Say something nice about Rick Ray...
- Thread starter AlanDawg
- Start date
I really have a hard time saying anything bad about the guy.
It's weird... every other coach I can think of that we've had, I've felt some sort of animosity towards, but not Ray.
The guy is apparently not a good head basketball coach.
But that's it.
I don't see it as his fault that he was selected to rebuild a program before he was ready.
The guy represented our university with (forgive me for this) class at all times that I'm aware of.
Even his parting words were very respectful of the university and the administration, especially given the circumstances.
I honestly wish him nothing but the best. I hope he gets another head coaching gig one day, and I hope he wins big.
I can't say that about most of our other ex coaches.
It's weird... every other coach I can think of that we've had, I've felt some sort of animosity towards, but not Ray.
The guy is apparently not a good head basketball coach.
But that's it.
I don't see it as his fault that he was selected to rebuild a program before he was ready.
The guy represented our university with (forgive me for this) class at all times that I'm aware of.
Even his parting words were very respectful of the university and the administration, especially given the circumstances.
I honestly wish him nothing but the best. I hope he gets another head coaching gig one day, and I hope he wins big.
I can't say that about most of our other ex coaches.
This seems to be the hot cliche associated with him at the moment. Can this be quantitatively proven? Talent wise we are not any better. Winning wise we are not any better. He processed a couple a knuckleheads and that seems to be about it. And to be clear, I liked RR. I just don't understand why all of a sudden he's revered as someone that turned water into wine. I think ANY coach that we would have brought in would have done the same job, and maybe even better of it. Sorry to sounds so cold...
Thanks for taking the job in the first place because you had to think in the back of your mind that it would end this way.
uhm..he's not the head coach at State anymore.
But srsly , he's a good guy. I wish him the best. He'll always play a critical part in some basketball program.
But srsly , he's a good guy. I wish him the best. He'll always play a critical part in some basketball program.
He represented MSU, and Himself very well
wish he would have won many more games.
Good Luck Rick!
wish he would have won many more games.
Good Luck Rick!
He was a guy everyone wanted to succeed. That's not allways the case with a coach. I don't think anyone thought he was an *******.
We are not much worse talent wise (basically the same core when he stepped in, just older; we don't even have a Jalen Steele replacement, which is bad) and the players are ready to be coached and work hard, which is a big improvement.
I would agree with you that most coaches would have done as well as he did. But at least he didn't sell the program out to go after some short fixes that ruined the locker room again. He came in to a dumpster fire starting his first head coaching job in an area he had not recruited, and we got pretty predictable results. He left without bad mouthing the university or blaming anybody. All in all, while not what anybody wanted, there's not much you can fault him for. He was tasked with an impossible situation for where he was in his professional development at the time, and did his best. Also, he apparently at least was learning some things in recruiting, so at least it's possible that if he becomes a head coach again, he will be able to recruit adequate talent and maybe that will allow him to show whether he can be a competent coach, as opposed to always having to try to compete with a half filled team.
His tenure is over and the amount of bashing the "fans" will do of him will now have a shelf life.
then again... croom still gets mentioned.
then again... croom still gets mentioned.
No offense but if you are just learning to recruit in year 3, you really have been taking the money without earning it... We are in a FAR worse place talent wise than when he got here. That is not even close to being debatable. I like RR as a person there is almost nothing redeeming about what he accomplished in 3 years. We went from a program that people thought was a dumpster fire winning 20+ games per year to being a complete joke of a program that won 40% of our games and did not resemble a team that had a snow balls chance of getting into the NCAAT. RR isn't dead. There isn't a point to just make up things to make us remember him better. Nice guy, completely overwhelmed and wrong for the job.
We are in the "showering with compliments" phase because we just pulled the cord on him. It's merely a way to soften the firing and it gives everyone the warm and fuzzies. It's the classy thing to do (rules violation I know). I just think some of the praise is silly and cliched. He didn't do anything well. He kicked off some knuckleheads and that was it. I agree that he came into a difficult situation, but he didn't measurably improve our program.
