Toughness. It is a thing that Rick Stansbury harps on all the time. After almost every game last season Stansbury would talk about the toughness of his team. This was usually after Mississippi State dominated the rebounding on their way to yet another win.
Toughness is something that Mississippi State basketball has prided itself on the last three years. Toughness means battling hard down low for a rebound. Toughness means diving after a loose ball, scrapping and clawing for it. Toughness means playing solid defense and always having a hand in the face of a shooter. Toughness means not giving up easy dunks to your opponent.
As MSU tough man Branden Vincent said after the Dawgs beat Vanderbilt last year, “There ain’t no free points in the paint.”
There are two kinds of toughness. Physical and mental. While physical toughness is the most visible to fans and opponents, mental toughness is far more important.
Mental toughness means that you walk into an opponents arena and block out the fans. You don’t wilt under the pressure of the bright lights and Alabama’s student section. Mental toughness means you don’t quit during a game.
Last year’s team had this toughness. It allowed them to go into Coleman Coliseum and come back and win from an 18- point deficit. It was the reason that they had a perfect record on the road last season. It led State to its first outright SEC championship in over 40 years.
This isn’t last year anymore. This year’s team doesn’t show that toughness night in and night out. They sure didn’t show it Tuesday night in Coleman Coliseum.
The Bulldogs were not ready to play on Tuesday. The first half was bad enough. The Bulldogs went 3-20 from the field while Alabama scorched the nets to the tune of 57 percent. All of this led to a 49-18 halftime score. And it only got worse after halftime.
The insurmountable lead coupled with the obnoxious crowd completely took State out of their game. The Bulldogs let the crowd get into their heads and be a distraction. Shane Power, whom the crowd rode mercilessly the entire second half, said that the crowd “helped separate the team.”
It all came to a head when Power mockingly waved for the crowd to get louder with their “Power sucks” chant. Power had no regrets when asked about it after the game.
“I don’t regret it at all,” Power said. “I play with emotion and I’m going to fight tooth and nail for everything.”
Maybe so, but there is a difference between playing with emotion and being overcome by your emotion, as Power did Tuesday night.
Once the crowd got into the Bulldogs’ head, it was time to fold in the tents. The Bulldogs played the last 10 minutes of the game like they just wanted to go home. Wide open shots, uncontested dunks and rebounding.
Stansbury likes to talk about rebounding as the ultimate toughness stat, which it is. State is used to dominating the boards against opponents and has let the SEC in that stat the last several years. However, in this game, the Bulldogs lost their toughness and the rebounding battle 38-25.
“We played with no effort the whole game,” a shell-shocked Gary Ervin said. “Five guys just stepped on the court and we didn’t do anything.”
The Bulldogs lost a lot of their toughness from last year with the graduations of Branden Vincent and Timmy Bowers. Most of the toughness that they had left was taken away when Winsome Frazier went down with a broken foot.
Mississippi State needs to find some toughness quickly. They right now are nothing more than a NCAA tournament bubble team. The Bulldogs played against three teams ranked in the top 25 poll and lost all three. Even more damning is the fact that State has not beaten a team in the RPI top 35 yet this year and have beaten only one team in the top 55.
They must start making their move now. South Carolina comes calling to the Hump tomorrow. If the Dawgs are going to make a move in the SEC they have to find some toughness now. Mississippi State can’t afford to play another game like the one they attended last Tuesday.
The first half was bad enough. The Bulldogs went 3-20 from the field while Alabama scorched the nets to the tune of 57 percent. All of this led to a 49-18 halftime score. And it only got worse after halftime.
The insurmountable lead coupled with the obnoxious crowd completely took State out of their game. The Bulldogs let the crowd get into their heads and be a distraction. Shane Power, whom the crowd rode mercilessly the entire second half, said that the crowd “helped separate the team.”
It all came to a head when Power mockingly waved for the crowd to get louder with their “Power sucks” chant. Power had no regrets when asked about it after the game.
“I don’t regret it at all,” Power said. “I play with emotion and I’m going to fight tooth and nail for everything.”
Maybe so, but there is a difference between playing with emotion and being overcome by your emotion, as Power did Tuesday night.
Once the crowd got into the Bulldogs’ head, it was time to fold in the tents. The Bulldogs played the last 10 minutes of the game like they just wanted to go home. Wide open shots, uncontested dunks and rebounding.
Stansbury likes to talk about rebounding as the ultimate toughness stat, which it is. State is used to dominating the boards against opponents and has let the SEC in that stat the last several years. However, in this game, the Bulldogs lost their toughness and the rebounding battle 38-25.
“We played with no effort the whole game,” a shell-shocked Gary Ervin said. “Five guys just stepped on the court and we didn’t do anything.”
The Bulldogs lost a lot of their toughness from last year with the graduations of Branden Vincent and Timmy Bowers. Most of the toughness that they had left was taken away when Winsome Frazier went down with a broken foot.
Mississippi State needs to find some toughness quickly. They right now are nothing more than a NCAA tournament bubble team. The Bulldogs played against three teams ranked in the top 25 poll and lost all three. Even more telling is the fact that State has not beaten a team in the RPI top 34 yet this year and have beaten only one team in the top 63.
They must start making their move now. South Carolina comes calling to the Hump tomorrow. If the Dawgs are going to make a move in the SEC they have to find some toughness now. Mississippi State can’t afford to play another game like the one they attended last Tuesday.
Jeff Edwards can be reached at [email protected].