Missouri @ Mississippi St - 2/28/21

[HuskyFan1125]

I feel bad for these State fans and players. They were ranked preseason as a top team in the SEC and nationally. I know it’s a new coach but they have quality players. Should be better than this.

 

[SECbbfan24]

Is there any need for Miss State to travel to Greenville SC next week?

Yes, to finish the job and to get the other Nikki out of BR

 

[SimpleDawg]

Yes, to finish the job and to get the other Nikki out of BR

They'll both be fired at the locker room and left in South Carolina. Hahaha

 

[SECbbfan24]

I will be honest, I get that this is a very difficult year and situation given coaching change during COVID year, but this was a pretty pathetic coaching job and management on McCray's part. They have way too much talent to be playing like this and it appears the team quit on her. The only players who play hard are Taylor and Matharu, everyone else is just there and would rather be elsewhere.

 

[DefenseBB]

Wow, 75-48 with 4 min left. Robin Pingeton must be doing an awesome job with the chalkboard to scheme this type of beating...

 

[MSUFan2003]

Give Missouri our spot in the NCAA Tournament (if we have one anymore).

 

[nwhoopfan]

I honestly don't understand why Mississippi St. is even considered anywhere near the bubble.

 

[GoDawgs4]

This team is toast. One and done at the SECT and then this team will be on the rack until next year.

As I mentioned in another thread, the W-L record is not the issue here. It is the way the team has played that has been the disappointing part of the year. I can live with “L”’s but when a team plays with no effort then that is when they lose me. If we are busting our tails every game, then while I will be disappointed in the losses I will never be disappointed in our players.

NMP may be a good coach but this is a season I am sure she would like to forget ever happened. At this point it is what is. Our program is at serious crossroads and the next year will really be important.

We will see what happens.

 

[MSUrealist]

That game started ugly from the pregame with two starters being benched, and it stayed ugly until the final buzzer (and probably longer once they got to the locker room). Many of you think this season was doomed the day NMP was hired and maybe you will prove to be right. I'm starting to wonder if the season was sidetracked during the first few weeks after she was hired when she basically had to rerecruit all of the returning players along with Madison Hayes. The players had all the leverage at that time, especially with Danberry graduating, Hemingway and Bibby already in the transfer portal, recruit DeYona Gaston having flipped to Texas, and Promise Taylor retiring. NMP couldn't afford to lose anyone else and if she lost even one or two players it would have been a disaster.

I'm not using that as a NMP excuse. Maybe it could be seen as a criticism since during those first few weeks NMP was talking about all the Zoom calls with players and building relationships, etc. Maybe she made the mistake of winning the battle of getting the players to return while losing the war of establishing an atmosphere of respect and discipline that a coach needs. (As an aside, if we ever get to the point where all players have the option of transferring at least once without having to sit out a year, then it is going to be interesting to see just how much power gets shifted from coaches to their star players. And it will be interesting to see if a group of star NCAA players would decide to all transfer to the same school to create a super team like we are seeing in the NBA.}

 

[Plebe]

 

[SimpleDawg]

Nikki haters on the Mississippi State board lolol. This can't end well for her. You know when a stinking turd starts to smell, the smell usually gets worse. You can hope all you want, but things ain't gonna get better just by hoping. HA

 

[MSUrealist]

SimpleDawg, you should see what some are saying about your idol VS and his team on the Texas boards, but I won't do copy and pastes of those or leave links because like your post does, that would violate the rules of this forum:

• Don't drag garbage over from other boards. I'm talking about insults towards posters, teams, coaches, etc. If you want to bring some interesting news or post that's of general interest, no problem but leave incendiary posts where you find them. We don't need to start a flame war here because of something posted on another board.

 

[HuskyMJ]

I don't agree with MSUrealist much but come on SimpleDawg you have your own insights, why post these drive by insults that aren't even bringing much substance? There's a reason why more places arent' doing game threads, people aren't rational and I think that was MSU fans last night. I'd rather hear real critiqiues based on some analysis than OMG NIKKI IS THE WORST from another fan page.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

I don't agree with MSUrealist much but come on SimpleDawg you have your own insights, why post these drive by insults that aren't even bringing much substance? There's a reason why more places arent' doing game threads, people aren't rational and I think that was MSU fans last night. I'd rather hear real critiqiues based on some analysis than OMG NIKKI IS THE WORST from another fan page.

My insight is only that something has happened and she's lost the team. Taylor and Matharu are the only ones who really look as though they want to be out there and are giving consistent effort. I thought her decision to keep Jackson on the bench for discipline, only to put her out there at a time in the game where she was desperate to win, only to see the lead balloon even more was the silliest thing I've seen a coach do in years.

I mind losing less than I mind seeing a program that had joined the conversation as a top 10 team nationally just disappear again. MSU isn't the type of school where the player and coaching talent grows on trees. NMP could shape this roster to be hers in the coming years and may have us back to a respectable level but I wonder if we will ever join the national conversation again.

