Ole Miss thoughts

[jwells]

Ole Miss (13-2, 3-0 SEC) 81
Mississippi State (12-3, 0-2) 77

This will be short and sweet. I have been unavailable or I would have posted this earlier but very disappointed in our results the last week. I believe the problem is both coach and player related. The players have no leadership to keep the execution and effort where it needs to be for the entire game. Coaching wise, Howland accepts the mediocrity far too much for my liking and doesn't hold the players accountable for their mistakes. I will still watch and attend the games but for those of you who don't, I can understand. Getting out-hustled on your home floor by your rival with a chance at your 1st NCAA bid in 10 years just won't cut it. There is time to turn it around but I honestly have lost all faith in this team to consistently win games when there is adversity.

[msstate7]

2 plays stood out to me...
1. On a missed shot by OM, Holman stood with his arms up while OM was scrambling for the rebound which they got.

2. On another missed shot by OM, one of our players (can't remember who) watched an OM player dive on the floor for the ball.

They wanted it more, and it showed. We aren't willing to go all out

[jwells]

2 plays stood out to me...
1. On a missed shot by OM, Holman stood with his arms up while OM was scrambling for the rebound which they got.

2. On another missed shot by OM, one of our players (can't remember who) watched an OM player dive on the floor for the ball.

They wanted it more, and it showed. We aren't willing to go all out

It did show and was very frustrating. I don't know why but Holman's effort/want-to has regressed tremendously since last season. You never had to question his effort but the last couple of games he has been off.

[confucius say]

The 2004 game at Bama was on sec network early this morning. Roberts had 22 rebounds. I wish That team could come in and speak to our current team.

[Bdawg]

The one thing I blame on Howland is not sticking with the hot freshmen in the 2nd half. They built you that lead. Also, the players selfishness and lack of effort was disappointing. That's on players and coach imo.

[StarkVegasSteve]

The 2004 game at Bama was on sec network early this morning. Roberts had 22 rebounds. I wish That team could come in and speak to our current team.

Derrick Zimmerman is on our bench and I often wish he still had one more year of eligibility left. We don't have one person on our roster with the amount of DAWG Zimmerman had in him.

[Irondawg]

I think you hit the nail on the head. It's a coach and player problem but I put it more on Howland. He's had 3-4 years to mold the core and if he hadn't let them get away with lackluster effort so much maybe one of them would have developed into an on-court leader. And if there's just no one who's personality lends itself to that, it's his fault for not making that a priority in recruiting.

[louisvilledawg]

This was Holman on Saturday:

https://media.tenor.com/images/c0fb4d572bc92fffb4510839f05b9065/tenor.gif

[Gutter Cobreh]

I blame you jwells!!!!***

We are 0-2 since you started your preview and postgame threads! No sense in blaming the players or coaches, as everyone here knows that message board propaganda directly correlates to a team's performance! You cursed us jwells, you cursed us!!!***

[msstate7]

I blame you jwells!!!!***

We are 0-2 since you started your preview and postgame threads! No sense in blaming the players or coaches, as everyone here knows that message board propaganda directly correlates to a team's performance! You cursed us jwells, you cursed us!!!***

Haha... probably best if I start one tomorrow night with my usual "why can't we rebound!" or "do we ever pass?"

[JoseBrown]

Derrick Zimmerman is on our bench and I often wish he still had one more year of eligibility left. We don't have one person on our roster with the amount of DAWG Zimmerman had in him.

Speaking of the Z-man, don't know how many heard coach H mention him on radio post-game. Said that Z brought up that our guys don't, sorta drop their heads when they screw up a team play, such as block out or turnover. But they sure do show they are upset when they miss a jumper or a dunk... exact words those weren't, but my take away was confirmation of everything I read in this thread. So they see it too, will they do something about it?

[Lord McBuckethead]

It did show and was very frustrating. I don't know why but Holman's effort/want-to has regressed tremendously since last season. You never had to question his effort but the last couple of games he has been off.

That and his man has scored 55 points in two games.

[Irondawg]

Speaking of the Z-man, don't know how many heard coach H mention him on radio post-game. Said that Z brought up that our guys don't, sorta drop their heads when they screw up a team play, such as block out or turnover. But they sure do show they are upset when they miss a jumper or a dunk... exact words those weren't, but my take away was confirmation of everything I read in this thread. So they see it too, will they do something about it?

May be more Zimmerman stopping from keeping his mouth shut and trying to show his boss the problem since he's also tired of nothing being done about it

[jwells]

That and his man has scored 55 points in two games.

Yea I don't understand how if you're Holman, after allowing over 20 points to Kotsar you make it your guarantee to the team that your man won't be the one who beats us. Disappointing from a senior

[BuckyIsAB****]

Everything you see from a team is either taught or allowed.

You can bend a little for certain players but they have to be special and they cant hurt the team more than they put out, we have none of those. Howland needs to crack the whip or he might get cracked

[Parker Street]

Ole Miss gets both Tennessee and Kentucky in Oxford.

