College Basketball

[Dawg83]

As of today, Lunardi has State as a 9 seed and Ole Miss as one of the first teams out. Crucial game in Oxford tomorrow, and also a decent opportunity game for State in Baton Rouge.

 

Don’t think State’s game is must win like OM’s but you’d like least one win in these next two.  There is a path where State could end up back on the bubble and having to win a couple of games the last week of the season, wanna avoid that scenario if at all possible.

[MSTSatchmo]

On 2/22/2024 at 9:43 AM, Dawg83 said:

State’s free throw woes are frustrating but if you look at it closely it’s really just two guys. Tolu and Cam take the most FT’s on the team by far and are easily the worst two FT shooters. The rest of the team shoots something like 70%.

Matthews shot really well the other night, but you can’t really count on that.  Smith shot very well the first half and the second, couldn’t hit any.  

[MSTSatchmo]

30 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

As of today, Lunardi has State as a 9 seed and Ole Miss as one of the first teams out. Crucial game in Oxford tomorrow, and also a decent opportunity game for State in Baton Rouge.

 

Don’t think State’s game is must win like OM’s but you’d like least one win in these next two.  There is a path where State could end up back on the bubble and having to win a couple of games the last week of the season, wanna avoid that scenario if at all possible.

State has the veteran team to finish strong, but also because of that anything other than getting in the NCAAT is a bust.  
 

OM on the other hand, should be really pleased if they get a NCAAT bid, but if they finish just outside that’s a huge improvement from where they were.  Beard is a really good coach, and if he had a solid post player to go with his offensive plan he could start building a program.  

[Dawg83]

1 hour ago, MSTSatchmo said:

State has the veteran team to finish strong, but also because of that anything other than getting in the NCAAT is a bust.  
 

OM on the other hand, should be really pleased if they get a NCAAT bid, but if they finish just outside that’s a huge improvement from where they were.  Beard is a really good coach, and if he had a solid post player to go with his offensive plan he could start building a program.  

Yeah I’m thinking of some of the strong post players Kennedy had with Holloway and later Saiz. If OM had one of those kind of guys this year they’d be a top four or five team in the league.

[Dawg83]

And yeah it’s definitely tourney or bust for State. Ole Miss has already had a successful year but I understand that it would be disappointing to be in the mix most of the year and then not make it here at the end.

[sportsmaniac10]

I was actually surprised Ole Miss wasn’t swept by state this year. It’s a terrible match up for Ole Miss because the perimeter defense is awful so if you throw a pass or two, set a screen, Ole Miss is not going to make the right defensive transition and if you have a sharp shooter like Hubbard then you should enjoy 8-10 wide open 3s per game. We got destroyed by South Carolina and lost the game to LSU because of this. I’m scared of what Alabama may do to the Rebs next Wednesday. 
 

also Ole Miss is probably the weakest team in the post position in the SEC.  The post play and play in the paint for Ole miss is just downright awful. Once teams figured out it was the Achilles heal, it’s been zero chance of an upset since then. And you saw some of this with Tolu in the second game with state. I was surprised they didn’t force the ball down low more in the first game.

 

It’s shocking to have 2 7-5 players that are so subpar (but I guess that’s how we grabbed them in the portal). The fact that Cisse was all Big 12 anything is shocking. When he or sharp are on the court, it’s like playing down a man on the offensive end and on defense it’s just a scare tactic. These guys are only able average 3-4 rebounds a game in 20+ minutes. We’ve had several games that combined they had < 4 rebounds, < 4 points…..
 

I am surprised that the defense has not improved and gotten worse. Not sure why we can’t make routine rotations in and out of help defense. Happy to be 19-7 and even discussing the tourney but one solid post player away from a team that could’ve hung with an Auburn or a Kentucky. 

[Dawg83]

32 minutes ago, sportsmaniac10 said:

I was actually surprised Ole Miss wasn’t swept by state this year. It’s a terrible match up for Ole Miss because the perimeter defense is awful so if you throw a pass or two, set a screen, Ole Miss is not going to make the right defensive transition and if you have a sharp shooter like Hubbard then you should enjoy 8-10 wide open 3s per game. We got destroyed by South Carolina and lost the game to LSU because of this. I’m scared of what Alabama may do to the Rebs next Wednesday. 
 

also Ole Miss is probably the weakest team in the post position in the SEC.  The post play and play in the paint for Ole miss is just downright awful. Once teams figured out it was the Achilles heal, it’s been zero chance of an upset since then. And you saw some of this with Tolu in the second game with state. I was surprised they didn’t force the ball down low more in the first game.

