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Greetings from the campus of Mississippi State University in desolate (due to spring break) Starkville, Mississippi:
Congrats to the Braves for advacing to the second round of the NIT - I work at Mississippi State University - I like visting opponent message boards for a little pre-game chat.
Here is what you need to know about the 2007 Bulldogs:
RECORD: The Bulldogs are 19-13 overall and finished SEC Western Division play at 8-8 - The SEC finish meant a tie for first place in the Western Division conference with arch-rival Ole Miss, Arkansas is the only SEC West team in the NCAAT. Razorbacks finished 7-9 in league play. MSU drew a bye in the SEC Tournament and then upset Kentucky before losing to Arkansas, in what many writers here wrote was a play-in game for the NCAAT.
COACH: Rick Stansbury is in his 9th season in Starkville. Stansbury has led MSU to four NCAAT and three NIT. A victory Saturday would give MSU its sixth 20-win season in Stansbury's nine years. Earlier this season, Stansbury became the winningest coach in MSU history, He is averaging 20 wins per season.
OVERVIEW: The Bulldogs rely on the skills of sophomore point guard Jamont Gordon. Gordon provides massive matchup problems being a 6-4, 225 pound point. Gordon is averaging 16.1 points, 5 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game. He is the heart, soul and leader of the team. Gordon was the lone all-SEC selection - first team by the coaches and second team by the writers
Gordon is joined in the starting lineup by senior Dietric Slater, junior Charles Rhodes and sophomore twins Richard and Reginald Delk (cousins of former UK great Tony Delk). Rhodes is a warrior underneath but he has been forced to play the 5 instead of the 4. Both Delks are 3-point threats but could not hit a free throw if given 10 chances. Slater is the high-octane utility man. He is slicer, dicer and the team's quickest player. His energy level is unmatched. He plays the game wrapped like a mummy but there is no loose ball that he does believe is his.
Yes, Slater is the one who was arrested Wednesday. However, he will play Saturday. Slater also missed the first 12 games of the season for a violation of team policy.
OFF THE BENCH: MSU has a talented trio of freshmen who will enter the game five minutes in --- Ben Hansbrough (younger brother of UNC's Tyler), Barry Stewart (sweetest 3 you've ever seen) and Jarvis Varnado (the human block machine).
Hansbrough will play mainly at the point and should move full-time to that spot next year. Stewart is gutsy and played with a high level of calmness despite being a freshman. Varnado attempts to block every shot taken in a ballgame. Unfortunately, every other block also involves the body, the face, the hands and everything else. In a regular season win over Alabama, the V-man played 10 straight minutes without fouling. During the time he totally dominated every apsect of the ballgame.
I know what you are thinking - yes he will come in and block 3 or 4 shots but don't worry he will pick up back to back fouls in a New York minute.
STYLE OF PLAY: MSU plays up-tempo and likes to force the issue. MSU has been 1 or 2 in the SEC in rebounding - seven years running. However, lack of size has hurt on the board tremendously. Still, MSU guards extremely hard and plays a very physical defense.
If Reginald Delk and Barry Stewart hit their first 3's, the Hump will rock and the floodgates may open. Miss those 3's and yes odds are high it will be clank city.
RESULTS: The Bulldogs missed out on the NCAAT by a game. You could look back to a horrible non-conference loss at George Mason or perhaps the 3-point non-conference loss to Clemson (in that game Charles Rhodes had two fouls in the first two minutes and did not return until the 2nd half). In league play, the absolutely unforgivable home loss to South Carolina comes to mind. Or maybe the 4-point loss at Kentucky when UK shot 19 free throws and MSU shot 3. You get the point - a lot of close calls. Meanwhile, most of the wins have been absolute hammer jobs. Can't really say many of those could have gone either way.
ARENA: Humphrey Coliseum is in its 31st year of basketball business. MSU has lost three at home this year - Winthrop (real ugly), South Carolina (even uglier) and a 70-67 defeat to No 1 Florida (yes that would have helped the resume).
The Hump has 10,300 seats - however, the university sometimes list it as 10,500 and 11,000, This year, MSU has gone over 10,000 three times (10,421 for Florida, 10,355 for South Carolina and 10,313 for Ole Miss).
MSU has sold the coliseum out with season ticket sales for four years running. Each year, the school sets aside 2,250 tickets for students and another 200 for marketing purposes. All of the other seats have been sold as season tickets and there is a season ticket waiting list. So in theory, something like 60 straight games have been official sellouts. Saturday's crowd should be in the 7,000-8,000 range because it is Spirng Break - students return to class Monday.
FOOD: Several good eating choices at the coliseum. Also, several good choices in Starkville. The population is around 30,000 but despite that, we really know how to eat.
Local favorites include Abner's (chicken tenders), Oby's (sandwich shop), The Little Dooey (barbecue), Christy's (homemade hamburgers). Notable chain restaurants include Chilli's, Ruby Tuesday and Applebee's.
Safe travel to all who are coming. Please stop by and visit us on Gene's Page (www.dawgsbite.com) - that is the scout.com message board for MSU. There are several other boards for MSU athletics but Gene has the only page that is really hopping. The rest are kind of like going to Southern Miss football games - dull, boring and meaningless.
