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