My Baseball Preview

I've been waiting on this for a while. The John Cohen era is about to begin and I am anxious to see the product we put on the diamond this year. Last year was rough. Our worst season in 30 something years? However, much of that was due to injuries. We had some expectations coming off that CWS run, but, the loss of a Ed Easley, a Mitch Moreland, a Jeffrey Rea, and a Brian LaNinfa can do that to you. This year, we will be much improved. I have been to every scrimmage since fall practice, call me obsessed, but I can tell that this team is hungry. They won't let a repeat of last year happen, too competitive, too good. Yes, too good. Injuries killed us last year. With most of those guys fully healed, we now have depth virtually everywhere on the field. So without anymore waiting, here is my 2009 baseball preview that some have looked forward to.

The Outfield: This is probably our strongest group top to bottom. It's a given, that if Grant Hogue is healthy he will start. He will be ready to go soon and will more than likely lead the league in stolen bases. He batted over .300 last year and looks good to improve on that this year. He is our centerfielder and an ex-walk on at that. He can bunt for a hit pretty much at will and will certainly wreak havoc on the basepaths. Other than that, everything else out there consists of guys fighting for their place. I would feel comfortable with any of them playing at any given moment. I do think, however, that it will depend on the matchup against the other team's pitcher. I'll just name the guys and their strengths. Experience may play a factor in this and Nick Hardy has that. He has a good arm, hits well, and runs above average. Very quality player that is a senior and leader on this team. Jason Nappi absolutely raked early in the year last year. The guy has a big bat and a powerful right handed swing. He will be one of our power hitters, but I believe he won some bunting contest in the fall. Judging by Cohen's style, that may play a factor in playing time. Luke Adkins just hits the baseball. He is a pure hitter in the way that he can hit to all fields from the left side of the plate. Something about Nettleton products I guess but this USM transfer will get some big hits for us this year. Ryan Collins batted over .300 last year as a Freshman in SEC play. He has a very strong arm and gets good reads on fly balls. He stepped up last year and helped as a freshman and should only improve throughout his sophomore campaign. Mark GoForth played a role in getting us to Omaha a few years ago after transferring from Birmingham Southern. He is a great defensive outfielder. Makes diving plays on a regular basis during BP. With his experience, he will get some playing time, especially against RHPs. Brent Brownlee is a diamond in the rough type. He is a speed demon and may be the only guy on the team that rivals Grant's speed. Brownlee played great in the fall and fits perfectly into Cohen's aggressive style of play. This redshirt freshman will see the field plenty this year and will be great before his days at Dudy Noble are over.

The Infield: Depth is also a good thing here. Connor Powers and Russ Snead provide great experience on the corners. C. Powers will hit his fair share of dingers this year. He is a great hitter and pretty dang good with the glove too. Snead is coming off that nagging hip injury that sidelined him all fall but has impressed me so far this spring. He had some big hits in that Omaha run and has a great athletic frame. JuCo transfer Jarrod Parks provides that will surely be needed through the wear and tear of SEC play. He has some pop in his bat and can play both corner positions also. Freshman Nick Ray has potential. He is a first baseman and also provides depth should someone go down. He hits well. JuCo transfer Justin Bussey and true freshman Frankie Rawdow have really been impressive all fall and spring. They will push returning lettermen Jet Butler and Ryan Powers for playing time in those important middle infield positions. Bussey is an all around player. He fields, hits, runs, throws, and yes, bunts. Rawdow is similar. Both guys are very athletic. Jet has experience and is a leader. He too played a major role in that CWS run as a true freshman. He has a very strong arm and most importantly is a switch hitter. Powers has probably the best glove and has hit well throughout the spring scrimmages. Should be interesting to see how the middle infield plays out.

The Catchers: 5 quality guys behind the plate. All have different strengths. Ryan Duffy is big and can hit for power. He moves around great for a big guy behind the plate. Johnny Allen is a ballplayer. The guy works hard and isn't afraid to get dirty. He has probably the better arm of the group and is big and strong and can hit the ball long and far. Brooks Lewis works hard. He too can hit and has done well in scrimmages. Scott DeLoach may be the best defensive catcher. He blocks well and moves well on bunts and such. He has really hit well this spring. Cody Freeman is probably the best hitter in the group. His bat will be in the lineup somewhere whether he's behind the plate, at 1st base, or DHing. He hits the long ball, too. Played very well as a true frosh last year. We have depth here too, should someone go down.

