Big win tonight surprised me. We are way less talented than last year but play much harder. Even when we were up 30, Ray is about to have a heart attack on every possession he's coaching so hard. Every single dead ball he's intensely coaching. We will take our lumps against the good teams but it was refreshing to see players receptive to instruction and we literally got every single hustle play. Cheers Rick Ray, I'll support that
Just back from the Hump
- Thread starter FreeDawg
- Start date
Totally agree.
It's refreshing to see a basketball team that gives a **** on each possession. We will get out butts handed to us a lot this year and it will be a long year, but we have a nice class coming in for next year with Juco experience. I have read where Juco, Quantel Denson, is supposed to be an impact player for us next year.
It's refreshing to see a basketball team that gives a **** on each possession. We will get out butts handed to us a lot this year and it will be a long year, but we have a nice class coming in for next year with Juco experience. I have read where Juco, Quantel Denson, is supposed to be an impact player for us next year.
We caused them with effort. They might suck but we caused all their miscues. Just to keep it even keeled and wool free, we are terrible at free throws
I watched Ray almost more than the gameplay.
I was really impressed with his attention to detail, and from what I gather the players really accept his coaching on the bench. I was glad to see the hustle we played with, and it looks like we aren't playing the street ball Stansbury's teams were playing the last 5 years or so. I'm excited to see how this plays out. I know it's FAU but I suspect it is very attainable to finish above .500 this season. I think our starting 5 talent is better than perceived.
I was really impressed with his attention to detail, and from what I gather the players really accept his coaching on the bench. I was glad to see the hustle we played with, and it looks like we aren't playing the street ball Stansbury's teams were playing the last 5 years or so. I'm excited to see how this plays out. I know it's FAU but I suspect it is very attainable to finish above .500 this season. I think our starting 5 talent is better than perceived.
I agree 100% GTA. Did you notice a T.O. and a set play call 22.5 before the end of the first half? I almost fainted. No Stans stall and the pg dribbling it out till 5 secs and throwing up some prayer
By "impact" do you mean the 7 and 4 he averaged last year (not to be confused with the 7 and 5 our OTHER Juco guy averaged) or do you mean "impact" relative to him being arrested for robbing a dorm room used by HIS COACH.
Color me skeptical until further notice.
Ouch.
Guy can coach hard all he wants, but until he proves he can reel in some ballers, color ME skeptical.
Depends on what team you want to watch. A team of "ballers" as you put it like last years or a scrappy bunch like now. Me personally, I can deal with a less talented team losing than the abortion of a team we had last year. That **** made me want to vomit. Stans last few teams were a complete embarrassment to MSU. While Ray's current team may not be good at all, they are not an embarrassment to MSU. I can deal with that
is the other juco that averaged 7 and 5 the same one that was playing out of position last year due to injury, and is averaging 22 ppg this season?
Just to put this into perspective. FAU lost to North Carolina 80-56 this weekend. They lost to MSU 78-58 tonight. It's going to be a long season, but the doom and gloomers are going to be disappointed. I'm sticking with my preseason prediction of 12 wins and a 180 degree change in the team's attidute and work ethic. We need to at least give Ray a chance before we bury him.
I am hoping that seeing such a stark contrast in overall effort by the players will temper some of the crazy level of bitching that will happen during our season.
Name me a single guy in 15 years of Rick Stansbury that showed the improvement from year 1 to year 2 that Roquez Johnson has...
Development in basketball goes a long way. Granted that's something most State fans don't know much about, because it's been 15 years since they've seen it. Effort is a foreign concept too, since it's been about 8 years since we last saw that...
Exactly. Tonight was like watching a Shaka Smart team stylistically. LOVE that wide open, hard work style of basketball. We don't have to win more games immediately to have a better "product" on the court. This style is fun to watch. It won't leave you cussing effort and fundamentals in every game.
This is all I needed to hear. A breath of 17ing fresh air. DawgatAuburn can shove his "ballers" up his ***.
It's not just what many of us wanted, it's what we desperately needed. Just watched the highlights on HailState.com and one thing that jumped out to me was that we got good ball movement and good player movement on offense. I realize it's just highlights but I haven't seen that kind of movement on offense in a long, long time at MSU. We're going to be outmanned in a lot of games and this team is going to go through some real growing pains. But I'd a whole lot rather watch a 12-win team that plays hard and shows potential than an 18-win team that had no excuse not to win 24. MSU basketball has been just painful to watch the last few years. It might be getting fun again.