[MarketingBully]

Yea I don't understand how if you're Holman, after allowing over 20 points to Kotsar you make it your guarantee to the team that your man won't be the one who beats us. Disappointing from a senior

Is Holman supposed to guard a quicker 6’7 small forward/guard? Can Howland not recognize when Kermit Davis went to a 4 guard lineup and not put our small team out there to counter it? We had Ado/Holman in there to guard Stevens/their freshman. The Polish wonder wasn’t in there that many times and when Ole Miss went big we dominated them. When they went small and we had Perry/Woodard in there we dominated them. Howland has to make better in game personel decisions when teams are doing that.

All of the pieces are on this team to be great. Ado should only be getting 15-20 minutes a game period. Perry should be getting 25-30 minutes a game to spell Holman and Ado at the 4 and 5. Holman should be playing the 4 and the 5 and be getting 20-25 minutes. Woodard should be getting 15-20 minutes a game at the 3 and 4 spots. Tyson Carter should be getting 20-25 minutes a game at the 1 and 2 spots to spell both Nick and Lamar. This isn’t rocket science. The pieces are there. I think the biggest liability right now is Ado should be getting much less minutes right now. There are very few true centers in today’s game and when we needed Holman out there for our last possession he was on the sidelines waiting to come in and Howland didn’t take our last timeout to get him in there to replace Ado. So what happened? Peters missed a contested two pointer and Ado gets the rebound and turned it over. I really don’t understand why Howland didn’t use that last timeout before the final posession to at least get five guys out there to score plus he could have drawn up a play for a three to win at the buzzer.

A lot of questionable coaching decisions in Saturday’s game but with that said it was very close and Ole Miss made 11 3 pointers. We turned the ball over 15 times with Q and Lamar accounting for 9 of them. I watched the presser today and they knew what was wrong. Selfish play, too many turnovers, and poor defense. If we just get back to being patient on offense and taking shots in the flow of our offense, we will be really really tough to beat regardless of whether we improve on defense. That’s how good our shooters are. We had 10 assists on 30 made baskets Saturday. That’s unacceptable. If that number would have been 20 on 30 made baskets we’d of won by 10+ points. If Lamar and Q get back to playing unselfish basketball like they did in the non-conference record this team can go far. If they are unselfish, they won’t commit nearly as many turnovers.

With all that said and after a cooling off period, I’ve not given up on this team. I still think a 12-6 record is possible if we get the mindset right and we go back to playing offense like we did in the non-conference (getting shots in the flow of the offense, playing unselfishly, moving without the ball). These are all things we can control. I think we can improve our defense too but I think the offensive execution is something we can fix much easier and something we’ve proven we can do this year.

[MarketingBully]

Ole Miss gets both Tennessee and Kentucky in Oxford.

I think they are fool’s gold and I don’t think they will be a factor down the stretch in the SEC (much like South Carolina).

[jwells]

Is Holman supposed to guard a quicker 6’7 small forward/guard? Can Howland not recognize when Kermit Davis went to a 4 guard lineup and not put our small team out there to counter it? We had Ado/Holman in there to guard Stevens/their freshman. The Polish wonder wasn’t in there that many times and when Ole Miss went big we dominated them. When they went small and we had Perry/Woodard in there we dominated them. Howland has to make better in game personel decisions when teams are doing that.

All of the pieces are on this team to be great. Ado should only be getting 15-20 minutes a game period. Perry should be getting 25-30 minutes a game to spell Holman and Ado at the 4 and 5. Holman should be playing the 4 and the 5 and be getting 20-25 minutes. Woodard should be getting 15-20 minutes a game at the 3 and 4 spots. Tyson Carter should be getting 20-25 minutes a game at the 1 and 2 spots to spell both Nick and Lamar. This isn’t rocket science. The pieces are there. I think the biggest liability right now is Ado should be getting much less minutes right now. There are very few true centers in today’s game and when we needed Holman out there for our last possession he was on the sidelines waiting to come in and Howland didn’t take our last timeout to get him in there to replace Ado. So what happened? Peters missed a contested two pointer and Ado gets the rebound and turned it over. I really don’t understand why Howland didn’t use that last timeout before the final posession to at least get five guys out there to score plus he could have drawn up a play for a three to win at the buzzer.

A lot of questionable coaching decisions in Saturday’s game but with that said it was very close and Ole Miss made 11 3 pointers. We turned the ball over 15 times with Q and Lamar accounting for 9 of them. I watched the presser today and they knew what was wrong. Selfish play, too many turnovers, and poor defense. If we just get back to being patient on offense and taking shots in the flow of our offense, we will be really really tough to beat regardless of whether we improve on defense. That’s how good our shooters are. We had 10 assists on 30 made baskets Saturday. That’s unacceptable. If that number would have been 20 on 30 made baskets we’d of won by 10+ points. If Lamar and Q get back to playing unselfish basketball like they did in the non-conference record this team can go far. If they are unselfish, they won’t commit nearly as many turnovers.

