Basketball finish

So here is what I would like to see. Us win the next two over LSU which I think will happen because despite beating Tennessee they still suck. That would possibly put us in position to play Ole Miss for the third time. Question for the board. If our team wins Saturday and then goes a possible 2 or even 3-1 in the SEC tournament, does that take the sting out of how we played this year? It would for me. That type of performance could even give us a boost into the offseason and next year. First things first. We need to beat LSU which I think we will. My guess is 88-78. I looked at their box score and it's fools gold. Two of their players (that suck at three point shooting) shot 5-7 from three point land that game (Epps and their shitty PG). No way they duplicate it and they suck tremendously on the defensive end. Playing them twice in a row may even give us a nice kick start to finish the season as well.

2-1 finish to end up .500. I'll gladly take that at this point

I honestly don't care how we finish. Obviously it would be nice to win a few more, but the season is what it is at this point. And that is a semi-promising team that was derailed by injuries and inexperience. Next year is shit or get off the pot time for Howland....always has been.

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Originally Posted by msstate7

2-1 finish to end up .500. I'll gladly take that at this point

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If we can heat up from the perimeter which I am hoping we can playing LSU twice, we can beat Ole Miss and would have a chance against USC. But will we care or have we mailed it in? We will find out really quick this weekend when we take on a very bad LSU team.

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Originally Posted by HSVDawg

I honestly don't care how we finish. Obviously it would be nice to win a few more, but the season is what it is at this point. And that is a semi-promising team that was derailed by injuries and inexperience. Next year is shit or get off the pot time for Howland....always has been.

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Nope....Howland has more than next year. Maybe not for some on this board, but in reality, he has 2 to 3 more years. And...he will get it done.

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Originally Posted by AROB44

Nope....Howland has more than next year. Maybe not for some on this board, but in reality, he has 2 to 3 more years. And...he will get it done.

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I'd like to see him finish on a little mini-run here which could be a boost to our offseason and season next year. We will get LSU twice which should put us at 16-15 and then we will get Ole Miss (more then likely). If we can come out determined and focused the next week or so we could finish the season with a winning record and salvage the year from how we played down the stretch. So far in SEC play, we are 3-8 in close games where made freethrows here, less turnovers there, and hitting a couple of extra wide open three point shots would have turned that 3-8 record into 8-3. We aren't as far off as some think we are. Adding players like Nick Weatherspoon, Brooks, and finally getting Ado eligible along with what we return should get us at least to 20 wins next season and I'd be satisfied with that.

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Originally Posted by MarketingBully

I'd like to see him finish on a little mini-run here which could be a boost to our offseason and season next year. We will get LSU twice which should put us at 16-15 and then we will get Ole Miss (more then likely). If we can come out determined and focused the next week or so we could finish the season with a winning record and salvage the year from how we played down the stretch. So far in SEC play, we are 3-8 in close games where made freethrows here, less turnovers there, and hitting a couple of extra wide open three point shots would have turned that 3-8 record into 8-3. We aren't as far off as some think we are. Adding players like Nick Weatherspoon, Brooks, and finally getting Ado eligible along with what we return should get us at least to 20 wins next season and I'd be satisfied with that.

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We have to figure out what is causing the HUGE disparity in free throws when we lose. In our losses, most of the time there is a 20 free throw advantage for the other team. That is 10 points just shooting 50% from the line. We are either getting screwed by the refs or we aren't driving and feeding the post where other teams are because they know the refs will call it.

Personally I would just like to see no more injuries and then get the season over with. After that, our coaches need to do some serious evaluation of our defensive approach and figure out a) what it is we are doing differently than the teams we play to get so many more fouls called on us or b) figure out why SEC officials hate us so much. No way to beat decent to good teams when every game has the huge differential in fouls and free throw shooting that we have in ours. I quit even watching any of our games about 5 or 6 games ago because I couldn't take it any more. There is no point wasting time watching a game when you go into the game feeling like you have to beat the other team AND the officials to have any shot.

Howland will be here until the booster that sent him to us does not want him to be here any longer.

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Originally Posted by Tbonewannabe

We have to figure out what is causing the HUGE disparity in free throws when we lose. In our losses, most of the time there is a 20 free throw advantage for the other team. That is 10 points just shooting 50% from the line. We are either getting screwed by the refs or we aren't driving and feeding the post where other teams are because they know the refs will call it.

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Well for one, our front court is (out of necessity) Herard and Holman. Not only is it a liability to try to pound it on the inside right now due to turnovers but they are also shit for freethrow shooting. Herard is good for fumbling at least 3-4 balls out of bounds a game which for all intents and purposes would be easy dunks.

Holman and Herard combined freethrow shooting 93/169 (55%).

So if we do draw fouls down there, it's an adventure if we make them. Next year, we will have quite a bit of competition in the post so we shouldn't have to give these guys all of these minutes out of necessity.

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Originally Posted by fccee1

Howland will be here until the booster that sent him to us does not want him to be here any longer.

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That's fine with me. Every year he is here, he keeps adding more talent to the roster.

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Originally Posted by fccee1

Howland will be here until the booster that sent him to us does not want him to be here any longer.

