Anyone else notice Rodney Hood was named Captain?

[Statefan]

How does that happen??

[hailmari]

He's a good player and aside from how he left us hanging, he is a good guy.

[Coach34]

that's surprising- is he still hurt or is he ready to go this year?

[TheRef]

that's surprising- is he still hurt or is he ready to go this year?

He's good to play this year. Has been practicing regularly with the team. He's a good guy. Good leader.

[Coach34]

I dont have any ill will toward Hood. I hope he does well.

[Statefan]

I agree with Coach, no ill will towards him at all.

BUT it's painful to think he has left here and gone on to become one of the better leaders and players for Duke. I know Rick Ray tried hard to keep him but the damage was done at that point

[bocfarm]

Be interesting to see how much playing time he gets with the other 5star players they have at SF

[War Machine Dawg]

I dont have any ill will toward Hood. I hope he does well.

I'm sorry, but I can't agree with this. If you love State so much, and are supposedly a lifelong State fan, how do you bail when you're set to be the star of the team? Especially when you're getting a new coach, which is what you wanted/needed? Say what you will, but Hood acted like just another hoops "supahstah" who puts "I" before "we." I can barely even watch basketball at any level anymore because of that mindset.

[MarketingBully01]

I agree, had he stayed at MSU and played 1 more year he would be in the NBA already similar to the UGA player that was a lottery pick. He could have definitely helped us last year but didn't and bailed.

[chef dixon]

Anyone who has watched him play should know that Hood is just flat out really that good at basketball. He's extremely versatile on the court, and seemed like a nice kid. I hate to say it, but this guy is going to be a beast on that Duke team. He kind of burnt out near the end of his freshman year in a toxic situation. All reports out of Duke practice is that the team is Parker and Hood, then everybody else.

[MadDawg]

He could have definitely helped us last year but didn't and bailed.

He felt like MSU bailed on his when they fired his coach. Look, this kind of crap happens all the time when you have coaching turnover. The powers that be thought getting a new coach was worth whatever it cost, so don't bitch about it now.

[smootness]

I'm sorry, but I can't agree with this. If you love State so much, and are supposedly a lifelong State fan, how do you bail when you're set to be the star of the team? Especially when you're getting a new coach, which is what you wanted/needed? Say what you will, but Hood acted like just another hoops "supahstah" who puts "I" before "we." I can barely even watch basketball at any level anymore because of that mindset.

Everyone is about 'I' when choosing who the 'we' is going to be.

If everyone else quit at your job, and you knew the company was due to take a serious hit, would you put 'we' above 'I' and stick it out, even if it might not be the best decision for you personally, and you had a chance to move on to somewhere better for you?

Of course you wouldn't. There was no 'we' to Rodney Hood except that he was on the Mississippi State team; once he had a chance to make the 'we' Duke, he did. I'm sure he is all about Duke's team right now, just like he was probably all about State's team his one year here. That's all you can ask. You can't ask him to become so invested in being a fan of Mississippi State that he puts the basketball program's interests above his own. That's kind of crazy.

[tcdog70]

It is just as much on Rick Ray as it is Rodney.

[smootness]

It is just as much on Rick Ray as it is Rodney.

You've got to be kidding me.

[fishwater99]

Good for him. I hope he has a great year at Duke and wins the NCAAT...

[msstate7]

I don't care for him, but don't hate him. If he did what was best for him which was leave us for someone else. Why the hard feelings toward cj Johnson? At least cj never came here then abandoned us. Cj gave us a chance to replace him.

[Irondawg]

So to open back up the argument a bit - the toxic situation was the result of "his" coaches administrative skills. So he was unhappy with the sitatuion "his" coach had presented him with. So if we had kept his coach - what was the expected change? Just no more Bost/Sidney/moultrie? I have no clue what happened and while i don't want to hold any ill will i do. At some point I want MSU to be the kind of school that is the "better situation" and it's hard to do that if we always understand why the guys that could put you on the map go somewhere else.

I mean look what RK did for OM in football - they are media darlings now just b/c he chose OM and it helped get several other guys.

