SB Nation - Marshall Henderson

The Shot That Saved Ole Miss Basketball?

Catfish Powe-boy — Wed, 08 May 2013 11:58:50 -0000

There's 43 seconds left as Derrick Millinghaus walks the ball over the half-court line in Nashville's Bridgestone Arena. Its March 15, and the Ole Miss Rebels' NCAA Tourney hopes rest on a razor's edge as they trail the Missouri Tigers 62-59 late in the SEC Tournament quarterfinals. At the 36.6 mark Millinghaus passes to Murphy Holloway at the top of the key, then rotates to a spot just outside the 3-point line on the right-hand side of the court. The freshman point guard, whose 13.9 minutes per game are almost as diminutive as his 5'9 frame, had come out of nowhere to score six straight points and help turn what had been a ten point Rebel deficit with just under eight minutes to play into a tie game, but a three from Mizzou's Phil Pressey has suddenly swung the momentum. Holloway hands the ball off to Marshall Henderson. Holloway's defender, wary of the SEC's shot-happy leading scorer, switches to Henderson, who, despite now being double-teamed, launches into one of his "this-is-a-bad-shot-but-I-don't-give-a-damn" fadeaway threes. At the height of his jumper at 33.9 seconds, however, Henderson reconsiders his cavalier approach and makes a mid-air feed back to Murph, left open just outside the paint by the double team. As Missouri's defense frantically rotates to counter the new threat, Holloway swings the ball out to Millinghaus, now wide open at his spot just beyond the arc. Millinghaus pauses for nine tenths of second, just enough time to compose himself for a shot but not long enough to consider the far-reaching impact his attempt will have on the future of the Ole Miss basketball program. With 31.4 seconds remaining, the shot goes up.

Here at the Cup, we've had a good deal of fun imagining up alternate realities for the Rebel basketball team. But the divergent paths potentially produced by Millinghaus's fateful three in Nashville are much more real and as equally converse as Andy and Randy's fictional parallel universes. The chain of events possibly initiated by either a make or a miss could have led the Rebels down very different roads.

We all know how it actually went down: Millinghaus's shot found the bottom of the net to tie the game, and after an inexplicable throw away on the resulting Mizzou inbounds pass, the Rebels regained possession with the shot clock turned off. Millinghaus would cap his stellar 11-point second half performance with a floater in the lane with 1.1 remaining to give Ole Miss the win, and spurred by the comeback victory, the Rebels would go on to defeat first Vanderbilt, then Florida en route to their first conference championship in 32 years. They would earn their first NCAA Tournament berth since 2002, and as a 12-seed upset the 5-seeded Wisconsin Badgers in the first round before coming up one shot shy of La Salle in the second. For two weeks Ole Miss would become the talk of the basketball world as Marshall Madness swept over America, even capturing the attention of roundball royalty like King James and Sir Charles. Andy Kennedy, having finally exorcised his big game demons with the first Big Dance berth of his seven year career, would be rewarded with a raise and a four-year contract extension

For the sake of examination, though, let's imagine that Millinghaus's 3-pointer doesn't fall. Instead, it rims out, and a Missouri team that had out-rebounded the Rebels by ten up until that point grabs the board. The Tigers make their free throws down the stretch and go on to win the game. Though ESPN's Joe Lunardi had announced just moments before the game's end that Ole Miss would remain one of the last four in win or lose, its hard to imagine that, after a 6-6 finish that included losses to the SEC's two last place teams, the Rebels could have held that spot until Selection Sunday. The loss to Missouri eventually drops them out of the field of 68 and they miss the tournament for an 11th straight year. Already known for his tendency to flirt with tournament eligibility, Kennedy completes his most seductive caper to date by jumping out to the best start in program history before nosediving to crash just one game short. Finally fed up, an exasperated fan base forces the athletic department's hand. Andy Kennedy is fired.

Whatever coach that would have been hired to replace Kennedy would face an uphill battle in rejuvenating Ole Miss basketball. One must look no farther than Starkville to see how a coaching turnover can upset a stable program. A poor start in the new coach's first year or two would undoubtedly rile up those fans who believed Kennedy should have been retained, causing a rift in a notably divisive fan base. A slow start and low fan morale would certainly result in reduced donations and may have postponed construction on the new arena, which Ross Bjork recently described as still in the early planning phase. The entire basketball program could have potentially been set back by years.

