Any of you Howland critics listen to the Dawgtalk show?

[MCsMGs]

Or listen to any of his post game pressers?

If not, you should try it sometime. It may change the perspective of many of the comments that get posted.

[msstate7]

Did he say he has been reading the ED gamethreads and will be using our ideas?

[BayouDawg]

He?s very well spoken and knows the game well. I?m hoping he can get us right.

[DogsofAnarchy]

He is a good coach that just needs a little time but in today’s society of instant gratification, idiots who never played or coached think they know better than a guy who has been to the FINAL DAMN 4 multiple times. Spare my ass. Some people on this board need to shut up and be supportive. They do WAY more harm than good by breeding discontent.

[MCsMGs]

He is a good coach that just needs a little time but in today?s society of instant gratification, idiots who never played or coached think they know better than a guy who has been to the FINAL DAMN 4 multiple times. Spare my ass. Some people on this board need to shut up and be supportive. They do WAY more harm than good by breeding discontent.

Nailed it...rep given.

[MaroonFlounder]

Did Howland talk about changing up practice regarding shooting? Because it has been reported that he did.

Not many of us have said that Howland sucks as a coach, just question some of the decisions. I’ve wondered why Holman wasn’t given enough minutes. And the obvious 3 pt and Free throw % were both inexplainable.

[Bothrops]

I guess Howland needs more time to adapt to the job here, as well as changes to the game.

[MCsMGs]

Did Howland talk about changing up practice regarding shooting? Because it has been reported that he did.

Not many of us have said that Howland sucks as a coach, just question some of the decisions. I’ve wondered why Holman wasn’t given enough minutes. And the obvious 3 pt and Free throw % were both inexplainable.

He did and has been talking about all the issues that some here seem to think he is oblivious to. If someone doesn't want to spend the time to be informed, they really shouldn't be spouting crap that they don't know anything about. As DOA pointed out, it doesn't contribute anything to the program and makes the poster sound foolish.

[Drugdog]

Talk is cheap. Sly Croom talked a real good game. See where that got us.

[biggun]

It’s really not about bashing or not bashing Howland but it is 100% about for the 3rd year in a row, we have an average to below average basketball team that has little to no chance of dancing.

[pilldawg]

Did Howland talk about changing up practice regarding shooting? Because it has been reported that he did.

Not many of us have said that Howland sucks as a coach, just question some of the decisions. I?ve wondered why Holman wasn?t given enough minutes. And the obvious 3 pt and Free throw % were both inexplainable.


He seems to have improved his conditioning some, but that is why his minutes are often cut short. He has trouble going hard for extended periods.

[drummerdawg]

It?s really not about bashing or not bashing Howland but it is 100% about for the 3rd year in a row, we have an average to below average basketball team that has little to no chance of dancing.

Again, if you don't understand basketball or the situation, you probably shouldn't comment on it.

[MCsMGs]

Talk is cheap. Sly Croom talked a real good game. See where that got us.

Irrelevant comparisons are cheap too...how many teams did Croom coach to top 4 national rankings?

[ShotgunDawg]

I too believe Howland is a good coach but I can’t figure out why then we have church league basketball caliber ball movement and look clunkier than Matt Luke running a 40 when we play offense.

[drummerdawg]

I too believe Howland is a good coach but I can’t figure out why then we have church league basketball caliber ball movement and look clunkier than Matt Luke running a 40 when we play offense.

I think it's on and off. Sometimes the offense looks great, and other times it's like you said. It's just inconsistent. I think it will look smoother the longer they play together.

[State82]

Yep. His piddly ass salary really puts constraints on his ability to function at an optimal level. Damn, would some of you nimrods give me a 17ing break!

