Game/Player Recap

Great overview of the game, compliments of Mstateglfr:
Well, we finally got that one pre-con win against a BCS conference team. it only took almost all the pre-conference schedule to do so. Mizzou is a pretty good team, but they are very much like us. they have had trouble finishing games, and they haven't done well against BCS conference teams this year.this game was great to watch. it sucks that Rhodes was out, but as a silver lining, it forced us to play more guys thru the game giving some players valuable experience.--Jamont Gordon shared the point for much of the game, which was a surprise. off the ball, he stayed along the baseline and was able to cut to the high post or crash the boards on missed shots. it suited him well. 20 points(shot over 50%), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 blocks. he only turned it over 3 times too. his decision making seemed good today. he played under control and many times made the extra pass for a better shot.--Barry Stewart played some of the point today, and did well. in previous games, he didnt handle PG duties well. but today he was forced to make many decisions and most of them were good.i believe he had a career high today. heck, from a statistical view, he had an amazing day. 24 points, 7 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals. he shot over 50% from the field, was 3-7 from behind the arc, and was a perfect 5-5 from the line.he managed to keep us from taking too many early shots, which was great to see.--Ben Hansbrough also played well. he fouled out, but the fouls were due to hustle and not lazy D. he was told to defend their best shooter in the second half, and did a very good job of limiting shot opportunities. he played Lawrence hard. statistically, Hansbrough filled up the stat sheet. 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. he shot 50% overall, and went 5-8 from the line. i really liked his aggressiveness in driving to the basket. he got into the paint and battled for rebounds and second chance opportunities too. he really is a scrappy and physical player. there is no shying away from contact with Ben.--Jarvis Varnado played only 5 minutes in the first half due to his inability to stay out of foul trouble. he then picked up his 3rd foul less than a minute into the second half. he is a walking foul liability. but after that 3rd foul, Jarvis played very well, and also very smart. he finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 blocks. so in very limited play, he still managed to meet his average numbers. he was not good from the line, but he never is. what was really impressive was that he never picked up another foul after that 3rd one. he managed to get 4 blocks after that 3rd foul too. i sure didn't think Jarvis was going to be able to be a factor in the game due to his fouling, but he turned it around and really contributed. --Phil Turner started in place of Rhodes today. he is slowly becoming a viable sub in the guard spot. he is just a freshman, and as such, he is making his share of freshman mistakes. his shot selection was questionable at best. he had an air ball or two from behind the arc, and he also shot a few jumpers off balance. further, he made some really questionable passes when being pressed. like i said, i chalk a lot of that up to inexperience. i fully expect him to learn from that and improve thru the year and career. Turner surprisingly finished with a DOUBLE-DOUBLE!! he had 12 points and 10 rebounds. add to that 2 steals and 2 assists, and Turner had a solid statistical game. he shot it poorly from 3pt land though, which is odd because he was touted as the best shooter on the team by Stans. i think Turner has earned some more PT though. TURNER CAN ELEVATE!! the guy has some serious hops!! they were on display today.--Brian Johnson came in and played significant time in the first half due to Varnado's foul trouble. he had 2 points and 2 rebounds. i dont think he is ever going to be a stat sheet filler, but he does provide solid time as a reserve. he knows what he is doing out there, and does not seem to scare easily...he stays calm.--Ravern Johnson came in and actually played! he made the most of his 7 minutes and got 4 points out of it. but he also had 2 turnovers in that short time.--Elgin Bailey and Kodi Augustus didn't play much, just 6 minutes total between the two of em. they didnt really do much of anything while out there.--oh, and Riley Benock saw some action in the second half. he didnt do much of anything either.------a few more thoughts on the game:--the team finished with a positive A/TO ratio!! that is awesome. great job to them for taking care of the ball and sharing the ball.--we out rebounded a bigger and more athletic(at times) team. 43-33 in the rebounds category.--it seems like we have a knack for allowing an opposing player to have a career night against us. well today was more of the same. Mizzou's player, Matt Lawrence, had 28 points, a career high, on 10-15 shooting. this is a guy who is averaging under 9 points per game this season. he went 6-11 from behind the arc and pulled down 6 rebounds. the guy was unconscious for awhile there. he hit almost everything he tried for, and the only reason why his 3pt% isn't higher was because he had to jack up a few as time was winding down. he really had an awesome day against us. Hansbrough did a solid job of slowing him down in the second half though.

MSU 87 MISSOURI 75

Great effort by the Dogs. You have to like the smaller lineup and how effective it was. Great job by Phil, Barry, and Ben. Ben and Barry played like we hoped they would in their second year. Phil showed he can be a part of the lineup in the SEC.

Mizo Tigers

CBS Sportsline Mizo Team Review:
http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/teams/page/MO

Merry Christmas to All

The Islanders

Lets hope the jetlage doesn't affect our shooting. This is Rick's chance to pass Richard on the all time wins list. Here is a good preview of the Islanders:
http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/teams/page/TXAMCORP
I hope all have a good Christmas, I'll be in and out over the next couple of days.


Luke 2:11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Bulldogs Rout LMU On Road, 85-54

Jamont Gordon fell just two points shy of his career high with 25 points Wednesday night to help Mississippi State (6-5) cruise past Loyola Marymount (3-9) 85-54 on the road. The win moved MSU head coach Rick Stansbury into a tie with former mentor Richard Williams with the most coaching wins in school history.
For more read here:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=16800&ATCLID=1354872

Romans 10:17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.

I'll Be Back

I'll be away from the labtop for a couple of days. Don't lose faith fellow Bulldogs! Here is some good info on the Lions: http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/teams/page/LOYMRY
courtesy of cbssportsline.com. I'll talk to all on Friday, and lets start from scratch and look for the small positives and build from there. Go Dawgs!!!

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Monday Morning Point Guard

I've already given my two cents about this past week. But if you feel you haven't, here's your shot.

Genesis 24:49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn."

001 is taking a short sabatical...

001 asked me to post this:

We have always endeavored to post things about the basketball team in a fair and impartial manner. Not pointing fingers at players or coaches. When I sat down to try and do the report cards on the past two games, I find myself like a lot of other fans, frustrated and thinking very negatively about these loses. Therefore, I will not do another post or report card until next month. I need the time to clear my head and heart and do justice to the team and myself. So in the meantime, have a happy holiday season and God Bless you all. Do as I plan to do and pray for the team.-001

I think all the high expectations have made these loses that much harder. I think we all need a mental break sometimes b/c we love our bulldogs so much. The sky isn't falling, I think we just need to enjoy the Holidays and look ahead to the new year in more ways than one. Don't worry, 001 will be back in good spirits. His ties to the program will not allow him to be down for long. -Arliss

Reward : Missing Dogs

Reward offered for anyone who can find my MSU basketball bulldogs. Another debacle, even worse than Miami. Even larger lead, who is to blame now? I think it can be spread around. But when its bad, it is bad. I'm speechless, what are we missing this year that we didn't have last season. I don't know who has the answers. I don't. This is a tough loss. Right now this team reminds of when you stomp on an ant bed, they scramble and lose all sense of how up to the point where you stomped on the bed of how they were working together. It looks like it could be a struggle from here on out, but we have along way to go and about 20 + games to play. - Arliss

Signee Update

Dee Bost
Hargrave 88 Guilford College 49
Dee Bost scored 11 points and had 3 steals.
Hargrave 78 Bridgton 60
Dee Bost scored 15 points and had a team high 7 assists.
Hargrave 95 New Hampton 69
Hargrave was led by Dee Bost with 17 points and 3 steals.

