Choked Away: Rebels Miss an Opportunity to Defeat #13 Florida

by The Ghost of Jay Cutler on Jan 27, 2012 2:17 PM EST

Last night, the Rebels had an opportunity to defeat another top-15 ranked SEC team at home and place themselves in control of their own NCAA destiny. With Florida, a team known for its struggles on the road this year, coming into town, Ole Miss players, students, and fans were excited about this possibility, and that energy showed during the first 20 minutes of the contest. For a half, the Rebels were in command of the Gators, and simply looked like the better basketball team, as hard as that may be to believe.

The Rebels, for that first half, played harter and smarter. They made more difficult shots, grabbed more rebounds, did a better job of controlling the flow of the game, and generally played with more confidence and authority than Florida.

Then, the second half happened.

Even by Ole Miss standards, the second half collapse of the team was pretty stunning. Leading by ten points at the half, Ole Miss game out of the second half gate struggling. What Ole Miss was to Florida, in half one, was reversed in half two. Florida moved the ball well, made a bevy of huge three point shots, rebounded well, and firmly controlled the flow and tempo of those twenty minutes. The Rebels fought hard enough, not relenquishing the lead until about five minutes remained in the game, but once the contest reached the two-minute mark or so, we all knew it was all but over.

Missed dunks and layups, horrible three-point shot selection, missed free throws - it had all the makings of a classic meltdown. But, what this game most hinged on, was an absolute exposure of the Rebel defense by the Florida offense. Once that was broken, everything was lost. Had Ole Miss played as well defensively (or Florida played as confused offensively) in the second half as they did the first, the 10-point margin at half would have been nearly impossible for the Gators to overcome.

So, that's it. This team's NIT bound. Every year we seem to go through this. "Will this team be Andy Kennedy's first to make the NCAA Tournament," we ask at the beginning of every season, only to, at right around this juncture, wind up with a resounding "nope." T'was fun while it lasted, I guess.

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Florida scored 36 points in the second half. Our defense wasn’t that bad. Worst than the first half.. agreed, but not terrible. The problem was the fact that we scored 2 FGs in the first 10 minutes of the second half. We simply missed out shots. Whether that was poor shooting or better defense from UF or both, you can argue. But we just didn’t score when we needed to. That’s what decided the game.

by J.J. Sims on Jan 27, 2012 2:34 PM EST reply actions

The lack of FGs hurt for sure

but I do remember Patric Young going berserker-mode in the 2nd half throwing down several uncontested dunks. That didn’t help either.

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by charlym on Jan 27, 2012 3:32 PM EST up reply actions

Smae ole same ole

When Tom Boerwinkle played center for Tennessee in 1966, Ole Miss led at the half and then could not score for almost 10 minutes of the second half. Of course they lost the game. I got so mad that I hit one of the signs designating the row section so hard that I broke it. Just the sign not my hand.

Since then, Ole Miss men’s basketball has been characterized by dismal second half starts by not scoring from anywhere from 5 to ten minutes into the second half.

So, once again, Ole Miss men’s basketball shows the same ole same ole that it has shown for 46 years!

by BeastButler1865 on Jan 27, 2012 4:30 PM EST reply actions

Everybody will clamor for Andy’s head if we dont make it to the Big Dance, but honestly he is a good recruiter. He has the Ole Miss record for wins lets just keep him. The players seem to like him. He will get us there…. Eventually.

by Areyouready?nonotreally on Jan 28, 2012 2:14 AM EST reply actions

What the fuck is this shit?

I swear to the God’s of war and peace. If I hear another fucking Ole Miss fan, down in the mouth, pussyfied, scared of losing a coach, who are we going to get to replace him that’s better, this is the best we can do, he’s winning 20 games a year, we’ve never been good at basketball say some shit like this again, I’m going to drag you fuckers out into a field and go Office Space on that ass. I’m only going to say this once, so pay the fuck attention, ALL OF YOU!!!!!!!!!!!

MOTHERFUCK OUR PAST. MOTHERFUCK OUR “PLACE” IN THE SEC. MOTHERFUCK YOUR PATHETIC ASS, THIS IS THE BEST WE CAN DO FUCKING GODDAMNED ATTITUDES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wipe that fucking pathetic, pussy ass look off your face, sack the fuck up and DEMAND MORE. We will NEVER become more, until and unless we DEMAND MORE. We’re planning to build facilities that are on par with or better then most of the SEC. We are bringing in a new AD (who had better not be a pathetic pussy) who has the opportunity to reshape our Ath Dept. If we hire a new coach who is actually GOOD AT HIS GODDAMNED JOB, the only thing separating us from the perennial contenders in the SEC will be our record. Period. No more fucking excuses.

