Ole Miss pulled off one of the best wins in the Lane Kiffin era over the weekend. NealMcCready shares his thoughts:
7a. Ole Miss coach Kermit Davis said Monday he feels “zero” pressure as his team begins formal preparations for his fourth season in Oxford.
“As you start playing against really good teams, the games get more and more half-court because teams do a better job taking care of the ball and getting their defense set. I think you will see the most athletic, the deepest team and hopefully a hard-playing group that will compete on a national level in our league every night.”
Ruffin said he is “feeling great for the most part. Just looking forward to getting back out there on the court. I’ve been going to rehab every day and just attacking it as hard as I can. But I feel good though for the most part.” “One thing about me is that I keep my head high,” Ruffin said. “I believe in God so much to the point where I feel like he has a bigger plan for me. So, you know I’m just ready to come back this season and hopefully just do better than we did last year.”
Ole Miss Rebels guard Matthew Murrell goes to the basket during the first half against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center on March 1. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-USA TODAY Sports “Without Daeshun, he’s played a ton of point for us, on the trip and even in September in our workouts. I think that’s really helped him. I think it's helped him a bunch from playmaking. I don’t see any reason why he can't be one of the very best guards in our league.”“I always want to improve on shooting,” Murrell said. “I took a focus on ball handling, being a permanent ball handler in the pick-and-roll and making the correct reads, and coming out and playing with pace.
“The old analogy of a guy can go 2-for-11 and play 35 minutes and he missed 9 shots and his world is crushed. You ask him how long it took him to take those 9 shots, he’d say about 18-20 seconds. So now you’ve had about 33-34 minutes without the ball in your hands, how do you affect the game when you’re not shooting it? I think that’s the biggest thing for all players. James can score, but he’s got to affect the game defensively and the basketball IQ part.
Davis said he and Allen had a lot of deep conversations in the months following the injury, when there were doubts about his ability to heal to a point where he could play a fifth college season. Even in the bad seasons, I mark time with the Cubs. I love listening to Hughes. His voice is like a familiar blanket. It starts in late March, listening on cool nights while I walk my dogs or drive Carson to soccer.