Romero Osby
NE Lauderdale 61, Bay Springs 47
Osby 28 pts
NE Lauderdale 69, Northeast Jones 45
Osby 15pts
SE Lauderdale 54, NE Lauderdale 51
Osby 31 pts
NE Lauderdale 62, Quitman 51
Osby 23 pts

Game Day

As most have heard, the Jags won't be a pushover, especially on their own territory. They played some good teams very close and we have some common matchups such as Miami (OH) and they played Vandy to overtime. They have some excellent guard and our weaknesses could continue to be exploited if we don't make some improvements. We see what the outcome will bare. As always, comments, updates, post them here.

Game Recap

That was a tough loss to swallow last night. Sometimes I feel like all we do is throw up three pointers and let Jamont drive the lane. Rick's comments after the game were true also about this team losing the game b/c of not being discipline enough. McClinton killed us, Jack described it perfectly, he "Bombed the Bullies". This is for sure a needed win for our resume. Ben's off night and 0-8 from the field was tough for the team. Our starters played literally the whole game and where winded at the end. One of our problems seems to be the bench, but are our freshmen not playing well enough to get that chance, I don't know, b/c their on the bench ( notice the my frustration for Bailey not playing last night). I have been holding back, but we have alot of improvement to make and not much time to get it done. We will have to get it together in the SEC, b/c it has not worked out in the pre-SEC like everyone thought. But, don't forget bulldog fans, that is what I love about basketball, if you lose, get over, b/c we'll be playing again shortly. So, vent your frustrations here. That is all I want to say about the Miami game! Go Dawgs!!!!!

1 Timothy 6:12 Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

It's Game Day!!!

Its game day and the canes will be rolling into town. The game carries quite a bit of significance for Rick, if we get this one he ties Richard Williams for all time wins at MSU. I hope all who can attend the game tonight and here are some game day articles for your viewing pleasure:

From MSU:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1351740&DB_OEM_ID=16800

From the CL:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071213/SPORTS030102/712130341/1287/SPORTS&referrer=NEWSFRONTCAROUSEL

From the DJ:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=262019&pub=1&div=Sports

Mark 16:14 Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.

Bully Basketball Scouting Report - Miami

Miami lost 20 games last season but that seems to be turning around with an 8-0 start and they have two good players in Jack McClinton who led the ACC in made 3 pointers last season and big man soph. Dwayne Collins. Collins is aggressive under the rim and can hold his own. The hurricanes strength will be in the post. Miami has three players averaging double-figure points and one of 15 teams left in D1 undefeated. The canes don't have any wins over big names and we will be their biggest test to date. The canes also rank among the top 5 in 10 categories in their conference,which include leading the conference in scoring defense (58.5 ppg), field goal percent defense (.362) and three-point field goal percentage (.447), and ranking 2nd in three-point field goal percent defense (.276) and defensive rebounds (28.50 rpg). This is huge game, the dogs need this one before heading out on the road for two weeks.

Probable Starters:

Jack McClinton (G, 6-1, 185, Jr.) 12.2pts James Dews (G, 6-3, 203, So.) 11.4pts Brian Asbury (F, 6-7, 223, Jr.) 9.4pts Jimmy Graham (F, 6-8, 251, Jr.) 5.5pts Anthony King(C, 6-9, 246, R-Sr.) 10.8pts

Proverbs 14:22 Do not those who plot evil go astray? But those who plan what is good find love and faithfulness.

Full Court Press 12/11/07

You have something on your mind, well lets hear it! I think the Miami game is beyond big at this point in the season. The canes just missed the top 25 in both polls. They are 26 in both. If we can get this one, we have 3 winnable games on the road and that would mean a six game winning streak heading into the Mizo game. We do that we are back on track. Your thoughts or any thing you need to get off your chest about the basketball team, let them fly.

1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA REPORT CARD by 001

Every so often we hear the old saying: “Is the glass half full or is it half empty?” Prior to the start of the season, I felt the glass was more than half full, but after the Anaheim trip, I started to wonder if maybe the glass was just half empty. Whatever Coach Stansbury did with the team this past week paid off in golden dividends. I now see the glass half full and starting to fill up. This was the overall best game we have played all season. SE LA. Is a good team. The 5-3 record can be a little deceiving because all 3 losses are to SEC schools. They lost in overtime at Bama by 2 points and then lost at LSU by 10. We beat them by 25. Our offense and defense came alive for this game. And if we keep building on this, this team is going to be good. One of the problems with our bench play, in my humble opinion, has been the bench players don’t get enough minutes when they are on the floor to get comfortable and in the flow of the game. They got good minutes yesterday and it showed. Kodi Augustus stood up and proved what he can become on this team. He shot 3 for 5, 2 of which were 3 pointers had 2 offensive and 4 defensive rebounds in 11 minutes of play. But the other bench players played well also. They didn’t hurt us and did provide some production. In fact, with about 5 minutes left in the game, we were playing all freshmen up until Rick put everyone in around the 1 minute mark.
OFFENSE B
Like most games we have played, we came out to start the first and second half a little slow, but after 3 or 4 minutes things picked up for the Dawgs. We had our best shooting percentage of the year with 15 of 31 for 48.4% in the first half, 17 of 30 for 56.7% in the second half, giving us 52.5% for the game. I’ll take that everyday of the week. Our starters had 65 points and our bench players contributed 19 points. Our starters made 4 of 10 three point attempts while our bench players made 3 of 8 giving us 38.9% for the game. But their best effort was in the team’s aggressiveness and intensity while moving the ball. They played a true inside/outside game with good ball movement. Jarvis did a great job at the high post distributing the ball and setting up picks. In this game, we didn’t take the quick shots and that helped tremendously. Yesterday, we took the game to our opponent and it paid off for us. Half of the final score for us was from points in the paint (42). To continue to be successful, we have to keep this type of game going.
DEFENSE A-
This was by far the best sustained defense we have played all year. Sure there was a little let down at the start of both halves, but it picked up quickly. The team played a smothering defense pretty much the whole way. A result of this is the fact that they held the opponents leading scorer to just 7 points which is less than half of his average. Green had been averaging 15.9 points per game while shooting 41.3% from 3 point range. Yesterday, he was 2 of 9 from the field, 0 of 4 from 3 point range and had 5 turnovers. And the list could go on and on for the way the team handled the other players. I was grinning from ear to ear over our defense when I left the Hump.
ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO D-
We seemed to revert back to some of our bad habits in this category. We had 10 assists as compared to 21 turnovers. The starters alone had just 7 assists with 14 turnovers. A number of the turnovers were silly mistakes by our guys with lazy passes or dribbling off the foot under the basket. Rhodes was the biggest contributor to this with no assists and 5 turnovers. Stewart was 2 and 2, while Gordon was 4 and 3. This category has to improve before we take on Miami Thursday night.
REBOUNDING A
Great effort by all in this area. We out rebounded our opponent 39 to 24. Our defensive rebounds were 26 compared to their 6 offensive rebounds. On the other side of the coin, we had 13 offensive rebounds compared to their 15 defensive rebounds. Players getting rebounds for us were both the starters and bench players. From the bench, Augustus had 6 rebounds in 11 minutes of play, Benock had 4 in 14 minutes and Bailey had 4 in 14 minutes. A plus 15 margin is something that Coach Stansbury will take in any game we play.
3 POINT SHOOTING B+
I don’t think this is too high of a grade for this category because 3 of our 7 shots were by two players off the bench. Kodi hit both of his attempts and I think he gained the confidence he has lacked earlier in the year. Overall our 3 point shooting was 7 of 18 for 38.9%. I can live with this but would love to see it get 2 to 3 percentages points better.
FREE THROW SHOOTING B
Although our overall free throw shooting wasn’t as good as it should have been, I gave this category a B because our starters were 11 for 13 for 84.6%. Our bench players pulled our overall of 68.4% for the game down on 2 for 6 at the charity stripe for 33.3%.
Bailey probably needs more work in this area than any of the other bench players because he will probably have the most opportunities at the line than the others because of his playing position.
OFFICIATING B
The officials for this game were our friend Doug Shows with Antonio Petty and Kevin Scott. Kevin probably called more fouls on us than the other two combined. However, I must say that the officials did let them play and called very few touchy fouls. Overall, a well officiated game.
OVERALL B
Although the technical score came out to 2.93 (C+), I gave the overall rating the B because I was happier about this game than any I’ve seen this year. It was not only a good 25 point win, but it went a long way in improving my confidence in this team. Along with this was the fact that the freshmen and walk on players played the last 5 minutes of the game and still outscored the opponents 8 to 6. Looking forward to the Miami game now.
PREDICTION STATE 72 MIAMI 61 -001