FUCK OFF with all this bullshit. GET ANGRY DAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GET MAD!!!!!!!!!!!!! Make it known that 20 wins, 6th in the SEC and an early fuck job in the NIT is NOT FUCKING GOOD ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

where’s the tylenol…

by OxpatchReb on Jan 28, 2012 10:37 AM EST up reply actions

You mad bro?

by texas1rebel on Jan 28, 2012 1:45 PM EST up reply actions

LOL idiots like you got Cuttcliff fired.

by Areyouready?nonotreally on Jan 28, 2012 4:34 PM EST up reply actions

Andy Kennedy not withstanding,

Cutcliffe should have been fired. His tenure at Duke has proven that. Great OC? Yes. HC? No. Once the best QB in the nation graduated, Cut was done as an HC.

Never forget: Chucky Mullins - Tony Fein - Bennie Abram.
Once a Rebel, Always a Rebel.

"Mississippi is like my mother. I am allowed to complain about her all I want, but God help the person who raises an ill word about her around me, unless she is their mother too." - Kathryn Stockett

by BimBamOleMissByDamn on Jan 29, 2012 10:04 AM EST up reply actions

At Duke. He has very hard academic restrictions. They have never been good at football. I am not saying Cutt was the best coach but making bad choices get you Coach O and Nutt. Same goes for Kennedy. He is a good recruiter, with a young team. Are we Kentucky? No. Can we have teams like Kentucky? Give us a new arena, a stable coach who can recruit, and the players will come.

by Areyouready?nonotreally on Jan 29, 2012 1:47 PM EST up reply actions

Hey, cheese dick, I'm not happy with any coach, in any of the 3 sports who cannot win our conference.

Period, end of story. I’m so fucking tired of you and your ilk shrugging your shoulders, clinking those glasses together and telling each other that (insert OM head coach here) did a pretty good job considering that we’re poor little Ole Miss.

All of this other bullshit about our “rightful place in the SEC” and “we’re no UK” and “we’ve never been good at (blank) so we can’t expect to be good now” is utter, useless fuckshit. It’s pathetic and awful.

Idiots like me got Cut fired? Well fuck him. Fuck him in his inflamed goat ass for giving us a REASON to fire him. If the cocksucker had recruited even a base line defense and a couple play makers on offense in his time here, we wouldn’t have fallen off so badly after Eli was gone. He had the best QB in the country for 4 years and he couldn’t convince ONE GODDAMNED HIGHSCHOOL 4 OR 5* QB TO COME HERE!?!?! What the fuck is that??? Oh and one more thing, had our bitchass, dickheaded, shitbag AD ponied up the cash to keep Tuberville, Cutcliffe would have been a footnote in UT lore.

Make all the excuses you want. Being satisfied with AK as a head basketball coach because he wins 20 games and is a “good recruiter” is fucking terrible. It’s embarrassing and pathetic and shitty. We (as in every last one of us) Ole Miss fans need to start passing along the message that mediocrity is a cancer. It’s a vast, impassable, gaping maw of failure and it must be avoided at ALL FUCKING COSTS. Yes, we are handicapped by certain issues and problems that the elite schools in the SEC do not have to deal with. That’s why we need creative, unorthodox and aggressive people in charge of our program. DO MORE WITH LESS, nothing else is acceptable on ANY LEVEL. It’s just that simple.

by OxpatchReb on Jan 29, 2012 7:03 PM EST up reply actions

LOL nothing says stable problem like firing a coach every 3 or 4 years. Look what I am saying before you attacked me with cuss words was I want to give him time. I think he can build the program and win. Hell he has been winning. His teams right now are 2 or 3 wins away from the NCAA tourney 4 out of 5 years.

You going to call for Freeze’s head if he doesnt win the national championship in year 3?

by Areyouready?nonotreally on Jan 30, 2012 9:59 AM EST up reply actions

He's Been Here 6 Years! How Much More Time Does he Fecking Need?!