The Pitching: Really, this may be the only question mark. Ricky Bowen is the ace and will get us deep into ball games. He pitched well in the Cape last summer and of course has done well all fall and spring. Look for him to be the Friday guy. Lefty Forrest Moore will more than likely be the Saturday guy. He has been unhittable at times and gained loads of experience as a freshman last year. Extremely competitive. The Sunday guy, I have no idea. Could be a number of guys. Chad Crosswhite would be the obvious choice given his experience. I don't know if he wants to go 6 or 7 innings though. I could see him as our SEC relief guy that comes in when a starter has trouble. It's imperitive he be healthy for us to have that guy with experience that you trust with the game on the line. He, too, has been unhittable at times. Greg Houston has really impressed me this spring. With some added velocity and his will to compete he will get some outs for us and helps us with some of that SEC relief question. Justin Bussey pitches, too. He's a guy that could come in late in ball games and shut the door. He throws hard and gets outs. Michael Busby can't be touched when he's on. He can reach the low to mid-90s when he wants. If he's throwing strikes and hitting spots then no one can touch him and he will be a weapon in SEC play. We have a strong group of freshman pitchers that have pitched extremely well at times and not as good at times. That all comes with getting comfortable and settling in. Devin Jones and Tyler Johnson showed flashes of being great RHPs for us in the fall. I was impressed with both of them and I believe we will seem them making some starts for us this season. Nick Routt threw great the other day and will definitely see the mound some because of our shortage on LHPs. Caleb Reed has done well in his shorter outings and I think he will be a key piece to our mid-week puzzle. David Hayes has also done well at times and will be player for us down the road. Getting away from the freshmen, Jared Wesson will be key for us too. When he is on, he is very tough to hit. I think he will be a lefty that we call on to get some outs in the 7th and 8th innings. Lee Swindle is a senior that will also have to come in and get us some outs. Especially on weekends when the bullpen is being worked, which will happen at some point. Tyler Whitney has done well at times and I think he is the only man on Earth to win a Governor's cup. He will could play a key role in mid-week and SEC games. Jared Koon and Drew Hollinghead have both dropped down to side arm. I believe that's because the coaches wanted some guys to be able to come in and give different looks to hitters. They both pitched well Sunday and will also be important to this staff. Redshirt freshman Paxton Pace is a guy that could help us if he is healthy. I haven't seen much in the way of him pitching but watched him in high school. If he gets back to that level when he is fully healthy then he may be a diamond in the rough in this group. He may play a key role especially if someone goes down with an injury. We need him healthy to provide just that little extra depth to come in and eat some innings for us. Overall, this is the place where we can't afford too many lengthy injuries, if any. We need these guys to be healthy because of the inexperience of some and talent of others. This is what will make the difference in us being a decent NCAA Tournament team and us being a contender to go further.

Guys, we are going to surprise some people this year. We have a coaching staff that won't settle for anything less than the best. We have depth in the field and will do anything it takes to score runs. We will steal bases, bunt them over, and depend on the middle guys to drive them in. We will be really aggressive. I think we will win more than 30 games, make the SEC Tournamentwith a .500 or better league record, and get a bid to a regional somewhere. If we get hot, and remain healthy, we could make a lot more noise than that. Only time will tell. Best thing to do is to get yourselves out to Dudy Noble and support this team in Coach Cohen's inaugural season. Be there Friday night as we open up against Northern Illinois.

Big Game Tonight!!!

Get your asses to the Hump tonight!!

This is one of the biggest basketball games we have played in since our last SEC regular season championship of 2004. There is no excuse not to have every single seat filled tonight. Saturday's attendance was pathetic. Maybe 7,000 for a key SEC matchup was embarrassing. There needs to be at least 10,500 people packed in there tonight. #1 in the SEC vs #2.
There is no telecast so there's no reason to sit at home. This game plays a huge role in our hopes to still be playing in mid-March. LSU swacked us in Baton Rouge a few weeks ago. It's only fitting that we return the favor. I'll be back with a full recap in a couple of hours. Right now I'm off to the baseball scrimmage because I have nothing else to do.

Impressive Comeback..