On another note, the polls could have the Canes coming into Starkville as as top 25 team. They been getting votes the last couple of weeks and are 8-0. - Arliss

Game Recap Articles

From MSU:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1350198&DB_OEM_ID=16800

From CL:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071208/SPORTS030102/71208015/1287/SPORTS

From the DJ:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=261671&pub=1&div=Sports

From AP:
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2007/dec/09/gordons-25-points-lift-bulldogs/

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Game Statistics

Stats from the game:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/fls/16800/stats/mbk/200708/ms1208.htm?DB_OEM_ID=16800

I like the increase in minutes for Riley, Elgin, and Kodi. Might have been a different game without Jamont. It might just be me, but I feel like we are heading in the right direction. - Arliss

Bully Basketball Scouting Report - SE LA

The Lions are out of the Southland Conference and lost 4 starters off a team that finished 17-15, 1st in the eastern division of the Southland Conference. Kevyn Green is the lone returning starter and he averaged 8.5 ppg and 3.5 rpg. Patrick Sullivan was a key reserve at 6'9" 205 and beyond that they are thin in the post. Watch for the freshmen and the minutes they play. The Lions lost to Bama by 2 points in overtime on Saturday. They are 5-2 on the young season and are being paced by Kevyn Green with 15.9 pts a game. I don't think this will by any means be a pushover and I'm still waiting for the light to come on for this team. Its will come on eventually, there is too much talent on the bench and floor not to. Go Dawgs!!!!!

1 Corinthians 15:17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.

Freshmen and Their Minutes

Turner, Phil 7-0 97 13.9 7-28 .250 2.71
Benock, Riley 6-0 50 8.3 5-12 .417 2.54
Bailey, Elgin 6-0 37 6.2 5-9 .556 1.8
Augustus, Kodi4-0 21 5.3 0-3 0.81
Johnson, Ravern4-0 16 4.0 1-6 0.5

Minutes 1st and points 2nd in bold.

Some of these numbers are troubling, the question is if these players are give the minutes will the production increase? For the life of me I don't know why Ravern has only made one shot this season. I remember Timmy Bowers had issues his freshmen year, but 1 shot through 6 games. The next time we are in a shooting slump, put Ravern in and let him shoot, he is a natural shooter and eventually start knocking them down. If these freshmen are given more minutes will they produce and what is keeping them on the bench? We will need them, the window for the learning curve before the SEC is starting to get smaller. Everyone is the SEC is having some stumbles along the way but SEC will be here in the blink of an eye. One of these guy will need to step up, so who will it be, Rav, Kodi, Riley, we'll see. Go Dawgs!!!!

Also check out Growing Pains by Veazy of the CL:

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071206/SPORTS030102/712060349/1079/SPORTS

1 Peter 5:9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

Full Court Press 12/5/07

The ball is in your court, what do you want to talk about?
I have a topic to start off. I believe the bench will develop and we will find that spark plug off the bench. Who do you think it will be? I'm still holding out for Ravern. - Arliss


1 Thessalonians 3:7 Therefore, brothers, in all our distress and persecution we were encouraged about you because of your faith.

Signee Update

Romero Osby

NE Lauderdale 66 Union 45
Romero Osby 25

NE Lauderdale 55 Morton 37

Romero Osby 18

NE Lauderdale 66 Forest 43

Romero Osby 31

Dee Bost

National Tip-Off

Showcase - Game 1 Won 83-73

Dee Bost scored 17 points and had 4 steals.

National Tip-Off Showcase - Game 2 Won 102-93

Dee Bost scored 28 points and had 5 rebounds.

Roanoke College Won 141-60

Dee Bost scored 17 points.

Luke 5:20 When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "Friend, your sins are forgiven."

Monday Morning Point Guard

Were you pleased or disappointed with the effort on Saturday. Are we improving or are we still in a rut offensively. Its your turn to call the plays. How do you view our performance on Saturday.

Matthew 9:2 Some men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."

Commited, Sort Of

A 32-point performance at Tates Creek on Friday night clearly showed why Scotty Hopson of University Heights is considered one of the nation's better prospects. But his college choice remains obscured.
"I'm still committed to Mississippi State," he said after the game.
When asked how firm that commitment is given that he did not sign with the Bulldogs during the weeklong November period, Hopson said, "It's firm. It's firm enough."

For the rest read here: http://www.kentucky.com/284/story/247178.html

Some of the truth seems to be coming out now. The updates with Scotty will be few and far between from now own, but I will keep everyone updated until he has officially signed somewhere. - Arliss

Game Recap Articles

Good game for the dogs, first game that we needed to get a winning streaking rolling.
From the CL:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071202/SPORTS030102/712020353/1079/SPORTS

From MSU:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1330746&DB_OEM_ID=16800

From the Daily Journal:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=260501&pub=1&div=Sports

Game Day

I'll be away from the laptop till Sunday, so post your updates, game thoughts, and game recaps here. Talk to all soon. -Arliss

Full Court Press 11/30/07

The ball is in your court, what do you want to talk about?

Psalm 111:7 The works of his hands are faithful and just; all his precepts are trustworthy.

Full Court Press 11/29/07

The ball is in your court, what do you have to say now.

Psalm 145:13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.

Bully Basketball Scouting Report - Murry State Racers

MSU will finally return to the friendly confounds of Humphrey Coliseum to take on the Racers of Murry State. The racers return 3 starters from a team that tied for second in the Ohio Valley Conference and finished 16-14 overall. They are led by Bruce Carter who had 12.1 ppg and 5.5 rpg last season. They led the league in defensive field goal percentage last year. The bulldogs need to win this one and win it with authority. We need a winning streak and this is where it begins.