Let's say Hood stayed - maybe we fight for an NIT bid. Maybe he has some connection to a 4 or 5-star player that he helps land. Now it's year 2 and Rick Ray is looking at possible NCAA bubble and maybe we're getting the media love. Maybe that media love helps with Newman and in 4 years we've got two NBA level players through the program and getting some good media attention.

[smootness]

I don't care for him, but don't hate him. If he did what was best for him which was leave us for someone else. Why the hard feelings toward cj Johnson? At least cj never came here then abandoned us. Cj gave us a chance to replace him.

A few reasons:

1) CJ never showed up; he said he would, then he didn't. Hood fulfilled his one-year scholarship that he signed.
2) CJ spoke poorly of State and its fans. Hood never said a word.
3) Everyone assumes things didn't go down well with CJ, that he took the money and split. Hood just made a decision he felt was better for him.
4) And I think it's easy to see Hood's rationale. He came, he showed up and played for us, and played very well; but he was put on a team with a bunch of douches and saw that the inmates ran the asylum. He also saw that last year was going to be terrible, and it was. It's far easier not to fault Hood; he came, gave it his all while he was here, and we didn't give him much to work with. CJ just never showed up.

I keep using the example of a company, but I think it's relevant. Imagine one person agreed to a position with a company, so the company assumed they had the spot filled, and then a couple of days before starting, he backed out and poor-mouthed the company.

Then another person agreed to a position with the company and actually showed up; he worked hard for a year and gave everything he had to the company, but soon realized other employees were allowed to show up whenever they wanted, slack off, and generally do what they wanted. The company suffered, so they brought in someone new, with little experience, and asked the employee to buy in, even though things would be rough for a while. He was offered a position with a better company and took it.

Who do you think the company would look upon more favorably?

[msstate7]

A few reasons:

1) CJ never showed up; he said he would, then he didn't. Hood fulfilled his one-year scholarship that he signed.
2) CJ spoke poorly of State and its fans. Hood never said a word.
3) Everyone assumes things didn't go down well with CJ, that he took the money and split. Hood just made a decision he felt was better for him.
4) And I think it's easy to see Hood's rationale. He came, he showed up and played for us, and played very well; but he was put on a team with a bunch of douches and saw that the inmates ran the asylum. He also saw that last year was going to be terrible, and it was. It's far easier not to fault Hood; he came, gave it his all while he was here, and we didn't give him much to work with. CJ just never showed up.

I keep using the example of a company, but I think it's relevant. Imagine one person agreed to a position with a company, so the company assumed they had the spot filled, and then a couple of days before starting, he backed out and poor-mouthed the company.

Then another person agreed to a position with the company and actually showed up; he worked hard for a year and gave everything he had to the company, but soon realized other employees were allowed to show up whenever they wanted, slack off, and generally do what they wanted. The company suffered, so they brought in someone new, with little experience, and asked the employee to buy in, even though things would be rough for a while. He was offered a position with a better company and took it.

Who do you think the company would look upon more favorably?

Well a huge part of why the company suffered is bc it's best employee split on it.

If You're listening God, please let us make the tourney and send me hood home in the next 2 years. That would be justice IMO.

[smootness]

Well a huge part of why the company suffered is bc it's best employee split on it.

Not really, we were going to be bad last year whether he stayed or not. He may have gotten us to 13 or 14 wins.

[msstate7]

Not really, we were going to be bad last year whether he stayed or not. He may have gotten us to 13 or 14 wins.

We would've beaten Troy, Loyola Chicago, Alabama a&m, aTm, lsu x2, bama, and USCe. That would've changed us from 10-22 (4-14) to 18-14 (9-9). Pretty big difference.

[msstate7]

We would've beaten Troy, Loyola Chicago, Alabama a&m, aTm, lsu x2, bama, and USCe. That would've changed us from 10-22 (4-14) to 18-14 (9-9). Pretty big difference.

How much easier would've recruiting been?

[smootness]

We would've beaten Troy, Loyola Chicago, Alabama a&m, aTm, lsu x2, bama, and USCe. That would've changed us from 10-22 (4-14) to 18-14 (9-9). Pretty big difference.

