No ranking, but getting closer

Mississippi State failed to make its way into either basketball poll, but Charles Rhodes said that is probably for the best.

Earlier this year when the Bulldogs were ranked, they went 0-2, with back-to-back losses to Arkansas and Tennessee that knocked them out of the polls. Rhodes said guys lost focus and started to feel a little too good about themselves.

Now, he said he’s not going to allow that to happen.”We got the ranking and then we were undefeated in the SEC and it blew a lot of guys’ head up. We lost a lot of focus. Now, we are back on point. I don’t think we’re going to lose that focus again. We know what we want to do right now.”

Never a dull moment with MSU basketball

Several of us regular scribes had a chance to sit down this afternoon with Barry Stewart, Ben Hansbrough, Jamont Gordon and Charles Rhodes today prior to practice. And Rick Stansbury, too.

All had some good things to say. Here is a sampling . . .
• Barry Stewart on why MSU has had success on the road: “We find a way to win, whether it’s rebounding or free throw shooting, and we’ve been able to pull that off pretty good lately.”
• Jamont Gordon on Ole Miss: “It’s going to be a tough game on the road. We know Ole Miss is going to be looking to get us back, because we beat them bad here.”
• Ben Hansbrough on what it would be like to play against his brother, Tyler, in the NCAA Tournament: “Me and Tyler work so hard to win. He’s the last person in the world I’d want to beat, and take away his dream. I know how hard he works every day, and I’d hate to be the one to destroy his dream.”
• Charles Rhodes on Ole Miss’ recent slide and not overlooking them: “You can’t overlook no one in the SEC, to tell you the truth, not even Auburn. We ain’t overlooking nobody.”
• Charles Rhodes, Part II, on winning the Western Division: “It seems like I can grab it right now. But I’ve got to stay focused and keep my team focused. We’ve got to do this thing. We’ve got to come together on these road games, because that’s when teams get separated. We just got to be as one on that road.”
• Rick Stansbury on Ole Miss and their struggles: “We’re playing the same team that was Top 15 in the country. They got all the same players. It’d be different if they had some injuries. We’re playing that same team that was 13, 14 and 0 and was one of the better teams in the country. They’ve got the same personnel. Again, it doesn’t matter what the records are. We’re going in and playing a talented, big team. Yes. We understand they are wounded. It’s a big game for us because it’s our next game and it happens to be Ole Miss. We’re playing for a lot.”

Stansbury says . . .

Here are the highlights from Rick Stansbury’s Monday morning teleconference: 
• Playing with Lawrence Roberts as freshman didn’t really make much of a difference for Charles Rhodes. If anything, Stansbury said, it took minutes away from Rhodes. In other words, those type of impacts aren’t as big as one might think.
• He says you can forget about Ole Miss’ record and recent slide, because he expects to get the Rebels’ best shot, particularly from an energy and effort standpoint.
• One of Ben Hansbrough’s best attributes is his toughness. Rick said players have it or don’t, and that Ben does. And it was that toughness, not his shooting, that caught Stansbury’s attention.
• The Bulldogs are 3-1 on the road in SEC play this season. To have that type of success, Stansbury said you have to defend and rebound. “Because you are not always going to shoot as well as you do at home. If you do shoot it well, you enhance your chances of winning.”

OK. Off to Starkville. I’ll blog what the players have to say tonight.

Happy President’s Day

If you’re like me, there is no holiday today. Just work. Oh well.

Anyway, I’ll be in Starkville today talking with players and coaches about Wednesday’s showdown at Ole Miss. Later tonight, I’ll let you know some of what everyone had to say.

Not much in the Journal today as far as stories are concerned, but I did have a Look back/Look ahead piece. And did you guys see this Jamont Gordon ranking?

Now, let’s shift gears to NASCAR. Any thoughts on yesterday’s Daytona 500? I must admit, I didn’t see a single lap.

Finally, later today I’ll have the blogbag post.