[Dawg61]

My issue with Howland (who I like very much) is his temperament during the game. I had the same issue with Don Muffin. I am a firm believer in a coach fighting for his team and fighting for a player to get the best outta themselves during the games. This means I want them getting on the players when they are doing stupid shit an I want them getting on the refs when they are getting hosed by calls. Like Saban does. The players don't like it but they like the end results. The refs don't like it but they are way less likely to **** you over when you make them officiate you fairly. Howland should have gotten thrown out vs Florida the officiating was so one-sided. Howland is just a very nice man all the time. That's a great quality for life but it isn't ideal for coaching during a game or practices imo. I grew up on Bobby Knight basketball though so it's just what I believe in.

[JoseBrown]

Talk is cheap. Sly Croom talked a real good game. See where that got us.

Sly blamed us remember? Howland hasn’t once had a negative thing to say about us.. If you listen to him for a minut, he knows what the team needs to improve on and what they do well, it’s just getting his desired improvements that are taking a little time.

[msbulldog]

I too believe Howland is a good coach but I can’t figure out why then we have church league basketball caliber ball movement and look clunkier than Matt Luke running a 40 when we play offense.

Moved the ball pretty good Monday night, Gun.

[MetEdDawg]

I’m not ready to give up on this team yet. Our next 7 games are against Top 50 RPI opponents. We’ve got a chance to right the ship now during this stretch.

And for those of you playing at home, 3 of our 4 losses were to Top 40 RPI teams. And we had double digit leads in 2 of those in the 2nd half. So let’s not act like we stuck. We’ve blown two good opportunities. Got a chance to redeem both of them.

[Liverpooldawg]

I too believe Howland is a good coach but I can’t figure out why then we have church league basketball caliber ball movement and look clunkier than Matt Luke running a 40 when we play offense.

This. Our half court offense isn’t much better than it was under Ray.

[Liverpooldawg]

Moved the ball pretty good Monday night, Gun.

Not really, not in half court sets. We did much better on pushing the ball up the floor quickly and getting good, quick shots. We were still very bad when forced into half court sets. You can’t get a good shot quickly every trip up the floor.

[Bubb Rubb]

I like Howland a lot and I am doing my best with him.

Shots fall, and then they don't. Sometimes you get calls and sometimes you don't. Sometimes the other team has a good game plan for you. This team is very young and is going to be inconsistent with those things. But my one beef is with undisciplined play. We give the ball away way too much with unforced turnovers, and we have what has to be the crappiest shot selection of any team in the conference. Now, it's not always the case...and the Vandy game is an example where the team took care of the ball better and made some shots. But the things that always travel, whether you're hitting shots or not: Defense, effort, and discipline. We play good defense. We give inconsistent effort and even less consistent discipline. Those things are easy fixes for a coach and that is my only frustration with Howland.

[Liverpooldawg]

My issue with Howland (who I like very much) is his temperament during the game. I had the same issue with Don Muffin. I am a firm believer in a coach fighting for his team and fighting for a player to get the best outta themselves during the games. This means I want them getting on the players when they are doing stupid shit an I want them getting on the refs when they are getting hosed by calls. Like Saban does. The players don't like it but they like the end results. The refs don't like it but they are way less likely to **** you over when you make them officiate you fairly. Howland should have gotten thrown out vs Florida the officiating was so one-sided. Howland is just a very nice man all the time. That's a great quality for life but it isn't ideal for coaching during a game or practices imo. I grew up on Bobby Knight basketball though so it's just what I believe in.

Yelling and screaming all the time doesn’t make a good coach. It gets you attention and gets you noticed and on camera but it doesn’t make you a good coach. There are good coaches that do it, and there are terrible coaches that do it. All in all yelling and screaming is more effective if you don’t do it much. What you absolutely DON’T want is a coach acting out of his character. Acting jobs don’t work. Players see through that every time.

[louisvilledawg]

Yelling and screaming all the time doesn’t make a good coach. It gets you attention and gets you noticed and on camera but it doesn’t make you a good coach. There are good coaches that do it, and there are terrible coaches that do it. All in all yelling and screaming is more effective if you don’t do it much. What you absolutely DON’T want is a coach acting out of his character. Acting jobs don’t work. Players see through that every time.

