Just for the Record

[shannondawg]

With so many assurances that Ray would be getting at least one more year and probably two from our esteemed posters that are always in the know. I have yet to see anyone that is unhappy with the outcome of yesterday's firing.
Am I missing any?

I received an article in an email on Ben Howland. In reading it, the old saying 17 ups makes the best teacher comes to mind. Maybe that ain't the exact saying, but has certainly proven to be true for me.

In case some on you haven't seen it. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2015/02/21/college-basketball-former-ucla-coach-ben-howland/23569565/ I really didn't register the name when it was floating around but it gives a pretty good idea as who he is and what he's been through.

For what its worth, I believe Scott will make a lot better choice this time around, if nothing but the old saying above guides him...

[msstate7]

I supported ray here when hardly anyone else did, but I think this was the right move.

Are you for or against howland?

[shannondawg]

I wouldn't be against him. But I don't spend any energy or time deciding who our next coach will be. Above my pay grade.

Meaning to say I was just passing the article along since it was handy.

[rabbitthedawg]

I'm one who thought Stans should have had one more year to straighten thing out. Cancelled my season tickets and haven't been to the Hump since. Nothing against Rick Ray, just said "screw it." If we get a Ben Howland or equivalent, then I'll be back. Counting on our athletic director to do the right thing this time.

[Bully13]

there is a slight chance or maybe even better that 34 was receiving good info on ray coming back. then a guy like Howland gets contacted by someone (maybe stricklin, maybe someone else) or maybe an agent who knows somebody at MSU reached out to us. then everything changed. who knows, maybe Howland gets announced next week. I would be happy with that and not totally shocked.

[Thrill1]

Coach's info was correct. Ray was coming back as early as middle of the week. Scott wasn't happy with season but have no impression to my friend that he would make a move. Obviously things (interpret that how you want) changed from Thursday to Saturday morning, culminating with the end year evaluation. RR gave SS no reason not to make a move. Yes Scott has a list and already has mutual interest from agents. Have no idea who they are. Will share more when I find out.

I will add I sent Scott an email thanking him for making a tough decision, and within 30 minutes I got a reply, saying it's not something he enjoyed doing, but "felt it was necessary in this case." He added that we must make the Hump a home court advantage again. I gained a lot more respect for Scott and the job he's doing and trying to get done.

[I seen it dawg]

I'm one who thought Stans should have had one more year to straighten thing out. Cancelled my season tickets and haven't been to the Hump since. Nothing against Rick Ray, just said "screw it." If we get a Ben Howland or equivalent, then I'll be back. Counting on our athletic director to do the right thing this time.

And this is what the problem is. Some of you people are incapable of just being "MSU" because you got your feelings hurt because of a hiring or firing. I thought Ray sucked and would fail from Day 1 but I got behind it because I'm a Bulldog first, a coach lover/hater 2nd. A lot of you ****ers need to get your priorities straight. If you can't, keep your mouth ****ing closed and your wallet open.

[mic]

And this is what the problem is. Some of you people are incapable of just being "MSU" because you got your feelings hurt because of a hiring or firing. I thought Ray sucked and would fail from Day 1 but I got behind it because I'm a Bulldog first, a coach lover/hater 2nd. A lot of you ****ers need to get your priorities straight. If you can't, keep your mouth ****ing closed and your wallet open.

Damn you beat me too it...
But basically yeah don't come back....

[coastdoglover]

There are several good coaches we can get, including the Stephen Austin head coach, but just remember, the person who started this board was the biggest coach hater in the history of MSU. His ego runs everything he posts. I agree with you, folks need to get behind the new coach and support the team. However, I will add this, the new coach and his staff need to reach out to all MSU supporters and our last one did not. It ultimately proved to be an unwise decision.



And this is what the problem is. Some of you people are incapable of just being "MSU" because you got your feelings hurt because of a hiring or firing. I thought Ray sucked and would fail from Day 1 but I got behind it because I'm a Bulldog first, a coach lover/hater 2nd. A lot of you ****ers need to get your priorities straight. If you can't, keep your mouth ****ing closed and your wallet open.

[Coach34]

There are several good coaches we can get, including the Stephen Austin head coach, but just remember, the person who started this board was the biggest coach hater in the history of MSU. His ego runs everything he posts. I agree with you, folks need to get behind the new coach and support the team. However, I will add this, the new coach and his staff need to reach out to all MSU supporters and our last one did not. It ultimately proved to be an unwise decision.

there is a huge difference in being critical of the problems in the basketball program- and just giving up your season tickets because we made a coaching change. Had Stands addressed some of the things I was critical of- he would have never lost his job.

The firing was necessary. The replacement wasn't the correct hire. His failure to bring in more talent cost him his job. Now we'll see what the next guy brings to the table

[engie]

There are several good coaches we can get, including the Stephen Austin head coach...i agree with you, folks need to get behind the new coach and support the team. However, I will add this, the new coach and his staff need to reach out to all MSU supporters and our last one did not. It ultimately proved to be an unwise decision.