I was just going off of what Paul jones had said about him today. I had no clue he only had played one game. Hell, I don't even know where he plays and where to find juco stats. My bad
It should temper them for now. Effort and approach (scouting/in-game decisions) are all we can fairly judge our coach and team on this season. Ray seems to be getting a lot out of these guys effort wise. We'll see how consistent they are in the weeks ahead, and how Ray attacks stronger teams.
In the years that follow, recruiting will be a factor and if we fail to progress, the Stansbury die-hards will come out of the woods once more with pitchforks and torches. We'll see what happens.
Admittedly, I went down with the Stansbury ship, but I didn't sink with it to the bottom of the ocean floor like some folks. Ray has been a breath of fresh air since the day he arrived on campus. I'm excited to see how we gameplan for Maui. Haven't been able to use "excited" and "gameplan" together in a long time...
In the years that follow, recruiting will be a factor and if we fail to progress, the Stansbury die-hards will come out of the woods once more with pitchforks and torches. We'll see what happens.
Admittedly, I went down with the Stansbury ship, but I didn't sink with it to the bottom of the ocean floor like some folks. Ray has been a breath of fresh air since the day he arrived on campus. I'm excited to see how we gameplan for Maui. Haven't been able to use "excited" and "gameplan" together in a long time...
I too was there at the Hump. We had ten times the effort tonight than any game we played last year. We might have less talent than most teams in the SEC, but we will win some people think we should lose. These kids are fun to watch. Roquez Johnson gets my "most improved" award. He was diving for a loose ball with 50 seconds left in the game, and got it. He didn't have a single FG all last year, but had 7 tonight and led us in scoring!
Who said anything about Stansbury? You guys really need to get past him and lay your agenda to rest.
Development does go a long way. But this isn't an academy league where everybody else is playing with diamonds in the rough, too.
I hope the guy gets to a FF, but it would help if he picked up some blue chippers along the way.
What's wrong with blue chippers that play hard? Watch some of these teams over the next couple of weeks and the concept won't seem so foreign.
My simple point was that we are not going to recruit MARKEDLY worse than we have been previously...why would we? The talent differential should be small enough that it can easily be overcome with superior coaching, making us a better TEAM overall with a higher ceiling than we have had in quite awhile.
Who is saying we can't get blue chip talent to help us? I sure didn't. The party line for the "other" group to try to demean Ray, by chastising the recruiting he has done in his first 6 months on the job in this crap show he inherited. It's obviously going to be the last leg to stand on for those still supporting our former coach rather than our basketball team. Maybe you don't fall into that group, but it is certainly how your post came off...
Last edited:
It would be great if he actually had a chance to pick up blue chippers
Before people start bitching about his recruiting
Before people start bitching about his recruiting
BTW, I failed to answer your first question. You asked for one but I'll give you two - Jarvis Varnado and Tim Bowers.
As for Stansbury, there are a few here that felt he was the best thing since sliced bread and a lot - like you - who felt he did nothing right. You seem to fall into the crowd that blames Croom, Stansbury or Polk when something goes wrong. That's a lot easier than trying to figure out exactly what went wrong.
As for me when it comes to Stansbury, I'm somewhat agnostic - so we can put that myth to bed.
I said when State hired Ray that you would be able to tell what kind of recruiter he is after the first cycle. It doesn't take 3 years to rebuild a program. You can win with 7 or 8 and they don't have to be juniors or seniors. And I appreciate hard play and good old fashion coaching as much as anybody. That's why I still take in as many HS games as I can. But the college game has become one where you better have some talent to go along with coaching or conference championships and top 5 seeds are hard to come by.
For the love of Allyn McKeen.... There may be a few of you guys out there who would rather watch a team hustle and lose, but there won't be many now-absent season ticket holders who will, and hardly any good recruits. It's great to enjoy a return of team basketball and effort, because Lord knows we need it after last year, but let's keep the end goal in mind: we have to return to winning in the not-to-distant future or all this was for nothing.
If Ray can get his players to buy in and put forth the effort I am hearing you
guys witnessed then I don't think he is going to have any trouble recruiting good players
for his system and winning with them. I think there are some old Stansbury guys whistling past
the graveyard on this thread. It's basketball people, give me eight guys with some guts and a little talent
and I will whip your ***, it ain't that hard.
guys witnessed then I don't think he is going to have any trouble recruiting good players
for his system and winning with them. I think there are some old Stansbury guys whistling past
the graveyard on this thread. It's basketball people, give me eight guys with some guts and a little talent
and I will whip your ***, it ain't that hard.
So you think recruits wouldn't like to see a team that plays hard for their coach on a team that has a ton of room for immediate playing time? Wow