MSU fans, and local and national media have all been critical of this team at times, not because of losses, but because of infighting, undisciplined play and lack of effort. Players have admitted at times the team was not playing with heart.
This game, while not MSU’s best, was not winnable. Alabama or Georgia is the best team in the SEC — make no mistake about it. Alabama’s zone defense punished the Bulldogs for 40 minutes as the Crimson Tide ripped the Bulldogs for nine steals and forced 14 turnovers — 12 of which happened in the first half.
Stansbury attributes the early turnovers to Alabama throwing MSU off of its desired tempo and gameplan with early aggressiveness both offensively and defensively.
“The two fouls on [Renardo Sidney] really took us out of our gameplan. It took us out of what we were trying to do,” Stansbury told The Clarion-Ledger. “We had 12 turnovers the first half and only two in the second half. You can’t dig a hole on the road and expect to get out of it.”
The two fouls on Sidney occurred before two minutes had transpired in the contest. Alabama went right at him and forced him into rookie mistakes. This was part of an aggressive theme offensively for Alabama that featured an 11-4 run in the first two minutes and thirty seconds of the game. Mississippi State never really recovered and could only close the gap to nine points at any time during the game.
Alabama also opened up the second half with a 10-4 run, so give Alabama credit — it was aggressive offensively, and it was disciplined in the zone. The Tide did not overpursue and leave anyone open, which was a common theme for Mississippi State, whether in zone or playing man.
On to Mississippi State: MSU got outrebounded by 14, which shows a lack of effort. MSU exhibited poor shot selection, not as bad as earlier this season, but much worse than the Florida, Vandy and TSUN games. Bost led the team in points with 18 but was only 6-17. Ravern got 10, five of which were from the free throw line. On defense, MSU looked confused. Alabama got several wide open dunks out of the half-court offense, which is unacceptable for a team picked to win the West.
Bottom line, MSU needs to play with the same type of intensity and discipline as it has over the past few weeks, excluding this game. The Dawgs have shown they can do it for an entire game, so it is not impossible.
Sidney continues to show his talents offensively. When he is near the basket offensively, there is a very good chance he is going to score or get fouled, and he is also an efficient foul shooter. Unfortunately, it seems he still has a plethora to learn about the overall game of college basketball.
He and Ravern Johnson called MSU fans out on Twitter after the game and said (not in exact words) MSU fans do not support their players. Well, Renardo, did you support your players by getting out of shape? No, and because of it, Renardo continues to be a liability defensively. Did you support your players when you pummeled one of them repeatedly on national television? I think not. Take a lesson in humility and please do not blow kisses at an opposing crowd when being blown out a la the Ole Miss game.
Renardo Sidney is an extremely talented young man, and he plays the game with passion, which is admirable. MSU fans have to hope Renardo will harness some of that passion and devote it to getting into shape and supporting his teammates the way MSU fans who show up game after game for the worst MSU basketball team in recent history do.
As for Ravern, well he is a senior and he probably should have gotten more shots against Alabama, but from a senior, you expect more than a pot shot at the fans and coaches via Twitter.
Since the incident, Stansbury has banned all players from tweeting.
MSU’s next game is on the road at LSU as State attempts to right the ship. MSU will have to win the SEC Tournament to make it to the Big Dance, and a first round bye would help those chances tremendously. So logically, MSU’s next goal is to get second place in the West and earn that bye. That opportunity is still there, and an SEC win on the road will be a solid way to start.
