Saturday, January 19, 2008
MSU 66 AL 56
Its time for folks to stand up and notice our bulldogs. The SEC season is young, but 4-o is something to stick your chest out a bit. Jarvis found his krytonite in Hendrix today, but still had some key put backs. Great game for Elgin, if he can hold his own against Hendrix he has a bright future ahead of him. Ben did a great job in his first game back. I'm most proud of our team's ability to be so multi dimensional. Its seem like its something different every game and this team continues to answer. Why are we 4-0 in the SEC after being 5-5, one word chemistry. This team's toughness and ability to keep their head above water when they are getting there opponents best punch will carry us a ways this season. Great victory over the tide, its great for to be 4-0 and doesn't hurt making the tide 0-4. Saturday will be where the rubber meets the road when Johnny Reb comes to town. We'll see what prevails, offense or defense? We'll see. Go Dawgs!!!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
16 comments:
Bring your fly swatters!!
Ole Miss game is a HUGE game. Not only is it a home game... but an SEC West game. Absolutly critical.
We can afford to lose on road @Arky... but not home to Ole Miss.
Special kudos today to Gordon, Stewart, Hans, Turner, Bennock and Bailey!!
Rhodes... don't ever dribble the ball again... and don't attempt a 3-point shot. You are not a point guard!! ...and Rhodes... when an entry pass (Bennock) comes into the lane to you... step forward and receive the ball... don't wait for it so it can be stollen by other team.
From ESPN Bubble watch:
Mississippi State [12-5 (3-0), RPI: 84, SOS: 135] Watch out. After a sluggish 5-5 start, the Bulldogs have won seven straight and are now 3-0 in the SEC. Jamont Gordon and Charles Rhodes are doing their thing, but shot-stuffing stud Jarvis Varnado is making the Bulldogs' D have unexpected bite. The next four league games (at Bama, Ole Miss, at Arkansas, Tennessee) will give us a much clearer picture. Missouri is the only decent nonconference win, and it's up against losses to Clemson, Southern Illinois, both Miamis and South Alabama. Nothing awful there, but five nonconference Ls may be a lot to overcome without a lot of SEC wins.
There better not be any empty seats saturday... I think we will roll Ole Miss.
That's excellent...today's win is a great step in the right direction. A 2-1 record in these next three games would be EXCELLENT, but 3-0 would set us up to compete for the overall SEC title.
I would take 2-2 over next 4 games with wins over Ole Miss and Bama. Losses @Arky and Tenn won't hurt as us as bad.
It's good that we have @Bama, Georgia and UK out of the way. All 3 teams will help us out by beating our competition.
As in Georgia tonight!!
We need to win the next 3, as long as we don't lose, we are no worse than tied for the overall SEC lead.
Favorite moment from the game... with one min left... Turner makes the steal... Gordon on the outlet... lays it up for Stewart... Ole Miss timeout.
Did you see how our team reacted?!? Our bench was 10 feet out on the floor! Freshman Bailey was giving 2-3 players a group hug! Everybody was up! Smiles, slaps, hugs and talking smack!
This team has good chemistry.
A team that wins together and likes each other can do special things. (Florida last year?)
Bring on the Oxford Reform School! It's time for the HUMP to rock!!
Did you see Jamont and Rhodes doing a little dance as they left the floor. You could tell that they were really excited about this win. Rhodes was practically performing for the Alabama student section.
About the Free Throws...
I'm sure Stans and staff have coached, tutored, encouraged, provided videos, rewards and whatever to help players improve.
..but bottom line is.. The players have to WANT to get better.
Case #1 - Karl Malone.. best power forward in NBA history. Karl's first NBA year, his FT avg was 48.1. Karl was embarrassed. He practiced hard to improve. Second year avg was 59.8. Still not good enough. He worked harder. For the next 15 years, his avg dropped below 70 only once (69.4) and he finished his career with a FT avg of 74.2. He WANTED to be better.
Case #2 - Shaquille O'Neal. It's well documented that every incentive in the world has been offered to Shaq to improve his FT avg. He tried to improve but has never been consistant. He doesn't want it bad enough. It's not as important to him. Shaq's career FT avg now stands at 52.4.
Bulldog players will only improve their FT avg when they WANT to bad enough. They have to WANT to be better.
Good win. Alabama hung tough. Mississippi State is on a roll.
Good win. Still too early for top 25 IMO. We need to win at home against the Rebels first, then we'll be deserving of a 23 or 24 spot. A win at Arkansas could see us break into the top 20.
Tenn game could be huge in terms of overall SEC Championship implications.
It is entirely possible that by the time Bama comes to town on Feb 6th, we could be 7-0 in the SEC. We'll thump Ole Miss; unlike last year, we'll win the close one this year at Arkansas, and we'll win an exciting one at home against Tenn.
Go State!
That's a lot to expect. Ole Miss is VERY well-coached, Tennessee is unbelievably talented, and Arkansas is a tossup at best. I'm predicting 1-2 in the next 3 games, with Ole Miss at home the only win.
2-1 would set us up nicely for a tremendous favorite for the SEC West, and 3-0 would set up an epic battle for SEC overall title with Tennessee.
GO DAWGS!
pretty sure we can beat all three of the next opponents if we shoot the dam FREE throws and make em
Hey Kurt..agree with your comments. I'm starting with... just beat Ole Miss. After that, we can focus on Arky... and if we lose that... we can REALLY focus on Tenn!
Priority 1 - win home games(8)
Priority 2 - win West road games(5)
Ole Miss and Tenn are priority 1!
Dawg Media day notes from Greg Ellis and Kyle Veazey:
* Charles Rhodes is still playing with a lot of pain. Right now, he can handle it. But if it gets to the point he can’t, the docs will have to cut. Charles said "Ole Miss is like one of those games where C-Rhodes just comes out of the bag,"... and "With my ankle — I ain't even going to think about it come Saturday. It's going to be my game Saturday."
* Rhodes was all smiles and even found time to pick on Jamont Gordon’s shot selection. Then again, Gordon had a thing or two to say about some of Rhodes’ shots, especially the 3-pointer he launched at Alabama.
* Ben Hansbrough showed us his hand. The swelling has definitely subsided, but he said it’s still sore. He expects to play to against Ole Miss. Where it hurts
him, though, is driving to the lane. It makes him more hesitant.
* Free throws are a concern and something that’s been addressed in practice. However, Stansbury said he didn’t want to make too much of an issue out of it in order to keep his players from pressing. It’s all mental, he notes.
* Gordon loves playing the post, “Because I’m control,” he said.
* Kodi Augustus’ work ethic in practice is what’s keeping him from playing.
* Elgin Bailey’s work ethic is what’s garnering him more playing time.
* All the players praised Ole Miss, but feel there’s enough athleticism to keep the Rebs’ offense in check.
* This team is confident and expects to win. Gordon said the turnaround began with the Missouri game.
As of today, here's my ranking of the top teams in the SEC:
1. Tennessee
2. Ole Miss
3. Vanderbilt
4. Miss State
5. Florida
6. Arkansas
7. Georgia
8. Auburn
Anybody else want to rank'em?
Post a Comment