Congrats to the Braves for advacing to the second round of the NIT - I work at Mississippi State University - I like visting opponent message boards for a little pre-game chat.
Here is what you need to know about the 2007 Bulldogs:
RECORD: The Bulldogs are 19-13 overall and finished SEC Western Division play at 8-8 - The SEC finish meant a tie for first place in the Western Division conference with arch-rival Ole Miss, Arkansas is the only SEC West team in the NCAAT. Razorbacks finished 7-9 in league play. MSU drew a bye in the SEC Tournament and then upset Kentucky before losing to Arkansas, in what many writers here wrote was a play-in game for the NCAAT.
COACH: Rick Stansbury is in his 9th season in Starkville. Stansbury has led MSU to four NCAAT and three NIT. A victory Saturday would give MSU its sixth 20-win season in Stansbury's nine years. Earlier this season, Stansbury became the winningest coach in MSU history, He is averaging 20 wins per season.
OVERVIEW: The Bulldogs rely on the skills of sophomore point guard Jamont Gordon. Gordon provides massive matchup problems being a 6-4, 225 pound point. Gordon is averaging 16.1 points, 5 assists and 7.3 rebounds per game. He is the heart, soul and leader of the team. Gordon was the lone all-SEC selection - first team by the coaches and second team by the writers
Gordon is joined in the starting lineup by senior Dietric Slater, junior Charles Rhodes and sophomore twins Richard and Reginald Delk (cousins of former UK great Tony Delk). Rhodes is a warrior underneath but he has been forced to play the 5 instead of the 4. Both Delks are 3-point threats but could not hit a free throw if given 10 chances. Slater is the high-octane utility man. He is slicer, dicer and the team's quickest player. His energy level is unmatched. He plays the game wrapped like a mummy but there is no loose ball that he does believe is his.
Yes, Slater is the one who was arrested Wednesday. However, he will play Saturday. Slater also missed the first 12 games of the season for a violation of team policy.
OFF THE BENCH: MSU has a talented trio of freshmen who will enter the game five minutes in --- Ben Hansbrough (younger brother of UNC's Tyler), Barry Stewart (sweetest 3 you've ever seen) and Jarvis Varnado (the human block machine).
Hansbrough will play mainly at the point and should move full-time to that spot next year. Stewart is gutsy and played with a high level of calmness despite being a freshman. Varnado attempts to block every shot taken in a ballgame. Unfortunately, every other block also involves the body, the face, the hands and everything else. In a regular season win over Alabama, the V-man played 10 straight minutes without fouling. During the time he totally dominated every apsect of the ballgame.
I know what you are thinking - yes he will come in and block 3 or 4 shots but don't worry he will pick up back to back fouls in a New York minute.
STYLE OF PLAY: MSU plays up-tempo and likes to force the issue. MSU has been 1 or 2 in the SEC in rebounding - seven years running. However, lack of size has hurt on the board tremendously. Still, MSU guards extremely hard and plays a very physical defense.
If Reginald Delk and Barry Stewart hit their first 3's, the Hump will rock and the floodgates may open. Miss those 3's and yes odds are high it will be clank city.
RESULTS: The Bulldogs missed out on the NCAAT by a game. You could look back to a horrible non-conference loss at George Mason or perhaps the 3-point non-conference loss to Clemson (in that game Charles Rhodes had two fouls in the first two minutes and did not return until the 2nd half). In league play, the absolutely unforgivable home loss to South Carolina comes to mind. Or maybe the 4-point loss at Kentucky when UK shot 19 free throws and MSU shot 3. You get the point - a lot of close calls. Meanwhile, most of the wins have been absolute hammer jobs. Can't really say many of those could have gone either way.
ARENA: Humphrey Coliseum is in its 31st year of basketball business. MSU has lost three at home this year - Winthrop (real ugly), South Carolina (even uglier) and a 70-67 defeat to No 1 Florida (yes that would have helped the resume).
The Hump has 10,300 seats - however, the university sometimes list it as 10,500 and 11,000, This year, MSU has gone over 10,000 three times (10,421 for Florida, 10,355 for South Carolina and 10,313 for Ole Miss).
MSU has sold the coliseum out with season ticket sales for four years running. Each year, the school sets aside 2,250 tickets for students and another 200 for marketing purposes. All of the other seats have been sold as season tickets and there is a season ticket waiting list. So in theory, something like 60 straight games have been official sellouts. Saturday's crowd should be in the 7,000-8,000 range because it is Spirng Break - students return to class Monday.
FOOD: Several good eating choices at the coliseum. Also, several good choices in Starkville. The population is around 30,000 but despite that, we really know how to eat.
Local favorites include Abner's (chicken tenders), Oby's (sandwich shop), The Little Dooey (barbecue), Christy's (homemade hamburgers). Notable chain restaurants include Chilli's, Ruby Tuesday and Applebee's.
Safe travel to all who are coming. Please stop by and visit us on Gene's Page (www.dawgsbite.com) - that is the scout.com message board for MSU. There are several other boards for MSU athletics but Gene has the only page that is really hopping. The rest are kind of like going to Southern Miss football games - dull, boring and meaningless.
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