 

It’s shocking to have 2 7-5 players that are so subpar (but I guess that’s how we grabbed them in the portal). The fact that Cisse was all Big 12 anything is shocking. When he or sharp are on the court, it’s like playing down a man on the offensive end and on defense it’s just a scare tactic. These guys are only able average 3-4 rebounds a game in 20+ minutes. We’ve had several games that combined they had < 4 rebounds, < 4 points…..
 

I am surprised that the defense has not improved and gotten worse. Not sure why we can’t make routine rotations in and out of help defense. Happy to be 19-7 and even discussing the tourney but one solid post player away from a team that could’ve hung with an Auburn or a Kentucky. 

State played one of its best offensive games of the year in Oxford, even in a loss. Difference in the game was Ole Miss making 12 threes. Compare that to Wednesday, OM only made 6. And 5 of them were in the first half, with the final one being in garbage time once the game was already decided.

Edited February 23, 2024 by Dawg83

[Dawg83]

Rough showing for Ole Miss today, SC just spanked them in the Pavilion.

 

1-5 in the last 6 games and Bama coming to town on Wednesday…. Good luck I guess.

 

Will take an extremely strong finish for OM to make the tourney now.

Edited February 24, 2024 by Dawg83

[Bulldogs4]

Recently it just appears to me that Ole Miss has run out of gas. Certainly have exceeded expectations this year with a first year Coach (who is really good but not a miracle worker). Still not sure why things went south with Davis, especially last year) because there is definitely some talent on that team. 

And the team is still scary because they can still beat most any team on a given night. 

 

Even they don’t make the NCAAT (and the door is not closed there yet) a NIT bid would be good. 

[Dawg83]

31 minutes ago, Bulldogs4 said:

Recently it just appears to me that Ole Miss has run out of gas. Certainly have exceeded expectations this year with a first year Coach (who is really good but not a miracle worker). Still not sure why things went south with Davis, especially last year) because there is definitely some talent on that team. 

And the team is still scary because they can still beat most any team on a given night. 

 

Even they don’t make the NCAAT (and the door is not closed there yet) a NIT bid would be good. 

Agree on all points. OM is still ahead of schedule. Just not the Top 25 caliber team they were ranked as at one point.

[Insideradvantage]

4 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

Agree on all points. OM is still ahead of schedule. Just not the Top 25 caliber team they were ranked as at one point.

Brakefield playing hurt, Murrell having to play too many minutes, Murray in a funk… really not much else is needed to explain why we can’t cut it. 

[Dawg83]

Decent first half for State in BR, up 7 with Matthews barely playing due to foul trouble. Need to keep it up but they’ve played the game at their preferred pace so far.

[Dawg83]

Dang strong showing by State. One of their best games of the season. Hubbard is a special scoring talent, man.

[maroontide06]

8 minutes ago, Dawg83 said:

Dang strong showing by State. One of their best games of the season. Hubbard is a special scoring talent, man.

Great performance on the road.  Hubbard reminded me of the old Rick Stansbury days when Winsome Frazier would get real hot from behind the arc.  He’s a special player for sure.

[maroontide06]

When Winsome got hot he would get further and further away from the 3 point line and it felt like Hubbard was doing the exact same thing.

[David44]

As we know the top 4 get the double bye.

State is in the next 4, and probably can’t get there, But they are playing as good as anyone in the SEC right now. 

[Bulldogs4]

DOWN GOES FRAZIER!!! What a great phrase that was!!!!

 

Hubbard is in the vein of Jeff Malone, Super “D” and Timmy Bowers.

Just don’t see that type of talent too often. Definitely glad he is a Bulldog. And just a Freshman and he will continue to improve. 
CRW mentioned tonight he was so glad to see Hubbard driving the ball more and taking advantage of that part of his game. 

[Dawg83]

State vs Kentucky in The Hump on Tuesday night. Should be an electric environment. UK destroyed State in Lexington but I expect an interesting game this time around.

[Bulldogs4]

I will be in the Hump Tuesday night. Give KY the edge but our team seems to be finally finding its groove on offense. So it should be heck of a good game. Our depth has certainly improved now with 9 players in the rotation. Against a team like KY, depth is a must. 
Would be nice to beat them since they have had our number in the recent years. 

[Dawg83]

4 minutes ago, Bulldogs4 said:

I will be in the Hump Tuesday night. Give KY the edge but our team seems to be finally finding its groove on offense. So it should be heck of a good game. Our depth has certainly improved now with 9 players in the rotation. Against a team like KY, depth is a must. 
Would be nice to beat them since they have had our number in the recent years. 

Don't particularly love the matchup just because Kentucky is an elite offensive team. But their defense is…. we’ll call it optional. State has a chance if their defense can be effective.