Agreed with this... This will give us a good early indication if we make a wise hire or not. If the next guy is going to be the "right" guy, he should be reaching out to a bunch of you before the ink on his contract is dry.

[maroonmania]

I was hesitant about getting rid of Stans (much moreso than when we fired Sherrill or got Polk II to resign) because I had no doubt we could do worse and feared we might, which we did. But given things had slid Stans' last few years and the ongoing drama within the program I was accepting that the move was made. That said, I had NO CLUE why of all the people out there we hired a no-name like Rick Ray from a below average basketball program but I was willing to give him a chance if SS and MK believed he was the man for the job. And I was supportive his first 2 years though I could already see he was a below average recruiter for the area he had to recruit in because I did want to give him a fair chance. BUT, this year he totally lost me, because with a near full roster of players (something he didn't have the first 2 years) and as much experience returning in the starting lineup as anyone in the SEC, he still put out a garbage product. Just no excuse for that. And I would have even forgiven the slide in December, given the recovery of Sword and Ready, had we played close to .500 in the SEC and finished strong. We did neither. Losing to SC and Auburn at the end was just adding insult to injury and pairing that with the total lack of progress on developing ANY semblance of an offensive scheme in our program I felt it was definitely time even though I was too convinced that SS was going to waste another year on the RR experiment. At this stage I'm glad we are moving on.

[KB21]

I was hesitant about getting rid of Stans (much moreso than when we fired Sherrill or got Polk II to resign) because I had no doubt we could do worse and feared we might, which we did. But given things had slid Stans' last few years and the ongoing drama within the program I was accepting that the move was made. That said, I had NO CLUE why of all the people out there we hired a no-name like Rick Ray from a below average basketball program but I was willing to give him a chance if SS and MK believed he was the man for the job. And I was supportive his first 2 years though I could already see he was a below average recruiter for the area he had to recruit in because I did want to give him a fair chance. BUT, this year he totally lost me, because with a near full roster of players (something he didn't have the first 2 years) and as much experience returning in the starting lineup as anyone in the SEC, he still put out a garbage product. Just no excuse for that. And I would have even forgiven the slide in December, given the recovery of Sword and Ready, had we played close to .500 in the SEC and finished strong. We did neither. Losing to SC and Auburn at the end was just adding insult to injury and pairing that with the total lack of progress on developing ANY semblance of an offensive scheme in our program I felt it was definitely time even though I was too convinced that SS was going to waste another year on the RR experiment. At this stage I'm glad we are moving on.

I'm one that believes Stansbury was fired 3 years too late. The deterioration of the program due to poor character, me first players, and poor overall work ethic along with a coach that couldn't coach himself out of a wet paper sack started before that infamous fight in the stands. When team first players Ben Hansbrough and Romero Osby are transferring out, there is an issue.

Rick Ray came into a no win situation. The program was at rock bottom and needed to be rebuilt from scratch. Three years in, Ray had cleaned the program up but had not made the inroads needed in recruiting to build up the talent level of the program. IMO, I don't believe there is a coach that would have done much better than Rick given the situation. This situation was similar to the Baylor situation that Scott Drew inherited. The difference is, Scott Drew was experienced but also got a chance to build things back up.

Rick Ray didn't have the "name" to be given that chance though.

[MabenMaroon]

I was hesitant about getting rid of Stans (much moreso than when we fired Sherrill or got Polk II to resign) because I had no doubt we could do worse and feared we might, which we did. But given things had slid Stans' last few years and the ongoing drama within the program I was accepting that the move was made. That said, I had NO CLUE why of all the people out there we hired a no-name like Rick Ray from a below average basketball program but I was willing to give him a chance if SS and MK believed he was the man for the job. And I was supportive his first 2 years though I could already see he was a below average recruiter for the area he had to recruit in because I did want to give him a fair chance. BUT, this year he totally lost me, because with a near full roster of players (something he didn't have the first 2 years) and as much experience returning in the starting lineup as anyone in the SEC, he still put out a garbage product. Just no excuse for that. And I would have even forgiven the slide in December, given the recovery of Sword and Ready, had we played close to .500 in the SEC and finished strong. We did neither. Losing to SC and Auburn at the end was just adding insult to injury and pairing that with the total lack of progress on developing ANY semblance of an offensive scheme in our program I felt it was definitely time even though I was too convinced that SS was going to waste another year on the RR experiment. At this stage I'm glad we are moving on.

Gotta concur completely with this post. I too, am extremely disappointed that Coach Ray didn't work out, but saw the writing on the wall about mid-ways through the second season. Didn't have the horses to compete with the upper half of the conference and only appeared to have one or two SEC type players on the horizon interested. Coach Ray seemed like a genuinely good man and appeared to be giving the 110% effort but it was becoming more and more apparent that he lacked the in-game coaching skills to win even if he had better players. Glad we can now turn the page and start writing a new script.