Rick Ray's latest tweet

[Coach34]

I'm not kidding at all. And one, just ONE, yr of seeing how different our basketball program is now versus the Stains (I'm re instituting Stains, tough shit for some) program has reaffirmed that our coach is better. Now. Stains was a good recruiter as an assistant but a shitty head coach. No need in listing all the reasons why you may think Stains was great because I have as many if not more reasons why he sucked ass so the debate is probably useless. I'm sure he was a nice guy and its nothing personal but he was shitty as a coach.

this will add another page to this thread

[Raytoraid83]

I'd like to get this thread back on track, because I think it is an interesting discussion.

My serious questions to FreeBoosie, DemDawgs, and Raytoraid is this: What happened ON THE COURT last year that makes you think Rick Ray isn't capable of being our coach? If Rick Ray didn't meet your expectations.... what were those expectations? Did he meet ANY of the expectations you have for an MSU coach?

Thank you for getting this back on track and away from the childish bitching. Here's the things for me and the timeline of Rick Ray. First off the hiring, I blame Stricklin for hiring an unknown assistant (at a school where our previous coach TURNED DOWN the head coaching job) he put Ray in a no win situation. Second off the way the Hood situation was handled, you can argue he was gone no matter what but hey that's another discussion, ill give him a pass on recruiting that year since he didn't have time to adjust but I think at a program like Mississippi State you have to take chances on players with a little baggage but with upside as playmakers. Those are the main issues. Now during the season we had our ups and downs due to injuries and suspensions and we can't really judge him as a coach yet. Like we established, next year will give us more information into that. Just take a seat back and type into YouTube 2004 mississippi state basketball team and reminisce on the good things stansbury did for our program. People remember Stansbury too much from his last couple of seasons and forget that stansbury had our basketball program as the most consistent winner of the big 3 sports, only Kentucky and Florida had more wins in 10 seasons, that's just facts. Lets sit back let Ray have next season to improve and see where we stand after that.

[TexasDawg]

I'm not kidding at all. And one, just ONE, yr of seeing how different our basketball program is now versus the Stains (I'm re instituting Stains, tough shit for some) program has reaffirmed that our coach is better. Now. Stains was a good recruiter as an assistant but a shitty head coach. No need in listing all the reasons why you may think Stains was great because I have as many if not more reasons why he sucked ass so the debate is probably useless. I'm sure he was a nice guy and its nothing personal but he was shitty as a coach.

You saying right now Ray is a better coach than Stansbury is idiotic. Rick Ray has not proven anything yet. Will he? Who knows, we won't be able to judge that for another 2 years. Croom seemed to have discipline and things going in the right direction early on, he didn't exactly pan out. So will Rick Ray be a successful coach, we simply do not know after only one season that saw 10 wins. I am on the fence with the man, I haven't decided how I feel about him yet as I have stated in a previous thread. But to say Rick Ray right now is better than Stansbury was in his prime is absolutely stupid.

[CapitolCityDawg]

Thank you for getting this back on track and away from the childish bitching. Here's the things for me and the timeline of Rick Ray. First off the hiring, I blame Stricklin for hiring an unknown assistant (at a school where our previous coach TURNED DOWN the head coaching job) he put Ray in a no win situation. Second off the way the Hood situation was handled, you can argue he was gone no matter what but hey that's another discussion, ill give him a pass on recruiting that year since he didn't have time to adjust but I think at a program like Mississippi State you have to take chances on players with a little baggage but with upside as playmakers. Those are the main issues. Now during the season we had our ups and downs due to injuries and suspensions and we can't really judge him as a coach yet. Like we established, next year will give us more information into that. Just take a seat back and type into YouTube 2004 mississippi state basketball team and reminisce on the good things stansbury did for our program. People remember Stansbury too much from his last couple of seasons and forget that stansbury had our basketball program as the most consistent winner of the big 3 sports, only Kentucky and Florida had more wins in 10 seasons, that's just facts. Lets sit back let Ray have next season to improve and see where we stand after that.

