Fanning just blew that game.

[dickiedawg]

First of all, congratulations to the Lady Bulldogs for giving No. 5 Auburn all they could handle today.
Now- Screw you, Sharon Fanning. With 18.1 seconds left, Alexis Rack hit a layup plus a foul shot to pull within a point. Then of course we fouled, they hit two free throws, and it's a 3 point game with 15 seconds left.
Everyone in the gym knows what's coming next- Rack pulls up and shoots a three. Why? Why not get the ball inside? First of all, if we hit the shot to tie, Auburn comes down the court with plenty of time left to get off a good shot. Best case? Overtime. Worst case? We lose.
If you get it inside to pull within one, you put them back on the line, maybe they miss one (yes, it's unlikely). That gives you a shot to tie or win if you get the open shot. If they don't miss one, you're in the same position you were in to start with. Try again. That's how basketball works.

Our girls deserved to win today. Unfortunately, thanks to their coach, they didn't get that opportunity.

EDIT: That's the same Alexis Rack that was 2-for-11 from downtown up to that point.

 

[Dawgbreeze]

If MSU loses a game we have a group that wants to fire the coach .

 

[dickiedawg]

It's been obvious to me Fanning has needed to go for some time.

 

[DawgatAuburn]

Your reasoning is solid. For men. Title IXers don't have the ability to do what the guys do in that amount of time. With 15 seconds left it will take chicks AT BEST 6-7 seconds to come down and score in the paint. Then you foul (another second) and if AU hits two free throws to go back in front by three, you then have 6-7 seconds to hit a three when you don't have two as an option. An even though our girls are pretty good, there aren't many of them who can elevate over a defender and hit a three with a defender in front of her. So in my estimation, Fanning made the call she had to make to give us the best shot to tie the game.

 

[BewareOfMSUDawg]

Why did Fanning take Govero out of the game with about 20 seconds left, when Auburn went up by 3 after making both of their free throws? The few times she was given the opportunity to shoot she was making 3's (her lack of opportunities to shoot was more from us not looking to get her the ball than Auburn's perimeter defense). From what I can tell, that was a dumb decision of Croom-tastic proportions that cost us a good opportunity to tie it.

This was the first women's game I've been to in 6 years, so maybe there was a method to Fanning's decision making there that I'm not familiar with. But I don't understand why we took out our best shooter in that situation.</p>

 

[Paper Dog]

MSU had just played the foul game on the other end.....and Auburn had hit two free throws

The women's game is much different than the men's game....you can't extend the game, too hard to score in the paint

Espeically here where Auburn has a decisive size advantage.

Congrats to Coach Fanning and the girls for an outstanding effort.....that is four straight games where have they played NCAA Tournament-type basketball, good wins over Vanderbilt, LSU and Ole Miss and a hard fought loss to No. 4 in the nation

I was confused by the M-Kat substitution as well.....needed another 3-point threat on the floor late and Mary Kathryn had a good game today

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

If not, then it's no big deal..it's just girls playing sports.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

If Rack hits the shot (33% chance or so), we probably go to OT and who knows.
If we dump it inside, there's mabye a 60% chance we score (Auburn probably won't really stop us to avoid fouls, but since it's women's we miss a lot), but of course Bonner (who is an aboslute beast) would probably hit both free throws and we're in the same boat again;

Maybe Rack should have been a little more patient and used the last 11 seconds to find a better shot, but she probably figured that this was the best she was going to get.

The Lady Bulldogs have been playing pretty great the last few days and I think they've got a pretty good chance of winning in Knoxville Sunday, which is the wbb equivalent of beating USC in the Coliseum.

 

[Xartox]

Is really who gives a crap? It's women's basketball.

 

[ArrowDawg]

If MSU loses a game we have a group that wants to fire the coach .

I think they're carry-overs from football. I understand those who wanted Croom fired(I'm one of them). The football program has been terrible for a long time now. But you have to separate your feelings for the football program from the rest of the programs. We're fairly well off in men's and women's basketball at the moment. We can be a lot better, but it's not a hopeless situation in either case. In baseball, we made the coaching change that's been necessary for a long time.

 

[jackbaddawg]

she can't.

 

[kired]

Everyone in the gym knows what's coming next- Rack pulls up and shoots a three.

As in everyone, do you mean you and the other 1,000 people? I'm not sure how much $ Fanning makes, but I think it's hard to hold a coach accountable when she's in charge of a team that gets very little fan support. We rank 11th (just ahead of UM) in attendence. We even rank behind USM, Jackson St, and MS Valley.

This doesn't make her a good coach, but who wants to coach a team that gets such little support? - not to mention being in a conference that requires you to play some of the best teams in the nation.