Psalm 25:10 All the ways of the LORD are loving and faithful for those who keep the demands of his covenant.

Looking Ahead and Not Behind

Well, most folks will agree with me when I say we are not where we thought we would be after six games. Lets put the first 6 games in the rear view mirror and lets look at the next 6 games before we face Mizo at home. We can get a good start this Saturday by beating the Racers of Murry State and then playing the host to SE LA and Miami. Then we have a 3 game road trip and personally I think this is were the rubber meets the road. If we can win 3 at the Hump and then overcome our jet lag and wrap up the road trip to Corpus Christi, the Classic will be a distant memory. The next six games will be a good measuring stick of how the season could start to turn. How do you see the next six games and what improvements would like to see between now and December 29. I want to see us develop some depth off the bench and see the sophomores point production increase. How about you?

Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

The Classic

I'm for one glad the Classic is over and I'm ready to put it in the rear view mirror. We were exposed in several facets of the game this weekend. One is that we cannot win on talent alone and are not as disciplined on defense as we need to be. Charles had a nice game last night, but we need some players to step up off the bench. It was obvious that our team was not ready for this type of competition this early in the season. So, you need to vent your frustrations, post them here and lets move on. Lets put this one behind us bulldog fans. Lets start the season over again this Saturday with the racers and keep looking forward. Go Dawgs!

Ephesians 2:8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—

Game Time

Big game, this should be a tough one. Comments, updates, post them here.

Miami Ohio Scouting Report

Scouting report from The Sports Network:
The RedHawks' run to the NCAA Tournament was based solely on the play of the team at the defensive end of the floor. Miami-Ohio held the opposition to just 57.4 ppg a year ago and for the RedHawks to return to the Big Dance the team must duplicate that effort. The leader of this group is without question forward Tim Pollitz. The 6-6 senior has dominated down low for Miami, and is coming off a terrific season in which he posted 16.1 ppg to go along with 5.6 rpg. While Pollitz is the anchor for the RedHawks, swingman Michael Bramos is clearly the sparkplug for Miami. Bramos tallied 11.2 ppg last season, but it is his defensive play that makes him valuable, as the junior led the squad with 41 blocks and 46 steals. Alex Moosmann, who struggled last year as a freshman, will get another chance to prove his worth, but this time the guard will have much more help thanks to incoming juco transfer Kenny Hayes and also freshman Rodney Haddix.

The game is set for Sunday, 8PM on ESPN2.

Game Updates

Post the score here.

UC Irvine Report Card by 001

UC-IRVINE REPORT CARD
This was an ugly win, but still a win. I personally thought we would win by 20+ points prior to the game. We just didn’t take care of the ball the way that we should. Too many errors, some unforced, cost us a bunch of points. Rhodes reverting to his old ways hurt. Although, he did have a double double, with the number of shots he took (14), he should have scored more. He kept trying to take it in being double teamed when he should have dished it back outside. I suppose we could have scored more, but with Gordon on the bench for the final 7:04 minutes, it just wasn’t meant to be.
OFFENSE C
Too much me and not enough we in the game today. We shot pretty well in the first half on 15 for 26 FG for 57.7%, 6 of 9 3 pointers for 66.7% and 5 of 7 FT for 71.4%. However, everything headed south in the second half with 9-29 FG for 31.0%, 1 of 9 from 3 point range for 11.1% and 8 of 13 FT for 61.5%. Turnovers played a large part of our not scoring like we should. We had 17 turnovers in this game. 8 of those were by Rhodes and Johnson. Stewart had a good game scoring 18 points, pulling down 6 rebounds, and 2 assists with just 1 turnover. Foul trouble kept Varnado on the bench almost all of the second half.
DEFENSE C
Statistically, defense wasn’t really as bad as it looked. UCI did get a number of fast break points and scored a ton of points in the paint, but we had 31 defensive rebounds as compared to their 9 offensive rebounds. Without naming names, some of players were really dogging it on defense. If defense doesn’t improve, after tomorrow, we play our last game in the loser’s bracket.
ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO D
Today, the bench players were better in this category than the starters. The bench went 4 assists to 3 turnovers. And all three turnovers were by Brian Johnson. The starters had 9 assists to 14 turnovers. Rhodes was the worst here with 1 assist and 5 turnovers. If the post men don’t start passing out of double teams and the guards taking better care of the ball, we are going to be in deep smelly stuff in the next game.
REBOUNDING B-
Again we won the rebounding margin 43 to 31. This still needs improvement, because UCI scored a number of points off fast breaks because of their big men slapping the ball out to the perimeter guys. 37 of the rebounds were by our starters, leaving just 6 for the bench players. The bench players, especially Johnson and Bailey need to step it up.
3 POINT SHOOT A-
This was the tale of two halves in 3 pointers. We shot 6 of 9 for 66.7% in the first half and then fell clean off the map in the second half going 1 for 9 for 11.1%. Stewart was the best on our team tonight going 4 for 7 for 57.1%. Rhodes was trying to show off and missed both of his attempts. For the life of me, I can’t understand why the big men don’t just improve their inside game and leave the long range stuff up to the perimeter players.
FREE THROW SHOOTING C
We only saw a slight improvement today as compared to our last game. We were 5 of 7 for 71.4% in the first half and 8 of 13 for 61.5% in the second half. This gives us 65.0% for the game. We need to improve in this area and get it closer to 75.0% for the game.
OFFICIATING B+
I thought the officials in this game called a pretty good game. Missed some calls, but they showed no bias in their calls. To me, that is all you can ask for.
OVERALL C+
The team didn’t play with the same energy and speed that they showed in the last game. They still are not taking care of the basketball. Still having too many turnovers and not enough assist. The chemistry I saw in our last game was not apparent today. There was no difference much in free throw shooting today when you compare the final results with UCI. I suppose we should be happy with a 15 point win……But we play the 18th rated team in the nation tomorrow. We have to improve overnight to win that one.
PREDICTION MSU OVER SO.ILL. by 3 in a close one.

Game Recap Articles

If your lucky enough to be reading this then you probably were not at JCPenny at 4AM this morning. If you were and now your back I really feel for you. There is a full day of festivities on the plate today. I only have one request, that the Egg Bowl is out of hand by the 4th quarter so we can all focus on the 2 o'clock game with the salukis.

Here are a couple of articles from the UC Irvine game:
From the CL:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071123/SPORTS030102/711230337/1079/SPORTS

From MSU:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1325377&DB_OEM_ID=16800

Because of the quick turnaround, a couple of notes from the game. If you have anything to add please comment. After watching Barry on the road last season and yesterday, Barry seems to be a different player away from the Hump. He seems to play some of his best ball on the road. I like Charles's rebounding numbers and we saw what can happen to Varnado with his fouling. I think we can really start the see the post depth of this team now, it is nice and can carry us a long way this season. If we can get two solid backcourt players off the bench then we will see this team's full potential. This should be a good one today, tune in if you can. If anyone is not going to be able to get coverage of the game, let me know and I'll try to give regular updates of the score on the blog. Go Dawgs!!!!