Agreed... Stansbury had some great years but it was time to move on. I think Ray will bring a much needed youthful energy to our program and we can once again return to being one of the best in the league. We owe him our support

[FreeBoosie]

Maybe Rick Ray is just my scape goat for my arch nemesis Scott Stricklin

[CapitolCityDawg]

Maybe Rick Ray is just my scape goat for my arch nemesis Scott Stricklin

Something we CAN agree on...

[FreeBoosie]

When the team was playing well and having fun, it was entertaining to watch. Maybe I will be wrong he is the answer. But, at the end of the day Texas hit it right with comparing him to Croom. He's a transition guy, never had a chance from day one.

[Todd4State]

If Ray doesn't succeed, it's because WE as fans/alumni/boosters didn't fully support him. And I don't understand that. Was he the big name that everyone wanted? No. But that doesn't mean he can't be successful. Based on what I have seen, I think he will win at least as well as Stansbury did. You can't judge him on last year's team- and I don't think Stansbury would have done any better.

This exact same thing happened to Cohen- on a bigger scale in my opinion- and things worked out OK.

The Stansbury people need to understand that he did well overall, but his time is now over. And in the sports world it is extremely rare that a coach goes out on top. It's just the nature of the beast. Heck, my uncle was fired at least 2-3 times as a minor league baseball coach- usually because the orgaization changed front officies or ownership- and he simply found another coaching job with someone else. So, I know how that industry works.

[Todd4State]

When the team was playing well and having fun, it was entertaining to watch. Maybe I will be wrong he is the answer. But, at the end of the day Texas hit it right with comparing him to Croom. He's a transition guy, never had a chance from day one.

Croom wasn't a "transition guy". He was a bad coach. I guarantee you that when LT hired him, he was hoping that he would be here for 20 years. It just didn't work out because he was stubborn and lacked head coaching experience.

[Coach34]

You saying right now Ray is a better coach than Stansbury is idiotic. Rick Ray has not proven anything yet. Will he? Who knows, we won't be able to judge that for another 2 years. Croom seemed to have discipline and things going in the right direction early on, he didn't exactly pan out. So will Rick Ray be a successful coach, we simply do not know after only one season that saw 10 wins. I am on the fence with the man, I haven't decided how I feel about him yet as I have stated in a previous thread. But to say Rick Ray right now is better than Stansbury was in his prime is absolutely stupid.

first of all- to your Croom comment- No, Croom never seemed to have things going in the right direction early on. The Maine loss...the terrible offense, the worst game I've ever watched when we played Tulane in Shreveport....It was evident to me Croom was never going to be a good SEC coach.

Now then to Ray vs Stands- I can't speak for I Seen It- but after knowing him for 25 years I have a good idea what he is talking about. You most certainly can say Ray is a better coach than Stands. But you have to actually pay attention to see it. You cant just compare 14 years vs 1 roster depleted season. How ddo you compare then?

You compare the way their teams set screens? Advantage Ray
You compare the way their teams blocked out? Advantage Ray
You compare the way their teams ran an offense? Advantage Ray
You compare the way their teams knew their assignments? Advantage Ray
You compare their ability to change defenses? Advantage Ray
You compare their ability to execute different inbounds plays? Advantage Ray

If you get past your allegiances, talent level, wins/losses and just simply watched the things that a coach can control- Ray's bunch looked much more well-coached than just about any Stands ever had.

[fishwater99]

Yes I did, very closely. Did you? things I noticed: 293 wins, an outright SEC championship, 6 NCAA tournaments (4 straight) and only missing the postseason 3 times, 21-8 record against ole miss, pretty much taking whoever he wanted in recruiting out of Mississippi and walking into Alabama and grabbing one of there top recruits in years (Mario Austin), oh and for those saying he was just a recruiter and the players made him he did all of this with ONE FIRST ROUNDER. Did he lose control at the end? Yes. Is he totally to blame? No. Was it time for him to step down? Probably. He took a risk on Sidney who he was told by other coaches it would cost him his job. He thought he had dealt with enough personalities he could handle one more. In the end, it did. But to say that Rick Ray, a man that won 10 GAMES last year, is already a better coach is laughable and unthinkable.

