Dee Bost played virtually alone, notching a heroic 20-point, five-assist, five-steal stat line. After the contest, Stansbury confirmed what any spectator with or without basketball knowledge took from MSU’s performance.
“I thought Dee Bost was competing,” Stansbury said. “I didn’t think he took a possession off, ever … ever. Outside of that, I can’t say that.”
Granted, Georgia was on fire — shooting 49 percent in overall field goal percentage and 58 percent in three-point field goal percentage — but many of those shots, especially three-pointers, were uncontested. Georgia also may be a little more talented, but not 22 points more talented than Mississippi State.
Dee Bost’s quote echoes how everyone played except him.
“We came out flat, and give them credit, they knocked down a lot of shots. We’re not worried right now,” Bost said.
Bost has earned the right since he has been back to basically say what he wants to the media, and it is doubtful he means he and his teammates do not care about the loss. However, a lot of his teammates played like they were not worried during the game, either.
Ravern Johnson entered the game averaging 18.5 points per game overall but only a pedestrian 11 points per game in SEC play. He finished with 13 and, to his credit, his shot was off, so he took the ball to the rim. He also committed some costly turnovers, was caught standing around on defense and took some ill-advised shots.
One of the key stats of the game is Georgia’s demanding lead in the rebounding category. Georgia outrebounded MSU 48-23. You show me a team who got outrebounded by 25, and I’ll show you a losing team.
Kodi Augustus played hard but caught some bad breaks and got into foul trouble, ultimately proving somewhat ineffective compared to his usual output. Sidney showed flashes, as usual, but is still in bad condition and did not leave the floor for a rebound on several occasions.
Wendell Lewis came in and played hard but did not provide his usual spark. He could not help in the rebounding category, which is where he was needed most.
Benock, Steele and Bryant all pretty much played an equal amount of time, and all proved ineffective guarding Travis Leslie, and none were able to do much offensively.
The moral of the story is MSU must get back to the way it played against Ole Miss and Auburn. Those two teams are the doormats of the SEC West, but MSU played much smarter games against each, nonetheless.
Against those two foes, MSU clicked on all cylinders. There was more ball movement than I have seen at any time in the Stansbury era; players took better shots. Better shots means open, spot-up shots and not shots created on the dribble. Better shots are also shots taken later in the shot-clock as opposed to a hurried three-point shot, which is an oft-used shot for this team.
MSU blocked out well against those two opponents, but against Georgia, it was as if MSU players did not know what blocking out was. The Dawgs also went back to relying on the dribble to create shots, and defense was only played by a select few. Some of the players are defensive liabilities, and it forced Stansbury into a zone which Georgia exploited nailing 3-pointer after 3-pointer.
I will be the first to admit I am not a coach, and I do not envy their responsibilities and scrutiny. I must say something which bothers me most about this team is the fact no players follow their (or anyone else’s) shots.
A team that hoists as many three-pointers as MSU creates a plethora of long rebounds that favor the offensive team. There were several times Saturday when the ball ricocheted off the iron and landed where an MSU player just was, but he had abruptly heading back to play defense before seeing the verdict of the shot. Following shots (and obviously beginning to box out) might be a way MSU could make up for its lack of beef and gain a slight edge in the rebounding column.
This team gave MSU fans two games of hope, and no team can play its best every night. The problem for MSU fans is, at 10-8, their team has to play close to its maximum potential every contest in order to have any shot at the NCAA tournament, and games like the one against Georgia cannot be repeated.
The next game is against Vanderbilt Thursday night on ESPN2, and the Bulldogs must start “worrying about it” if they are going to have a chance for an at-large bid into the “Big Dance”. Otherwise, MSU faithful will be left hoping for one of Stansbury’s token SEC Tournament runs.