Bully Basketball Scouting Report - Anaheim Classic -Southern Illinois

Anyone who is familiar with college basketball knows this team needs no introduction. The Salukis could turn out to be the toughest non conference opponent we play. We don't need to be looking toward Mayo and the Trojans. They won't light the scoreboard on fire but they play a half court defense that will stymie a team. The salukis return 2 starters from a team that won 29 games and went to the sweet 16. They are led by one of the nation's top interior defender's in 6'7" 230 lb Preseason Conference Player of the Year Randal Falker. If Charles wants to prove he is a dominant player, it doesn't get any better than this. The Salukis will try to get us in a half court game to slow our offense. Jamont will be the key, his ability to rebound and start the break will make this game. They won't overpower us with size, but if we play our game with our athletes we have a very good shot at winning. You want see some defense folks, this is your chance, if MSU can score 65 +, it will mean we have quite an arsenal. By the way a saluki is defined as a is a breed of dogs known for speed, stamina and endurance and was commonly known as the Royal dog of Egypt. Doesn't sound like a bulldog would have a hard time putting a wiping on one. A win over a top 25 team should get us back in the conversation of the top 25's. Question, does anyone recall there ever being a basketball game with zero radio? Well I'm glad it is on ESPN2.

2 Chronicles 19:9 He gave them these orders: "You must serve faithfully and wholeheartedly in the fear of the LORD.

Game Day

As if it couldn't get any better with the Thanksgiving dinner, we have a 1 o'clock match up with the anteaters. If your like me, you may have to slip out of the dining room into the living room. If you have direct tv, it may be worth paying 12 bucks and getting the sports package. Today's game and possibly tomorrow's game will be on channel 609. If you have any updates, comments or questions about the game post them here. Everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the game! Go Dawgs!!!!

Game Day Articles

From CL:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071122/SPORTS030102/711220344/1079/SPORTS

From Daily Journal:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=259451&pub=1&div=Sports

From MSU:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1322889&DB_OEM_ID=16800

From Commercial Dispatch:
http://www.cdispatch.com/articles/2007/11/21/sports/sports07.txt

Bully Basketball Scouting Report - Anaheim Classic - UC Irvine

We will be opening the Anaheim Classic with the anteaters of UC Irvine. Most people who followed the College World Series this year will recognize the name. The anteaters are out of the Big West Conference and finished with a record of 15-18. UC sports 4 returning starters led by Darren Fells and Patrick Sanders (who led the conf. in blocked shots). PG Michael Hunter was a freshman AA by some publications. They have some guys with some size to pound down low with our big men. The anteaters are currently 2-1 with wins over Loyola Marymount and Utah State. Currently their top two scorers are in the frontcourt, so don't look for the anteaters to be a pushover, much less a warm up game, but look for this game to closer than you think being the first road game of the year.

1 Samuel 12:24 But be sure to fear the LORD and serve him faithfully with all your heart; consider what great things he has done for you.

Through Three

Lets take a look at the first 3 games of last season, first three of this season, and last year overall and see if improvement can be seen through three games thus far.

Points
1st 3 06 06-07 Season 1st 3 07
Jamont 16 16 18
Charles 12 13.7 16.3
Ben 9 7.3 12.3
Barry 12 9.8 11.3
Jarvis 3 5.0 6.3

Rebounds
1st 3 06 06-07 Season 1st 3 07
Jamont 8 7.1 7
Charles 6 6.2 6
Ben 3 2.8 3.3
Barry 4 3.2 7
Jarvis 3 6.2 11.0

Assists
1st 3 06 06-07 Season 1st 3 07
Jamont 5.3 5.3 4
Charles 0.6 0.8 1.6
Ben 1 3.2 3
Barry 1 1.2 3
Jarvis 0.3 0.3 0.3

Turnovers
1st 3 06 06-07 Season 1st 3 07
Jamont 4 3.5 3.6
Charles 5 2.4 2
Ben 1 1.9 1.6
Barry 1.3 0.7 2.3
Jarvis 0.3 0.5 2.0


Excuse the alignment, the blog was not cooperating, season stats in bold, first three of this year in italic and first 3 of last season in normal font. Jarvis minutes have increased to 26.7 this season from 12 last season and it is obvious that he is taking full advantage of it with 11 rebounds a game. Charles's rebounding numbers are the same and his scoring is increasing. Jarvis is leading, but I don't like that Jamont and Barry are outrebounding Charles. He still has room for improvement, but it is early. Barry turnover increase can be attributed to his running the point more than last season. Jamont is being Jamont. His shooting percentage has increased from 42% - 48%, his 3 pt has increased from 35% - 42%. Its alittle early but Jamon't FT% is down from 71% to 67%, we will need him to improve in this area. The season is young, but we will continue to track these numbers and the improvements our team makes. I'm looking forward to see how we play on the road. Go Dawgs!!!

Galatians 2:16 know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified.

Mr. Bost

I usually wait until the end of the week to post signee stats, but ZD sent me this: http://mississippistate.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=740874

Demarquis Bost- 28 points on 8-15 shooting, 4-9 from three, 8-10 from the line, 5 rebounds, 1 block and 2 turnovers in 27 minutes of play at the National Prep Invitational.

These numbers are more reflective of his skill level giving the competition Dee was playing against. One interesting note, before Dee's verbal to MSU, Dee was drawing some serious interest from North Carolina. Personally, I'm very excited about Dee suiting up for MSU.

UT-MARTIN REPORT CARD by 001

Last night’s game was never in doubt from the opening tip off until the final buzzer. Our guys played with energy and speed throughout the game. The team chemistry we have talked about before is starting to show. It’s starting to look more like we basketball than me basketball. The ball is getting distributed more to the open players.
OFFENSE B
We were able to put up 86 points in this game with liberal substitution. We started off scoring the first 12 points and never looked back. Our overall shooting is showing improvement. We were 16 of 34 for 47.1% in the first half and 17 of 26 for 65.4% in the second half for 55.0% for the game. Our starters were 58.5% for this game and our bench was 47.4%. And our 3 pointers were dropping better at 45.5%. All 15 players got to see action last night with 10 of the 15 scoring. We still experienced some mental lapses but not nearly to the extent in the previous two games. Most of our bench players still need to step up their offensive skills and play more consistently.
DEFENSE B-
Our defense is starting to come around, especially with the starters. The bench players still have quite a way to go, but improvement is becoming apparent. We had 25 defensive rebounds, 9 blocks and 6 steals. One of the players we had to defend was Lester Hudson one of the UTM guards that just set a new NCAA record with a quadruple double. Incidentally, he got a double double against us. The only other double double in the game was also by the other UTM starting guard.
ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO D
I had to grade this somewhat low because overall we had 21 assist and 25 turnovers. Our starters did somewhat better though in that they had 16 assists and 15 turnovers. However, Jamont Gordon did a decent job with a 2 to 1 ratio in this area. This has to improve, and improve immediately if we want to make a good showing in the Anaheim Classic.
REBOUNDING B-
Our rebounding is still not where it should be. We out rebounded UTM 50 to 38. However, Varnado stepped it up last night with a team high and a career high of 16 rebounds (3 offensive/13 defensive). Actually, our starters out rebounded UTM 34 to 13.
The bench players must do a better job rebounding than they are doing at present if they want to help the team effort instead of hurting it.
3 POINT SHOOTING A
The 3 point effort was better last night than in the previous 2 games. The shooters are settling more into their role and it is paying off as we hit 10 of 22 from behind the arc. We shot 38.5% in the first half, 55.6% in the second half and 45.5% for the game. I think most coaches would take this percentage everyday and be happy with it. Kudos to Riley Benock 3 for 3 effort in this area of his game. Ben Hansbrough (Psycho “B”) also did a great job on 3 pointers hitting 4 out of 6.
FREE THROW SHOOTING C
Free throw shooting showed very little improvement in this game. Overall we were 10 of 16 for 62.5%. However, our starters were better shooting 72.7% for the game. We desperately need the whole team to get the average up to the 73-75% range if we hope to win the close ones down in the schedule.