Stans was a good recruiter and evaluator of talent, but he was a horrible floor coach.
He could not win the big game outside of the SEC. Stans problem with the Sweet 16 was that he could not scout two teams on two days notice and make a game-plan because he could not institute a half court offense.
Stans found the 4 guard gimmick and decided to live and die by the 3 pointer, instead of actually instituting a half court offense.
The “Motion” offense was just an excuse for Stans to cover up his lack of having a half court offense.
If we didn't score in offensive transition we looked just like a church-league team standing around and jacking three's.
He always let the other team dictate the tempo of the game. Why?

Stans lost control of the team when he let J-Money do whatever he wanted without consequences, it just got worse every year after J-Money came to campus. Not sure what he had on Stans, but it was more than enough. This was the start of his downfall and the RSS Saga was just the icing on the cake.. The inmates were running the asylum, not coach Stans..

[Quaoarsking]

Does anyone actually think we would have been a better team last year had Stans stayed? Did you really want to see more of Renardo and the druggie squad half-assing their way through another long year, probably spreading the laziness onto Ware, Sword, Thomas, etc.? I'll take 10-22 and a bright future over 13-19 and more of the same any day...

[Coach34]

Maybe Rick Ray is just my scape goat for my arch nemesis Scott Stricklin

I wasnt overly happy with the Rick Ray choice myself. I severely underestimated the stench of our program that was out there though in the coaching community...

Ray deserves 4 years to see what he can do- and so far I'm on board. It was certainly better than expected to this point

Changed culture of program
Installed work ethic
Team plays its ass off
No DRAMA

Not bad for a first year...but now it's time to see some wins...team is still extremely young, but should get to 17-18 wins

[I seen it dawg]

When we were "playing well" we had good players that underachieved bc our coach had a low ceiling for discipline, heart, hard work, and floor coaching. Recruiting great- coaching shit.

At no time in his tenure did he outcoach another, did our team outwork another, nor did we have talent really develop and get better but we damn sure had head scratching losses, physical weakness, discipline issues, and a shitpile of "wth just happened".

When we won it was because he got some good players together and when he did he always ****ed it up in the end. I don't give a shit about his record versus Ole Miss, whose head coach was always worse than ours, or his 293 wins that were gained against our perennially pussified OOC schedule because he never beat anyone he had to outcoach or wait for it....got to the Sweet 16. With all his greatness and recruiting prowess he could never muster enough coaching acumen to get the talent we had to win big games.

We had an opportunity while he was in his "prime" to truly compete for a national title because the landscape of college basketball allowed it. He recruited the talent to do it. He never made them work or get any better and when he had to really coach he ALWAYS failed. To me that's a shitty coach no matter how many times he beats the Belhavens of the world.

[mic]

I am glad somebody finally had the wherewithal to ask that question. Let me begin.

Let me go ahead and clear something up. I'm sure a lot of you think I hate Rick Ray because he didnt go 38-0 in his first season as head coach. Not true. The reasons I dislike Rick Ray start far before he even stepped on campus, because I believe he should have never stepped on campus. He did not and does not deserve to be a coach in the SEC. He was a relative unknown coming into a program with a decent bit of prestige within the college hoops rank. I understand the philosophy of Stricklin. "Lets hire an up and coming assistant who will bring a spark to the program." While that was a good thought, Rick Ray was not at all the person for that job. I feel like Scott Stricklin just posted an ad on Craigslist for a new coach and Rick Ray answered it in between screenings of Star Wars and Glory road. There were plenty of better options who were more than interested in the job (Kenny Payne, PHIL CUNNINGHAM, Wayne Brent, Joe Dooley) but no, Scott Stricklin chose the quirky guy who wears three piece polyester suits. He should never have been given a chance, but he was, which leads us to where we are today.

Next, lets look at some gems of wisdom Rick Ray has given us.

