Is the mood too good here for a basketball thread?..

[Xenomorph]

Because we have an exhibition game one week from today and I honestly have no idea what we've got on this year's team. Looking at our roster I see 16 players, 2 of whom will be playing football thru the 2nd week of January and another who's out for the year with a knee.

The other day someone mentioned we're a possible NIT team.. Looking at the 13 players available, I have to believe that's a long shot even though we play several teams pre-SEC that I honestly never knew existed (wtf is USC Upstate?).

Am I wrong?

 

[dawgstudent]

Ken Pom has us as the #84 team in the country.

 

[PBRME]

If we were the Harlem Globetrotters we'd lose to the Washington Generals.

 

[johnson86-1]

Ken Pom has us as the #84 team in the country.

What do you have to be to make the tourney usually? To 40 to 45?

 

[Philly Dawg]

We seem to have an awfully lot of injuries since Ray started.

 

[dawgstudent]

68 spots. There are 32 automatic bids and you have to think 4-5 of those would make it if they didn't win the conference tourney.

So yea - top 40 teams probably make it.

 

[Seinfeld]

Well... if you're wrong, then I am too

On paper, we improved marginally last year. Went from 10 wins to 14 and 60 PPG to 67 year over year, but it doesn't take long to look at the schedule and see why. We went from a SOS of 112 in Ray's first year to 188 last season. I would certainly hope that we'd be able to win a few extra games with that list of opponents.

My even bigger concern is that while we were all expecting to see a fair amount of progress and development from Ware, Sword, and flat top Fred, I don't know that all that much development was there.

Anyway, the additional depth this season should be huge for us, but I think it's a long shot to say that it will get us up into the 19-20 win range. I'm projecting 15-17

 

[Irondawg]

Let's start to break down the team. Here's how I see the rotation shaking out just based on what I've read so for:

PG: Ready / Bloodman
SG: Sword / Dunlap
SF: Thomas / Houston
PF: Daniels / RoJo/ Black
C: Ware / Ndoye

The one thing we can do that we couldn't do in the past is alter our lineup and go big or small since Daniels could play some 3 against some teams. So you could have Daniels/Black and Ware all in the same time if you wanted to try and overpower a team. Likewise we can go small.

Rojo/Black/Ndoye all give you different things. Ray prefers man and if we're letting guys get to the rim too easy we can put in Ndoye to help protect it. If we aren't protecting the glass we can use Black. If we are flat we can bring in Rojo for some energy.

To make an NIT type leap though we are going to need several things other than health.

1) Ready has to step up. I loved his HS film and then last year he was hurt and played really passively. He's got to set the tone and energy and be able to create and hit some jump shots. We have not had good PG play since Ray has been here and it's killed us. Bloodman played the half of his life against KY last year and thus it was probably our best overall half of basketball last year as well.

2) Can Thomas be a reliable spot up shooter. We need him to be a threat

3) Can Ndoye be a defensive force? We've also had nothing in the way of rim protection for the past few years and our overall lack of height has allowed teams to go through stretches where they shoot until they make it.

4) Daniels needs to be a 12-14 ppg scorer. Several have said he's the most complete player on the team but can he do it in a game and does he have the mindset to be an offensive focal point? He wasn't in JUCO but that practice highlight tape of him MSU released in the spring showed a player that should be able to score effectively from a variety of places on the court.

We're not crazy talented, but this is by far Ray's most talented team that has some experience and some lineup flexibility. I'm curious who is going to step up and show the competitive desire to make this team into a winner.

 

[BiscuitEater]

Am pulling for Ray ...

and he really needs to get the team off to a good start. Injury to Sword hurts and losing Zuppardo before the season hurts worse.

Couple of questions ...

* Why is De'Runnya still listed on the roster; thought he had decided to concentrate on FB.
* Staley is listed on the roster; has he been practicing with the team or is he going to be 100% FB until the season is over (hopefully, our FB season goes through the middle of Jan!)
* Anyone know anything about the two guard additions, Isaiah Butler & Jeffery Johnson, both are listed as SRs and Roster implies that the last time they suited up was in HS.
* Any early reports from practice?

Thanks

 

[madisonmd]

Ready is hurt again, Bloodman is on crutches. Friends son talked to Bloodman this week. Ready out 2 weeks and Bloodman out 1 week per player. He says sword out 4 more weeks.

 

[Old Fart Dawg]

<img src="https://nukegingrich.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/mercers-kevin-canevari-dances-after-shocking-duke-sbnation.gif"/>

 

[KentuckyDawg13]

Having a full roster will do wonders. Daniels will be the surprise player especially with his height. Early reports state that Houston has serious hops matched with Johnson/Black/Ndoye, we actually have multiple options in terms of guys with size. Not UK size, but will be able to match up with most teams.

Thomas is no longer "flat-top" (new 'do) and has taken the task of being the best defender on the team. He will be on most of the other team’s best perimeter player. Ready needs to step up as Irondawg stated. His HS video was very impressive and it didn’t even seem like the same player when watching him last year.

Looking at the schedule, MSU should have at least 10 wins before SEC season starts. Then 18 SEC games with SEC tourney afterward. The home games should obtain most of those needed wins along with a few surprise wins on the road, 20 wins is doable.

Not sure why so many have been down on Coach Ray, as he knows the game. He was dealt a crap sandwich and has shown improvement in the team’s competitiveness. The only missing variable has been personnel via injuries/transfers/etc. I know the few games I have been able to watch (on tv), I was disappointed in the lack of support the team receives from the students/fans. I was a student in the late 80s when Richard Williams was rebuilding the program, and at least the fans showed up to support the team. As Mullen has stated, fan support pays dividends.

 

[kired]

I'm hoping Dunlap can be that 3-pt shooter we've been missing. Maybe Thomas will improve his shooting, but I'm not holding my breath. Also need Ready to stay healthy.

We've got more length and athleticism than we've had under Ray so I hope that translates into better defense. Guess that depends on what kind of players Daniels and Fallou turn out to be. I'm not expecting much out of Houston or Black this year unless there are some injuries... but we'll see.

 

[Shmuley]

O.L.Y.

 

[pmack65]

Coach Ray was at the QB club last week, never said about any injuries to Ready or Bloodman ( not disputing friends son) but he did say that the surgery for Chicken wasn't that serious and when asked how much he would miss he stated "the only game chicken may miss is the exhibition game". Information highway can be a tricky thing .