OFFICIATING B+
I thought this was one of the best officiated games we have had all season. In my view, if they missed a call, I didn’t see it. I may be looking at this with maroon color glasses as they called 21 fouls on UTM and only 14 on us. This does include the two “T’s” called on the coaches. One each for stepping out of the coach’s box. We all know how Stansbury likes to push the envelope on this. He got a warning for it from one of the ref’s and then about a minute later got the “T” from the same ref…
OVERALL B-
This is a rather high overall grade because of the youth of this team. But they played with much more energy and consistency as compared to our previous 2 games. You can actually see the improvement in team chemistry in the starters and the bench players are starting to step it up, although they still have a way to go. The final score (86-70) shows the game was closer than it actually was. Stansbury started putting the bench players in around the 4 minute mark and UTM outscored us 17 to 6 in the final minutes. Prior to this, we held a 27 point lead.

As the Basketball Turns

According to Jody Demling of the Courier Journal, Scotty is reopening his recruitment.
"Hopson, who was considering the University of Kentucky before committing to the Bulldogs, said he's "still focused on Mississippi State" but is reopening his recruitment. "
For more click here: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071118/SPORTS11/711180713

I question this b/c the quote ends before Jody states that Scotty has reopened his recruitment. Cheap shot by the KY media or truth?

Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

The Classic

Looking at the bracket, chances are we can play a variety of teams, it will be for sure UC Irvine, and then from there it could be Southern Illinois, Miami (OH), South Alabama, or USC. Southern Illinois could be the toughest game of this tournament. We win this tournament and were back on the national radar. We'll take a look at the Anteaters on Wednesday. For now, you can get familiar with the Classic at:

http://www.anaheimclassic.com/

Question, why do they have a picture of Ronald Steele on the website playing against the Irish? Awkward.

2 Samuel 2:6 May the LORD now show you kindness and faithfulness, and I too will show you the same favor because you have done this.

Game Recap Articles

From the CL: http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071118/SPORTS030102/711180387/1079/SPORTS

From MSU: http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=16800&ATCLID=1321349

From Daily Journal:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=258826&pub=1&div=Sports

More to come.

Mark 2:5 When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Son, your sins are forgiven."

Game Day

I hope all that can will make it to the game tonight. Game analysis and report cards to come. Comments, updates, post them here. I hope all enjoy the game and GO BULLDOGS!!!!

Game Day Articles

From Daily Journal:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=258679&pub=1&div=Sports

From MSU:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1320420&DB_OEM_ID=16800

MSU Signees Weekly Stats

11/08/2007 Louisburg Tournament - Game 1
W 111-73 Dee Bost scored 9 points and had a team high 10 assists.

11/09/2007 Louisburg Tournament - Game 2
W 91-68 Dee Bost scored 13 points.

11/10/2007
Louisburg Tournament - Game 3
W 93-88 Dee Bost scored 10 points.

11/13/2007
Hope Christian Academy
W 117-85 Hargrave was led by Dee Bost with 20 points and a team high 7 deflections.


2007-11-15 NE Lauderdale 73 Kemper County65 Osby scored 26 pts.
2007-11-13 NE Lauderdale 74 Newton 69 Osby scored 26 pts.

After the drama of this week, I will only give stats for signees.

CLEMSON GAME REPORT CARD by 001

Well we lost another close one to Clemson. Last year at Littlejohn, we lost 69-66 basically because of poor free throw shooting and the same thing happened last night when we lost 84-82 and primarily because of poor free throw shooting. However, there were other factors involved in this lost as you will see below. As always, your comments are welcomed.
OFFENSE C
Again we were slow getting off the mark in this game. But then, so was our opponent. It was all knotted up 9 to 9 at the 14:06 mark, and then again 13 to 13 at the 11:07 mark. Then Stans got hit with the “T”…Clemson jumped out to a 4 point lead with the foul and held the lead the remainder of the first half. This game held the same characteristics as the first with State shooting a poor 34.6%in the first half, improving to 50.0% in the second half and 43.8% for the game. Our guys made way too many mental mistakes in this game, losing the ball to Clemson. Three or four times, it was almost like they were passing the ball to Clemson instead of a team mate and they made us pay for it. Another factor was a flagrant foul towards the end of the game (1:45 mark) that allowed Clemson to claim two more points at the line. I felt that Clemson’s full court pressure stressed our guys more than it should have. We played much better in the second half, but still can’t get to where we need to be.
DEFENSE C
It was almost like our defense was left in the locker room when we started the game. It improved as the game went on, but I felt was sadly lacking for this team. We again had decent shot blocking with Varnado picking up 6 and Rhodes 4. However, we only had 5 steals to Clemson’s 9. And both teams were making baskets off of the steals. Defense by the bench players was more impressive, especially Brian Johnson. I think we’ll see more improvement by the bench players over the next several games, but it is the starters that will have to step it up.
ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO F
A big reversion here as compared to our previous game. We had almost twice the number of turnovers as we did assist. Ten assists compared to 19 turnovers. Three of our starters had 5 assists compared to 14 turnovers. The bench players in comparison had 1 assist 2 turnovers. These guys have to learn to protect the ball better and be more distributive with assist.
REBOUNDING B-
We finally get a decent rebounding margin 51 to 42 in loss. Our starters out rebounded the Clemson starters 38 to 32, our bench was 8 to 5 and team rebound was even at 5. There were some big bodies bumping each other for rebounds. Brian Johnson is coming along well in his role now that he is getting playing time. With 2 offensive and 1 defensive rebound.
3 POINT SHOOTING C-
I was somewhat disappointed in this area. We shot 2 for 11 for 18.2% in the first half and 5 for 13 for 38.5% in the second half. The poor 3 point shooting in the first half hurt us badly. We ended the games with 7 of 24 for 29.2%. I suppose the anxiety factor hit us in the first half because had we shot as well in the first half as we did in the second half, we could have won this game. The starters were 6 of 19 for 31.6% and the bench was 1 for 5 for 20.0%
FREE THROW SHOOTING C
This was the same thing that cost us a win last year at Clemson and was the primary culprit in last night’s loss. We were 19 of 31 from the charity stripe for 61.3% mark. There was very little difference in shooting between the 2 halves. Whereas Clemson was 28 of 38 which translates into 73.7%.....This is the range we need to get to in order to win close games.
OFFICIATING D
This is a new area on this report card. We had an ACC officiating crew consisting of Karl Hess (our old friend), Tom Eades and Mike Eades. They called a total of 50 fouls in this game. Twenty two against Clemson and 28 against us. I can’t see this because there were bodies hitting the floor all over the place. These bodies being our players. On three or four occasions, they allowed James Mays to use his elbow and shoulder to know our players down and make lay ups without a charging call. And by the same token was calling touchy calls against us. After they called the T on Stans, later in the game, they stopped the game and gave both Stans and Purnell warnings about being outside the coaches box. I would love to have heard Jack Cristil’s comments about the officiating in the game. They probably were hilarious.
OVERALL C-
The fast pace of the game is improving for us. It’s hard to play the other team and the officiating at the same time. It’ll kill you every time. I was happy to see the bench players add quality minutes to this game. We are still basically a young team that is improving with each game. We’ll do much better down the line because of the experience we picked up in this game.
PREDICTION State will beat UT-Martin by 24+