"Colin Borchert reminds me of a Robby Hummel type player"- Not even worth going off on.
"Rodney, I want you to be the kind of guy who demands double teams"- He told the player that could have been the best player in MSU history he didnt want him to score.
"This team will win with hustle" Well the 23 other teams won with points.
"There are no 50/50 balls, only 100/0 balls in my program"

Rick Ray did not contact Josh Gray once to keep him. So instead we have Trivante "drive to the right" Bloodman and IJ "The Future" Ready at point guard.

Now lets talk about his presence off the court. The season poster looked great last year with him wearing pre game warm ups, but I'm sure the glare off of his lilac zoot suit would have not showed up in photos. He is a joke on social media. I disagree completely with the statement "I like that he's one of us". I hold him to a higher standard, I dont want to know how Deacon felt about Monsters U or Despicable Me 2.

Now last year. I do understand he went through some of the biggest adversity any coach has ever seen. Losing two freshman before the season and your starting 4 8 games in is tough. He kept fighting and scrounged out 10 games. Good for him. But, we could have avoided the most embarrassing season in MSU history by not hiring Rick Ray. I do believe that a 17-18 win season is possible if 1.) We establish a point guard. 2.) Chicken Sword averages 15-20 points a game. 3.) Fred Thomas becomes a legit finisher at the rim. 4.) Our deep front court can body up against the bigs of the SEC. Right now, I look at us as the deepest team of mediocre talent I have ever seen. If he leads us to the promised land, more power to him. But until then, I will continue to judge his every move. Call me a hater, a troll, blind, naive, whatever you want. I cannot and will not support Rick Ray. I'd much rather support soothsayer, because in two years when Rick Standsbury is coaching Auburn and shames Rick Ray, you all will be posting the same thing.

Long Live Rick 1 (1998-2012)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE hire Stands Auburn.. please...

[TexasDawg]

first of all- to your Croom comment- No, Croom never seemed to have things going in the right direction early on. The Maine loss...the terrible offense, the worst game I've ever watched when we played Tulane in Shreveport....It was evident to me Croom was never going to be a good SEC coach.

Now then to Ray vs Stands- I can't speak for I Seen It- but after knowing him for 25 years I have a good idea what he is talking about. You most certainly can say Ray is a better coach than Stands. But you have to actually pay attention to see it. You cant just compare 14 years vs 1 roster depleted season. How ddo you compare then?

You compare the way their teams set screens? Advantage Ray
You compare the way their teams blocked out? Advantage Ray
You compare the way their teams ran an offense? Advantage Ray
You compare the way their teams knew their assignments? Advantage Ray
You compare their ability to change defenses? Advantage Ray
You compare their ability to execute different inbounds plays? Advantage Ray

If you get past your allegiances, talent level, wins/losses and just simply watched the things that a coach can control- Ray's bunch looked much more well-coached than just about any Stands ever had.

For the 441st time, I am on the fence with Ray. I don't consider myself to have allegiances to Stansbury or Ray.

And if we are really gonna play this game :
You compare their ability to win over 10 games? Advantage Stansbury

See? That is stupid to do. Why? Because he has coached for one ****ing year. He could be the greatest hire we ever made, or he could end up being a complete clown. Who knows. This is why in my opinion, it is extremely premature to say that Ray is a better basketball coach than someone who won 2 SEC titles.

[I seen it dawg]

Ok texas dawg are you a ****ing idiot. He compared things that actually occur during games that you can see. Can you dispute those things?? If so I'd like to hear how because its painfully evident that our intramural team we fielded out of the Stains dumpster fire that Ray had to coach was infinitely better coached than the talent that was coached by the intramural coach we had.

[FelkerFanatic53]

Ray may be the better coach, but if he can't get the players here like Stansbury did...then we will never reach "17-18" games in a year

[fishwater99]

Some Stans fans just won't give up their allegiance to him. They are too blind to see all of his faults.
It makes we wonder if they ever watch other College basketball teams play besides MSU.

[Todd4State]

Ray may be the better coach, but if he can't get the players here like Stansbury did...then we will never reach "17-18" games in a year

We have the 13th ranked recruiting class right now. I know it's early, but a top 25 class isn't a stretch for this year.