With all that said and after a cooling off period, I’ve not given up on this team. I still think a 12-6 record is possible if we get the mindset right and we go back to playing offense like we did in the non-conference (getting shots in the flow of the offense, playing unselfishly, moving without the ball). These are all things we can control. I think we can improve our defense too but I think the offensive execution is something we can fix much easier and something we’ve proven we can do this year.

I get what you're saying there but his closeouts were not existent. I get you don't want to get blown by but if you're on the floor you can't do nothing. Woodard was an absolutely perfect option to go in the game against that lineup and played 1 minute in the 2nd half. There is problems to be fixed on the court and for Howland. And I agree that it isn't over and they shouldn't be given up on. Heck we are still ranked in the top 25. There are just some things that must be corrected before it gets to be too late.

[Irondawg]

I love Woodard's game and think he's going to be outstanding for us. Personally I think he should start at the 4 for us with Holman at the 5 unless a team has a big scoring low post threat then you can start Ado.

He's got a nice mid-range game, is physical and is a decent ball-handler and passer.

[MarketingBully]

I get what you're saying there but his closeouts were not existent. I get you don't want to get blown by but if you're on the floor you can't do nothing. Woodard was an absolutely perfect option to go in the game against that lineup and played 1 minute in the 2nd half. There is problems to be fixed on the court and for Howland. And I agree that it isn't over and they shouldn't be given up on. Heck we are still ranked in the top 25. There are just some things that must be corrected before it gets to be too late.

Woodard and Perry are arguably the two most talented players on this team. Howland playing Woodard 9 minutes total in Saturday’s game was laughable. If I would have seen that 4 guard lineup from Kermit, I’d of laughed and played Peters, Nick, Q, Woodard, and Perry and destroyed it. Hell when Perry was guarding that freshman he was closing him out and shutting him down. A lot of coaches would kill to have this talent Howland has. He’s going to face another team in Florida who loves to play a four guard lineup. Let’s see if he learns from his mistakes. Ado shouldn’t play many minutes in this game. In fact, the best thing that could possibly happen to us is if Ado gets in early foul trouble and takes Howland’s sub patterns out of his hands.

[MarketingBully]

I love Woodard's game and think he's going to be outstanding for us. Personally I think he should start at the 4 for us with Holman at the 5 unless a team has a big scoring low post threat then you can start Ado.

He's got a nice mid-range game, is physical and is a decent ball-handler and passer.


He’s 6’7” 230 and can guard the 2,3, and 4. He’s exactly what we wished Kegler was and best of all he’s coachable. He and Perry are starting to get it. He needs his minutes to increase to 15-20 minutes.

[jwells]

Woodard and Perry are arguably the two most talented players on this team. Howland playing Woodard 9 minutes total in Saturday’s game was laughable. If I would have seen that 4 guard lineup from Kermit, I’d of laughed and played Peters, Nick, Q, Woodard, and Perry and destroyed it. Hell when Perry was guarding that freshman he was closing him out and shutting him down. A lot of coaches would kill to have this talent Howland has. He’s going to face another team in Florida who loves to play a four guard lineup. Let’s see if he learns from his mistakes. Ado shouldn’t play many minutes in this game. In fact, the best thing that could possibly happen to us is if Ado gets in early foul trouble and takes Howland’s sub patterns out of his hands.

I agree with you. Perry and Woodard looked like different players from Tuesday to Saturday and that was very encouraging early on. I want to say Perry got 2 or 3 offensive rebounds on 1 possesion in the 1st half But we got away from it and saw what happened. Florida will be very similar to Ole Miss and will jack it up so if we play the same way we did Saturday we can expect the same results. I agree about the foul trouble being a blessing in disguise.

[StarkVegasSteve]

One of them needs to be starting and the other needs to be the first off the bench playing 15-20 minutes a game. Either we go small and play with basically 5 guards or we go big and we play with Perry inside and Holman on the perimeter. Honestly it could be a game by game thing. Because I'll tell you this, it didn't look like Ole Miss had anyone who could stay on the floor with those two Saturday. Much less guard them.

[timotheus]

Howland won't start the freshman.

[maroonmania]

I think you hit the nail on the head. It's a coach and player problem but I put it more on Howland. He's had 3-4 years to mold the core and if he hadn't let them get away with lackluster effort so much maybe one of them would have developed into an on-court leader. And if there's just no one who's personality lends itself to that, it's his fault for not making that a priority in recruiting.

"Attitude Reflects Leadership" --- Yes, we need it from our players but its starts by being demanded from our coaches, primarily Howland. Maybe Ben has just lost his edge in his older years and its reflected in his team? I don't really know. I do know his Pitt and UCLA teams played better defense than what we play now.

[Irondawg]

Pitt did for sure and he was known for being extremely demanding and hard on his players at that time

[lastmajordog]

The 2004 game at Bama was on sec network early this morning. Roberts had 22 rebounds. I wish That team could come in and speak to our current team.

If Wiley Peck is still alive he would be the one to speak, The ?DOGS? have never had a player that played harder or had more rebounding production.....he was nothing short of incredible to watch....