Bulldogs4

Transfer portal is just a mercenary clearing house. And going forward it will mostly be a crap shoot on who succeeds in a given year. Ole Miss hit the jackpot this year with a combination of veteran returnees and some great portal pieces. State was a mixed bag. On paper it looked good and was somewhat successful but just getting to the Tournament and an underachieving regular season left everyone let down at the end of the season. But the days of one player staying at one school four-five years is over. Continuity is history. Good coaching will require a lot of luck and good fortune. Because you are going to be going into the season basically blind each year. Will this team gel this year? Did I find the right players? Will they have any consistency? Will they be dedicated? How many malcontents will I end up with? And the questions/answers will linger on for a while.

Mangum was a big reason we won a NC even if he was not an actual part of the team that did win it. His drive was incredible and he predicted in 2019 that we would win a NC. Those years from 2016 to 2019 set the stage that led to 2021. While his personality is a bit different, he reminds me of Will Clark. They had that inner drive to be successful and could carry a team when needed. He is going to be uber successful with Tampa. He makes the players around him better.

Interesting that has been a needed to boost to our spirits. Hard to believe that he has not already been in the big leagues yet. The guy is a true old style baseball player.

Ostrander would certainly go to State. His salary would double/triple along with the best stadium in the nation, great history. USM is a good job and they have had good success. But can he win a National Championship there? Doubtful. At State, he would certainly have an opportunity to win a National Championship. It will be interesting to see what happens.

50% of the FF is SEC. Kind of par for the course this season.

Certainly give Lemonis credit for the NC in 2021 but it feels more and more that was just a happenstance that he was the coach. Almost wish that Henderson had been retained full time after the job he did in 2018. I am one that is conservative when it comes to coaching changes but this train derailed in 2022 and really has never gotten back to the track (last year withstanding). And even last year we cost ourselves hosting by losing 2-3 OOC games we had no business losing. A third of the way into the conference season and we are on track for a 3-27/4-26 finish. Not exactly confidence inspiring so far.

Nwoko entered TP. Even though he was a starter, he did not really develop like was anticipated. Plus he did not have much endurance. Played 15 minutes a game. Clary was basically out the entire season. Matthews will be a big plug to replace. And as much as I respect him and appreciate his great effort, today’s game requires guys who can score from the outside. He did a lot things but his FT shooting was poor and he was not much of an offensive threat. Harris & Melendez were decent players but neither was much of an offensive threat outside a few games here and there. So that is five players gone. Signing class was strong, but a good PG, SG and a couple of F/C from the TP are a must. There is a decent nucleus coming back with Hubs, Murphy, Jones, Kugel. Just gotta find the right pieces. We will see. Ole Miss will be rebuilding next year. Beard is a good coach but most likely Ole Miss will take a step back. Hard to replace the chemistry and experience that this team had this year. They were a special group that played really well together.

Easiest way for State not to score? Just put a man on third. Guaranteed to remain there until 3 outs are recorded. On a bright note, Simmons had a solid outing. Considering what that guy has been through, you have to be pulling for him to have a good year. I can’t imagine going three years without playing a game and then coming back after those injuries.

Or fall behind early, rally in the middle only to lose late.

4 walks in one inning is a good formula for a loss. Baseball is a nine inning game. 8 good innings will get cancelled out by one poor inning.

Another normal game for State. Close but no cigar. Same ole same ole in conference play.

Lemonis alluded to that Monday that he would keep the pitching rotation for Friday/Saturday the same. We will see what happens. Gotta clean up a lot of little things to even give ourselves a chance to win. And my confidence in us doing that is almost nil.

I don’t have the same feeling about Ole Miss in this game as I did in the first two games. I am afraid Michigan State will win this game. They are one of those teams that seem to be able to bully other teams. And I think they will do the same here. That said, I am pulling for our Ole Miss friends in this game. And as 83 alluded, if they continue to shoot well, they can very well win this game. Hopefully Auburn whips that Michigan *** as they are my least favorite college team. Would certainly be cool if our both of our SEC teams can send Michigan(s) back N for good.

At this point we are not making the Tournament. Ironically we have actually had more success in Red Stick over the recent years against LSU than we have had at home. But I will be surprised if we win one game this weekend. Like we said about basketball, at some point results on the court speak for themselves. And right now on the field we are not good in baseball. We are 3-9 against teams with a pulse. That will not cut it.

I called it. Just felt like Ole Miss was going to win this game. Still some time left but a 22 point lead with 7+ minutes left is pretty safe. NM is giving Michigan State all they want right now. Sweet Sixteen, Ole Miss will certainly have every opportunity for a win against either of those teams.

Got hammered early today with porous defense. I think four errors in two innings. Pitching may be a bit suspect but that kind of defense is inexcusable. Down 10-5 and only in the third inning.

Guess you call it an upset but it shows the strength of the SEC. Arkansas struggled early but have played pretty well down the stretch. Not that much of a surprise IMHO. St. John’s was good but they played a relatively weak schedule. Iron sharpens Iron. Arkansas was battle tested.

Both Diamond teams win on the road. State with a 2-1 pitchers duel over Oklahoma. Whereas Ole Miss out slugged Missouri 9-6. State needs to win at least two . Ole Miss needs to win all three since it is Missouri and even though it is on the road, OM is much the better team.

Beating NC in basketball is an excellent win. Period. And you knew they were going to comeback. Winning is the name of the game. I predict Ole Miss will beat Iowa State. After that you roll the dice.

State was day late and a dollar short for the most part this season. Close but no cigar on a number of games and then just completely blown out in a handful of games. It was not a bad season as we did win 21 games but after the Non-Conference games it felt this team was going to perform better in conference play than it did. Three straight trips to the Tournament but certainly disappointing that we did not go any further. I guess I am out of the loop. So where is Jans going and why would he be leaving?

Not really surprised about Missouri and Georgia and even Texas either. Bodes bad for State since Mizzou & Texas just beat us. Oh well. McNeese not surprisingly beat Clemmie. State beat McNeese in Tupelo months ago. So who knows what will happen today…

They were 19-14 so record wise very similar. For State, if we don’t hit at least 35% from three and 75% from the FT line, we can forget even having a chance to win. But they are obviously flawed as well losing 14 games. Looking at their roster they seem somewhat similar to us. Let’s roll the dice and see what happens.

Bianco is safe. I don’t get the Ole Miss folks wanting to run him off after 25 successful years of which maybe 3-4 were below par. He is such a class act and even though I am a State alum/fan, he has always been one of my favorites. Lot of respect for him. And not just about baseball. And I am still willing to give Lemonis this season to either make it or break it. If we swoon the rest of the year then it will be time for a change. But the season still has a long way to go. We will see what happens.

I disagree about Duke. I think they are beatable. Now I have no idea about Baylor-State. Teams are equal. But if State happens to win that game, I actually like our chances against Duke. Why? Just because it seems that this team might finally play its best game of the season. That has not been done yet.

I don’t think that it is Fire Lemonis” time. Give credit to Texas for playing just a bit better than we did. This team has some good pieces and I think it can be good. But losing three at home is not a good look at all. And of course the 2021 team was swept at home by Arkansas early as well. Pressure is now on to win some games going forward. And win immediately. We will see.