State fans- Do you trust Rick Stansbury with your basketball team in 2013?
By coach34
There is a divisive name in Bulldog sports these days, and that name is Rick Stansbury. Any State fan that has ever heard of Coach34, will tell you that I’m not a fan of Stansbury, but few seem to know why. Simply put- I prefer a more authoritarian coach that commands discipline from his team and demands his players provide maximum effort. The amount of talent that teams have at Mississippi State will always fluctuate- but effort and discipline should not. That should remain a constant when wearing the maroon and white. And I havent seen that from Rick Stansbury coached teams. Over the years, the number of people that agree with me has grown tremendously. But there are still many people that support Coach Stansbury and would like to see him remain as head coach.
Coach Stansbury has done a solid job through the years as State’s head coach. He is a really good guy. As a detractor, I could go on all day about us constantly having one of the easiest schedules in the SEC (10th this season in strength of schedule), our lack of NCAA Tourney success, only 1 at-large NCAA Tourney berth the last 6 years-as well as many other things. Those have been discussed ad nauseum about Stansbury. But it is not just on the court results that are rubbing people the wrong way. Regardless of which side of the debate you are on currently, everyone has to be extremely concerned with how the program is being perceived. Too many times “perception is reality”, and our reality is pretty embarrassing right now. The national media has nothing really good to say about our program currently. In the last 2 seasons alone, we have been called a “dumpster fire” by ESPN talking head Doug Gottlieb. The Sporting News called us “the NCAA’s most dysfunctional program”. Just this week on Memphis sports radio Sonny Vaccaro called us “the most unorganized, dysfunctional good team in America”. And then Saturday morning, before an important game vs Alabama, Jay Williams on ESPN called us “heartless”. And after a very uninspiring 17 point loss Saturday- I have to agree with him.
State is once again playing Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day as we reach the end of the SEC as we sit at or near the NCAA bubble. This has become the norm lately- with us being left out most of the time. This team had much higher expectations and most people are really shocked to see Mississippi State at 6-8 in the SEC with two games left. And it’s not just State fans- it’s nationwide. Lounging on the Bubble is Mississippi State’s constant trend.
What’s even more worrysome is that other schools within the conference- Alabama, LSU, Arkansas and Mississippi are turning their programs around with young teams. Those 4 basketball teams start 3 Sr’s- COMBINED. And we are currently 3-4 vs these teams while they are very young. State is likely to lose 4 starters and possibly other team members when all is said and done due to exhausted eligibility, the NBA draft, and other issues. And for a team that seems to have no depth- that is not very promising for the future.
Since 2006- year after year under Stansbury is marred by transfers, suspensions, sporadic play, weak schedules, and drama.. Dumpster fire, dysfunctional, heartless, unorganized…how much longer should this go on? Do you trust Rick Stansbury with your basketball team in 2013???