I think Molinar is our best too; but when I see teams score with ease in the paint without tolu, I think maybe it's closer than I thought
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Deivon Smith isn't doing much at Georgia Tech, I'd take Shakeel Moore over him.
I agree about Brooks he should be a double double every night, living here in NC I watched alot of his games and wished we had him when he played for UNC but I'm not seeing that same guy.
Same goes for Jeffries, he was highly rated coming out of high school, he should be the x factor for us but he just isn't consistent.
I disagree about Matthews he is definetly SEC material, he is really athletic and plays really good defense, every team needs a guy like him.
We do need Tolu Smith, he and Molinar are our best two players, this chemistry thing that was talked about all off season just hasn't happened yet but those two are consistent. I've taken up for Howland for years but I'm starting to feel different about him, this is his best team on paper since he has been at State and we just don't look very good, I'm glad we beat GA but they were 5-10 coming in, we were supposed to beat them. I hate to say it but I have lost alot of confidence in this team and the coaching staff
We won the game by 16 without one of our best players. Georgia came in with a bad record, but their game at Kentucky was basically a mirror of ours... Georgia down 4 at half, and Kentucky pulled away in 2nd half to win by 15 (92-77). Georgia. aTm hit a 3 with 1 second left to win by 2 at Georgia.
OM game was horrible, but I still think some of it was flukish (murrell). Not sure what else you guys want more than last night's solid win. We have a shot at a Q1 win Saturday, so maybe we should do our part to help instead of trashing this team all the time
And while we have a good team, we're far from great. LSU, auburn, and maybe Kentucky will run thru the sec, but the rest will have difficult games and yo yo for the most part. This is one heck of a conference now
I didn't expect a ton from DJ, having watched him with Memphis the past few years and thinking he was being somewhat overrated by our people coming in, but I'm pretty disappointed with Brooks thus far. He wasn't All-ACC in 2020 for nothing, and despite the step back last year it seemed more likely than not he'd find that mojo again with only one more season to play for draft stock.
Some of you guys are forgetting the Rick Ray era. I?m excited we got an SEC win and have a great chance to make the tournament this year
We have been to the NCAA tournament one time under Howland and lost against Liberty. Howland has been at MSU since 2015.... Its 2022.. Yes Rick Ray was horrible but Howland hasn't lit the world on fire at State either. His resume is what keeps him relevant, let's face it he has put alot of players in the NBA to include Perry, Woodard and Q. Weatherspoon who have all played in NBA games this year. I actually like him, I just don't like the fact that he can't win regularly anymore.
I like the name by the way... I wonder what Sidney is up to now a days
Ive never liked calling for coaches jobs, even if its obvious they need to be fired.. I said possibly time for change which can mean changing coaching styles, hiring some new up and coming assistants with fresh ideas etc... bottom line is Howland just hasn't been all that good. He has been a great recruiter I'll give him that... but 1 tournament appearance in almost 7 years is pretty bad. I'd love for him to change my mind back because I used to defend him all the time.... but I can't defend underachieving with this type talent
As of today, he's in if you trust lunardi. I won't hold the first 3 years against him... hell, it took a monster of a coach (Pearl) 4 years to get auburn in. It also took howland 4 years to get us in. Year 5, the tourney was canceled, so who knows if he'd have made it or not. Year 6 was retooling, and we did better than we were projected. So, I think he's made it 1 out of the 2 judgeable years since 1 was canceled. Now, he needs to make it this year.
I do think he's underachieved in relation to the talent he's had, but you have to ask yourself who else could get these players here. If you get better coaching, but less talent, have you accomplished anything?
Our best outcome is howland make the tourney this year and next, and then retire. Our job is much more attractive for the next hire esp considering the hump will be renovated.
ETA... in the judgeable years (last 4), we're 77-53 (30-26). I think most people outside of miss st circles see this as pretty solid
Howland has no excuse to not make the Tourney. I dont care if Tolu plays or not. I'm behind him altho I cant stand that we dont mix up anything on D. That sagging ass M2M D 24/7 with no trapping or pressing is so 1990's. It makes me wonder wtf we do at practice day after day.
This team should make the Tourney. That would make 2 times in 6 seasons and could have been 3 times in 7 seasons depending how 2020 panned out. We were looking good down the stretch that year. That would make the last 5 seasons:
NIT Semis
NCAA
2020 what could have been
NIT Finals
NCAA
That means our program is where it needs to be
Glad we won last night but we still haven't proven anything. We've lost to every team with a pulse we have played so far this season. And we've lost to Ole Miss who doesn't have a pulse. I've tried really hard to stay on the Howland bandwagon but I've finally fallen off. He got several good transfers in but failed in his biggest recruiting job when he lost DJ Stewart who wasnt even in line to get drafted.
Good points, and your right he has brought alot of talent to Starkville, good recruiting typically outweighs good coaching in basketball. That's why it's so hard for me to understand why we aren't better every year. Look at our roster over the past few years, it's full of 4 star guys and even some 5 star players to include a couple McDonald's AA's in Newman and Perry, but it never panned out
There's nothing wrong with our offense. It's pretty typical by college standards. It's fair to argue that we don't do much to adjust when we start to struggle against particular defensive looks or get in a cold shooting spell, but even then we're in the top 20% in points per game in D1, so it's not like we're struggling to score enough night in and night out.