That's a whole lot of assumptions. Our team was bad last year; it would have just been a bad team with one good player, basically what UGA was.

You literally just took every single-digit loss (and one 12-point loss) and assumed a win by adding Rodney Hood. That's insane, you can't do that in sports. Again, we probably would have won a few more OOC games and still been terrible. It really wouldn't have made much of a difference.

There is no way a roster of Hood, Bloodman, Sword, Thomas, Ware, Borchert, R. Johnson, and Cunningham wins a lot of games.

[msstate7]

That's a whole lot of assumptions. Our team was bad last year; it would have just been a bad team with one good player, basically what UGA was.

You literally just took every single-digit loss (and one 12-point loss) and assumed a win by adding Rodney Hood. That's insane, you can't do that in sports. Again, we probably would have won a few more OOC games and still been terrible. It really wouldn't have made much of a difference.

There is no way a roster of Hood, Bloodman, Sword, Thomas, Ware, Borchert, R. Johnson, and Cunningham wins a lot of games.
Did you watch the lsu, aTm, bama, USCe games? We ran completely out of gas. 1 more player would've made a huge difference much less an all American type player

[TheRef]

From what I've heard, Rodney was being HEAVILY influenced and pressured by his parents. He wasn't able to focus on what he needed to due to his constant pressuring from his parents. He needed to get as far away from them as possible, thus why he left MSU.

[bocfarm]

Let's all be honest here, although it sucks for us that is a no brainer decision from all aspects....degree from Duke, bball program, Coach K, ect. all much better than msu.

Can't fault him one bit from wanting to get the hell out of dodge after dealing with all those idiots his freshmen yr...the only thing I'd be concerned with if I were him is playing time, there are 2-3 other high profile guys at SF...should be interesting.

[msstate7]

Let's all be honest here, although it sucks for us that is a no brainer decision from all aspects....degree from Duke, bball program, Coach K, ect. all much better than msu.

Can't fault him one bit from wanting to get the hell out of dodge after dealing with all those idiots his freshmen yr

Was it a no-brainer coming out of hs?

[bocfarm]

Was it a no-brainer coming out of hs?

Didn't have an offer from Duke out of hs

[msstate7]

Didn't have an offer from Duke out of hs

Would you feel the same if ware or sword transferred right now? They received word they could go somewhere better and just left.

Just forget it. I know I'm just mad he left. I don't wish injury on him, but I don't wish him success either. He sealed our fate last season when he left and I hope he has a terrible season for it.

[MadDawg]

We sealed our fate last year when we hired an extremely unknown and unproven head coach.

[smootness]

We sealed our fate last year when we hired an extremely unknown and unproven head coach.

Haha. Yeah, because Kenny Payne would have given us a beastly team last year.

[State82]

Everyone is about 'I' when choosing who the 'we' is going to be.

If everyone else quit at your job, and you knew the company was due to take a serious hit, would you put 'we' above 'I' and stick it out, even if it might not be the best decision for you personally, and you had a chance to move on to somewhere better for you?

Of course you wouldn't. There was no 'we' to Rodney Hood except that he was on the Mississippi State team; once he had a chance to make the 'we' Duke, he did. I'm sure he is all about Duke's team right now, just like he was probably all about State's team his one year here. That's all you can ask. You can't ask him to become so invested in being a fan of Mississippi State that he puts the basketball program's interests above his own. That's kind of crazy.

Smootness is right. It's not fair to expect any player to hang around in a complete dumpster fire if Coach K calls. There are VERY few players that would do that. Now, most of us on this message board, assuming we had D1 hoops skills, would probably do that, including me. But to expect it from one of today's athletes is not realistic.

[Political Hack]

I'm about as hardcore of a state fan as you'll find but if my son gets an offer from Duke, then he's going to seriously be considering the Blue Devils.

You can't blame Hood. You can be pissed off about how his daddy handled things, but I don't think you can blame Rodney.

I'd like to know Coastdoglover's thoughts on this as well.