So I was sitting in the Hump at half-time just thinking of all the things I had to talk about on here regarding our effort in the first half. It was pathetic. We were being outplayed, outhustled, and most importantly outshot. The pigs shot a blistering 62% in the first half along with making 8 of 12 treys. We weren't too shabby ourselves. We shot over 40% before intermission and made 7 long balls ourselves, but still weren't close on the scoreboard, trailing 51-36. I wasn't happy. Yet again we were pissing away a home game. But, of course, just as I start to doubt, we shoot lights out in the 2nd half and end up winning by 9, going away.
Ravern had a tough outing. All players do. However, his teammates picked up the slack. Dee finished with a career high 25 and Randy had 22 or so. Don't forget the 3 huge baskets that Benock hit for us. Brian Johnson played hard. Jarvis blocked, scored, and rebounded. Phil single handedly kept us within striking distance with the 16 points he had in the first half. Yes, it was a team effort. All of that combined is good, but like most teams that are on fire in one half, the hogs went cold in the second half. Arkansas' first half performance reminded me of our game against Xavier in the 2nd round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament. They were hitting everything. Not a team in the country was going to beat Xavier that day and not a team in the country would have outscored the Razorbacks in the first half today. Sometimes, teams have those days, or rather halves. Just like Ravern had his worst game of the year, the Hogs had their best half of the year followed by one that could make a statement for one of their worst of the year. But, I must give credit where credit is due and our Bullies played a great 2nd half of basketball. The Hogs shooting famine was in part due to the great defense we played. The defense fueled the offense in the 2nd half, which in turn fueled the crowd (which was a major disappointment to me), which helped keep the defense going. It all came full circle.
I am thoroughly impressed by the ability of this team to keep its poise when times were tough this week. In that hostile environment at Rupp, we pulled through. Even as the 'Cats made their run and cut our once monstrous lead down to 3, we stayed the course and shot lights out to slam the door. After trailing by 15 at half-time today, we kept our heads and our freshman point guard led the way to the huge come-from-behind victory.
Maybe this happened because of the speech Mr. Bailey Howell gave at half-time, or maybe we came back because this team decided it was their home floor and no pigs were going to come in here and take home a W. Either way, this win was huge. It proves that this team can stay calm and not panic. It proves that we can come from way down to get a tough fought victory. Most importantly, it also keeps us in the race for the West. And possibly the overall SEC title. LSU is the team to beat and we do have them at home. We have to continue to be Road Warriors and take a few more Ws from other teams' home courts. Along with protecting our house the rest of the way. I really think that we are coming into our own. We are starting to play our best basketball and we did it today without a bucket from the leading 3-point shooter in the country. Overall, I must give these young 'Dogs an A for their performances this week. Just keep it up and we will find ourselves dancing in March

Victory at Rupp!

How 'bout them Bulldogs? You have to admit, they love doing this to us. Sometimes they make me so pissed off that I can't carry on a normal conversation for a week. Then again, sometimes I am so overjoyed about a victory that it becomes my facebook status for a week. It's tough being a Bulldog fan, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Watching our young team totally dominate that Kentucky team on their home floor was exhilarating. Especially after that tough weekend loss to the team up north.

I have to say, not many teams in the country can beat a team that shoots the way we did the other night. I'm not gonna try and spin this negatively, but, we proved that we live and we die by the three ball. Tuesday night, we lived. Ravern and Phil couldn't miss. Hell, we only had what? Two points from our bench? When all 4 of your starting guards get double figures and your point guard and two small forwards are hitting shots from 30 feet or so, you simply don't need bench scoring. However, on days like Saturday, when those guys aren't hitting the long ball, someone off the bench has to step up. Anyway, back to the big win.

Kentucky was outmatched from the start. We poured three point baskets in all night. They made two. We drained 13, I think. Too lazy to look up the stat sheet, so don't get pissed if I'm wrong. We took the crowd out of it at the beginning and when they made their run in the 2nd half, we slammed the door. When their crowd would attempt to give the 'Cats support, we shut them up with one of our long balls. We outhustled them, much the way the rebels did us Saturday. The small things, like the breakaway Benock stopped by just tipping the ball at half court back to our side, made the difference. No, Benock didn't score, but his presence, along with the other subs was noticed. They were role players on this night, simply because the stars shined with the string music they played from beyond the arc. Heck, even the presence of Jarvis Varnado wasn't felt much on the scoreboard. But, you can bet it was felt on the defensive side of the ball, with 7 blocked shots and countless shots that were altered because of his ability to swat. Yes, it was a total team effort.