Bully Basketball Scouting Report - UT Martin

The Skyhawks are out of the Ohio Valley Conference and finished 8-23. The Skyhawks finished last in the conference last season are predicted to do the same with only one returning starter in Gerald Robinson. Gerald a 6-9 forward led the team with 12.9 ppg and 6.1 rpg last season. The Skyhawks will depend heavily on juco transfers to contribute immediately. UT Martin is currently 2-2 and are lead in scoring by Lester Hudson who is averaging and eye popping 30.3 pts , 9.3 rbs, and 4.7 assists a game over 4 games.
We need to rebound from the Clemson loss and gain some momentum before we head to California.

Joshua 24:14"Now fear the LORD and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your forefathers worshiped beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the LORD.

Game Recap Articles

From CL:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071116/SPORTS030102/711160381/1079/SPORTS

From MSU:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1313023&DB_OEM_ID=16800

From Daily Journal:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=258623&pub=1&div=Sports

You can read them all and hear the same old story. We for sure were not ready for Clemson this early in the season. You can see why Brian Johnson was so hyped coming out of high school. They were calling some touchy fouls. If you can take any positive from this game it is we out rebounded arguably the best front court we may see all season. We can't pout too long we play tomorrow. Go Dawgs!!

Game Day

I hope all that can will make it to the game tonight. For those who can't check here for everyone's comments, updates, and analysis of the game. If you have directv its on channel 630 and 632 according to my guide or FSN South on any other cable outlets. Game analysis and report cards to come. Look for 3 things tonight, turnovers, rebounds, and FT %. I'm hoping for 7500 turnout, we will need them. I hope all enjoy the game and GO BULLDOGS!!!!

Clemson Could Be Short Handed

From TheState.com -Tigers battle injuries:
http://www.thestate.com/tigers/story/230253.html

From the Greenville News:
http://greenvilleonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071114/SPORTS0101/71114036/1002/SPORTS&GID=gXqngKpa63awPUDWBat/lJjvt76grnsl4aolC/Fvqzw%3D
Mays is a force down low and Clemson could have a chink in its armor in the post without him.


Romans 3:22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference,

Amusing or Insulting?

Stubhub.com has a description of each school and venue and this is what they had to say about MSU Basketball: "Mississippi State Bulldogs Basketball Tickets - BYO Cowbells
Mississippi State Bulldogs Basketball tickets are available now for sale or purchase. The Bulldogs share their team name with many other college basketball teams, but their home game atmosphere is unlike any other in the nation. Fans are known to ring cowbells and bang pots and pans, and the Bulldogs always play well at Humphrey Coliseum. "
I can't recall too many cowbells, but pots and pans? Don't believe me, check it out here:
http://www.stubhub.com/mississippi-state-basketball-tickets/
And notice the quote "The State team has not been as successful as some of the other SEC basketball programs, but every season they seem to surprise a nationally ranked college basketball team with an upset. " Who are we not as successful as, KY and UF? Anyway, its MSU BB related, but its obviously an insult, but amusing. Please don't pay those ticket prices you see for SEC games, I'm sure you could get a much better deal at the Hump. Hope to see hear all yelling for the Dogs tomorrow night. Go Dawgs!!!!

As the Basketball Turns

Here is all that everyone knows about Scotty Hopson to this point:

http://www.courier-journal.com/blogs/demling/blog.html

http://djbulldogs.wordpress.com/

http://www.clarionledger.com/misc/blogs/kyleveazey/kyleveazeyblog.html

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071114/SPORTS030102/71114008

Romero Osby and Dee Bost have signed letters of intent, we will see what unfolds in the next week.

And as of 7:45 PM tonight:

http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071114/SPORTS030102/71114049

Bully Basketball Scouting Report Clemson Tigers

I had the opprotunity to watch the Clemson Tigers play host to Furman at Littlejohn Coliseum on Monday night. This was Clemson's season opener. The tigers came out of the gates with a 17-0 lead. Two things were obvious about the tigers, they are a solid five deep in the post and all can block shots and crash the boards. They will get after you defensively. Furman was outmatched physically, but still Clemson forced 20 turnovers and blocked 10 shots in the first half alone. They have a sharp shooter in freshman Terrace Oglesby. In their exhibition game he made 14 3 pointers in 17 minutes of competition. Seven of Furman's first 10 field goals were three's b/c they simply couldn't get anywhere near the paint. Seven different players had dunks against Furman and look for all in the post to look for the same opportunity against State. If you get them to play a half court game their front court can play with their back to the basket and find the open man on the arc.

Clemson will press us from one end to the other and we cannot sleep on the inbounds pass. As a team they didn't light the world on fire, but have enough accurcy to hurt State if we relax on the arc. If we get behind, we might be forced to play zone, which the tigers have a history of struggling against. The tigers play the inbounds so aggressive, there should be some openings down the court for State. With Clemson's aggression in the post, Jamont we will need some scrimmage like numbers at the FT line where he went 18-21 from the charity stripe.

If you haven't gathered already reading this, the tigers could cause us some serious problems in the post on Thursday. Our depth in the post will be critical, and I look for Brian and Bailey to earn their paychecks this week. Their size will be critical in combating Clemson's position in the post. This team can run the floor as good as MSU. We will have the advantage with the home court. The tigers finished the game with 36 turnovers forced, 25 steals and 12 blocked shots, and a 91-46 win. We need to be in SEC form when the tigers roll into Starkville on Thursday. If at all possible, make it to the game, it will be an uptempo affair, full of dunks and blocks, and every cheer will be needed. It will be a good one, Go Dawgs!!!!

Genesis 24:49 Now if you will show kindness and faithfulness to my master, tell me; and if not, tell me, so I may know which way to turn."

Early Signing Period Starts Tomorrow

Kyle Veazy has some insight on the timetable of when our 3 commits will sign.
http://www.clarionledger.com/misc/blogs/kyleveazey/kyleveazeyblog.html
Look under "Here's what I Know"
We should be in good shape by the time we tip off on Saturday.

Reports as of late Tuesday and Early Wed. morning are saying Scotty will wait to sign for now. Let's see what happens btw now and next Wednesday. If you hear any different or want to talk about today's signings post it here.