Worked pretty well for Hugh Freeze.

[Liverpooldawg]

Worked pretty well for Hugh Freeze.

Freeze was acting totally in character.

[Thick]

The only way this team is effective offensively is when we attack the rim. When we get lazy, and start jacking 3?s after 2-3 passes we are done. We are also a lazy passing team, and that doesn?t mesh well for a poor perimeter shooting team. I posted after the OM game that I had seen enough, because I hated the way we played the last 3 minutes. It was just poor IQ b-ball, and that drives me crazy. Anyway, hopefully this team matured as the season continues.

[MCsMGs]

Let's circle this conversation back to the original point...

I certainly don't disagree with many of the comments or criticisms of how the team has played at various times this season so far. The reality is that Howland doesn't either. If you listen to his pressers, post game discussions with Richard Williams, Dawgtalk or even his on court coaching, you would know that he is focused on the issues that face this team. He constantly points out the poor/lazy passing, poor or no off ball movement, poor shot selection, not working the ball inside, poor timing and lack of patience on ball rotation to break down zones and the consequences of each of them. He also points out and contrasts the results when we do those things effectively.

I get as pissed as anybody when we get lazy and decide to take a few plays off that lead to losses like Ole Miss and Auburn, but it is salt in a wound when I have to listen to crap like "has Howland ever seen a 1-3-1 zone" or "Howland is too old" or "Howland don't care" or "the game has passed him by" or "we suck" or "Stansbury woulda..." and all the other nonsense that frequents discussion(if you can call it that) of our basketball program. To me, it's like taking a dump on the floor of your own kitchen. I'm not na?ve about the reality that it is de rigueur in the cyber world to be an anonymous choreographer of crapola, but please pardon me when I point out that crap for what it is...

[Coach34]

Not really, not in half court sets. We did much better on pushing the ball up the floor quickly and getting good, quick shots. We were still very bad when forced into half court sets. You can’t get a good shot quickly every trip up the floor.

disagree totally. We had Holman in the paint and got the ball inside to him in the halfcourt where he shined. He also made some good passes out of it as well. Holman knows where the ball needs to go when doubled in there or if he cant get a shot. He and Ado need to split time at the 5 from here moving forward.

[Irondawg]

Let's circle this conversation back to the original point...

I certainly don't disagree with many of the comments or criticisms of how the team has played at various times this season so far. The reality is that Howland doesn't either. If you listen to his pressers, post game discussions with Richard Williams, Dawgtalk or even his on court coaching, you would know that he is focused on the issues that face this team. He constantly points out the poor/lazy passing, poor or no off ball movement, poor shot selection, not working the ball inside, poor timing and lack of patience on ball rotation to break down zones and the consequences of each of them. He also points out and contrasts the results when we do those things effectively.

I get as pissed as anybody when we get lazy and decide to take a few plays off that lead to losses like Ole Miss and Auburn, but it is salt in a wound when I have to listen to crap like "has Howland ever seen a 1-3-1 zone" or "Howland is too old" or "Howland don't care" or "the game has passed him by" or "we suck" or "Stansbury woulda..." and all the other nonsense that frequents discussion(if you can call it that) of our basketball program. To me, it's like taking a dump on the floor of your own kitchen. I'm not na?ve about the reality that it is de rigueur in the cyber world to be an anonymous choreographer of crapola, but please pardon me when I point out that crap for what it is...

My issue is this. Teaching guys to throw crisp passes isn't hard. It is harder to teach them where to pass if they haven't been taught before and/or have a low natural basketball IQ.

But he has a deep roster and thus can use the bench to teach these things. We played a patsy non-conference schedule and i would have loved to have seem him sit guys for lazy passes and call that out in the presser when asked when guys sit. My problem is there has been zero improvement in this all year. We throw passes softer than any other team I see and our off the ball "cut" are way slower and our pick setting and use of picks is still awful.