Still the problem lies with the very thing that won us this game. On some nights, those 30 footers won't fall. And on those nights, what are we to do? We have to have a plan B. We need another inside scoring presence. BJ or Elgin will have to step up in those games. Ro will have to become a seasoned veteran here very soon if we expect to make a run at the Tourny. At 15-7, we still have a very legitimate shot at making the the Dance. And afterall, that should be our goal every year. I'd think that our magic number would be 22 wins. That's 7 more wins, and only 10 guaranteed games left. Why 22? Because of our RPI. Some of those non-conference losses will haunt us come Selection Sunday. Those Ls are simply just inexcusable for a team trying to stay around in March. However, 22-10 or better should get any major conference school in the NCAA Tournament. When our guards are shooting like they did Tuesday, it will be tough for any team in the country to beat us. That itself gives us hope in a tournament format. If we can catch fire at the SEC Tourny then we could make a run like Georgia did last year and get ourselves an automatic bid. Here's how it plays out: We have to protect our home floor. With 5 home games left, we must win all of them. All of them will be tough. Florida and LSU obviously. South Carolina is playing some great ball and with that guard they have, they can be very scary at times. Then Arky and Auburn won't be walkovers. On the road we face Tennessee, Mississippi, 'Bama, and Auburn. None of those are guaranteed, but we are proving to be a good road team, much like the 2004 team (8-0 road SEC record). We are chasing LSU for the West, and I don't see us catching them. We can close out 6-3 though. We need to. We must if we want to be Dancing. Then, we need to win at least 1 game in Tampa. 2 to be sure. 23 wins should guarantee us a spot. 22 will have us on the bubble because of those non-conference setbacks. Either way, it will be fun watching this team down the stretch. We have the talent to make a run here late. Let's hope we do.


By the way, Congratulations to Coach Dan Mullen on his first recruiting class here. What a great one it has turned out to be. Top 20 class after a losing season get me pumped for what we can do once we put a winner back on the field. I'll break down the recruiting sometime this weekend. Over and out.

Rough Weekend

Wow, what a tough weekend to be a Bulldog. The loss to Mississippi in basketball is still stinging me today, Tuesday. The Pat Patterson Saga still get to me a little bit. And then, we lost a recruit to Tulsa. As for the basketball game, what an embarrassment. I will say, however, that I called it. Nearly everything I said in my last post came true about the game. We started out hot as fire, Ravern especially. He got near his 20. Dee had some assists. Other than that, we went cold, just what I said we couldn't afford to do. We went cold, let them hang around, and they made us pay for it. Honestly, we were outcoached, outplayed, and outsmarted. They had a gameplan and they came in and executed it, from start to finish. They played against the 4-guard line-up we had they way a team is supposed to play against a 4-guard look. They let us have our 3's. By contrast, they controlled the paint. I mean, totally manhandled us down there. Jarvis couldn't get anything going simply because they weren't going to allow him ANY easy buckets. They collapsed on him everytime he touched the rock. They fouled him, they beat him up, they neutralized him. They did everything they could to stop him. Genius! Because behind Jarvis, who do we have? Elgin Bailey nor Brian Johnson got in the game.
On offense, the rebels attacked the paint. And while Jarvis never really got into foul trouble, he was worn out. And guess what? When the 3's stopped falling at the start of the 2nd half where does our game plan then lie? Down low. With Jarvis. He couldn't do anything because he had done everything. It was him against 4 or 5 rebels on every single rebound. Every damn one of them. None of our guards crashed the boards like they need to. Our only other consistently playing "big man" is Romaro Osby, and he wants to play more of a small forward/shooters role than getting down low and getting some boards.
We also had one of our best shooters have his worst game in 3 years. Everyone knows who I'm talking about. He had 3 air balls. But, Stansbury understands that we can't afford to not have his hustle and leadership on the floor, so we left him in. And it was he who gave his last foul near the end of the game to try and give us a chance at tying it up, even though it meant he would play no role in overtime. He had a bad game. It happens to the LeBrons of the world to, so give him a break.
Back to the game and how we were manhandled by a team with half our talent. The rebels didn't freak when we jumped out early. They called their time-out, regrouped, and played their game. They knew we would go cold from the arc and we did. They also controlled the pace of the game and didn't let us get out and run with the ball in transition, in part due to our pathetic rebounding effort. Touchet to Mississippi. They got their win in Starkville for this decade. Now we can look forward to the game in Oxford because I can guarantee you this... They won't win with that same gameplan again. Stansbury and staff will get that worked out.

On to the recruiting weekend. It started out with the surprise and shock of Pat Patterson announcing that he would be in Starkville for a visit this weekend. Rather, Yancy (Dumbass) Porter saying that he would be in Starkville for the weekend. Honestly, my judgement on the case was that Fancy Yancy wanted to stir up our fanbase. We have been obsessed with the Patterson soap-opera since his de-commitment. Let's let him go. If he wants to be a rebel, then I sure as hell don't want him to be a Bulldog. He is good, but no better than Bumphis or Chirs Smith anyway. That comes straight from a very important QB recruit's mouth. I'll get deep into the recruiting aspect some point this weekend when I have time to sit down and type out my evaluations on each and every signee. Tomorrow is the BIG DAY.

I'll get around to the baseball preview sometime soon, definitely before the season starts. As for now, I got stuff to do so I'm signing off.