad.

What comes first? Winning or fan support?

“Well, you’d like to have both. I think that the students are the big key. They need to come out and support the program and then it will make it a lot easier because, like at Notre Dame, they didn’t have great support there when I first got there because they had lost for awhile. But the students really came out and we ended up winning 22 games that first year.”

“Here, I’m not recruiting … first-team All Americans, McDonald All-Americans – yet. So, we’re improved but it doesn’t mean we’re going to definitely beat Stephen F. Austin or Alabama State or TCU. So I think that’s the difference. Yeah, you can be building it, but it’s a lot different when you’re building it at Notre Dame or North Carolina than building it here, right now, because the players we’d get at Notre Dame or North Carolina are McDonald All-Americans, so you’re going to be better that 75 percent of the Division I schools.”

“Here, OK, we’ve improved our talent level, but it doesn’t mean we’re better than 50 percent of the schools out there.”

What have you learned about SMU basketball that you didn’t know when you took the job?

“Well, I think that there is a rich basketball tradition here. Jim Krebs and Max Williams and the teams with Denny Holman in the sixties. They went to the Final Four, won three straight Southwest Conference championships. So there’s a rich tradition - with [former head coach] Doc Hayes - and there’s a proud tradition.

Can SMU be a premier program?

“I think so. I think that we have the facilities. We have a great campus. We have a great school. I think that we have a lot of things in place. … I think that is the vision of me and Steve Orsini, yes, but that takes time and there’s a lot things that have to go right.”

What will you be concentrating on this week?

“Boxing-out and rebounding. I think that was the thing that got us most in South Florida. … We got beat on the boards. In the first half we gave up 14 offensive rebounds. That’s probably the biggest thing. [Also] ball pressure. We want to put a little more pressure on the basketball.”

What about SMU’s 28-percent shooting at South Florida?

“I’m not that concerned. I think we’ve got decent shooters. Do we have great shooters? We have one great shooter [Robert Nyakundi]. We have other good shooters. I think that was probably more of a function of some execution, than it was of our ability to shoot the ball. I think we need to set better screens and cut better.”

Newcomer guards Derek Williams, a JC transfer, and Paul McCoy, a true freshman, each got 35-plus minutes at USF and were your leading scorers, with 13 and 10 points, respectively. Your thoughts?

“They looked very comfortable out there. They’re both very good players. … They’re talented kids. That’s a good back-court, right there.”

Why did freshman Frank Otis start at forward in place of returning starter Papa Dia?

“‘Pop’ hasn’t played well lately and he needs to play better. He needs to do the little things, set screens, rebound, defend in the post and make shots in the post. So, he has not performed to the level of my expectation. Until he does that, he’ll probably continue to come off the bench.”

Head coach Matt Doherty says building a winner at SMU will take time.

Will you continue to make frequent substitutions until narrowing to a core group?

“I think we can play ten guys. It’s hard to play ten guys. I’m probably more comfortable playing nine guys. … Eight and nine is easier, just because you have a post-sub, you have a wing-sub, you have point-guard sub.”

“But we can go ten-deep. And, hopefully, that’ll come to help us this weekend with three games in three days.”

Ideally, where would you like your points to come from?

“I’d like to have them all over and that’s the thing that I was a little disappointed in [at USF] with Bamba and Papa. They need to score better inside. South Florida was physical and they need to respond to that better.”

Any chance of ever putting any weight on the slim, 7-1 Fall?

“You can’t put weight on Bamba because he just is so skinny. He’s got narrow shoulders and narrow hips. He’s gotten to a high of 223. He’s probably at about 218 right now. But you’re going to see Bamba when he’s 40 and 50 years old and he’s going to look like he does right now.”

How have your six returning veterans, Fall, Dia, Mike Walker, Ryan Harp, Alex Malone and Tomasz Kwiatkowski shown leadership with the new players?

“That’s the biggest concern.”

“Bamba is the elder statesman, but Bamba’s not the best leader because he’s so quiet. And he needs to do things better. People are going to follow guys … like [graduated team captain] Jon Killen, who were very good leaders and did everything the way we wanted as a coach.”

“Right now, the leadership role is kind of up in the air. And it’s coming from, probably, me more than any of the players. I hope that someone can step forward and be that leader that we’re looking for.”

Are you still looking to flip last year’s 10-20 record to 20-10, as you mentioned at last spring’s basketball banquet?

“Of course. Yeah, that’s a goal now. … Is it realistic? I don’t know. We’ll see. But I’ve got to push my team and stretch my team. It sure won’t be a reality if we don’t make it a goal.”

“But we may be a better team and our record may not reflect it. This year, I think our [schedule’s] tougher. … We’re [playing] at South Florida, at Northwestern, at Texas A&M, at TCU, Illinois State at home, which was a Top 25 team last year. … So our schedule’s tougher, plus our league schedule is tougher than last year. I think our league’s better.”

Have you seen toughness from the Mustangs so far?

“I did in our Texas Tech scrimmage. I didn’t see it in our South Florida game and that’s probably why I’m disappointed.”

Would your perfect team be tough and hard-nosed or smart and efficient?

“Both.” (laughing)

“Without toughness, you’re not going to be a good team. You could be a smart team, but if you’re not tough, you’re not going to be a good team. You could be a dumb team that’s tough and you’ll have a chance. So, I guess if you give me the choice, I’d rather be tough than smart because, at the end of the day, it’s got to come down to holding your position, boxing-out, rebounding, getting loose balls.”

Returning players for SMU

• Bamba Fall (7-1, 218), SR, Center
• Ryan Harp (6-4, 195), SO, Guard
• Papa Dia (6-9, 235), SO, Forward
• Mike Walker (6-1, 195), SO, Guard
• Tomasz Kwiatkowski (7-1, 250), SO, Center
• Alex Malone (6-8, 202), SO, Guard/Forward
• Robert Nyakundi (6-8, 220), FR-RS, Forward

Joins team in January

• Mouhammad Faye (6-9, 215), JR-TR, Forward

Newcomers for SMU

• Derek Williams (6-1, 170), JR-JC, Guard
• Paul McCoy (5-11, 175), FR-HS, Guard
• Frank Otis (6-6, 225), FR-HS, Forward
• Cort Hoge (6-10, 245), FR-HS, Forward
• Ryan Maag (6-0, 170), FR-HS, Guard
• Justin Haynes (6-5, 192), FR-HS, Guard/Forward

Starting lineup at South Florida: Harp G, Williams G, McCoy G, Fall C and Otis F.

SMU Opponents at this weekend’s Tip-off Classic at Moody Coliseum:

• Friday, November 21 – Houston Baptist, 7:30 p.m. CT
• Saturday, November 22 – Alabama State, 7:30 p.m. CT
• Sunday, November 23 – Illinois State, 7:30 p.m. CT