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Getting rid of Howland at this stage would be the dumbest thing MSU has ever done. Yes, we are having a rough year but the guy has a pedigree and didn't all of a sudden forget how to coach. On top of that, he is now bringing in consistent Top 15-20 classes and at some point sheer talent is going to elevate the program. Right now I just think Q is physically hurting and we don't have a solid post presence. Even with that, if we weren't being so slighted by the way the games were being called, then a lot of these 3 to 6 point losses would potentially be 3 to 6 point wins. Like I said, our coaches have got to figure out why our defense is drawing so many more fouls than the teams we play.

Nobody's getting rid of Howland any time soon. We actually have a basketball program now. That's a far stretch from what we had the previous 5+ years. He's got minimum 2 more years, but I think we're going to see a big jump next season. It's set up that way from a roster standpoint. Just having our bigs develop some more and adding another will be a huge help alone. Not to mention the experience they're getting and the injection of more talent. We've been beaten up bad this year from a health standpoint. Have to find a way to stay out of the training room and on the court. We do that, and we'll be pretty good... probably right at the top of that 2nd tier in the SEC only looking up to UK.

This season has been a disappointment. I am just ready for it to be over. Only way Howland salvages it is to win the SECT.

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Originally Posted by Dawg61

This season has been a disappointment. I am just ready for it to be over. Only way Howland salvages it is to win the SECT.

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When Ado was ruled ineligible and Q and Ready got their injuries, it severely limited our chances of having the year we could have. Still early on before Ready's injury, we started the SEC season 3-1 which was great. During this seven game losing streak, we have lost in every way possible from turnovers to abysmal perimeter shooting to abysmal freethrow shooting. Would be great if we could end this season on a high note even if it means beating LSU twice and ending 2-1. I would take that in a heartbeat.

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Originally Posted by Dawg61

This season has been a disappointment. I am just ready for it to be over. Only way Howland salvages it is to win the SECT.

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Winning 3 in a row to get a winning record would be a nice salvage and a good note to head into the offseason

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Originally Posted by HSVDawg

I honestly don't care how we finish. Obviously it would be nice to win a few more, but the season is what it is at this point. And that is a semi-promising team that was derailed by injuries and inexperience. Next year is shit or get off the pot time for Howland....always has been.

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This.

Nothing will remove the sting of this year because you have to have been stung first. This year is playing out within the span of possibilities I expected. I'm just as excited for next year as I ever was.

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Originally Posted by MarketingBully

That's fine with me. Every year he is here, he keeps adding more talent to the roster.

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I agree. No way we can do any better.

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Originally Posted by Political Hack

Nobody's getting rid of Howland any time soon. We actually have a basketball program now. That's a far stretch from what we had the previous 5+ years. He's got minimum 2 more years, but I think we're going to see a big jump next season. It's set up that way from a roster standpoint. Just having our bigs develop some more and adding another will be a huge help alone. Not to mention the experience they're getting and the injection of more talent. We've been beaten up bad this year from a health standpoint. Have to find a way to stay out of the training room and on the court. We do that, and we'll be pretty good... probably right at the top of that 2nd tier in the SEC only looking up to UK.

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I guess I was trying to say he will be here as long as he wants to be here.

I like him and am excited about next year.

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Originally Posted by MarketingBully

When Ado was ruled ineligible and Q and Ready got their injuries, it severely limited our chances of having the year we could have. Still early on before Ready's injury, we started the SEC season 3-1 which was great. During this seven game losing streak, we have lost in every way possible from turnovers to abysmal perimeter shooting to abysmal freethrow shooting. Would be great if we could end this season on a high note even if it means beating LSU twice and ending 2-1. I would take that in a heartbeat.

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You can spin it however you like but at the end of the day Howland has been shit this year imo. His defense is atrocious, his offense is atrocious, he is giving Spoon horrible guidance and he is unwilling to get on his players asses and the refs. I am not going to sugarcoat shit when it is shit.

how about We just win the NEXT one. We would be better served to just shoot 3s. throwing it into the post is futile.

When asked about our BBALL team's execution....."I'm in favor of it"

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Originally Posted by fccee1

I guess I was trying to say he will be here as long as he wants to be here.

I like him and am excited about next year.

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Agree and me too.

Howland didn't do a good job coaching this team this year whether it was youth/inexperience or whatever but they didn't take to his coaching too well. I'd give him a D. You should never finish 5-12 and almost at the bottom of the league with as much talent as we have on this team. With that said, I think we have a 22-25 win season next year and the sting of this year will fade as we get to next year and the year after. Howland is a great coach and probably the best coach we have on campus. He just had a crappy year of coaching with a young team. It happens.

He should've done better but there's a ton of contributing factors here, with his coaching being one of the least of my concerns. The lack of discipline was atrocious. Freshman fouling 90 feet from the rim because they're pissed they missed a shot, reaching fouls on the perimeter because our G's get too tired to move their feet (Peters), and we couldn't rebound. We have the size, we just don't have the stamina, depth, and toughness.

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Originally Posted by Political Hack

He should've done better but there's a ton of contributing factors here, with his coaching being one of the least of my concerns. The lack of discipline was atrocious. Freshman fouling 90 feet from the rim because they're pissed they missed a shot, reaching fouls on the perimeter because our G's get too tired to move their feet (Peters), and we couldn't rebound. We have the size, we just don't have the stamina, depth, and toughness.

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mainly We don't want to rebound. You have to want the ball. LRob wanted that damn Ball, that is why He was an awesome rebounder.