My main problem isn't necessarily that we're bad at things. It's that most of these guys have been bad at these things for 2 years with absolutely no improvement. So while you may complain about it all day in a presser, doesn't seem like much time is spent on practicing it.

[Liverpooldawg]

disagree totally. We had Holman in the paint and got the ball inside to him in the halfcourt where he shined. He also made some good passes out of it as well. Holman knows where the ball needs to go when doubled in there or if he cant get a shot. He and Ado need to split time at the 5 from here moving forward.

In true half court sets we were no better than we have been. That was against the worst team in the SEC. We did do much better pushing the ball up court and getting inside before the defense was really set. That’s what we have to do to be successful.

[DogsofAnarchy]

He did and has been talking about all the issues that some here seem to think he is oblivious to. If someone doesn't want to spend the time to be informed, they really shouldn't be spouting crap that they don't know anything about. As DOA pointed out, it doesn't contribute anything to the program and makes the poster sound foolish.

A lot of the discontent is done by design. I have tried to tell Bulldogs on here and other sites that OM has a “planned” attack to spread rumors and discontent because they see MSU has more potential than they have. That is a real threat and they take counter espionage very serious. This should be a Bulldog site only and get rid of the discontent. I don’t mean varying opinions should not be heard. I mean negative demeaning, disrupting posts should be dealt with.

[Cooterpoot]

I'll give Howland credit, we've been solid against bad competition all year. Well, except we lost to a bad OM team.

[KentuckyDawg13]

Is there a link for Dawgtalk?

[Coach34]

In true half court sets we were no better than we have been..

thats just 100% wrong

[Coach34]

I'll give Howland credit, we've been solid against bad competition all year. Well, except we lost to a bad OM team.

on the road- which happens in basketball all the time

[Liverpooldawg]

thats just 100% wrong

We will have to agree to disagree. LOL. I’m not alone in my opinion. Again we were better, but it was Vandy.

[Coach34]

We will have to agree to disagree. LOL. I’m not alone in my opinion. Again we were better, but it was Vandy.

You just said we weren't better- so which is it?

We shot 52% from 2 and got alot better shots in the paint. Most people that have watched a basketball game could see we were much better in the halfcourt O with Holman at the 5

[MCsMGs]

I'll give Howland credit, we've been solid against bad competition all year. Well, except we lost to a bad OM team.

You mean that "bad" OM team that handed Florida it's first SEC loss of the season and missed beating an aTm team by one shot(that hit the bottom of the rim and popped out) on the road. A team(aTm) that most pundits say will make a deep run in the tourney. The same bad OM team that hasn't lost a SEC game at home yet this year?

You are right that we should have won that game, but we didn't lose it because Howland didn't know they would play a 1-3-1 zone or that he doesn't know what a team has to do to score against that zone.

[MCsMGs]

Is there a link for Dawgtalk?

You can listen to the replays of Dawgtalk and most of his pressers from the hailstate site. It's under the "watch/listen/connect" section. You can also get links or live feeds from the twitter account @HailStateMBK

[Dawg61]

A lot of the discontent is done by design. I have tried to tell Bulldogs on here and other sites that OM has a “planned” attack to spread rumors and discontent because they see MSU has more potential than they have. That is a real threat and they take counter espionage very serious. This should be a Bulldog site only and get rid of the discontent. I don’t mean varying opinions should not be heard. I mean negative demeaning, disrupting posts should be dealt with.

The obvious Rebels are banned like always but Bulldog fans have a right to bitch in this world just like every fanbase does and this site is exactly that place to do it in so we aren't on twitter or Facebook or out in public doing it. Some of you don't seem to understand that people need an avenue to get their frustrations out. This is exactly the correct place for it. If a coach is having a shitty season he shouldn't seek out this site or others like it to read about himself and they should be smart enough to realize that.

[Liverpooldawg]

You just said we weren't better- so which is it?

