Ole Miss (8-1, #31 RPI [Thanks, MVSU]) crushed MVSU (1-8, #197 RPI) on Saturday afternoon before a rowdy loud hostile crowd. It was a coming out party for Ladarius White, three-point shooting (8-18), and free throws (14-19).
We don't really make enough blollars to afford booze AND Rebelvision. Because of our selection between the two, I was unable to watch the non-televised game. I listened to the radio for the whole game and kept up with stats as they went along. My thoughts follow after the jump.
- Ledarius White was the first Rebel off the bench and rewarded AK's confidence with sixteen points, six rebounds, four assists, and just three turnovers in his debut against an attacking press. A little frustrating is the fact that White fouled out in just 26 minutes of play. He did, however, prove to be capable of making open three point shots. That's something we need. Let me remind you all though that Trevor Gaskins once made seven threes in a game. Let that marinate for a little bit.
- Reginald Buckner had a double-double along with six blocks. He appears to be picking up the pace on blocked shots, which is something we've got to have down low. He's our best post defender by a lot, and he has to play like it.
- Jarvis Summers only scored one point in the game (though he only attempted three shots). His six assists in 20 minutes were nice, but not when combined with his six turnovers. We simply cannot have a starting point guard who struggles with MVSU's press. I like Summers a lot, but he needs to improve on his ball-handling. Sometimes it's spectacular. Sometimes it's awful.
- Nick Williams played 32 minutes but only scored seven points. I realize this game wasn't a game where we needed Williams to be aggressive. Hopefully this wasn't a sign of his effectiveness waning like it did last year. I will say, he was effective for us in other ways, playing good defense and coming down with five rebounds.
- Dundrecous Nelson sat out the first half for disciplinary reasons and proceeded to play sixteen minutes of the second. He had a strong outing in limited time, making 2-4 threes and 4-5 free throws while finishing limited action with fourteen points. I realize that Nelson has divided our fanbase somewhat, but in games against lesser competition, he really shows out. It's nice to have a player who can provide a huge lift to scoring in limited minutes. With Ladarius White and Jelan Kendrick entering the fold, his minutes will be reduced some, but I still expect him to score a significant amount for us off the bench.
- Murphy Holloway didn't really fill up the stat sheet, but he did score ten points in 27 minutes. It's tough to get up for a game like that, and I'll never question Holloway's effort. I think this was just taking it easy in a game that was decided before tip-off.
- Terrance Henry did in fact fill up the stat sheet, putting up better-than-average stats across the board. However the turnover bug reared its ugly head again as Henry gave the ball away five times. I'm really not sure what to make of this. I expected his transition to the three to be taxing on his ball-handling, but I hoped he would have adjusted more by now. He simply can't do this against good competition.
- Continuing a trend, Demarco Cox played just twelve minutes against MVSU but did score six points. I know we have three solid bigs, but in a game like this you've got to play someone like Cox for twenty minutes just to show your faith in the guy's ability to pick up minutes next year without Terrance and Steadman Short. I'm not sure I understand how we're using him right now. Remember, Cox started our first game.
- Aaron Jones is even more perplexing. He always comes off the bench in the first half. Then he plays less than five minutes, doesn't look bad, and doesn't play again. Kennedy has won enough for me not to care, but whatever.
Thoughts?