Last edited by a moderator:
it's not really his fault for being offered a job that he wasn't ready for. And you say we are in far worse place talent wise, but you're just wrong:
He had the following when he got here:
| Trivante Bloodman | SO | G | 6-0 | 6.1 Pts, 3.3 Reb, 2.3 Ast |
| Colin Borchert | JR | F | 6-8 | 9.0 Pts, 5.0 Reb, 1.3 Ast |
| Tyson Cunningham | JR | G | 6-3 | 2.4 Pts, 2.4 Reb, 1.3 Ast |
| Roquez Johnson | SO | F | 6-7 | 8.8 Pts, 4.5 Reb, 0.4 Ast |
| Wendell Lewis | SR | C | 6-10 | 8.1 Pts, 4.9 Reb, 0.8 Ast |
| Baxter Price | SR | G | 5-10 | 0.0 Pts, 0.2 Reb, 0.1 Ast |
| Jalen Steele | JR | G | 6-3 | 10.1 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 1.1 Ast |
| Craig Sword | FR | G | 6-3 | 10.5 Pts, 2.9 Reb, 2.3 Ast |
| Fred Thomas | FR | G | 6-5 | 9.7 Pts, 3.5 Reb, 1.3 Ast |
| Gavin Ware | FR | F | 6-9 | 8.4 Pts, 6.4 Reb, 0.3 Ast |
<tbody>
</tbody>
Now he has:
| Maurice Dunlap | G | 6-2 | 175 | Fr. | HS | Greenwood, MS (Amanda Elzy) | |
| 1 | Fred Thomas | G | 6-5 | 206 | Jr. | 2L | Jackson, MS (Jim Hill HS) |
| 2 | Demetrius Houston | F | 6-7 | 210 | Fr. | HS | Montgomery, AL (G.W. Carver HS) |
| 3 | Trivante Bloodman | G | 6-0 | 190 | Sr. | 2L | Bronx, NY (Olney Central College) (Wadleigh School) |
| 4 | Johnny Zuppardo | F | 6-9 | 235 | Jr. | JC | Bay St. Louis, MS (Jones Junior College) |
| 5 | Isaiah Butler | G | 6-2 | 214 | Sr. | HS | Brandon, MS (Brandon HS) |
| 10 | Jeffery Johnson | G | 6-2 | 172 | Sr. | HS | Memphis, Tenn. (Germantown HS) |
| 12 | De'Runnya Wilson | F | 6-5 | 215 | So. | 1L | Birmingham, AL (Wenohan HS) |
| 14 | Elijah Staley | G | 6-6 | 220 | Fr. | HS | Marietta, GA (Wheeler HS) |
| 15 | I.J. Ready | G | 5-11 | 170 | So. | 1L | Little Rock, AR (Parkview Magnet HS) |
| 20 | Gavin Ware | F | 6-9 | 260 | Jr. | 2L | Starkville, MS (Starkville HS) |
| 22 | Fallou Ndoye | F | 6-11 | 222 | RFr. | HS | Senegal (Findley Prep) |
| 23 | Travis Daniels | G | 6-8 | 219 | RJr. | JC | Tuscaloosa, AL (Shelton State) |
| 25 | Roquez Johnson | F | 6-7 | 210 | Sr. | 3L | Montgomery, AL (G.W. Carver HS) |
| 32 | Craig Sword | G | 6-3 | 196 | Jr. | 2L | Montgomery, AL (G.W. Carver HS) |
| 33 | Oliver Black | F | 6-9 | 224 | Fr. | HS | Jackson, MS (Wingfield HS) |
<tbody>
</tbody>
He certainly hasn't done a good job adding to or replacing talent, but you are talking about having an older Ware, Sword, and Thomas in exchange for losing Steele and Lewis and then trading Daniels and Houston for Borschert.
Looking at it now, I think I was wrong to even say we were worse off at all.
This is Forever my lasting impression of RR. As my old friend once said, "NEVER, apologize son. Its a sign of weakness."
MORE players does not mean BETTER players. Your comparison isn't even a fair one. What would be a 'fair' comparison would be to take the 2012 roster plus projected signees when Stansbury was fired and compare that to the current roster with projected signees when Ray was fired. I do not even need to post the contents of that comparison to know the difference is night and day.
The biggest difference in our program - the fanbase is more united than it's been in years.
For years there were people who loved & hated Stans. Some were pissed when we fired him, and others were elated. The only thing we could agree on was that we did a terrible job replacing Stans with an assistant from Clemson that no one had ever heard of.
Today I think most everyone is ready to throw their full support behind our head coach. We haven't been able to say that in at least 5 years.
For years there were people who loved & hated Stans. Some were pissed when we fired him, and others were elated. The only thing we could agree on was that we did a terrible job replacing Stans with an assistant from Clemson that no one had ever heard of.
Today I think most everyone is ready to throw their full support behind our head coach. We haven't been able to say that in at least 5 years.
Latest
-
01
Maroon and White Basketball
Xavier 81-63 Mississippi State: Distance shooting hurts Bulldogs in Greenbrier defeat
-
02
Maroon and White Football
Kickoff Time Change: Mississippi State vs. Auburn
-
03
Maroon and White Football
Mississippi State Keys to Victory vs. Auburn
-
04
Rivals Basketball Recruiting
4-star center Chris Brown commits to Mississippi State
-
05
Maroon and White Football
Mississippi State Week 11 Preview: Auburn Q and A