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According to various sources, the basketball team had a closed door scrimmage against UAB this weekend. With these scrimmages, there are no outside media sources, no score is kept, and the outcome is kept within the team. I have it on good accord that we did lose the scrimmage (I don't know the final score, as it wasn't kept) but does anyone have info on how it went?
While the score wasn't kept on the scoreboard, they kept the stats on the bench. State lost supposedly did well defensively but had trouble rebounding and shooting free throws. Not sure how we can solve the poor rebounding considering how the lack of depth at center. Bloodman played but had a splint on his hand. Is Jacoby Davis going to play this year? It has been 13 months since his injury. Seems a lot longer than normal to recover from surgery. Really wish we had Wendell now considering the rules change with defense and fouls.
We will have to be a very up tempo style team to win. Hope the new additions including Staley and Wilson can contribute or we'll be brutal again.
I don't think Wilson is playing
what are the new defense/fouls rule changes? six fouls? what about defense?
So we still can't make a free throw. How sad is that? One of the fundamentals of the game and we still can't get it down. I was hoping that was just a Stansbury thing but I see, so far at least, it is transcended coaches. I know that cost us more than one game under Stansbury. I hope Ray can get it turned around before it costs us games under him.Quote:
Originally Posted by RICKRAYMADE
Coach34 you wanted Change and Stans to be gone which I disagreed with at first but finally gave in towards the end of his last season. However, now I'm really starting to have my doubts about Rick Ray. He hasn't signed or gotten a commitment from a 4 star recruit yet. He will play this season with only one true post player (Gavin Ware) Two of the bigs he signed are ineligible (Not sure if he knows the tricks on how to get players cleared yet) You gotta have some guys who are NBA or European pro league type pros on your team if you want to make the NCAA tournament and have a chance to win the SEC. We currently have NONE
I just see Ray is a good guy and good X's and O's coach who is in WAY, WAY over his head. He may prove me wrong but I see another season this year similar to last season.
interestingQuote:
Originally Posted by FreeBoosie
Just remember who made the hire. He pissed a lot of people off, and then begged their forgiveness. I will be surprised if he has a say at all on the next hire.
We had to hire someone like Rick Ray because of Stands and toxicity of the program. Stricklin sure didnt help things.Quote:
Originally Posted by 601Dawg
We are going to win more than 10 games Bundy. We have no depth in the post because of your boy Stands former player smoking his way out of college. The toxicity of the former regime still infects the program.
There is no doubt the man demands effort and can coach. Can he recruit? That will define his tenure. Nobody denies that in the least
So is it year 4 he needs to make the tourney or he's gone? Because I think that's reasonable.
Is Borchert playing yet? If not, that would help explain our troubles rebounding.
With Ware, Borchert, and Roq Johnson, we should be decent in that area.
As far as free throws, look around college basketball if you think this is just a Mississippi State problem. The issue was actually overblown by fans during Stans' tenure. There just aren't a lot of teams who make FTs as often as fans feel they 'should'. There are a lot of teams who end up in the 60's...many Duke teams in the past included, but I don't think a lot of people are questioning their coaching.
It's actually not easy to get a guy to increase his FT % by a ton during his college years. For the most part, the shooter you get is the shooter that leaves.
Losing Steele, and surprisingly Lewis, will hurt us there. Sword is a bad FT shooter, Ware and Roq Johnson are obviously not good. Hopefully Ready, Davis, and Applewhite can make some.
I don't think it's that cut and dried, but it's fairly reasonable. I think if we're in the same place we are now by the end of next year, we'll have to look hard at what we have.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric Nies Grind Time
But if he makes some progress this year and by year 3 has us on the bubble, I don't necessarily think he has to make it into the Tourney in year 4 or he's gone. I just want to see progress, the kind of progress that lets me feel confident he's the guy for the job.
That said, in year 4, Sword, Thomas, and Ware will all be seniors, Ready will be a junior, and we'll have had time to see if he can bring in some impact recruits. So yes, I think it's pretty reasonable to say he needs to have that team in the Tourney.
I honestly don't see what would make anyone say Ray's in over his head yet. He coached one year, after being given less than pretty much any other coach in a major conference to work with (and that was before the injuries), and it was actually a much better year than could be expected.
He's had one full recruiting class, and even in that class he was behind the 8-ball compared to most coaches. Ready seems to be a good signing, we haven't seen Ndoye yet, and we may still bring Daniels in.
Yep, and if we got rid of Mullen that same guy will make a football hire. You really think we will end up with Hud with this clown making the coaching decision? The other sad fact is UAB made a better hire then we did.
Based on what?Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketingBully01
I'm telling you, I think you guys are going to be singing a much different tune in a couple of years.
I'm with you..Quote:
Originally Posted by smootness
Malik Newman will cure all this shit!
He may end up being a good coach but by the time we figure it out he probably will be fired because he has not gotten results. He is basically learning everything on the fly on top of a tough rebuilding job. There are some places an assistant coach hire is a good thing however with as much rebuilding needed for this job we needed a proven head coach. I may eat my words but I just don't think Coach Ray was the right hire at the right time. I think Stricklin got this one wrong.
The solution to everything for MSU fans. Fire the coach.
Bingo.Quote:
Originally Posted by chef dixon
Not to switch over to football but this part does scare me especially if Strick somehow feels Hud doesn't measure up to his "morals" requirement. We can do better than Mullen for a HC but we can also do a lot worse. Mullen is OK its just that we have a definite ceiling with him because he is just very limited as a recruiter in my view (even besides any booster side dealings) because he is just not a good "salesman" in face to face type meetings with recruits and parents. And that's been pretty well documented at this point.Quote:
Originally Posted by MarketingBully01
..come as a shock to all the basketball conspiracy theorists reading this thread but you can't tell a damn thing about an off-season scrimmage vs. UAB.
