Grade Rick Ray's 2 year body of work
- Thread starter dorndawg
- Start date
F. I realize he doesnt have a ton to work with and that he hasnt gotten a full class in but there really isnt anything positive to take away. Not just the losing. Its the losing by 20 every game in the worlds worst conference
And the silly turnovers. Gracious
And the silly turnovers. Gracious
an F? Really? I saw improvement across the board. It's absolutely imperative that we find a shooter. We were a Jalen Steele away from being a .500 basketball team this year and could have potentially gone 2-0 in tourney (obviously seeding and circumstances could have been different). I Expect marked improvement next year. When you have to give guys like Tyson cunningham meaningful minutes and one of your rotating guys leaves midway through season you're going to struggle. Ray inherited probably one of the worst situations of any D1 coach last year. It was disappointing for sure. By year 4 I will expect to be at least considered on the NCAA bubble.
I have to say a D because the first rating that came into my mind after reading your subject was donkey balls.
F. We finished 14th in a 14 team league. We went from 13th to 14th from year 1 to year 2 and the 14th place team from year one fired their coach after moving up to 12th and beat us soundly. Do we play with effort? Yes. Do we have talent on this team? We have some decent players. 3-4 that could play minutes for most SEC teams. There is no excuse for not being able to get players on campus. I am still very confused as to why we only have "7 scholarship players on our thin bench" (as said by every commentator on EVERY game). UK recruits an entirely new team EVERY year. I am not asking for UK talent, I just want a freaking full bench of bodies. Our 3 best players are here because of Rick Stansbury (And there is a LARGE dropoff between player 3 and the rest of our team). We have one guy on our team that can hit a wide open shot from outside of 10 feet. and he shoots about 37% on those shots..
I
Incomplete. I think years 1 thru 3 are the class.
...but his midterm progress report would be anything but glowing.
Incomplete. I think years 1 thru 3 are the class.
...but his midterm progress report would be anything but glowing.
And you saw this improvement at practice? Oh you must mean because Ray had an incredibly easier schedule. No, it must be that he had more than six players. Can it be that Ray had a ton of excuses to cover up the stagnant Year 2? Except for the tourney win, I didn't see a hungry team.
Steele is not worth five victories. Sorry.
Just for reference -- here's another popular MSU coach's 2nd year report card:
http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com/topic/46786#.UyMazPldWbM
and another couple I found in the search -- just for kicks: http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com/topic/44672#.UyMaRfldWbM
http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com/reply/383201/Collegiate-Baseball-ranks-incoming-class-18th
http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com/reply/467588/At-What-Point-Is-It-Cohens-Team
These are the situational similarities I like to point to while saying you can't take much from year 2 of a rebuild. Year 3 will tell the story.
http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com/topic/46786#.UyMazPldWbM
and another couple I found in the search -- just for kicks: http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com/topic/44672#.UyMaRfldWbM
http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com/reply/383201/Collegiate-Baseball-ranks-incoming-class-18th
http://sixpackspeak.yuku.com/reply/467588/At-What-Point-Is-It-Cohens-Team
These are the situational similarities I like to point to while saying you can't take much from year 2 of a rebuild. Year 3 will tell the story.
F. We couldnt have been more worse honestly.
a 13 game losing streak to end the season gets you an F.
a 13 game losing streak to end the season gets you an F.
I'll give him a C. I think he has shown to be a big upgrade in "coaching" but the recruiting needs to pick up big time. Ware and Sword are about the only two on our roster who would receive significant playing time on most teams. The fact that Tyson Cunningham ever took his warmups off shows you how bad we are in the talent department.
I'd change the talent statement to depth -- and I agree with you.
Those days should be permanently in the rear view next year -- when we will have some depth -- and if we don't, it's 100% on Ray.
We've got pretty good talent at spots. Ware and Sword are obvious -- but Fred Thomas was coming on strong at the end of the year. He shot something like 40% from 3 toward the end of the year. Also had some success "creating" for the first time, which has been a knock against him -- and is a very good defender. Ready will be a good player for us next year as well if we can get/keep him healthy. He showed flashes down the stretch as well -- we've just got to find a way to get him more open looks from 3.
That leaves us trying to fill Borchert's shoes at the 4 -- which I think Daniels is probably an upgrade athletically on rebounding and running the floor defensively. Then, if we can get any contribution whatsoever from Ndoye, Black, and Houston, if just for short spells, I think we've got the opportunity to be an NIT team. I'm not saying NIT or bust -- but we need to be damn close...
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Practice? I'm just basing on what I saw with individual players in game performance. We struggled no doubt, and saying Steele would get us to .500 is not that large of a stretch. He would have made defenses stretch the floor more in the half court and allowed Sword more opportunities to drive to the basket. So many times this year we just needed someone who could spark us from behind the 3 point line. Players are maturing and we need them to find confidence within themselves and carry it into next year. Next year will tell us a lot more is all I'm saying.
D-. Next year is do or die for him, we have to at least have a winning record. I mean - we were 13-5 5 games into the SEC and ended up 14-19.
If doesn't have crucial players leaving the program like Steel and Lewis this past year - we should easily be a mid tier SEC team (and I know that's not saying much). Next year are all his players that have been in his program for their entirety.
If doesn't have crucial players leaving the program like Steel and Lewis this past year - we should easily be a mid tier SEC team (and I know that's not saying much). Next year are all his players that have been in his program for their entirety.
We had 3 or 4 guys drive to the basket in the second half last night only to find that their shot was woefully insufficient from 2 feet away to fall through the netting. You mean like the out of control driving to the basket and just plain uncontrolled play by our 4 guards last night? We were 4-17 in the second half. Let that sink in. Andy Kennedy got his goofballs to change defenses, and we missed 10 second half crip shots, some thrown up with such animosity towards the backboard, just the shot itself could have broken the glass. The net on our end probably didn't have to be replaced for today's first game, it was touched so little by MSU BBK players.
A basketball rebuild can be done in 2-3 years and it starts with recruiting in year 1. So you a suggesting that had Rick Ray been able to keep Steele and Applewhite, and had not run off the 3 recruits form Stansbury's final recruiting season, He would not have done better just on talent alone this year?
With a full roster next year, he SHOULD be able to do better. But so could a lot of Asst. Coaches step in next year with a full roster. Ray is in over his head. Enjoy more of the same next year.
My concern right now is that Cohen gets his bunch straightened out so that the rest of 2014 BB is a little more salve for the 13/14 BBK season.
Edited to add grade: Big ol' fat F minus
A basketball rebuild can be done in 2-3 years and it starts with recruiting in year 1. So you a suggesting that had Rick Ray been able to keep Steele and Applewhite, and had not run off the 3 recruits form Stansbury's final recruiting season, He would not have done better just on talent alone this year?
With a full roster next year, he SHOULD be able to do better. But so could a lot of Asst. Coaches step in next year with a full roster. Ray is in over his head. Enjoy more of the same next year.
My concern right now is that Cohen gets his bunch straightened out so that the rest of 2014 BB is a little more salve for the 13/14 BBK season.
Edited to add grade: Big ol' fat F minus