Rebs a 2 seed; to host Troy
I know the NIT doesn't matter, but we're still going to talk about it.
5 months ago
Juco All-American
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We could face a second round showdown with Memphis in Oxford, which would be a fairly good showing for a crowd.
Definitely disappointing to see a lot of opportunities waste away, but a 20-win season with postseason action is still a positive.
If I predict it, there's an 50 percent chance it happens.
by One Man To Beat on Mar 14, 2010 10:46 PM EDT reply actions
I'm gonna go out on a limb
And say the Troy game isn’t going to be very well attended. If Memphis advances (though it’s probably a given), that game will definitely be one of the biggest draws in Oxford this season.
Hell, I might even go, and the last time I was at the Tad Pad for a basketball game was the Nebraska game in the NIT two years ago.
And here's a lighthouse keeper being beheaded by a laser beam!
Sorry, but....
the NIT is not “a positive” when the coach has already been there several times, and when were a 4 seed 2 months ago.
The Cotton Bowl was a positive.
This is garbage, and AK’s seat needs to be warming up, with next year being the decider. Call me a bad Rebel, or say we can’t get anyone else. I know this is a tough job, but if we are going to hold on to someone just because we can’t get anyone else, let’s just stop playing. Not saying that I want him to get the ax, but we at least need to start sharpening it.
Not at all..
I don’t think it makes you a bad Rebel at all. I think AK definitely needs another year, but agree that his seat should be feeling a little warm to start the season. Lack of talent or facilities will not be an excuse next season. We return our entire team except for Craunston and possibly Terrico if he goes pro. Even if T. White leaves, we have a SG transfer from Indiana who as All-Freshman in the Big Ten last year (not saying this kid is as good, but it won’t be like we are subbing in a scrub). There will be no lack of talent- we should easily be one of the top three teams in the conference to start the season. If they win, fans will show up too.
He deserves another year, and I think he is a good enough coach to turn it around. A lot of things went wrong this season. Some issues were not within his control, others fall squarely on his shoulders though. Let’s ride it out and see what he can do next year.
There has been no improvement.
The teams we’ve played in the past NIT tournaments are in the big dance now. We should be improving with them, not sitting stagnant.
"HOT BOUDIN! COOOOOLD COUS COUS, COME ON TIGAHS, PUSH PUSH PUSH!"
I agree completely...
I’ve said it before in an earlier post a couple weeks ago: My biggest issue with the basketball program is that individual players never seem to progress. No one seems to understand the concept of what a good shot vs. a bad shot is, especially in terms of how much time is left in the game (whole team issue). Murphy has no right hand, EP still puts his head down and drives and has absolutely no outside shot. And I’ll say it again: I love Warren and the big shots he hits. But if he does not score about 25-30 ppg (see: Arkansas) it is hard to make a case for playing a guy 40 minutes per game who can’t stay in front of anyone defensively and turns it over often offensively. There are more issues, but you get the point. All of these things are somewhat correctable: EP may never be JJ Redick, but he can develop an outside jumper. Murph can definitely develop a right hand, I’ve coached ten year old kids who did. I think raising these concerns is a fair question- not to mention some of the other issues we have with not being able to score against a zone (do we even have a zone offense?)
I have been pretty negative there, so I should add in some positives. AK has taken our program to a level it had not been at since the first year Rod Barnes coached- challenging for an NCAA berth. I give him credit for that, and am thankful we have someone who is trying to make basketball a priority within the athletic department. But, as fans, we should never be ok with just making the NIT year after year either. There has to be some sort of progression and improvement.
There cannot be an annual expected progression
You’re setting yourself up for a lot of frustration if you think this way. Okay, you have an NIT year in 2008, so in 2009, we should be in the NCAA tourney and go one and done. Then, in 2010, we should go to the Sweet Sixteen.
It doesn’t always work that way.
Rod Barnes showed how a program in decline during his tenure. I think Kennedy has us in a state of improvement, though it may be slower than you wish.
We don’t have the funding that other programs have for basketball. If you look at a Clemson or Ohio State who were former NIT teams with Ole Miss, they are in basketball heavy conferences and OSU spends roughly three times the amount of funding for its athletic department.
I’m not pleased we are a 2-seed in the NIT, don’t get me wrong. However, this is a positive in that we have a winnable first round game, which could lead to a packed coliseum in the second round…bringing in more dollars.
Plus the experience that can be gained by a team that will return so many players is invaluable. They’ve felt the sting AGAIN of not making the tourney and going to the NIT…I’m talking about Terrico, Graham, etc.
If I predict it, there's an 50 percent chance it happens.
by One Man To Beat on Mar 15, 2010 12:12 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah...
I think the point I was trying to make got lost in translation. Obviously there is no annual progression. It would be foolish to think along the lines of, “NIT last year, NCAA this year, sweet sixteen next year, etc.” That is unreasonable, and quite frankly, impossible at Ole Miss right now the way the funding for different sports is set up.
