*** USC MBB (3-9/5-11) @ Mississippi St. (6-8/12-11) Game Thread ***

[markymark550]

@markymark550 thank you...Wondered what that was all about.  (And was worried it was disciplinary for both.  Hope it’s not for Hannibal).

No problem. For Hannibal, I really wish my skepticism would be wrong and it was simply just a night off. I don't want it to be injury or disciplinary, but if he can shrug off a suspension, I'd almost rather that be the case. Definitely don't want a lingering injury that could get worse by playing. 

 

[Gary]

I would guess that the deal with Hannibal would be getting the message across. Hannibal has been playing better than anyone on the team and he is still just a 10-15 minute per game guy. 

So Trae expressed his frustration and Frank had to let him know that he was still the coach. But - because Frank is also a SMART coach - look for Trae to start getting more PT.

Hannibal should be playing 30 plus minutes every game.   As many minutes as he can take, and stay out of foul trouble.   I don't understand why Frank won't make that happen.  Is it because he would take some minutes from Woods?  He's better than Woods.    

Couisnard has only had one day of practice coming off several days of injury, so it isn't surprising he didn't contribute much tonight.   MSU's length really bothered both Lawson and Bryant.   Actually it bothered everyone on the team.   We got killed on the glass.   Leveque is simply not strong enough right now to compete with the guys MSU has.  Need to get some more minutes for Minott.   Minaya and Nelson have no chance trying to rebound with MSU's bigs.   

 

[kingofnerf]

Well, we're in the midst of a six-game losing streak.  Three against ranked SEC opponents, three against SEC teams with losing records.

All of our players have had PT before this season, except for Woods who was at one of the best programs in the country before transferring here.

So they should already know what they need to do at this point in the season regardless of Covid.

The record says we are a crappy team right now and I honestly don't really see how that will change much next year.

This has gone from being one of Frank's best squads early in the season to one of his worst based on the record.  I don't see how we win the two remaining games at this point.

 

[Gary]

Miss. St. has 9 players that are 6-7 or taller on their roster.   USC has 6 that are listed at 6-7 or taller.  One is a walk-on (Nelson) and one is out for the year (Frink).    

 

[The Bear]

Well, as hard as this is I would ask FRANK to just leave, I have supported FRANK but it may be time now, there is just too much talent in this state, We need someone who can go get the kids I really don't understand it South Carolina basketball should be at the top in the Nation if you could just get the kids to come here, South Carolina board always get's this messed up.

Really snice Bobby let them hold it when he was coming then not, I mean what the hell is wrong in Columbia with men's basketball when was it just alright to be last or finish in top 10 in the conference,  Frank did take the to the final four I mean McGuire never got there, with the talent he had. I don't think we just kick Frank out  but  he should know when it's time to leave.   I was willing to call Mike at O.S.U. but now looking at his resume I don't think that's the way to go either. 

Could we just maybe land an deal with the guy From Texas, Tech or if Texas fires Smart  maybe just thinking out loud, then this  guy at Dayton , just saying maybe ?

I know we don't need an DAMM search firm to hire someone for god's sake give me the authority to hire someone at the end of the season, and the credit cards, and jet

I think I could make an great hire Hell TANNER can't . I could go on for days but I won't just sick of men's basketball not winning.

 

[markymark550]

It's really easy to sit back and say that the coach should be getting in-state kids to play here. In practice, it's much more difficult than you'd think, especially for the top-tier talent. This has been an issue for our fans for a long time. I'm not saying that we should or shouldn't want to move on from Frank. I'm just saying that changing coaches isn't necessarily going to be a magic fix. To get that top-tier talent that everyone wants, we'd have to hire a guy with a proven track record of getting kids to the NBA. I really question whether we can attract that caliber of coach though.

On a related note, can anybody tell me why people love Shaka Smart so much though? At Texas, he's able to get better talent than we can and has more resources to work with. Yet, Texas has been remarkably mediocre with him as head coach. I'm not sure he could do any better here.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

Well, we're in the midst of a six-game losing streak.  Three against ranked SEC opponents, three against SEC teams with losing records.

All of our players have had PT before this season, except for Woods who was at one of the best programs in the country before transferring here.

So they should already know what they need to do at this point in the season regardless of Covid.

The record says we are a crappy team right now and I honestly don't really see how that will change much next year.

This has gone from being one of Frank's best squads early in the season to one of his worst based on the record.  I don't see how we win the two remaining games at this point.

Woods also practiced with the team all of last year.

 

[kingofnerf]

Frank is loyal to the guys that commit to his program and listen to him in practice. That is how Seventh got to be a starter, and players like Nelson and Green get PT.

Couisnard played because we had no other options at PG - he was not close to ready. It was just Moss at PG and he could not go 40 minutes.

Our only chance to win was a hot shooting night - instead, we were colder than ever, with even Lawson missing a lot of open looks.

I started going to the games beginning at conference play during the 2013-14 season.

He has had a pattern of not being able to manage his players and it seems because he's afraid of the parents if he starts busting their chops too hard from a disciplinary standpoint.

We could either fire him and spend a lot of money on a replacement, or we could help him be more successful by bringing in a management consultant, which would have some cost associated with it.  This would make him a more successful coach and we would have to pay him more money to keep him, which would probably cost about the same as the extra money for a replacement HC.

Becoming a men's basketball power is not important to us, so we do the bare minimum money-wise and here we are.  We could be a better program, but choose not to be.

 

[The Bear]

I really like the mind set of where you think  the program is right now,  I think that South Carolina  should take an hard look at things after the season,  I mean why would you not want to win at basketball I just don't buy into that.   I think they should go and get Fredrick the high school coach he played ball at South Carolina has won 8 may be 9 state titles.    They  have tried everything else  give him 3 years  he has all the support from all the kids in the state, the only thing is that he's wife is an head case.

Let Frank stay on as an analyst if he doe not want that them hey it's been nice Frank. I've supported him an long time way before anyone or an lot of people was convinced he could win here.   There is just too much talent in the state not to be winning.     I remember when they said we don't care about women's basketball either, now what .

There are other options that will be available I just hope Frank walks away and says for his health I am done.   I just don't think he can ad anymore value to the program.

HELL they should've fired Frank McGuire 5 years before he was ready, and let Bobby have the team.   W e all what he done at Georgia Tech there just comes an time when it's time for an coach to leave.    

 

[kingofnerf]

I would be on the same page if we had not been hit as hard (or harder) than any other team in the NCAA. Losing the month of December - including practices, exhibition game, scrimmages, and actual games - had us waaay behind.

Basketball DOES matter to me, and I believe our best shot is to stick with Frank. My belief is that we will have a strong team next year - we have the NCAA stuff behind us now, and once we get covid done, we will be able to show what we can do.

And if we cannot win in 2021-2022, then we can get rid of him - and he will deserve it. But he does not deserve it now.

Concur.