Ray is going to get at least 4 years. I dont think there is any type of NCAA Tourney requirement- but we better be close and look like the program is on the brink again
Meanwhile, does Stansbury still live in Starkville. Is he ever seen on campus?
Stricklin will ride this one out as long as possible. He hired Ray so obviously his neck is on the line. Obviously Ray wasn't his first choice, but he is bound and determined for Ray to succeed. Fundamentally, I don't see us competing with Florida and Kentucky with Ray as our head coach. He simply isn't recruiting at a high enough level to compete for championships. For those that say we are getting Malik are ignorant. We have a 10% chance at best. This thing will go down hill once Fred, Gavin, and Chicken graduate. Is he a good X's and O's coach? I think the jury is still out. Is he a good recruiter? The only player he has committed that was wanted by other SEC programs is Demetrious Houston (sp). Everyone else he has committed simply won't be "game changers" they are all "role players". I think after his third year if we are still in the 15 win range and the bottom of the SEC again he will get fired. However, Stricklin is making the calls and he tends to shy away from conflict. Fundamentally, I want us to be good again in basketball but I don't see Ray making that possible.
This +1000. Ray HAS to land Newman. Find a way Rick.Quote:
Originally Posted by RBritt
He's going to get 4 years- you can count on thatQuote:
Originally Posted by RICKRAYMADE
It's just amazing that people can claim things like this based on one year of him being the head coach here.Quote:
Originally Posted by RICKRAYMADE
You obviously didn't read his full postQuote:
Originally Posted by smootness
I am starting to get the feeling that we will never compete in the SEC in any big way in the 2 big sports (football, basketball) not because we can't but because of our administration's polyanna view of recruiting. That is where the problem lies long term from what I see in both football and basketball. Appears Strick has him 2 coaches in Mullen and Ray neither of which who want to get their hands dirty in recruiting and that is EXACTLY the way Strick and Keenum apparently want it and that is why Bracky will be fully supported and probably the reason Strick will never give Hud a sniff. If I keep seeing this trend it may be time for me to keep up with MSU baseball but spend the rest of my entertainment dollars on something else. There is just no point in getting too financially or emotionally invested in something where you won't give yourself any real chance to compete on a somewhat reasonably level playing field. I mean the playing field still wouldn't be all that level against the SEC powers regardless but the way its going now we are essentially going to be playing with one arm tied behind our back.Quote:
Originally Posted by RICKRAYMADE
No, I did. The entire post is him making assumptions about things he has no way of knowing yet. He claims the jury is still out on his X's and O's (because this is an area where Ray seemed more than capable last year), yet apparently the jury has already had time to make a verdict on his recruiting (because this is an area where Ray hasn't brought in any studs yet).Quote:
Originally Posted by Raytoraid83
It's clear the two of you have an agenda. You're making judgements on our new coach based on things we can't know yet. You don't give him credit for the things he already seems to be doing well, yet hold against him the things he hasn't proven to do well yet.
He 'isn't recruiting at a high enough level to win championships'? According to...what, exactly? The one class Ray has brought in, the one in which he was already behind on the moment he was hired? The one in which we haven't actually seen either of the guys we brought in play yet?
Ray can be given full credit for Colin Borchert, Jacoby Davis, Andre Applewhite, IJ Ready, and Fallou Ndoye. We've seen exactly one of them play, and he was arguably our best player by the end of last year.
For whatever reason or reasons, we chose to blow up our basketball program. Whether it can or will ever be reassembled is an open question. I'm missing being competitive in basketball, but it is fortunately not the focal point of my life. The blame Stansbury game is getting old already, just like the Blame Croom brigade was tiresome after Mullen's first year. I say that if you come in with the New, then let the New take the wins and losses. If you are out with the Old, then forget about it. Don't use the Past to make lame excuses for a failure to be ready for the game at hand..
Exactly Drunker, we blew up our basketball program and it sucks.
getting rid of stans and making a questionable hire don't go hand in hand. you can acknowledge that stans had to go, while simultaneously being pissed about the hiring process. we should never keep a coach around because we are scared of the unknown of the next potential hire.Quote:
Originally Posted by 601Dawg
i wasn't pleased with the ray hire, but last year i was moderately impressed with the way our guys competed. the fact that we didn't finish last in the sec with 5 or 6 scholarships player dressed out most of the conference season is pretty mindblowing and testament to guys buying into what he's selling. the biggest concern i have is that if we don't start seeing more Ws and postseason (even the CBI tourney), these same guys might start tuning him out before he ever gets a chance to have a fully stocked sec caliber roster.
It sucked already- that's why it was blown up. Becoming a national disgrace wasnt masked by a few extra wins and an NIT bidQuote:
Originally Posted by MarketingBully01
As of right now....not happening. RR is doing a real job by getting Horatio to listen to him, but there are some other factors at play here. It could change, but not likely.Quote:
Originally Posted by RBritt
My only "agenda" is wanting a competitive basketball program again. And rays brought in 3 classes now, about to be 4 in two weeks when the first recruiting period ends.Quote:
Originally Posted by smootness
Unfortunately I am feeling the same way. I feel we made a safe hire at the AD position instead of having a national search.Quote:
Originally Posted by maroonmania
I guess sucked is a relative term. Getting beat on your home court multiple times by 50+ is a new low. Stans never had that type of whipping on him and in fact had one losing season because we didn't know Bender would blow up in the McDonald's All American game and be picked sixth overall.
If there is one thing we have learned about this is that change for the sake of change is not the answer. Let that sink in for all you guys who want Mullen gone. We could end up with a Ray hire in football. That IMO would crush the biggest money sport we have and surely lead to Stricklin being fired. But I digress.