Womens Basketball

[Ralph Cramden]

I know McNeese is terrible but the girls blew them off the court in the first half. And its early in the season but I'm thinking we may not be looking for a head coach. By the end of the year this guy might be the obvious candidate. I was expecting a dumpster fire but they are looking pretty good. Esp when you take into account the roster turn over and all that

 

[G-Dawg]

We're just so much more in sync and well-coached. We had a bajillion assists in the 1st half.

 

[MissStFan87]

I think it would take an incredible season for him to receive serious consideration. Despite the disappointment of last season, this is still a top-25 job, and as such I think the goal should be to find a more established name. It also didn't really sound like he had any plans of being the guy in the preseason.

That being said, Novak and company have done a great job so far. There was a lot of roster turnover and obviously the short notice coaching change to deal with, plus the size limitations. This team plays hard every night, there's no denying that.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

They could certainly do worse but of course there is a lot of season left but I'm hoping he gets it rolling. He was supposedly a very good men's coach. Sometimes the established name is not always the right choice, as we saw last year.

 

[She Mate Me]

Definitely a nice bounce back after a rough 2nd half against a strong Michigan team. They did what they were supposed to do and it was good to see them come out like gangbusters after losing their first serious test. Next up is a road game vs a good Oklahoma team who took Oregon to the wire. Need to find a quality win to build confidence. They're very talented and really take care of the ball.

 

[Hump4Hoops]

This was the impression I got

It also didn't really sound like he had any plans of being the guy in the preseason.

He seemed to constantly go out of his way to emphasize that this was not what he signed up for. I would be shocked if he too the job.

 

[curseddawgs]

Great win tonight but the rebounding is a glaring hole. Does anyone have any info on Jessika Carter?

 

[She Mate Me]

Great win tonight but the rebounding is a glaring hole. Does anyone have any info on Jessika Carter?

I honestly don't expect her back. Novack's last comment was basically no update available.

Rebounding will continue to be an issue we have to overcome. I'm more concerned right now with weak 3 point shooting and abysmal FT shooting. With a guard oriented team those things shouldn't be an issue but they are right now.

I see this team steadily improving as the season progresses if they can get healthy and stay healthy.

BTW, Rickea had 40 tonight. 17 of 23 from 2 pt range.

 

[Irondawg]

The first question with him is if he’s even interested in the job long term. I have no clue if he is or isn’t.

He’s clearly not just going through the motions and is fully engaged so I respect that immensely regardless of his future preferences.

 

[aTotal360]

But how's their TikTok game?

 

[Ralph Cramden]

I'm not sure why he left his head coaching job but his statement was he was brought here to help with the Xs and Os. Which is his strong suit. He was pretty successful at Bethel. He is a fairly young guy. I doubt he is at a point in life where he wants to take a back seat. I expect there is more to the story of why he came here.

 

[The Peeper]

I think it remains to be seen how the program is perceived. We were certainly a "Top 25" team for about 6 years but to say this is a Top 25 job is stretching it. We were abysmal for years. Then like I said we were good for a short stretch but that was for 1 reason and 1 reason only and there's little left here now from that reason other than memories

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

Your hope is that he holds it together and has a good season and makes it an attractive job for the next coach.

 

[DesotoCountyDawg]

It’s women’s basketball. It doesn’t take much to make it a Top 25 job.

 

[wrapit]

I too wonder why Novak took this job, leaving a head coaching gig ....

I mean why would you leave a men's head coach job to come to the south and HELP with a women's team?
My only guess he is auditioning for our upcoming men's basketball head coaching vacancy.

I know McNeese is terrible but the girls blew them off the court in the first half. And its early in the season but I'm thinking we may not be looking for a head coach. By the end of the year this guy might be the obvious candidate. I was expecting a dumpster fire but they are looking pretty good. Esp when you take into account the roster turn over and all that

 

[She Mate Me]

On Novak, I don't know anything other than the basics of what I've read about him, what he's said in press conferences and what I've seen on the court. Here are my impressions...

- He knows basketball and can coach it. The team seems to be buying into his style and they are playing with a lot of effort. Considering the short time he's been here to implement a system and the talent on this team they have real potential to improve greatly over the season. We'll see.

- No idea why he came here, but there are Tennessee ties. He was an All American tennis player at UT and obviously knew Nikki. Tamika Catchings was on the call and talked with him in his first press conference after being named interim.

- He immediately brought in a high quality assistant with NBA coaching cred.

- It seems unlikely to me that he would take this assistant job in small town Mississippi if he had no interest in moving up in women's coaching. No matter what he says I think he sees this as an audition and this is an extremely important season for MSU and him. There is talent to get to the tournament and if we are going to remain a name anyone cares about in WBB I think it's vital we have a good season.

 

[rynodawg]

Going to wait until we have played more Power 5 teams to make any judgement. Do the players like him, and can he recruit any highly ranked players? Will be hard to determine that while he has the interim title.

 

[She Mate Me]

Here's a good example of this teams' strength, athleticism and unselfishness. I know McNeese is ****, but notice how they are crashing the O boards. We are going to see this all season. If we can make teams pay like this when we get the rebound they will be much less likely to send so many to the glass on shots...

[TWEET]1466213275230605313[/TWEET]

 

[Irondawg]

He could go a long way if he could get a couple of bigs to express interest in us although I think we are going to have to hit the portal there.

I’m not sure if he’s the right guy but at this point I think it’s clear we could do much worse

 

[curseddawgs]

Moving off Howland to hire the interim womens coach would be a terrible decision

 

[DAWG61]

Glad to see the interim is getting all the credit for the success