Women's Basketball Team

[jdelta02]

Miss. State women's basketball team has officially started practice...1st season under new head coach Nikki McCray-Penson and her staff. Miss. State preseason ranked #4 nationally by Lindy Sports Magazine.

Any thoughts on this squad?

[hp22]

Miss. State women's basketball team has officially started practice...1st season under new head coach Nikki McCray-Penson and her staff. Miss. State preseason ranked #4 nationally by Lindy Sports Magazine.

Any thoughts on this squad?

My thoughts: They have the talent to win the entire thing.

My concern: A new coaching staff can take some time to make things click.

That concern exists for any coaching staff coming into a new situation. I'm excited to see how they utilize all the talent. We have several on our roster that can go and I'm also excited to see a few of the newcomers.

[Cooterpoot]

#4 is too high but they'll be good.

[maroonmania]

Will just be nice to get to an MSU sport that competes at a high level. One of the reasons it hurt so much to lose the 2020 baseball season.

[Irondawg]

I don?t think we have the talent to win the whole thing at all. We will be good but we have some holes.

We are incredibly thin in the frontcourt being the biggest concern. Offensively I really don?t know what to expect as we have some decent slashers, a handful of 3pt threats but we were not a good passing team last year which was exposed some
In Vics system.

I?m really curious how Nikki is going to use a couple of pieces like Wiggins and Hayes and then how Myah looks in this system

[crackerjax]

Miss. State women's basketball team has officially started practice...1st season under new head coach Nikki McCray-Penson and her staff. Miss. State preseason ranked #4 nationally by Lindy Sports Magazine.

Any thoughts on this squad?

You have to be able to score in today's game, and we have quality pieces in place to give teams problems. Just need to avoid injuries to the bigs this year. Anxious to see how much Madison Hayes will be able to step in and help this year. Is this the projected starting lineup for now?

G - M. Taylor
G - A. Matharu
G - R. Jackson
F - S. Cooks
F - J. Carter

Playing UConn first week of the season will be a good test.

[KOdawg1]

As long as NMP is a good in-game coach, we'll be really good. Plenty of talent and depth.

[hp22]

I don?t think we have the talent to win the whole thing at all. We will be good but we have some holes.

We are incredibly thin in the frontcourt being the biggest concern. Offensively I really don?t know what to expect as we have some decent slashers, a handful of 3pt threats but we were not a good passing team last year which was exposed some
In Vics system.

I?m really curious how Nikki is going to use a couple of pieces like Wiggins and Hayes and then how Myah looks in this system

My comment was premature and should have been worded better.

That said, we are a top 10 team in terms of talent and top 10 teams have a chance to win the thing. The 2018 football season should serve as a reminder (to me) that coaching changes and talent can still have a bumpy ride.

I'm excited to see Cooks and Hayes play. We are long and athletic. We need a guard or two to step up and claim a spot. Rickea Jackson can play with anyone. We got some good pieces and the depth is certainly there.

[Captain Falcon]

If Vic were still here I would tell you this is a Final Four team. I just don't know that you can expect that from Nikki in Year 1 though. I think she has a high ceiling as a coach, but I don't know what her floor is.

We should still be very good, and Vic left her a lot of young talent that she will have for multiple years. My questions are more in the long term range once our roster is the players she recruited. Can she maintain the level Vic was recruiting before he left? I'm skeptical of that. But can she still recruit well and keep us a competitive team every year? I think that's realistic.

I think this team finishes 2nd in the SEC and is a 2 or 3 seed in the NCAA Tourney. Should get to at least the Sweet 16 and has a chance to do better than that, but it will depend on what kind of coaching we get. Vic was the best we've had in any sport, and Nikki undoubtedly has huge shoes to fill.

[Dawg2003]

We definitely have depth. As others have said, the front court is a concern. Morris was really raw last year. I will be interested to see how she has improved. We don't really have anyone who is going to bang around in the post. We have a bunch of finesse players. Nothing wrong with that but will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

[ZedFedder]

I think Cooks is going to be really good for us. She is a former McDonald’s AA.

[Captain Falcon]

Based on Nikki’s press conference today it’s clear that she expects more offense from the PG position than Vic did. So with that in mind I’m fascinated to see what Myah Taylor looks like.

[R2Dawg]

This team is talented and can compete for Final 4. I think new coach is going to be good. New coach in this situation isn't quite the same as taking over other programs. She is set up to win. We'll know early our potential.

[NCMSTFAN]

I'm not worried too much about her coaching, she isn't a rookie Head coach and has won at every level. Yes there will be an adjustment but I think we hit the ground running with this team. We essentially add 2 McDonald's All Americans with Cooks and Madison Hayes, and also bring in a grad transfer who can shoot to go along with the talent we already have. I'm looking forward to watching our girls.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Hopefully Cohen didnt screw this hire up too...

[Irondawg]

After watching the presser just a warning that it’s very possible we look like a hot mess early offensively with lots of turnovers and bad shot selection.

When you start to play fast it can look sloppy for a while. I know we tried to play fast at times with Vic as well but we started to slow down a touch recently because we were really bad in transition defense and were making too many turnovers.

I’m really curious to see how the players look in her system and who gains her trust. I do know she will sub a lot more than Vic

[jdelta02]

Aliyah Matharu- potential to become one of the top guards to ever come through Miss. State. Just keep listening and learning, needed effort, work, keep developing overall game. Keep learning more to play with teammates, executiing role on both ends, ect

[Captain Falcon]

I like that we have UConn on the schedule (most likely) but wish it was a little later. That?s going to be one of our first games under a new coach. Don?t be shocked if we get whipped.

[jdelta02]

Anyone have any updates on how center Yemiyah Morris is progressing with the new coaching staff? Last that I heard...Coach McCray-Penson had spoken well of her in an interview. My opinion, she's potentially a huge key to this team's success against opponents with very good post players. Jessika Carter has shown flashes, but has shown a tendency to struggle (including heavy foul issues) against the bigger, better post players.

Morris may or may not be a Coach Freeman proto typical style player for his traditional offensive approaches, but she has shown very good ability at matching up against teams that have had very tough machups for Jessika. Can this team beat South Carolina without Morris matching up or helping match up with A. Boston? Other matchups as well. Yes, it's possible...but having Morris' presence helps make these mathups appear much more favorable.

Again, I've always viewed Morris as the team's best true center option, and Carter as more of a power forward type. Expecting Carter to be much improved, physically stronger, adjust more, more well rounded in her post matchups this season though.

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Morris hasn?t been in any recent team practice pictures/videos being put out on MSU media. Don?t know if she is sick or injured.

[jdelta02]

Miss. State Women's Basketball Team Official Roster....team photo released, all 11 players


https://mobile.twitter.com/HailStateWBK/status/1322965414561910784/photo/1

[NCMSTFAN]

The last interview Coach McCray did, she spoke about Morris. I like our quality depth at the 4/5 with Morris, Carter, Cooks. Rickea can play some stretch 4 also and we can bring our 6'5 German Freshman big along slowly.. looking at that picture she has some good Height

[jdelta02]

The last interview Coach McCray did, she spoke about Morris. I like our quality depth at the 4/5 with Morris, Carter, Cooks. Rickea can play some stretch 4 also and we can bring our 6'5 German Freshman big along slowly.. looking at that picture she has some good Height

Frontcourt- a team strength, deep. Also, Xaria Wiggins in the mix as well. Keep an eye on freshman Madison Hayes possibly shaking things up with both the guards and forwards....projected as an impact player as a freshman. Coaching staff having to continue figuring out how to best utilize her, mesh her in with the returnees, and other newcomers.