Basketball Expectations

[BB30]

What do yall expect out of our basketball team this year? With football the way it is I am really looking forward to basketball season getting here. I know we will be fairly young but it will be nice to watch an energetic young group hopefully start to gel as the season goes along.

[Thick]

Fun to watch, tons of athleticism, mistakes from being young, and maybe a run for the little dance. Regardless of how you slice it, we should pack the Hump for every home game, and support the hell out of Howland and this team!

[lamont]

NIT berth- NCAA Bubble

[KentuckyDawg13]

I know a lot of here are hoping for NIT and think NCAA is a pipe-dream, but this team is loaded. I am thinking 3rd in the SEC and NCAA birth.

Our guard play is really strong, and we actually have players taller than 6'8". The post is still our weakness, but that will not be prevalent until we play UK.

Also, I am 500 miles away from Starkville, so I have to watch most games on the television. If the home crowd is not supportive this season as it has been for the past few years, they should lose their seats. Give them to someone that wants to be there. It is downright embarrassing watching on television with all the empty seats. This team has the potential to make some serious noise this year, support them.

Living in basketball country, I am soooo looking forward to MSU having a team again.

[vv83]

I also don't see why we can't make the big dance. Teams do it every year with young well coached teams. I think we have a coach who knows how to handle young talent and maximize it

[shannondawg]

If only we don't get discouraged early as they are so young give them time to get adjusted to the faster play and for goodness sake attend the early games if you can.

[civildawg]

What do you mean give them to someone that wants to be there? They arent sold out. Anyone that wants to be there can buy season tickets right now.

[dawgfan22]

NIT at the very least. Could possibly make the tourney. This year is going to be exciting but 2017-2018 could be THE year.

[WSOPdawg]

I would settle for making a run at the top-5 in the SEC for this season (but can see a few lucky bounces propelling us to just behind UK and aTm). But the next year (2017-18), I feel we really begin to ascend to the Big Dance.

[pilldawg]

I would settle for making a run at the top-5 in the SEC for this season (but can see a few lucky bounces propelling us to just behind UK and aTm). But the next year (2017-18), I feel we really begin to ascend to the Big Dance.

NIT - This team is younger than the Calipari Kentucky team that didn't make the big dance a couple of years back.

[smootness]

NIT - This team is younger than the Calipari Kentucky team that didn't make the big dance a couple of years back.

Right. It's fine to think we may have a shot at competing for the Tournament. But these guys have mostly never played at this level before, so it's hard to have any expectations. My expectation is to have fun watching them and to go through some ups and downs but ultimately be a quality team. That's about it.

[msbulldog]

Hey I'm just gonna have fun watching these youngsters.

[drummerdawg]

NIT. If we stay healthy, I think we improve as a team as the season goes along and by the time the SECT comes around I think we'll be a tough out for anybody.

[Dawg-gone-dawgs]

I am going to make a VERY bold statement but since our OOC schedule is not great, I am going to do it. We will be undefeated going into SEC play.

[KentuckyDawg13]

What do you mean give them to someone that wants to be there? They arent sold out. Anyone that wants to be there can buy season tickets right now.

..

[smootness]

I am going to make a VERY bold statement but since our OOC schedule is not great, I am going to do it. We will be undefeated going into SEC play.

Not impossible, but it's probably going to be tough since if we win the first 2 games in Charleston, we're likely going to play Villanova, or at least someone who beat Villanova.

[BayouDawg]

I'm thinking it's gonna be similar to the 06-07 team. A lot of youth but very talented. I don't know much about the rest of the SEC right now but I think we can finish in the top half and possible the top 5. NIT/bubble team.

[preachermatt83]

Bubble team.. we will get better as the year progresses. If we are in the NIT we will make a ton of noise.

[JohnnyQuid]

What do yall expect out of our basketball team this year? With football the way it is I am really looking forward to basketball season getting here. I know we will be fairly young but it will be nice to watch an energetic young group hopefully start to gel as the season goes along.

fun. mistakes. fun. more mistakes. beating teams we shouldn't and having fun.

I follow some of these guys on twitter and their attitude / friendship is a trait I haven't seen in a long time for us. we're young I have tempered expectations - but god it's nice to be excited

[jumbo]

~20 wins. NIT and NCAA bubble.


Next season though...

[MarketingBully]

NIT with outside chance of NCAA tournament. 20+ wins and 11+ wins in the SEC. I'm also going to call that we either upset one of the two following teams UK or Villanova. I believe we face UK at The Hump. If so, we better have The Hump rocking. We need to sell out our venue and make it a home court advantage again. I will be very disappointed if we don't average 9k+ fans this year. The fans have to do their part and support this team.

[trob115]

21 wins , NIT. I will not be surprised though if we end up making the NCAA tourney though. I actually wouldn't be surprised to see us make noise in the SEC this year. I could see us finishing top 4 if our front court comes together.

[MarketingBully]

I think the key this year also will be our bench production. To me, that is what killed us last year. We had many games where Fred Thomas, Johnny Z, and Travis Daniels combined gave us less then 5 points or no points whatsoever. If we had gotten even marginal production from them consistently last year, we would have won 18-20 games. This year the bench should be much much more talented and by default should be able to provide us much better production.

[Liverpooldawg]

None at all. There are way too many newcomers to have any real idea what they will do. I'll wait till I see them a few times.

[MarketingBully]

None at all. There are way too many newcomers to have any real idea what they will do. I'll wait till I see them a few times.

You can have some idea based on what people have said they looked like in practice and the team chemistry so far which has been outstanding. I watched what I could of the Italy trip on periscope and from what I saw we have an extremely talented team that can really shoot the basketball. We will have legit three point shooters at positions 1-4 on the floor. We will have a very deep bench and despite what some say on here we will have a pretty good front court even though the guards are the strength of this team. If the NCAA rules Ado eligible this year, we could be anywhere from a 5 to an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament this year. My expectations above were based on not having Ado. Overall though, this will be a great team to watch. I think Tyson Carter emerges as one of our top freshmen this year and has a chance to make the All-SEC team like Q did last year.

[Liverpooldawg]

You can have some idea based on what people have said they looked like in practice and the team chemistry so far which has been outstanding. I watched what I could of the Italy trip on periscope and from what I saw we have an extremely talented team that can really shoot the basketball. We will have legit three point shooters at positions 1-4 on the floor. We will have a very deep bench and despite what some say on here we will have a pretty good front court even though the guards are the strength of this team. If the NCAA rules Ado eligible this year, we could be anywhere from a 5 to an 8 seed in the NCAA tournament this year. My expectations above were based on not having Ado. Overall though, this will be a great team to watch. I think Tyson Carter emerges as one of our top freshmen this year and has a chance to make the All-SEC team like Q did last year.

I'll wait till I see them in NCAA competition before I form any expectations. Potential means you haven't done it yet.

[MCsMGs]

As for the fans supporting this team, when I got to pick my seats for my season tix yesterday, the entire bottom was sold out except a few singles here and there...last three years I have had pretty decent seats in the lower level. Obviously fan interest is up! Looks like I'm gonna have to invest some more money before the next reseat comes around...