STARKVILLE – Entering his third season as Mississippi States men’s basketball coach, Rick Ray was blunt when asked about his team’s prognosis for the 2014-15 season.
“I think when’s it’s all said and done, it’s pretty simple,” said Ray. “We need to be challenging for postseason basketball. Whether that is the NIT or the NCAA, that’s yet to be determined and that’s really out of our hands because if you sit down and ask what the requirements are for an NCAA Tournament basketball team, you really don’t know. For us, we want to make sure that we’re in a position to be challenging for postseason basketball.”
That was the talk on Wednesday, as Ray heads into his third season as MSU’s coach after building a foundation for the first two years. Though forged through back-to-back losing seasons, that foundation includes five returning starters and a group of juniors that are hungry to lead MSU’s program back into the postseason.
“For me, that’s what it’s all about,” said MSU junior center Gavin Ware, a product of Starkville High School. “I want to step up and be a leader for the young guys, to show them what it takes to play basketball at this level. But I haven’t played in the postseason yet, and that’s where I want to go.”
Ware is one of three returning junior starters along with guards Fred Thomas and Craig Sword, and that trio has endured a pair of injury-plagued seasons. Earlier this week, it appeared the Bulldogs might be on a path toward repeating history when it was reported that Sword would miss four-to-six weeks with a bulging disc in his back while junior college transfer Johnny Zuppardo would miss the season with a torn ACL.
But on Wednesday, Ray downplayed the effects of those injuries due to the Bulldogs’ improving depth.
“This is something that you want to make sure that you build for, as far as depth is concerned,” said Ray. “I think in the past two years, a Johnny Zuppardo ACL injury would have been devastating to our team, but now with our depth that we have, especially on the front line, it’s not as debilitating.”
Part of that depth for Ray lies in the frontcourt. Where previously that Bulldogs depended heavily on Ware, who averaged 10 points and 9.5 rebounds per game as a sophomore, MSU now boasts six players (seven before Zuppardo’s injury) that are listed at 6-foot-7 or taller.
Of Sword’s injury, Ray said, “We will definitely err on the side of caution. I think you guys all know, anytime that you’re dealing with a back injury, there are always four to six weeks. So if there’s a situation where we don’t quite feel confident with him after four weeks then we’ll definitely stretch it to five weeks. And if at five weeks we don’t feel confident with it, we’ll stretch it to six weeks. When it’s all said and done, we want to make sure that we’re doing what’s best for our student-athletes welfare. So until (Sword) feels good about it and our medical staff feels good about it, we won’t push him to get back just because we want to get him out there for games.”
Delving further into the issue of depth – the Bulldogs have a full complement of scholarship players for the first time in Ray’s tenure – the third-year coach indicated the Bulldogs will employ an up-tempo style of offense and defense this season, which includes “Making teams play 94 feet against us. We couldn’t do that defensively before, now we can.”
Senior point guard Trivante Bloodman believes the ability to force teams into uncomfortable situations through a fullcourt press will benefit the Bulldogs.
“I know when I’m bringing the ball up the court, a press makes me work harder and it gets me out of my game sometimes,” said Bloodman. “It will be fun to put that pressure on other teams now.”
For the first time, Ray will have experience to lean on as the Bulldogs grind through a competitive non-conference schedule and into league play. Even some of the newcomers aren’t new.
Forward Travis Daniels, a former transfer from Shelton State Community College in Alabama, and freshman center Fallou Ndoye were each on campus a year ago, as Ndoye redshirted in his first season out of Findlay Prep (Nevada). Now a year older, the 6-foot-9 Daniels and the 6-foot-11 Ndoye give MSU size and athleticism inside, though Ray isn’t sure how quickly those skills will translate.
“I think in practices right now you can see that they have a level of maturity to them because they’ve been in our program for a year and that’s a benefit for them,” said Ray of Daniels and Ndoye. “But we really don’t know how they’re going to respond to being in a game. Some kids are unbelievable in practice, and then they get out in the game and they kind of freeze up for the first time. So we’ll see how they react to that when there are actual people in the stands. As of right now, Fallou has a distinct advantage because of the fact that he’s been here for a whole two semesters, whereas Travis only had one semester. But I think them sitting out has actually benefited them as far as being ready to get on the court.”
The Bulldogs will play an exhibition game at home against Delta State on Nov. 6 before opening the 2014-15 season at home against Western Carolina on Nov. 14.
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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