Hood leaving is a devasting blow to the program

[Irondawg]

First off, where the hell is he going to go? He's going to have to sit out a year and then try to play 1 and impress NBA scouts?

I can't wish him well for turning his back on my school - here's hoping he's Reggie Delk part II.

But to what matters, and that's the MSU program this is a crushing blow. We were already going to be pretty mediocre next year at best. But if we were able to keep the class together and keep Hood there was legitimate hope for the NCAA in year 2 of coach Ray. You'd have Gray and Sword and Sophomores with Hood as a Jr. If you got a PF/C transfer this year or signed a JUCO to go along with Ware, that's a pretty good starting 5 for the 2013/14 squad. With some decent bench play if Hardwick/Thomas/Euro are any good at all to go along with Steele.

Now we're in a total rebuild mode and apparently can't convince Gray that a guaranteed starting job is worth hanging around for. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise as his school attendance history suggest there may be some character question marks, but the guy can ball from his videos.

So we are completely hosed and Ray is going to have to build a program from scratch which is incredibly tough, especially after having to come in so late and having all this fall apart on him. And I don't blame him for anything that has happened with Hood and the class. But his recruiting ability is going to be put the extreme test.We have to find an immediate PG and SF now, but as Ray said in an earlier inteview you don't want to sign guys to just sign guys.

My gosh we are 17'd. I'm still having trouble getting my arms around it. I'm very interested to see who has promised Hood a spot to see where he thought the grass was so much greener.

 

[coach66]

basketball for the past several weeks and that is obvious. Ray had a couple of weeks to try and turn that around with a shittastic supporting staff to offer Hood. Rodney and his<div>dad are making a business decision. So be it. Now, if I am Ray I immediately ask Hood to go ahead and leave campus now, he doesn't need any more negative **** around and he</div><div>needs to get what he has left moving forward and working together for the future. Hood needs to pack his **** and finish his course work for this semester in Meridian.</div>

 

[dogfan96]

Wherever he wants to.. he has 3 years of eligibility left.. he has all the options in the world

 

[Irondawg]

I'm sure the phone at the Hood household (or their neighbors) was ringing pretty frequently with recruiting pitches the minute we left Stans go. But as far as a business decision as I make the case above, i'm not sure it's really a great one. He goes from a situation where he's guaranteed to be featured to a possible situation where he could only wind up with 20-25 min a game as he's sharing a position with several other 4 stars who might or might not be better than him.

 

[coach66]

perception is they can grease the skids to get you to the NBA and they can surround you with players that make you look better and don't burn you out with<div>too much playing time. It is the same pitch that LSU and Bama make in football. Why do you think guys that could start for Ole Miss and State sign up to be part of a three</div><div>man rotation in some cases at LSU and Bama and maybe start for one year.

</div>

 

[dogfan96]

isn't necessarily what a lot of guys want.

 

[8dog]

can you please explain what it is?

 

[GloryDawg]

why does it matter if we were going to suck anyways? Let's just take the hit next year and hope Ray can build the program back up. Basketball is a sport that if you get two or three good players and a few average players around them you can have a decent team. Unlike football you have a really good chance of Freshmen contributing. You can build a program in two years. Heck you never know Ray might end up having a decent season next year. He might turn out being the best basketball coach in MSU history. Everyone has to start somewhere. Even that Cheating bastard at KY, someone took a chance with him at one time.

 

[coach66]

It may or may not be real but I'm starting to be a believer.

 

[Eureka Dog]

with all of the bad chemistry. We're all tired with seeing lazy players. We're all tired of seeing an undisciplined team. We're all tired of seeing an out-of-shape team. We're all tired of seeing teams with no real player-leadership. We're all tired of a coach who had neither control nor respectof the team. We're all tired of the way things have been.

Sometime wiping the slate clean is the best thing.

The problems started on Stans' watch and, in the long run, it'd be better if they stopped now, even if it means ZERO players are left from last year's team-- including the walk-ons.In the long run, it'll be easier for RR to mold the program and that's what we want to see. I'll take a "down period" if it means the recent problems are eliminated and the program is stabilized and is progressing in the right direction in all aspects as time moves on.

 

[dogfan96]

nm

 

[Dawgdom]

I would rather "suck" with <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">d<span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: SimSun; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: ZH-CN; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">isciplined</span> </span>kids playing above their potential than what we had this year.

 

[dawgs.sixpack]

And I don't blame him for anything that has happened with Hood and the class. But his recruiting ability is going to be put the extreme test.

i totally disagree. hood was ray's first major opportunity as a HC and he flunked it. a guy that many have projectedat times to be a 2013 1st round pick is willing to go sit a year and potentially postpone hisNBA career a year to leaveMSU. the kid is from a MSU family. how can ray not convince a MSU kid that he would be the central figureon this team next year and he'd have the oppotunity to put up numbers that turnthe NBA's head?this was ray's first challenge and he 17'd it up. you have to go in there with hood and his parents and convince them that you are changing the attitude of the team and cleaning out the garbage. you are the HC, that's your job.if ray can't convince hood to stay around, howcan we expect him to convince gray to honor his LOIC? ware? get back in the running on pollard? these guys can play next year and don't necessarilycome fromMSU families. hood is willing to turn his back onhis parents' program and sit a year to get away. i have no confidence in ray at this point.

i wasn't thrilled with the hire. i haven't postedanything negative thus far, i've been withholding my commentaryuntil i start seeing evidence of success or failure from ray. this is unequivocally a failure right now. and it ain't gonna be easier to recruit after a 6-25 season next year with a 0-16 sec record either.

 

[BulldogBlitz]

if hood is projected 1st round pick in 2013 then he is getting HORRIBLE career advice in 2012. if he believes he is a first rounder next year, sitting out and pushing that opportunity out another year will NOT improve the situation. the risk is too great.

hood needs to distance himself from whoever is suggesting this barney fife move.

 

[patdog]

It just got taken to another level when the NBA quit letting players go straight from HS to the NBA.