I was just trying to make the point that, in my opinion, there has been little player development and the overall progression of the program is stagnant. I don’t dislike AK at all; to the contrary, I think he has made some good out of a tough situation (i.e. coaching hoops at Ole Miss). AK has brought in some great talent, but if there is no player development, great talent only goes so far. Rod Barnes shot himself in the foot because he used a grind-it-out, defensive style of play that no big recruit wants to be a part of today. AK’s biggest problem is that there are major chemistry issues and players don’t seem to be developing- whoever may be at fault for that (not sure if it is coaches, players, or both).
I am not calling for AK’s head. Just think we do a disservice as fans if we settle for the mindset that, “we are Ole Miss- NIT is good enough.” By that logic, we should just be happy we have a team. We may never compete for a national title in basketball, but we had the horses to make the Big Dance this year. Sometimes things don’t work out for many different reasons, and I understand. However, we will have an incredibly talented squad back next year, and I for one will not really accept an NIT berth again (unless there are major injuries again or something along those lines). I don’t believe this season was a complete failure, but I don’t accept the logic that we should just be happy to be back in the NIT.
I agree completely
Lost in translation, it happens, I’m poor at reading comprehension and usually read too much into things.
I’d like to see the same support given to baseball in the Tad Pad. This may be an issue since open coolers full of beer are not the norm.
If we lose Kennedy or get rid of him, it would be a huge mistake. I’d personally give him two more years to get us to the Big Dance.
Btw, thanks for being an avid Ole Miss basketball commenter.
If I predict it, there's an 50 percent chance it happens.
by One Man To Beat on Mar 15, 2010 1:46 PM EDT up reply actions
Yeah....
We may never get alcohol into the Tad Pad, but if takes people getting drunk to support the team, let them get hammered and then show up. As long as we don’t throw stuff on the court like State fans, I’ll support it.
I don’t want to lose AK either. Agree that it would be a mistake at this point. Something I often forget (and maybe others do too) is that he is young- this is only his fourth full season as a head coach- anywhere. Coaches don’t start off perfect either, they have to learn as they go. However, I want to see us make the Dance next year, and we have the players to make it happen.
Being a top seed in the nit is like dropping the last game in a super regional...
If we are going to continue down this road,then count me in the minority, but I expect a little more progress than that. This shows a remarkably disturbing trend. Sometimes, ole miss seems to be actively, purposely, (and might I say efficiently?) perpetuating the WAOM mentality. That’s unacceptable.
"HOT BOUDIN! COOOOOLD COUS COUS, COME ON TIGAHS, PUSH PUSH PUSH!"
by David. on Mar 15, 2010 2:43 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
The trend you speak of, I think, is the main problem.
It’s not necessarily that we make the NIT as the manner in which we do it, i.e. having great non-conference seasons only to lose some pivotal conference games that have us scraping for the bubble at the end of the season.
Two years ago our non-conference RPI was about 15, but due to out-of-nowhere home losses to Auburn and South Carolina, we missed out. Again this year, we had a strong non-conference, but home losses to equal (Florida, Mississippi State) or inferior (Arkansas) teams knocked us out.
I was proud of our team for winning the last four SEC games this year, but it shouldn’t have come down to that and needing to beat Tennessee. We should’ve wrapped it up before then.
Just my opinion, but I think that’s from where people’s dissatisfaction stems.
Should say...
“who WAS All-Freshman in the Big Ten last year…”
What kind of bizarro world am I in..
Where Ole Miss was ranked in the top fifteen and UNC/UConn wasn’t ranked period, and now all three are in the same tournament with the likes of Robert Morris and Quinnipiac?
Ole Miss sports for ya’.
Actually,
Robert Morris is the 15 seed in the South playing ’Nova in the 1st round.
As for this season, no doubt it’s a huge disappointment. The vaunted backcourt of Warren/White rarely played together as well as expected. I expected some growing pains, but I also expected it to improve as the season went along. Terrico has to attack the basket and get to the FT line. Murphy has to shoot better than 45% from the line. The list goes on and on.
When life gives you the chance to be with somebody special, you grab that brownish area by its points and don't let go no matter what your mom says.
by buster_bluth on Mar 15, 2010 12:24 PM EDT up reply actions
But...
When you think about it, Warren and White had very limited interaction last season due to Warren’s injury. This was the first full season they played together. Sometimes players just don’t mix well together, and I think that’s what’s is going on here.
Kennedy has recruited a lot of pull-up jump shot shooters. They all want the ball and want to create. He’s got to figure out a way to get all of these guys to work together, and one of the players has to step up and be the leader of the team.
If I predict it, there's an 50 percent chance it happens.
by One Man To Beat on Mar 15, 2010 12:31 PM EDT up reply actions
As I've said before
I think AK didn’t have his heart in it this year. I like him and have followed him since he played at UAB and I was a season ticket holder. He has always been full of fire and was when he came to OM but that fire seems to be gone. I suspect Petey has his thumb on him after the off court events of last year.
I hope Petey will get out of the way and let him be himself. The only good part of his changed demeanor is his court side language is better. He has lost his swagger. I hope we don’t lose him but I hope he gets some of his swagger back.
I listen to some of the puppies say they want Stansbury gone and I tell them that as an OM fan I hope they do fire him. We both have good coaches and I think ours is still learning how to be a head coach. Remember that he only had one season as an interim before coming to Ole Miss. He learned a few things off court last year that I think set him back on the court this year. He needs to find his middle ground.
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