We shot 52% from 2 and got alot better shots in the paint. Most people that have watched a basketball game could see we were much better in the halfcourt O with Holman at the 5

We were better in transition but not in half court. You know what I said. We were better overall.

[Liverpooldawg]

You mean that "bad" OM team that handed Florida it's first SEC loss of the season and missed beating an aTm team by one shot(that hit the bottom of the rim and popped out) on the road. A team(aTm) that most pundits say will make a deep run in the tourney. The same bad OM team that hasn't lost a SEC game at home yet this year?

You are right that we should have won that game, but we didn't lose it because Howland didn't know they would play a 1-3-1 zone or that he doesn't know what a team has to do to score against that zone.
That was A&M?s 1st SEC win.

[MCsMGs]

The obvious Rebels are banned like always but Bulldog fans have a right to bitch in this world just like every fanbase does and this site is exactly that place to do it in so we aren't on twitter or Facebook or out in public doing it. Some of you don't seem to understand that people need an avenue to get their frustrations out. This is exactly the correct place for it. If a coach is having a shitty season he shouldn't seek out this site or others like it to read about himself and they should be smart enough to realize that.

I get that...but doesn't the cliche' of "never go full retard" apply at some point?

[MCsMGs]

That was A&M?s 1st SEC win.

So, would you take the position that A&M is a bad team?

[Liverpooldawg]

So, would you take the position that A&M is a bad team?

So far in the SEC they have been.

[Dawg61]

I get that...but doesn't the cliche' of "never go full retard" apply at some point?

Absolutely and lay into the poster that leaves the reservation when they do. That's how you stop it if you don't like what you read. Blanket statements do nothing. Dust off your boxing gloves and get at it. We all enjoy a juicy fight.

https://media.giphy.com/media/UFdEfPHWLwgjS/giphy.gif

[Bully13]

The only thing I know with 100% certainty is that we've sucked for a long time and we still do.

[MCsMGs]

The only thing I know with 100% certainty is that we've sucked for a long time and we still do.

LOL!!! That was almost good enough to earn rep points.

[Dawg61]

The only thing I know with 100% certainty is that we've sucked for a long time and we still do.

You always add so much to basketball threads Bully13. Keep winning buddy

[drunkernhelldawg]

I?m not ready to give up on this team yet. Our next 7 games are against Top 50 RPI opponents. We?ve got a chance to right the ship now during this stretch.

And for those of you playing at home, 3 of our 4 losses were to Top 40 RPI teams. And we had double digit leads in 2 of those in the 2nd half. So let?s not act like we stuck. We?ve blown two good opportunities. Got a chance to redeem both of them.

totally agree. it's great to see a competitive team out there for us again. next step is win those close games and avoid the late fades. we're getting there.

[Lumpy Chucklelips]

I mention it every time I make a comment about basketball....that I don't know shat about the x's and o's of it, but I do know effort when I see or don't see it, and too many times on the offensive side it seems like we're moving at 3/4 speed most of the time. I don't know if it's laziness or a lack of knowing what to do, or just what. But when I watch a game like West Va. vs. Kansas, it's like watching a track meet compared to watching one of our games. And I'm not just talking about fast breaks, I'm talking half court offense. I see players running to spots, not jogging to them. I see guys making crisp, forceful passes, not lobs across the court. That is what these untrained eyes see as the difference in our game versus other teams.

As to improvement, I think we've improved a great deal under Howland. You also have to acknowledge that the league as a whole has improved over the past 3 years as well. It's not like we're improving and the rest of the league is standing still. They have improved as well. I'm still excited to see what the future brings. We are adding a few more pieces next year as well as having everyone back a year older. I still say we'll get there. Maybe my un-expert ass doesn't know crap about basketball and I'm just naive and a sheep. If so, I'd rather be like that than bitching about it all the time. I am expert enough to know that's not going to make it any better. It'll be interesting to come back in a couple of years and reread some of these threads and see who does actually know what they are talking about.