At what point do you start demanding NCAA appearances? You’re willing to give the guy a decade of NIT one-and-dones to “build the program”. I’m not, and like OxpatchReb, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect more out of our coach and our program than being a middling program while every other SEC school can find a way to go dancing at least once every 5 or so years.

You can see my earlier post for the numbers, but why are you trusting someone who can barely crack .500 in the mediocre SEC to be the guy who’s going to “build the program”?!

by HandsomeSam on Jan 30, 2012 2:32 PM EST up reply actions

I guess I should clarify in the interests of peace.

I’m not specifically calling you out, AYRNNR. Yes, I replied to you and yes I called you names and shit, but it’s really a function of me being pissed off at the state of our athletic programs boiling over into my posts, rather than me actually having a problem with you. I don’t hold ill will towards anyone on this blog (except maybe Brandon BP) because it’s stupid to dislike people you’ve never met.

For the record, I think you are selling yourself and our school short by accepting mediocrity, but I went too far in calling you out and labeling you with naughty words and cussin and stuff. My bad.

by OxpatchReb on Jan 30, 2012 10:12 AM EST up reply actions

Is Anyone Accountable?

For six straight years under Kennedy, we’ve failed to make the NCAA tournament. At most major conference schools, going 0-6 for the NCAA gets a coach tossed out on his ass. Before you start complaining that the SEC isn’t the Big East or ACC, and thus our basketball standards can be somewhat more forgiving, let’s not forget that in the Andy Kennedy Era, every other SEC school but Auburn has managed their way into the NCAA tournament at least once.

Fine, you may say, we blow on the national stage, but what about in conference play? We stink in the mediocre SEC, too. We’ve failed to win the SEC-W once in the past six years (if you lose a tiebreaker, you’re not “tied for first”, you FUCKING LOST) and the best we’ve done in SEC play under AK has been going 9-7 ONCE. AK’s teams have otherwise finished 8-8 in SEC play (again, once) or 7-9…so, the guy doesn’t even have a winning record in conference.

It should be stressed that The Andy Kennedy Era includes periods where LSU and Auburn were in complete shambles and Arky and ‘Bama were in rebuilding modes. We talk a lot about needing certain windows of opportunity in football to sneak in a title, one where we’re hot and traditional rivals are down. We had that window with AK for at least 2-3 years, and his teams blew it.

“But, we won 20 games!” Yes, because we schedule Assbag Tech and Compass Point U as the bulk of our non-con games. I don’t fault AK for scheduling weak non-con games, most teams do, but who cares if we win 13-15 games out of conference when 10-12 of those are against regional minnows (MVSU, Alcorn, ULM, ULaLa)?

People claim this guy is some kind of recruiter, but where the Hell is the proof? If your teams can’t perform on the court, either they weren’t all that talented, recruiting hype notwithstanding, or you’re such a miserable gameday coach that you actually cause them to play worse than their abilities would suggest.

by HandsomeSam on Jan 29, 2012 4:33 PM EST up reply actions

I don't know much about basketball.

Don’t know all of the rules and don’t understand what is a foul and what isn’t because some of the foul calls look like bullshit to me… but I do know when you leave your opponent all by himself with the ball, when your nearest defender is 10 to 15 feet away, he’s probably going to make the 3-pointer… as happened in this game 3 times I know of and witnessed and is what tied the game for FL and then let them take the lead. OM was up by 10? FL made 9 on those three shots. Not a defender anywhere close enough to defend them. This game just simply reminded me why I don’t care for basketball. Is it football season yet?

Never forget: Chucky Mullins - Tony Fein - Bennie Abram.
Once a Rebel, Always a Rebel.

"Mississippi is like my mother. I am allowed to complain about her all I want, but God help the person who raises an ill word about her around me, unless she is their mother too." - Kathryn Stockett

by BimBamOleMissByDamn on Jan 28, 2012 3:18 AM EST reply actions

I'm just glad we got rid of Col. Rebel

So that we could compete in the SEC.

hottytoddy07 likes men

by BrandonBP on Jan 28, 2012 7:46 AM EST reply actions

"Mississippi is like my mother. I am allowed to complain about her all I want, but God help the person who raises an ill word about her around me, unless she is their mother too." - Kathryn Stockett

by BimBamOleMissByDamn on Jan 29, 2012 10:01 AM EST reply actions