I Knew it Was a Bad Decision to Emotionally Reinvest in Basketball Tonight.

[ShotgunDawg]

I hate basketball, but I gave our team a chance tonight.

I emotionally re-engaged tonight & cleared my schedule root on the Dawgs.

I was greeted by a team with no low post presence & no defense.

You won't see me at the Hump this year.

Maybe someday this program will get back on it's feet.

[MaroonDawg4Life]

Yeah we arent that good at all. I thought this class would be on the level of kentucky but I was wrong. Bama is not that good and we lose at home to them by jacking up a 100 3s and can't hit any of them.

[drummerdawg]

Yeah we arent that good at all. I thought this class would be on the level of kentucky but I was wrong. Bama is not that good and we lose at home to them by jacking up a 100 3s and can't hit any of them.

Why would you think we'd be on the level of Kentucky?

[maroonmania]

I had a bad feeling about tonight after either losing or struggling to beat a slew of bad teams in the pre-conference. Couldn't bring myself to watch it so just kept live stats running. I was hoping I was wrong but this team still has a very, very long way to go to just compete with good teams (which Bama is not).

[WPDawg]

I hate basketball, but I gave our team a chance tonight.

I emotionally re-engaged tonight & cleared my schedule root on the Dawgs.

I was greeted by a team with no low post presence & no defense.

You won't see me at the Hump this year.

Maybe someday this program will get back on it's feet.

Ha. Move on then. They will not miss your non-support.

[Big4Dawg]

Yeah we arent that good at all. I thought this class would be on the level of kentucky but I was wrong. Bama is not that good and we lose at home to them by jacking up a 100 3s and can't hit any of them.

This class is no where near Kentucky. They have 4 top 25 guys in each class. We have zero on entire roster. We have a bunch of future decent college players.

[HSVDawg]

This class is no where near Kentucky. They have 4 top 25 guys in each class. We have zero on entire roster. We have a bunch of future decent college players.

This exactly. People that are used to football recruiting often have a hard time understanding basketball recruiting. In football, there isn't a lot of separation between the #1 and #4 ranked classes. In basketball, the top 2 or 3 classes (pretty much Kentucky, Duke, and Kansas or NC usually) are truly elite and the next 10 or so classes are all equivalent to maybe a #10 -#15 football class and don't have a lot of separation. The gap between class #'s 3 and 4 is about equal to the discrepency between #4 and #40. Our talent level compared to Kentucky is ridiculously low.

[Homedawg]

I hate basketball, but I gave our team a chance tonight.

I emotionally re-engaged tonight & cleared my schedule root on the Dawgs.

I was greeted by a team with no low post presence & no defense.

You won't see me at the Hump this year.

Maybe someday this program will get back on it's feet.

It took you until tonight to know all that? What have you been watching? Whatever it was, you had maroon colored glasses on.

[Homedawg]

Yeah we arent that good at all. I thought this class would be on the level of kentucky but I was wrong. Bama is not that good and we lose at home to them by jacking up a 100 3s and can't hit any of them.

If you thought this then I just can't help you. The difference in the top 10 basketball recruit vs a top 100 is equal to a top 300 in football vs a top 2000. Big difference some make it in each group some don't. And to add, all of ours Except q are fr. And q struggled tonight. It happens.

[thf24]

Tonight was simply an illustration of what some of us have been saying since the third game. Besides being insanely young, we must depend heavily on outside jump shots because we have no reliable inside presence (yet). If those shots are falling, we have a chance to beat anyone not named Kentucky. If not, we can easily lose to anyone in the conference. We're also most likely going to go as Q goes from here out. If he has a bad game, we probably lose. If you were surprised by any of this, then you weren't paying attention prior to this game. Forget expectations and just look for the high points this season; next year is the year.

[NCDawg]

Why would you think we'd be on the level of Kentucky?

Right, probably only 2 times in our history have we been on their level. Once when Bailey Howell played, and our 1996 team.

[mparkerfd20]

Howland is a good recruiter. It is yet to be seen if he can coach.

[AROB44]

Howland is a good recruiter. It is yet to be seen if he can coach.

I am sure there are much better coaches on this message board. ******

[Bothrops]

Howland is a good recruiter. It is yet to be seen if he can coach.

Howland has a very good track record at 3 other schools, and his win records show major improvement in year two. We should be beyond the point of having a setback like last night, by now. So I'm a little concerned.

[msstate7]

When it's obvious our shooting is off, I wish we would full court press some esp against bigger teams like bama last night. Seems this would be a way to get us some easy baskets

[thf24]

Howland has a very good track record at 3 other schools, and his win records show major improvement in year two. We should be beyond the point of having a setback like last night, by now. So I'm a little concerned.

I doubt he started with the cupboard as bare as he did here at Pitt and UCLA. His best talent last year were freshman, then he had to start almost completely over this year, returning only two significant contributors in Q and Ready (Holman only played half a season and spent most of that time getting his legs under him). With even more talent coming in and current weaknesses shored up, next year should look more like year 2 at his last two stops.

[smootness]

Howland has a very good track record at 3 other schools, and his win records show major improvement in year two. We should be beyond the point of having a setback like last night, by now. So I'm a little concerned.

Actually, no, they show major improvement in year three. We're not there yet.

Our fans need to chill and keep supporting these kids. If you looked at Kentucky and thought, 'As long as you have highly recruited freshmen, you'll be great!' then that's on you. Their freshmen are on a different level, and even they are older than we are.

We have the kind of kids that have a chance to be really good by years 2-3. These are not kids expected to step in and carry you to a Final Four right away. We basically have a bunch of Jamont Gordon's and Charles Rhodes'. They weren't that good right away but they got there.

The last thing this group needs is a bunch of fans who tune in, say, 'Ah, they suck' and give up. Get behind them and see where they can take us. Because we're going there, the only question is when our own fans decide to get on board.

[KentuckyDawg13]

You won't see me at the Hump this year.

Typical fair weather response.
Obviously, you do not understand basketball.
This young team NEEDS fan support more than anything. They feed off of energy. They were outmatched and it showed. For those thinking BAMA is a bad team, go watch some basketball and learn. BAMA has improved for the past three years and they have quality upperclassmen. We have none. Zero.
Our team is improving and if anyone with an ounce of basketball knowledge can see it. The potential is high, and we do rely on the outside shot too much. Sort of expected when the opposing team is taller/bigger at EVERY position.
For our team to come out of the half and tie the game shows the potential they have. They need fan support and people in the seats. Home court advantage has not been present @ MSU in over 5 yrs. It affects everything, down to ref calls which were terrible last night.

[Cowboydawg]

I think people are overreacting because either
A. You're expectations were too high
Or
B. You don't understand the game of basketball very well

[defiantdog]

Damn..... some of you gave Ray 3 years but you won't give a proven winner 3. We need more big men..... any of you that followed any sort of basketball recruiting would know that Herard needed time to develop. You'd also know that we missed on recruiting the 4, which is what we needed desperately. Y'all are some impatient bastards.