[MarketingBully]

All I have to say to those of you who said we looked bad in our halfcourt offense is 20 assists to 4 turnovers. If we were bad in our halfcourt offense, I sure didn’t see it and if we were bad the stats would have looked a lot different then the ones I stated.

[Dawg61]

Really can't argue against a 5 to 1 assist/turnover margin for a team. Only 4 turnovers is a sick stat. Doubtful thats happened many times if any at MSU before.

[KentuckyDawg13]

Thanks, still cannot find it. There is no titled "Dawgtalk" at that location.

[MCsMGs]

Thanks, still cannot find it. There is no titled "Dawgtalk" at that location.

Try this link...
http://hailstate.com/watch/?Live=1317&type=Live
using this link, you still need to click the "on demand" button.

From the hailstate main page, place cursor on the "watch/listen/connect" and a drop down should appear. Under the "listen" column, click on the "Hailstate Plus(live audio). There will be a button in the middle of the page under the screen showing the next live event that says "on demand". Click on that and a list of replays you can listen to will show up.

[BB30]

Give the guy some time he is the most proven coach State has probably ever hired in any sport. He is a "big" name so to speak. The guy didn't just forget how to coach basketball. We get to next year or the year after and are still seeing the same issues then we can hit the panic button. Last I checked we are 14-4 and have been in/had a chance to win a couple of games we lost.

I'll admit I haven't watched a ton of basketball since Stans left but have started watching more and more since Howland got here and we are slowly improving. Can't help that some big name recruits turned out to be busts and it wasn't like we were signing KY type classes. There is a huge difference in the top 5-10 prospects and the rest. The rest need to develop. If any of you have watched AAU basketball it is a joke all about scoring and flash and very little defense is played. Basketball can be streaky just like baseball if not more so. This team has some pieces that we could get hot and go on a tear, look up and get to 20 wins. Don't throw the towel in on them yet.

Yes, we have had some ugly games we should have won but that is going to happen. The entire SEC is improving which overall is good for us and the league. Just have to keep on taking it one step at a time.

Nobody had a problem giving Mullen time to fix Croom's disaster why the rush on Howland fixing Ray's disaster? We will finish better this year than last and be much improved next year. They are close.

[Bully13]

The team Mullen fielded year 1 was a total 180 from crooms last year. Howland has not shown one ounce of ability to get us close to where stans had us when the hump used to rock. Wake me up once he appears to give a damn.

[DudyDawg]

I don't watch every game; I prefer the NBA to college ball- but I do watch most State games. The one thing you can't say (although people here do) is that they dont play with effort. You aren't 18th in the country in Def efficiency (25 in scoring D) by playing without great effort. I realize a soft OOC sched boosts that to a degree, but the fact is our guys play well on that side of the floor. And unless you are one of the better teams in the country (hint: we are not that), putting that much emphasis and effort on the defensive side of the ball will hurt your offense.

Still, I find it hard to really get into State games given our recent years' failures. Hopefully, we can finish this year strong and make a little run to springboard us into a legitimate tourney team from start to finish next year.

[Dawg61]

The team Mullen fielded year 1 was a total 180 from crooms last year. Howland has not shown one ounce of ability to get us close to where stans had us when the hump used to rock. Wake me up once he appears to give a damn.

Howland's current RPI after 2 1/2 years isn't far off from Stans at the end of year 14. Mullen at least had a couple NFL players Croom left him when he started. Howland took over a total dumpster fire with guys not even good enough to play in Slovakian basketball leagues.

[biggun]

Really can't argue against a 5 to 1 assist/turnover margin for a team. Only 4 turnovers is a sick stat. Doubtful thats happened many times if any at MSU before.

That was against Vandy, the worst team in the SEC. How did we do against Ole Miss? Florida? Etc.

[Dawg61]

That was against Vandy, the worst team in the SEC. How did we do against Ole Miss? Florida? Etc.

Vandy beat LSU today