Ole Miss Rebels vs. Southern Miss Golden Eagles Preview
by Juco All-American on Dec 16, 2011 12:00 PM EST
in 2011 Ole Miss Rebels Basketball
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PrintThe Ole Miss Rebels (9-1, #35 RPI) take on the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (7-2, #13 RPI) Saturday at 3:30 CT. The game will be available on CSS and should be a very interesting one. The Golden Eagles have four players averaging double figures and significant depth. Led by star player LaShay Page (15.3 ppg), they have strong contributions from several battle-tested guards. The Rebels do have a significant height advantage as Southern Miss only plays one player who is listed over 6'6". If we can attack the board (something we've done poorly the past few games), we could exploit a significant mismatch.
Our problem is going to come on the perimeter, where Southern Miss has six players with three point percentages higher than our highest. I would guess we'll see tons of Nick Williams, Murphy Holloway, and (fingers crossed) Jelan Kendrick in order to adquately defend the perimeter. If we let Southern make shots from three all night, we're screwed. This can't be a shootout.
Predictions:
1. Dundrecous Nelson's three-point percentage is less than .350 for the first time in three games.
2. Reggie Buckner doesn't break the blocks record. (He needs just two.)
3. Nick Williams scores 12 or more points.
Golden Eagles 70 - Rebels 65
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Odd start time for a Friday game.
Is it known if Kendrick will play today?
Hoping for Freeze Warnings in Oxford.
Give the Busch Stadium squirrel a World Series ring.
by Wild Rebel on Dec 16, 2011 12:25 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions
Saturday.
Don’t know yet if Kendrick will play.
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by Juco All-American on Dec 16, 2011 12:40 PM EST up reply actions
Misread my calender.
It makes more sense now.
Hoping for Freeze Warnings in Oxford.
Give the Busch Stadium squirrel a World Series ring.
by Wild Rebel on Dec 16, 2011 2:26 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
don't know if he will
Gary Parrish of CBS reported he was late to a meeting Tuesday night and was 30 minutes late to an hour long shootaround on Wednesday afternoon before the game
www.twitter.com/blakekirbyreb
by hottytoddyrebs on Dec 16, 2011 1:01 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions
Excited about this one.
Marquette is obviously a good team and, although I wish we wouldn’t have been blown out, I do not think we learned too much about our team from that game. I think this is the game were we can make a statement or once again fade into mediocrity. I hope Kendrick will play and hope he doesn’t show up late because he was playing Call of Duty in his dorm room and wanted to beat level 10 beofre heading out. We need this guy and hope someone gave him a good talking to so he might realize the significance of this point and decision in his life. Go Rebs, Hotty Toddy!
This 3-game stretch is key for us
USM, MTSU, and Dayton are all tough but winnable games. If we can come out of this stretch 2-1, we’ll be sitting nicely headed into a home game against SMU and conference season.
The matchups in the USM game will be fun to watch. While we certainly field a taller, rangier team (particularly if Kendrick plays) than USM, their shooting numbers put ours to shame.They currently rank 31st in the country at 40.1% on 3s and 5th in the country at 78.5% on FTs. The Rebels check in a 28.6% on 3s (#300) and 57.5% on FTs (#335). USM also scores 8.4 more points (107.2 – 98.8) per 100 possessions than the Rebs do.
But the Rebs hold some key advantages too, most that stem from the height advantage. USM shoots just 43.7% on 2-pointers for the year and gets a lot of shots blocked (12%, 288th in country). They score less than half their points (49.2%) on 2-point FGs. While the Rebs perimeter defense is solid holding teams to 31.7% on 3s (#107), they are particularly suffocating on the interior, allowing just 41.3% on 2-point FGAs (#30). Ole Miss also blocks 17.1% of 2-point FGAs, good for 13th in the country. As a whole, the defense ranks #23 in the country, giving up just 89.9 points per 100 possessions.
For better or worse, USM fouls a lot. Their FT Rate (FTA/FGA) is 42.2, which is 266th in the country. With the Rebs mostly anemic from the line this year, that may play a major factor in the outcome.
Bottom line, the team has to keep playing defense like it has the last 6 games. The first 3 games of the season, the Rebs suffered through an expected identity crisis as they tried to figure out how to play without Chris and Zach. The Marquette game served as a wakeup call, and the team morphed into something completely different against Drake the next day, eschewing 20+ 3P attempts a game for working the ball inside out.
I think we win tomorrow. I certainly won’t be shocked if we lose, but I like our matchup advantages. So long as we stick to our game, I think that we escape with a close, hard-fought win. I think that our length on the perimeter will be difficult to get shots off against and when they are forced to come inside, Buckner and Henry will be there to clean up.
I listen for the voice inside my head... nothin... I'll do this one myself
by buster_bluth on Dec 16, 2011 1:36 PM EST reply actions 1 recs
Very nicely done.
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by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Dec 16, 2011 3:28 PM EST up reply actions
kenpom and statsheet
kenpom went to a paid site this year, but is well with the $20. The metrics he has available are incredible. Statsheet is free and very good as well.
Both are great to see numbers besides the easy ones: ppg, rpg, etc.
I listen for the voice inside my head... nothin... I'll do this one myself
by buster_bluth on Dec 16, 2011 3:46 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
for what it's worth..
Former Kentucky Wildcat, Darnell Dodson (now plays for USM), has been reinstated by the university and will be eligible for tomorrow’s game.
www.twitter.com/blakekirbyreb
by hottytoddyrebs on Dec 16, 2011 5:00 PM EST via iPhone app reply actions
I saw that
But he wont change their game much. He’s another talented guard. He’ll do nothing to diminish our advantage inside.
I listen for the voice inside my head... nothin... I'll do this one myself
by buster_bluth on Dec 16, 2011 5:10 PM EST via iPhone app up reply actions
Rather unrelated but..
I just noticed while perusing the Hornets 2012 roster that Terrico White has apparently been traded to Nola…FU CP3. Oughta be nice cheering for my boy in the Arena this year..
by Geaux To Hell LSU on Dec 16, 2011 9:22 PM EST via mobile reply actions
Ok
So excited about this game y’all I have been looking forward to it! Hopefully we play really well and jelan plays too I am itching to see him play
"Dont taze me bro"
by Bringing the Pena on Dec 17, 2011 1:20 PM EST via mobile up reply actions
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