That's all speculation, of course. Maybe a coaching change would have been better for the program in the long run. Maybe Kennedy would have even managed to keep his job for another season. Hell, for all we know, with a break here and a Henderson prayer there, Ole Miss would have still beaten Missouri that night in Nashville and everything would have turned out the same.

On the other hand, it is far too early to exalt the Rebels' late season run as a program-shifting milestone. The unprecedented period of energy and attention it has sparked, has, in conjunction with the approaching construction of the new arena, given Kennedy a spectacular platform on which to build up his program, but it is to be seen whether he will be able to capitalize on the momentum. It is entirely possible that the calls for his firing are louder than ever this time two years from now.

What we do know, however, is that with 29.8 seconds remaining Millinghaus's shot dropped through the cylinder. In what could be deemed a crossroads moment for Rebel basketball, the rather short figure of the jump shooting point guard may yet cast a very long shadow.

Kentucky Wildcats: Morning Quickies - The 2014 Season Begins Today Edition

Glenn Logan — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 15:44:17 -0000

Louisville won the tournament last night. You know that. I'm not loading up on Louisville attaboy articles here, if you want to read them, Google is your friend.

What is surprising is that Kentucky is in the news despite Louisville's victory. That feels good.

Tweet of the Morning:

John Calipari after winning a title: "I want to go 40-0."Rick Pitino after winning a title: "I wanna get a tattoo!!!"
— Not Jerry Tipton (@NotJerryTipton) April 9, 2013

Simply too awesome for words.

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

Those of you who like football a lot will appreciate this. Via Hank:
THE RECRUIT: Fishers 2014 OL Drew Broughton

I wonder if UK has looked at this guy? (Hank)
Defensive backfield should draw Stoops’ focus // The Kentucky Kernel

A key area where depth is desperately needed is the defensive backfield. Last season, UK would routinely trot out four true freshmen. Seeing action in Division I football fresh out of high school and preforming well is a tall task in any conference; in the SEC it’s nearly unheard of.

I think this is right.
The Sweet 16: Breaking down the best 16 games of the 2013 college football season

15. Kentucky vs. Western Kentucky: Saturday, August 31 TBA (LP Field, Nashville, TN)

Yes, I already know what you’re thinking: "Aaron, have you been hanging out with Marshall Henderson? Because there’s no way anyone in their right mind would ever put this game on a list like this."

Pretty funny. Read the whole thing. Via Hank

Kentucky basketball

Coach Cal receives Barefoot Coach of the Year award // CoachCal.com

John Calipari was honored as the Samaritan’s Feet "Barefoot Coach of the Year" award winner in Atlanta on Saturday. Coach Cal was recognized at the Legends of the Hardwood Breakfast, which recognizes coaches who have demonstrated character, leadership, courage and compassion.

Congratulations to Coach Cal, a good man who walks the walk.
Ira Combs Weekly Column

Personally , I don’t feel as confident as some do about Kentucky’s chances of pulling Wiggins on board . My money is on North Carolina with Michael Jordan and NIKE carrying the torch for the Tar Heels . I just don’t think his parents will force their son to attend Florida State and become a Seminole just because they were all the time knowing he will only be in college for 8 months and he’s onto the NBA .

I have a better feeling about Kentucky’s chances with Wiggins.
Kentucky Is Favored to Win 2014 NCAA Title With Louisville Fifth // Businessweek

The Wildcats, who missed this year’s National Collegiate Athletic Association tournament after winning the 2012 title, are listed as the 4-1 favorites to claim a ninth championship, according to handicapping information website Pregame.com.

I like it. I like that we are already talking about Kentucky the day after the Cardinals win.
Top 5 Storylines for the 2013-14 College Basketball Season " CBS Atlanta

Many are already comparing them [2013-14 Kentucky] to the 1996 Kentucky team that won the Final Four with nine future NBA players. There’s even talk of 40-0, if the Wildcats can still get a commitment from the nation’s top small forward and number one overall player Andrew Wiggins. Perfection may not be in the works, but this collection of talent could be a team for the ages.

