2011-12 Ole Miss Rebel Basketball Begins TONIGHT!

by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Nov 11, 2011 11:47 AM EST in 2011 Ole Miss Rebels Basketball

The high-flying, All-SEC Reginald Buckner.

Hopefully not lost amid the ongoing debate as to who should lead our Rebel football team going forward is tonight's tipoff of the Ole Miss men's basketball season. At 6:30 PM central, the Rebs will take on the Warhawks (SQUAWK 'EM HAWK 'EM!) of ULM in the Tad Pad in front of what I hope is an excited, raucous home crowd. This will be the beginning to yet another season over which Rebel fans are generally pretty excited and, once again, with seemingly good reason. The Rebs have a deep and experienced front court accompanied by an athletic and highly-touted back court.

But, while the Rebels may feel that they've improved on the past few seasons with this year's team, the rest of the (former) SEC West is likely to feel the same about their squads, and with good reason. Recruiting, coaching, and fan support have jumped a good bit in this neck of the SEC woods as of late, meaning that it the road to the NCAA Tournament seems to only get tougher for the Rebs.

Regardless, though, we're excited for a host of reasons, and hope to see a lot of questions answered over the next couple of months as we prepare for conference play. How well this offense runs through Dundrecous Nelson and Terrence Henry, as opposed to Chris Warren and Zach Graham? What kind of defensive effort can we expect by Reginald Buckner, Murphy Holloway, and Jalen Kendrick - once he becomes available? What exactly will the gameplans will be with such a large, long lineup?

So be there. If you're a student, you'll get in for free, so you have nary an excuse to miss out. Show up, be obnoxious, throw things at the ULM players, and do whatever it takes to maintain the home court advantage afforded to our program by the Tad Pad.

Hotty Toddy!

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Comments

Tip off is 6:30

This year’s team is going to surprise people at how much better and more fun to watch than the last few years. The Ewing Theory will be proven before our very eyes.

Get out and watch these guys if you get a chance.

I listen for the voice inside my head... nothin... I'll do this one myself

by buster_bluth on Nov 11, 2011 12:43 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions

Fixed. Gracias.

Red Cup Rebellion - Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics
Sports are chaotic and stupid; and we're bad at them.

by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Nov 11, 2011 2:45 PM EST up reply actions

So pumped to see how this comes together

Can’t wait to see how the talent replaces Warren’s points game to game. Plus, I anticipate better defensive effort minus Warren. Ewing theory potential is here.

Hopefully the free student admission will lead to a consistently loud and obnoxious home court. Wish I could be there tonight.

Houston Nutt coahes for BRAINS!!!

by Old HWY 6 on Nov 11, 2011 2:11 PM EST reply actions

Nelson can fill in most of the points...

… and improved play from the front court under Pinkins tutelage will pick up the slack.

Also, not having to compensate for Warren refusal to play any sort of defense will make up some of the difference.

I listen for the voice inside my head... nothin... I'll do this one myself

by buster_bluth on Nov 11, 2011 3:08 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions

Stupid question....

Is this a “real” game or is it just practice? I.E-will it count come March?

by astaylo1 on Nov 11, 2011 2:59 PM EST reply actions

It's a real game. This is the beginning of the season.

Red Cup Rebellion - Changing the Culture of Ole Miss Athletics
Sports are chaotic and stupid; and we're bad at them.

by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Nov 11, 2011 3:01 PM EST up reply actions

Just got back from the game, I'll give some thoughts.

First and foremost, we will not make out living shooting 3s unless some freshmen step up. We shot terribly and took something close to 30 attempts.

Terrance Henry is going to an offensive leader, but he doesn’t look significantly better than last year. He committed at least 2 (or 3) travels and one carry as he tried to drive from the 3 point line or take the ball down the court.

Demarco Cox must have dropped 50 pounds. He actually played pretty well tonight but had trouble finishing a few times at the bucket.

It is damn good to have Murph back. He still can’t hit a free throw to save his life but hustled, rebounded, defended, and looked to be our best all-around player tonight in my opinion. He’ll only get better as he get confidence and conditioning back.

Overall, the freshmen are going to need to fill some offensive holes. Without CousCous or Terrance on the floor, I didn’t know where the offense was going to come from, although Nick Williams had a good night. AK still might not have figured out how to score against a zone because we struggled for a while in the second half. Defense looked great, but I don’t know how much of that was the competition. Free throws may be a concern this year too. FInally, two freshmen came out wearing numbers 32 and 12…who do they think they are?

by Operation_Masoli_Freedom on Nov 11, 2011 10:24 PM EST reply actions

"we struggled for a while in the second half..."

Atrocious would be a better description. With Couse in foul trouble most of the game, we had no one to turn to offensively. Any sort of halfway decent team would have beat us tonight. I know its the first game of the season, and we did win by 22 pts, but this has to get fixed immediately or we’ll be back in the NIT.

That was a called play, and I called it Brotha!!! HYYAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

by Catfish Powe-boy on Nov 12, 2011 12:06 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah, unfortunately this has been a common issue under AK (and is the main reason we can’t ever breakthrough in the SEC). At this point, every SEC coach (save for John Calipari) knows all they need to do to shut down our offense and athletes is pack it in and play a tight zone.

Hopefully, this problem gets fixed this season. If not, I’ll be calling for AK’s head in much the same way that fans have called for Nutt’s over the past couple of months. Part of our issue with zone defenses is the fact that we haven’t had a whole lot of great shooters. I still think our biggest issue is that we don’t properly attack a zone defense. It was frustrating to watch Gaskins or Warren pound the air out of the ball thirty feet from the bucket and then launch a contested three without ever passing it around or trying to attack the zone and then kick out for an open shot. (dang, I sound like an old man with that comment…)

I think this team is probably our most talented and athletic in AK’s tenure. I am excited to see how Kendrick will mesh and what he brings to the table when he becomes eligible. All of it will matter little if AK can’t figure out how to score against a zone though, because we will see a steady diet of it in SEC play.

by bball1984 on Nov 12, 2011 12:07 AM EST up reply actions

Dang, sorrry

I tried to put those comments from Operation masoli freedom’s post in quotes above, and obviously I failed. My bad.

by bball1984 on Nov 12, 2011 12:08 AM EST up reply actions

Not a good sign...

… at all. Looks like more of the same from ‘ol AK. Did we not even attempt to break the zone down? Would it kill him to sign a fucking outside shooter? Let’s hope Kendrick solves this problem. From what I’ve read, he can play the point and has good court vision. Maybe that will allow us to play CousCous off the ball some. Doesn’t sound like Summers is there yet.

by Turkeylegs on Nov 12, 2011 2:33 AM EST reply actions