I still bleed Maroon and White though and love ladies basketball so I will be sticking around as long as the Boneyard will have me. I was glad A&M knocked SC out of top spot yesterday. Blair likely doesn't have much longer to coach and this team could get him back to a FF.

 

[LETTERL]

My insight is only that something has happened and she's lost the team. Taylor and Matharu are the only ones who really look as though they want to be out there and are giving consistent effort. I thought her decision to keep Jackson on the bench for discipline, only to put her out there at a time in the game where she was desperate to win, only to see the lead balloon even more was the silliest thing I've seen a coach do in years.
.

There may be something to this, and it may just come down to a change in coaching styles that the current players haven't accepted. It is NMP's program now, she knows how she wants to run the program. Perhaps the personnel haven't bought in.

 

[Jmsdawg]

My insight is only that something has happened and she's lost the team. Taylor and Matharu are the only ones who really look as though they want to be out there and are giving consistent effort. I thought her decision to keep Jackson on the bench for discipline, only to put her out there at a time in the game where she was desperate to win, only to see the lead balloon even more was the silliest thing I've seen a coach do in years.

I miid losing less than I mind seeing a program that had joined the conversation as a top 10 team nationally just disappear again. MSU isn't the type of school where the player and coaching talent grows on trees. NMP could shape this roster to be hers in the coming years and may have us back to a respectable level but I wonder if we will ever join the national conversation again.

I still bleed Maroon and White though and love ladies basketball so I will be sticking around as long as the Boneyard will have me. I was glad A&M knocked SC out of top spot yesterday. Blair likely doesn't have much longer to coach and this team could get him back to a FF.

My major problem with Nikki is her sit and watch coaching style. To me a coach feels the pains and joys of the team and tries to encourage the players to push themselves to be the best player and team possible. Nikki obviously does not inspire this team to give max effort, they just appear not to care. Heartbreaking to me to see the decline in the team and I see coaching as the cause of the decline. I also bleed Maroon and White and would love for Nikki and the players to come together and bring back the team we are use to rooting for.

 

[MSSportsGuy]

My major problem with Nikki is her sit and watch coaching style. To me a coach feels the pains and joys of the team and tries to encourage the players to push themselves to be the best player and team possible. Nikki obviously does not inspire this team to give max effort, they just appear not to care. Heartbreaking to me to see the decline in the team and I see coaching as the cause of the decline. I also bleed Maroon and White and would love for Nikki and the players to come together and bring back the team we are use to rooting for.

In this day and age I'm afraid once a coach loses a team there isn't much they can do to get it back unless the personnel changes. We will likely see a few this off season.

 

[SECbbfan24]

I think the most concerning thing in all of this is the effort and body language out there. It’s one thing to lose games but play hard, but when the team acts like they don’t want to be there the majority of the time and lose by almost 30 on your home floor to a mediocre Missouri team, that’s a red flag. Somewhere along the way, she lost the team completely.

 

[EricLA]

Rikea Jackson is too good to be part of the mess that has become Mississippi State. They are 10-8 overall which isn't bad and 5-1 OOC, but for a team that started the season at #6, only to finish the season probably with a WNIT bid... not a good year for the 1st season head coach...

 

[Jmsdawg]

Rikea Jackson is too good to be part of the mess that has become Mississippi State. They are 10-8 overall which isn't bad and 5-1 OOC, but for a team that started the season at #6, only to finish the season probably with a WNIT bid... not a good year for the 1st season head coach...

I agree Rickea has the potential to be really good but for a player to not give max effort during the game indicates to me she needs a task master coach. It is apparent the present Mississippi State coach can not control Rickea, if it were just Rickea I would be concerned with her but it appears to be most of the team.

 

[MSUrealist]

I agree Rickea has the potential to be really good but for a player to not give max effort during the game indicates to me she needs a task master coach. It is apparent the present Mississippi State coach can not control Rickea, if it were just Rickea I would be concerned with her but it appears to be most of the team.

I have no inside information regarding MSU basketball, but from what has been said publicly it seems like NMP has tried hard to get Rickea Jackson to expand her game but that hasn't happened. For example, she has challenged Jackson to be a better rebounder, but if you look at rebounds per minutes Jackson is 6th on the team behind Carter, Hayes, Cooks, Matharu, and Mingo-Young. That seems to be an effort problem, not a talent problem. NMP has challenged Jackson to become a better defender. I'm certainly not an expert, but there seems to be an effort problem in this area as well. And many times NMP has talked about wanting Jackson to be a more dynamic scorer, especially by expanding her range to the 3-point line, but there seems to be little progress in this area.

My impression is that NMP has been pushing hard to motivate Jackson to elevate her game into something closer to being like Rhyne Howard or Victoria Vivians, a more physical player capable of being a game changer on both ends of the court. Maybe NMP has pushed too hard, or gone about it the wrong way, or she is asking for more than Jackson wants to give--I have no idea what has gone on behind the scene, but it sure looks like a relationship that may be broken beyond repair.