LA. TECH REPORT CARD by 001

We shall endeavor to do a report card on each of the BB games attended this year. This will be a subjective opinion of my feeling about how we played the game. Hope you enjoy it and we do hope you will express your own opinions.
OFFENSE C
The team came out of the gate slow. I felt they were taking their shots too quickly and not playing enough offense, especially in the first half. They did better in the second half. But the stats show we only shot 32.4% in the first half which is indicative of what I said above. They improved somewhat to 43.2% in the second half. And overall for the game, they only shot 38%. The only reason I raised the grade to a C was because of the 30 point victory margin.
DEFENSE C+
We did see improved defense in this game, especially by the starters. However, the players coming off the bench with the exception of Turner and Benock still have a long way to go. We did a pretty good job on blocks in this game. We had 10 blocks with Varnado moving up to ninth all-time at MSUwith his 6 blocks. We also had 6 steals, however, this needs to improve. The primary reason for this grade was our holding La. Tech to 27.4% shooting.
ASSIST TO TURNOVER RATIO B
We only had 4 turnovers in this game which is the lowest number in the Stansbury era. We had 13 assists, but this needs to improve also. If we had gotten 4 or 5 more assists, I would have graded this category an A-.
REBOUNDING F
La. Tech out rebounded us 52 to 46. That should never have happened. Our big men were out of position too much for my liking. They were playing way out on the perimeter on some of our shots and were completely blocked out by the opposition. Indicative of this, you can see this by the number of defensive rebound collected by La. Tech which was 37 as compared to our 12 offensive rebounds. Rebounding must improve.
3 POINT SHOOTING B-
Our starters did a pretty fair job of 3-pointers. They were 7 of 18 for 38.8%. However, the bench players were 1 of 7 for 14.3%. That gave us 32% for the game. Benock was the only bench player to make a 3. I still believe in these freshmen. They are better than these stats show.
FREE THROW SHOOTING C
We did see improvement here, but not to the extent we will need in the future. Our starters hit 11 of 15 for 73.3% for the game and the bench players were 2 of 5 for 40% for the game. Overall that is 13 of 20 for 65% for the game. The freshmen still have work to do to improve is this area.
OVERALL C
The 30 point victory margin helps sooth some of the worries I have about this team. They are still young and learning the game at the college level. They will improve with more playing time. They have to learn to play their own game and not play down to the opponent’s game.
PREDICTION MSU 67 CLEMSON 62 -001

Coming up tomorrow, scouting report on Clemson. I saw them play on Monday and let me tell you, we are in for a game. Stay tuned. - Arliss

Monday Morning Point Guard

Here's your chance to run the point and say what you think about the LA Tech game after we've had time to digest the results. MSU being outrebounded 52-46 is inexcusable. The assist to turnover ratio was a bright spot, be our frontcourt has got to "Cowboy Up" and dominate the paint again. Barry leading the team in rebounds is good for Barry, but not for the team. We need for Brian and Elgin to step up and get more rebounds in reserve. I would have liked to see Jarvis have a better game offensively,even with only one foul. I liked Ben's quick trigger finger in the first half. We have alot of room for improvement before Thursday, what do you think?

Acts 15:9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.

Game Recap Articles

From Bulldog Blitz:
http://www.mississippistate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=737777

From Clarion Ledger:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071111/SPORTS030102/711110372/1079/SPORTS

From mstateathletics.com:
http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1309585&DB_OEM_ID=16800

From NE Daily Jornal:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=258155&pub=1&div=Sports

Early Look at Clemson

We played a game tonight were our size was able to overcome our rebounding woes. Thursday night will be game where the rebounding edge could play a more significant role in the outcome of the game. Two things need to happen for us to pull off the victory on Thursday. Homecourt advantage and Charles stepping up for a big game. Clemson will have players who crash the boards and drive to the paint. Look for Jarvis too show his improvement on fouling and see what kind of difference Brian and Elgin can make in the paint. I'm not worried about our backcourt, but look for Clemson to collapse on Jamont if he can get to the paint. Timely 3 point shooting and our frontcourt should play a factor. If we can pull this one out on Thursday, we should see some intangibles start to show up which we will need to make a run this season. I look for one of the newcomers to have an impact on the outcome of this one. Much more to come, until then, if at all possible make it to the game this week, it will be a good one.

MSU 75 LA Tech 45

Probably the most unimpressive 30 point victory I have ever seen. Take that comment for what it is worth. We will need to play much better to beat Clemson on Thursday. What impression did you get from the season opener.
MSU outrebounded 52-46. Assists to TO MSU: 13-4
High Scorers:
Jamont 21 pts 5 rbs
Charles 17 pts 7 rbs
Jarvis 6 blks
Barry 13 pts 11 rebs WOW
Ben 11 pts

When our backcourt is leading the team in rebounding we are still having issues. Clemson has some large athletic players, we will see if we get exploited next Thursday in the paint. I still seeing MSU clearing out from under the goal after shots missed. Jarvis had trouble shooting the ball and Jamont settled in last in the first half, but we have alot of room for improvement. We will see, but we must play better on Thursday if we want to win against the tigers.

Game Day Articles

Greg Ellis of the Daily Journal:
http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=257937&pub=1&div=Sports

Kyle Veazy of the Clarion Leger:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071110/SPORTS030102/711100335/1079/SPORTS

LATechSports.com:
http://www.latechsports.com/article.php?article_id=2007_11_09_19:38:44

MSU Commits' Weekly Stats

Romero Osby of NE Lauderdale
2007-11-08
Meridian 69
NE Lauderdale 66
Osby 16 pts
2007-11-06
NE Lauderdale 82
Choctaw Central 66
Osby 29 pts

Scotty Hopson of University Heights begins his play on Nov. 17 against St. Mary (Scrimage).

Dee Bost of Hargrave Military Academy
Hargrave 95 Guilford Tech C.C. 78
Dee Bost scored 18 points and had a team high 10 rebounds.

3 John 1:3 It gave me great joy to have some brothers come and tell about your faithfulness to the truth and how you continue to walk in the truth.

Not Everyone is Sleeping on MSU

Check this out for ESPN's sleeper picks:
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/preview2007/news/story?id=3098352

How do we measure improvement this Saturday?

When I did a little analysis on the stat sheets for the two exhibition games, I saw statistics that have to be turned around to measure positive improvement. Let’s start with rebounding. That’s what Coach says we have to improve on and I totally agree. In our game with Cumberlands, we only out rebounded them by 1 (46 to 45). A lot of this can be attributed to the fact that we played freshmen a lot in that game which was their first college experience. In the second game with OKC, we out rebounded them by 8 (46 to 38). That’s 92 to 83 for both games. For us to be successful, we have to have at least a 12 rebound margin.

We also have to work on the assist to turn over ratio. In our first game, we had 10 assist to 17 turnovers. In the second game, we improved 22 to 19 but that is really not good enough. We must get the ration down to a 2 to 1 ratio to really be successful. 32 assists to 36 turnovers in two games will end up costing games if not vastly improved.

And last and a pet peeve of mine is free throw shooting. We made 31 of 58 attempts. In close games if we’re not shooting around the 70% mark, it can cost a victory. I have personally seen these guys shoot free throws in practice and scrimmages and they are better than their performance in these two games. They have to bring that skill and confidence with them to the game.

We have to see the above mentioned improvements this Saturday. These guys have the skills and athleticism to get the job done. Let’s all be there to raise our voices and show our support. “GO DAWGS!!!” -001

Gordon Grabbing Attention

Here are a couple of articles on Jamont worthy of reading:

Mike DeCourcy's article on the Sporting News:

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=301852

From MSU site:

http://www.mstateathletics.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=1306803&DB_OEM_ID=16800