SixPackSpeak Beat Writer Blogs

Lady Bulldogs in NCAAs, to Face Middle Tennessee

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:55 GMT

Well, one Mississippi State basketball team is going dancing. The Lady Bulldogs, as expected, received an invitation to the NCAA women's tournament this evening. They earned a No. 7 seed in the Da...

State women make NCAA field

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:33 GMT

Mississippi State's women's basketball team is in the NCAA tournament. The Lady Bulldogs (19-12) received a 7-seed in the Dayton Regional and will face 10th-seeded Middle Tennessee State (25-5) Sunday. The winner most likely gets No. 2 seed Ohio State.

I was at the selection show party at the Templeton Athletic Academic Center and just returned. I'd love to share more but I'm up against a tight deadline with all the other stuff I'm juggling today. Read about it in Tuesday's Clarion-Ledger, please.

Watch this, Rick Stansbury says

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 10:17 GMT

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury wants you to see the following two screen shots from the biggest play of Sunday's Kentucky overtime win over his team in the SEC Tournament final — the one that ultimately cost the Bulldogs a third straight NCAA tournament berth.

First, one where the ball is halfway to the cylinder:

And then this one, where the ball has just hit the back of the cylinder:

Now, what does this all mean? Well, Stansbury said he spent some time this afternoon after his news conference attempting to clarify the rule on players entering the arc on a free throw. Stansbury's understanding is that a shooter cannot cross the line and an offensive teammate cannot cross the arc until the ball hits the rim. The last screen grab certainly shows a Kentucky player well into the lane. And as for the Mississippi State player that crossed the arc, too, Stansbury said the clarification on the rule that he received is that once an offensive player crosses the arc, the free throw is blown dead at that point — therefore nullifying a defensive player entering if the offensive player enters first. “I'm just amazed in that situation, that situation, game on the line, you know he's going to miss the free throw, two officials watching it — we're not talking about a foot. We're talking about eight feet,” Stansbury said.

Stansbury has been in contact with SEC coordinator of officials Gerald Boudreaux.

Given all that I've been juggling the past 24 hours, I have only read the bits and pieces of the rule that have been sent to me, so I'm no expert on it until I actually dive into the PDF. But this is how Stansbury sees it. (To add: I just took a passing look at the rules and I think Stansbury's interpretation is accurate.)

Here's the video that's the source of the screen shots:

Stansbury: “Very obvious lane violation”

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:11 GMT

Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury just concluded another entertaining Monday news conference in which he criticized Southeastern Conference officials, defended his team's non-conference schedule and apologized for a comment he made nine days earlier.

Stansbury's Bulldogs face Jackson State in a first-round NIT game that starts at 9:05 p.m. Tuesday night. But much of the focus remained on what happened a day earlier, when State lost in overtime to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament final.

Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins sent the game to overtime with a putback at the buzzer. It came after a missed shot by John Wall, who got a rebound of Eric Bledsoe's intentionally missed free throw with 4.9 seconds to play. Soon after the game, Mississippi State fans blew up the Twittersphere and Internet message boards with accusations that Kentucky players committed a lane violation by entering the arc before Bledsoe's free throw.

There was this screen grab, too:

Stansbury brought up the play today unprompted, saying “it's a very obvious lane violation. Both guys in that lane line up outside the three-point line.” Does he expect to get that call with the game on the line? “If it's the right call, you make the call.”

Stansbury then asked if he was stepping over the line when it comes to criticizing officials, and added this: “I'm not talking about officiating, I'm talking about the play.” But it's clear where he stands. “Y'all can write that up and chop it up any way you want to chop it up and you can put my name behind it,” he said.

Some things to note:

Stansbury said he didn't know much about Jackson State but is friends with its coach, Tevester Anderson.
He stumped for a strong crowd for the game, which will tip off at 9:05 p.m. with students on spring break.
He defended his team's non-conference schedule, saying, essentially, that some of the teams State expected to be good wins didn't turn out to be.
State isn't practicing today to deal with physical fatigue.
Also unprompted, Stansbury apologized for his comment after the Tennessee game nine days ago that said playing Tennessee wasn't playing “the school of the deaf and blind.” Said Stansbury today: “I truly apologize if I offended anybody with it.”

And one other thing: Jarvis Varnado was named to the Associated Press all-SEC first team. Dee Bost was named honorable mention. Varnado was named to the coaches' first team last week; Bost was a second-teamer. The coaches have eight players per team; the AP has a wacky, off-the-wall five players per team.

Varnado AP First-Team All-SEC

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:08 GMT

Mississippi State senior Jarvis Varnado was named first-team All-SEC by the Associated Press this afternoon. He was joined on the five-man squad by Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins and John Wall ,...

Fill Out Your NIT Bracket

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 06:53 GMT

I know, if Mississippi State wasn't in this thing, you wouldn't even think about filling out an NIT bracket. And perhaps you won't anyway. But, in case you're needing one, here it is. Hopefully, y...

Stansbury: 'Double Disappointment'

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 05:06 GMT

The pain is still fresh for Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury . It was evident in his voice and his words on this morning's SEC coaches teleconference. He defended his team's NCAA rés...

Appreciating an Instant Classic

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 03:27 GMT

They say that nobody remembers the losers. I'm not sure that's the case this time. It would certainly be a travesty for anyone to forget what scrappy team it was that could have – should ...

Take The Blog's bracket challenge

Mon, 15 Mar 2010 00:56 GMT

You're smarter than me, right?

Oh, come on, admit it. You tell me this every day in the comments section. Might as well say it again today, too.

So put your money pride where your mouth keyboard is.

Take The Blog's bracket challenge.

Look, I know you're all disappointed at Mississippi State missing the NCAA tournament. But there's a silver lining: We can have a Blog NCAA Tournament pool, and since State isn't involved, I can make predictions and participate. Therefore, you can outsmart me. And there's a good chance of that: From the time I won my Dad's office pool at the ripe age of 13, it's been downhill for me in the bracket picking biz.

Sign up: Click HERE, and enter the password 'starkvillebureau'.

Winner gets a very special prize. I just don't know what it is yet.

MSU to face Jackson State Tuesday

Sun, 14 Mar 2010 13:24 GMT

NASHVILLE — Mississippi State drew one of the top four seeds in the NIT and will host SWAC regular season champion Jackson State Tuesday at 9 p.m. If it wins, State will play the winner of North Carolina and William & Mary.

State would host games all the way through the first three rounds. UAB is the No. 2 seed in State's bracket; South Florida is the No. 3.

A Blogkeeping note: Expect plenty of coverage in Monday's Clarion-Ledger. Starbucks in hand, I'm driving home tonight for another hectic day tomorrow. State players and coaches will have a media availability; the women will have a selection show party.