Basketball Season Thread

[NoWammies]

I’ve been waiting on this upcoming three game stretch of Iowa, Miami and St. John’s before I got a good assessment of what this Ole Miss team is. 

[Bulldogs4]

Hubbard played well but then had two turnovers late. Illegal pick and a poor pass. Very costly. 

[Dawg83]

State with 3 losses before Thanksgiving…. Not a good sign.

 

I think it’s time to temper expectations for this team majorly. They may be this year’s Missouri or South Carolina, i.e. a team with a good coach that’s good one year then falls off majorly the next year…. Kinda feeling like this is the fall off year.

 

Not saying it’s a permanent fall off for Jans… But I don’t see a tourney team with this roster and right now I’m not sure I see a .500 overall team.

Edited November 22, 2025 by Dawg83

[Bulldogs4]

Yep. Simply put we are not good and we have not looked good. Period. Painful to watch actually. 

[MSTSatchmo]

Makes you question Jans ability to evaluate the portal talent.  To be as bad as they have been defensively the last two years compared to his teams over his whole career, it’s surprising.  

[Dawg83]

9 hours ago, MSTSatchmo said:

Makes you question Jans ability to evaluate the portal talent.  To be as bad as they have been defensively the last two years compared to his teams over his whole career, it’s surprising.  

It’s a really fair question. And makes you wonder where he’d be without four Howland holdovers sticking around for multiple years and if Josh Hubbard had not gotten out of his Ole Miss NLI.

 

I like Jans but he’s gotta get some things figured out with the portal.

Edited November 22, 2025 by Dawg83

[Bulldogs4]

2 hours ago, Dawg83 said:

It’s a really fair question. And makes you wonder where he’d be without four Howland holdovers sticking around for multiple years and if Josh Hubbard had not gotten out of his Ole Miss NLI.

 

I like Jans but he’s gotta get some things figured out with the portal.

Which is odd because when he took the job, he said he was not here to build a program but to build a team each year (as that was when all this started). His track record of coaching winning teams is solid. We are five games in but right now this team looks lost on the court. Guys out of position, no movement without the ball and way too much dribbling on the offensive end. We got killed on the boards last night. No mental toughness. Turnovers did improve last night but in the last 4 minutes we missed a front end of a 1&1 free throw, had two turnovers. If you are going to win a close game, those are the plays you have to make. Obviously we are not going to be perfect. But when plays are to be made you have to make them to win a game. 

[Dawg83]

Definitely been a weird experience because this team was supposedly built on defense and they can’t defend.

 

Inconsistent offense is nothing new with Jans teams and that probably will never change. The defensive regression the last two years is the biggest concern for me.

[hasbeen67]

I don't follow very closely, but it's always concerning in any sport when the thing the coach is known for is not very good. 

[Dawg83]

State absolutely pulled one out of the fire tonight. Down 13 to the UNO Privateers with 5 minutes left and ended up winning in overtime on a banked in 3.

 

Major major issues with this team still… But a win is better than a loss to a team of that caliber. And they were getting run out of the gym for most of the second half. A bit of a miraculous salvage job.

[Bulldogs4]

FT Shooting was horrific. Right at 50% for the night and Hubbard was especially bad at the charity stripe. But a win is a win is a win.

UNO basically gave the game away in the last 5 minutes by playing not to lose instead of winning. Once you get stagnant on offense you are in trouble late. 

[Dawg83]

State blows a lead to SMU and loses at the Hump. The Black Friday double whammy is complete.

 

See yall in baseball season I guess. Or at least that’s the next time I may have a team worth being emotionally invested in.

 

Edited November 29, 2025 by Dawg83

[Bulldogs4]

Very disappointing to blow nine point lead in the second half at home. Again it was missed FT’s at crucial times and inopportune turnovers that cost us the game. Plus only 11 assists for the game. Way too much one on one basketball. That will get you beat every time out. 

[Bulldogs4]

Much needed road win tonight for State at Georgia Tech. Still have a long way to go but maybe the SMU game was our low point. 
We will see. 

[Bulldogs4]

Good thing the football team got good news today as this team regressed again. I understand  we were playing without Hubs. But against SFO we should still win that game. Very disappointing and honestly just a poor performance today. Period. 

[Dawg83]

May be a tough winter for hoops in Mississippi.

 

State is 4-5.

 

Ole Miss, after starting 5-0, has lost 4 in a row.

[Bulldogs4]

Huge comeback for State coming from 17 down to beat Utah in what was effectively a road game. Finished the game on a 59-34 run after being down 40-23. Now Utah is probably not that good but it was encouraging to see this happen. 

[Dawg83]

11 hours ago, Bulldogs4 said:

Huge comeback for State coming from 17 down to beat Utah in what was effectively a road game. Finished the game on a 59-34 run after being down 40-23. Now Utah is probably not that good but it was encouraging to see this happen. 

Really nice comeback. I think they’ve done too much damage to make the NCAAT without a crazy run in SEC play. but the hope is maybe they can win out the rest of nonconference and put together a decent enough conference record to make the NIT

Edited December 15, 2025 by Dawg83

[Bulldogs4]

1 hour ago, Dawg83 said:

Really nice comeback. I think they’ve done too much damage to make the NCAAT without a crazy run in SEC play. but the hope is maybe they can win out the rest of nonconference and put together a decent enough conference record to make the NIT

Yep.

We would probably have to win 11+ games in the Conference and win a game or two in the Tournament. And that is if “we win the remaining OOC games” (which has no guarantee of happening). 
And right now I do not see all that happening.

But winning without Hubs carrying the team was the most encouraging thing about the game. 

[Bulldogs4]

Must win for State over Memphis. Despite the fact they were 4-6 coming into the game, you know they are always loaded with talent. 
7-5 with Alabama A&M coming up. Still disappointing but there is a glimmer of hope. 
9 days off is coming at a good time. Hubs is still not 100% and hopefully he will get some rest and be at full speed then. 

 

[Bulldogs4]

Nice win for State over Alabama State tonight. I think we needed this type of game going into conference play.

While I see some potential with this team, I believe SEC play is going to be a struggle for this team. 

[Dawg83]

Both State and OM made it through the nonconference with records that aren’t just total disasters…. But both will need really strong showings in SEC play to even sniff making the NCAAT.

 

State and OM combined for zero Q1 or Q2 wins in nonconference play. Sheesh.

[Bulldogs4]

Which is odd, generally speaking wins over Ga Tech, Utah and Memphis would be at least a Quad 2 win. Obviously you can not control what your opponents do when they are not playing you. 
SEC is not anywhere as good as last year but both State & Ole Miss have, so far, been even more mediocre than other teams that have declined from last year to this year. So where this leaves us heading into conference play is anybody’s guess. 

[Dawg83]

18 minutes ago, Bulldogs4 said:

Which is odd, generally speaking wins over Ga Tech, Utah and Memphis would be at least a Quad 2 win. Obviously you can not control what your opponents do when they are not playing you. 
SEC is not anywhere as good as last year but both State & Ole Miss have, so far, been even more mediocre than other teams that have declined from last year to this year. So where this leaves us heading into conference play is anybody’s guess. 

Memphis is an under .500 team. Georgia Tech has played an atrocious schedule. I too was a little surprise that Utah isn’t rated higher. They do have a decent neutral site win over Ole Miss.

[Bulldogs4]

Huge win on the road for State at Texas in OT.

Some redemption from the loss to them last year at home in OT. Team seems to be getting better. Of course their best player fouled out late. A complete team effort even though Hubs and Epps carried the scoring load.