The problem with this team is

[hailstate19]

Point guard play. Nick isn’t a PG and Tyson sure as hell isn’t a point guard. Neither of these guys should be the primary ball handlers, yet they are. Howland made the biggest mistake of his career by not finding someone from the transfer portal to run the point once Lamar left. You would have the transfer start, and let Iverson be the backup PG. Then Nick would be the 3rd option at the PG position.

It’s really amazing he didn’t see this coming. Lots of posters here were saying that after Lamar decided to go.

 

[tenureplan]

Our problem is that we can't 17ing shoot. Sure woodard hits them when he is squared and open, but he isnt a pure shooter. Q was a big loss and we had nobody to fill the void

 

[hailstate19]

I mean yeah we can’t shoot, but don’t you think ball handling is a big time problem? We aren’t even getting a chance to shoot.

Was shooting even the problem today? I wasn’t able to watch the second half, but I heard Carter hit like 3 or 4 3s in a row. That sounds like decent enough shooting to win.

That maybe the one encouraging thing about today. Maybe Carter got his confidence back in the second half.

 

[hailstate19]

After that tournament at Costal Carolina we seemed like a different team. They were playing consistent ball, and playing to their strength. They were winning like they were supposed to. I was feeling really good about them and so was pretty much the rest of the board. I swear they had to start talking about how we were a potential sweet 16 team. That’s when everything got to this teams head and they lost to LA Tech soon after.

 

[hailstate19]

I have to wonder if team chemistry will be better without any NBA level talent next year. I’m not really talking about Woodard either. Like all these this guys hear about is Reggie Perry this, and Reggie Perry that. When Reggie scores, the PA guy says his name, then the crowd repeats his name. The crowd doesn’t do that for any other player. I’m wondering if that type of stuff gets to some of the other players heads and they start to resent him a bit? Maybe I’m just looking into things way too much, because I’m still mad right now.

Anyway for the record, I really like Perry. He’s one of the best players we ever had, and I’m rooting
for him to do well in the NBA one day.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

I don’t think that’s an issue because they know where their bread is buttered.

It goes back to your original post, poor guard play. They can’t shoot consistently from the perimeter, they don’t take care of the ball, and they are inconsistent on defending the perimeter.

 

[vandaldawg]

I mean yeah we can’t shoot, but don’t you think ball handling is a big time problem? We aren’t even getting a chance to shoot.

Was shooting even the problem today? I wasn’t able to watch the second half, but I heard Carter hit like 3 or 4 3s in a row. That sounds like decent enough shooting to win.

That maybe the one encouraging thing about today. Maybe Carter got his confidence back in the second half.

He hit three in a row when it was really too late. He missed a wide-open one when we had a real chance to get back in it. He also casually lofted a pass that Stephen Hawking could have picked off when we had cut it to seven with something like 5 minutes left. That turnover was really the end of it. Teams with their back against the wall trying to make the tourney just can’t make that play.

 

[klong-dog]

No, don't see that being a problem with the rest of the players on Perry getting more attention or whatever. Now what could be an issue is Perry's body language. He throws his arms up and occasionally with a jump, pouting big time and pointing the blame not only with his demonstrative looks but I'm sure vocally as well. I'm sure that gets old. He commits his share of turnovers and then some.

 

[Misfit]

Before condemning Howland for failing to get us a great point guard from the transfer portal, did you check to see who was in that portal? There were two point guards, rated above 3-star, with immediate eligibility. Doesn't appear either of them had any interest in coming to MSU/Starkville. And your likely response that anyone would have been better is pure speculation. Howland believed Nick could learn the position and for a stretch of games, it looked like he was doing that. He play's with just a bit too much emotion. That is hard to coach out of a guy.

 

[My Bru]

The problem (if you want to call it that) is the whole program, from the AD down. We took the laid back approach years ago when we went for money over atmosphere. We took a laid back coach. All things considered, we've done ok, about what we'd expect for being a laid back program. Thanks Loaferz. We did get rid of the disciplinary issues for the most part.

I guess now we have to decide what we want to be. I'm a football and baseball fan myself so I don't really care, but that's my bird's eye view of things.

I guess ultimately I'm not shocked at outcomes like today, considering the overall vibe around the program from the coaches, players, fans and students.

If I was AD I'd probably just stay the course for now. We have some young talent. I honestly can't tell if some of it is effort or what, I keep hearing from Cohen how we play hard (and he should know), but my eyes tell me otherwise. Cohen also said the same thing about the football program 4 weeks before firing the coach so he might just be being Positive Polly.

 

[57stratdawg]

Our overall guard play is not good, but, yes, our PG play has specifically been a problem. I’ve posted this before, but I think the fan base has been over valuing this team because they see Perry and Woodard.

But, the reality is this team’s guard play is a big liability. Our guards have kept us on the bubble. And they struggle on both ends at time. The volatility everyone hates is because of its guard play.

 

[NewTweederEndzoneDance]

The problem with this team is lack of consistent focused effort. That’s on the coaches. The next issue is a complete lack of the appearance of any coaching a lot of the time. The announcers praised Howland for not calling a TO when we beat Arkansas on the Ado tip in. But, the truth is that he’d have not had a damn clue what to call if he had, and the players probably wouldn’t have run the play even if he had called one. We don’t have any idea how to consistently attack a zone (we’ve been here before) and we often look like we don’t know how to attack a full court press. Those are things that you have to practice against.

But, a lot of this is masked by our talent level if we would just play with consistent, focused effort. That would take care of a lot of the turnover issues, the missed layups, the perimeter defense, etc...

This team has underachieved and been a disappointment. We had the talent to get back to the NCAA and continue some program momentum. Now we will have to win the SECT to get there.

 

[Seinfeld]

Correct, and as you said, this isn’t an issue with hindsight. There were never any guarantees as to what we were going to get from Nick this year, and we also knew that Tyson was not a PG. Considering some of the guys that we have riding the pine while taking up valuable scholarship spots, it is unbelievable to me that Howland didn’t see value in a transfer PG

It’s also interesting as to how we have the exact opposite problems when comparing Nick to Tyson. Nick’s lack of control is his biggest issue, but then Tyson’s calm-mannered carelessness is what gets him in trouble. If we had someone that could split the two, we’d probably be fine.