[Dawg83]

State’s NET is up to 28 after yesterday. Find a way to beat Kentucky and you’re really putting yourself in a good spot. At that point you’re potentially talking 6 or 7 seed instead of 8-9-10 seed.

[Dawg83]

Seem to be projected in the 7-8 seed range at the moment for State. Can’t undo it now but boy you’d love to have the Southern and Georgia Tech games back. You’d be in the mix for a 4 or 5 seed potentially without those two losses. Oh well.

[sportsmaniac10]

Lady Rebs come away with a win at Mizzou and move to 20-7 overall and 10-4 in SEC play, currently 3rd. One win in the last 2 games will lock up a top 3 finish. They’re already guaranteed a top 4 finish and double bye in the SEC tournament. Currently projected as an 8 seed in the NCAAs. The strength of their resume is really no bad losses other than getting drilled at home by Texas A and M but also just lacking that high profile win. Had 2 missed opportunities in non conference with Louisville and Oklahoma and then actually beat 2 programs that are normally top 25 teams (Arizona and Michigan) but those 2 are having down years. Not often you see the 3rd place team from the SEC projected as an 8 seed.

 

As frustrating as they’ve been to watch at times, the last 2 games give me some optimism that they may be finding their stride just in time for the post season. Granted it was 2 of the weaker SEC teams this year (Georgia and Missouri) , they were both 20+ pt wins which is what you’d expect a good team do and earlier this year we weren’t putting bad teams away like this and would have squeaked out a 2 or 3 pt victory late. Will probably need to win out and win a game at the SEC tournament to have any shot at moving up to a 7 seed. To get any higher would need a win over LSU or South Carolina in the sec tournament , maybe would even have to win it.

 

Not sure what has happened in Starkville but the Lady Dawgs have now lost 4 in a row. 1 was in overtime to Ole Miss in Oxford and one at Alabama which will be an ncaa tourney team so not bad losses but the head scratchers were the 20 point home loss to Florida and on Sunday a home loss to a 10-17 Kentucky team. State is now 20-9 , 7-7 in SEC play and tied for 6th in a log jam middle of the pack but starting to look very bubbly. They still have the LSU win which is huge but State really needs to close with 2 wins to ensure they get a bye in the sec tourney and try and move themselves firmly in.

[Dawg83]

State a 3.5 point favorite tonight against Kentucky. Speaks to both how good State has been lately and also how up and down Kentucky is.

 

I go into this expecting a UK win but admittedly I can’t shake years of Kentucky related PTSD. Still not over the last second putback in 2004 or the John Wall lane violation in 2010. State’s only win against Calipari was in the 2021 SEC tourney against a bad UK team, so it’s been a long time since State has won a big game against Kentucky. 2008 I believe is the last time State beat UK in the Hump.

Edited February 27, 2024 by Dawg83

[Insideradvantage]

37 minutes ago, sportsmaniac10 said:

Lady Rebs come away with a win at Mizzou and move to 20-7 overall and 10-4 in SEC play, currently 3rd. One win in the last 2 games will lock up a top 3 finish. They’re already guaranteed a top 4 finish and double bye in the SEC tournament. Currently projected as an 8 seed in the NCAAs. The strength of their resume is really no bad losses other than getting drilled at home by Texas A and M but also just lacking that high profile win. Had 2 missed opportunities in non conference with Louisville and Oklahoma and then actually beat 2 programs that are normally top 25 teams (Arizona and Michigan) but those 2 are having down years. Not often you see the 3rd place team from the SEC projected as an 8 seed.

 

As frustrating as they’ve been to watch at times, the last 2 games give me some optimism that they may be finding their stride just in time for the post season. Granted it was 2 of the weaker SEC teams this year (Georgia and Missouri) , they were both 20+ pt wins which is what you’d expect a good team do and earlier this year we weren’t putting bad teams away like this and would have squeaked out a 2 or 3 pt victory late. Will probably need to win out and win a game at the SEC tournament to have any shot at moving up to a 7 seed. To get any higher would need a win over LSU or South Carolina in the sec tournament , maybe would even have to win it.

 

Not sure what has happened in Starkville but the Lady Dawgs have now lost 4 in a row. 1 was in overtime to Ole Miss in Oxford and one at Alabama which will be an ncaa tourney team so not bad losses but the head scratchers were the 20 point home loss to Florida and on Sunday a home loss to a 10-17 Kentucky team. State is now 20-9 , 7-7 in SEC play and tied for 6th in a log jam middle of the pack but starting to look very bubbly. They still have the LSU win which is huge but State really needs to close with 2 wins to ensure they get a bye in the sec tourney and try and move themselves firmly in.

I try to drift away from women’s hoops but then I drift back when “my” team is playing well, and they certainly seem to be doing that. Fingers crossed.