I love that we are talking Wildcats the day after Louisville wins the NCAA Tournament. That just goes to show you who the big fish is.
Very Early Top 25 for 2013-14 season // ESPN

Could the Wildcats really go from first-round NIT losers to NCAA champions? Absolutely. Kentucky’s 2013 recruiting class is already being hailed as the best in college basketball history.
Forecasting the NCAA basketball top 25 in 2013-14 // USA Today
Top 25 (and one): Way-too-early preseason rankings for 2013-14 // NCAA Division I Mens Basketball - CBSSports.com

A team from the Bluegrass State will enter 2013-14 with a target on its back. Only it’s not the one you think.

Other UK sports

Links posts

Tom Leach // Tuesday Links

College football

Mark May's feud with Ohio State fans continues
Who says Announcers and Common Taters are fair minded and balanced? (Hank)
SEC Drubs Big Ten 110-51

Wisconsin can’t match Kentucky or Tennessee in letter writing. What a bunch of pikers. (Hank)
Western Ky. football player arrested over weekend // Bowling Green Daily News: AP State

Okay, Bobby Petrino is coach and players get arrested. Yep, that sounds about right.

At least he didn’t rob a convenience store with an Uzi. That’s an improvement, I guess.
SEC Historical Football Series Mapped Out // Team Speed Kills

Pretty cool. Check it out.
Penn State Athletics Donations Dropped After Sandusky, But Football Giving Quintupled

Well, there’s that football culture again. With this news, the NCAA should come in and revoke Penn State’s membership in the association itself. Obviously, they’re just as evil as they were [/sarcasm].
Manti Te'o's fake girlfriend won ESPN's bracket challenge

Awesome!

College basketball

Video: Rick Pitino is scared for his life after national championship victory

I saw this live. Pretty funny.
Riot police brought in as Louisville fans celebrate NCAA win // NY Daily News

Louisville’s celebration following the Cardinals’ 82-76 victory over Michigan for the NCAA championship eventually required riot police and an armored carrier to quell a disturbance early Tuesday.

Next time a Cardinal fan gives you guff about burning couches, ask them about their riot.
3-point shot: Rules changes coming // ESPN

I like the sound of these rule changes. The elbow rule and the expanded use of replay late in games makes sense, but they do need to do it quickly.
NCAA won’t allow U of L men to attend women’s title game // John Clay's Sidelines

I agree with the NCAA on this. Seems petty, but there’s no doubt it is a rules violation.
Rick Pitino’s reward for winning the national title? A tattoo // CollegeBasketballTalk

A sixty year old man getting a tattoo? Whatever, it sounds stupid to me.
Alabama newspaper awards Syracuse basketball national championship // SBNation.com

There’s one in your eye, Cards fans.
Pitino secures legacy as one of all-time greats // SBNation.com

I don’t know… I don’t think they would have kicked him out of the HOF if Louisville had lost last night.
Michigan's John Beilein explains his coaching gaffe

"I thought we were in the 1-and-1," Beilein said. "It’s a coaching error. That falls right on me."

Though it wasn’t as egregious as Chris Webber calling timeout in the 1993 championship game when Michigan didn’t have any – resulting in a technical foul with the Wolverines down by just two points – it was certainly costly.

Wow, that’s something that should never happen.
One Whining Moment: SB Nation's NCAA Tournament Montage // SBNation.com

Heh.

Marshall Henderson's Apology Letter to Ole Miss Fans

The Ghost of Jay Cutler — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 11:08:40 -0000

Yesterday, much maligned Rebel shooting guard Marshall Henderson released a statement offering an apology for his antics - including his unashamed taunting of opposing fan bases - and suggesting that he will, indeed, return to Ole Miss to play basketball for his senior and final season.

Here's the full text of that statement:

First, I would like to thank the Ole Miss fans for their support this season. It was a lot of fun even though we didn't make it to the Sweet Sixteen in L.A. It was our goal this season to get Reggie, Murph and Nick to the Big Dance and we did that. It is my goal to make next season even better.

With only nine hours left to earn my degree, I want to help build this program and that means I need to be a leader for my teammates both on and off the court. The spotlight on the court means my actions affect more than just me, and I need to show my teammates that I can be a leader for this team.

I play the game with a lot of passion, and sometimes that passion boils over. I take responsibility for my actions this season and apologize to anyone I offended.

However, my edge on the court has made me the player that I am. I can't change that, but I do understand that I can take things too far.

I have come to understand this year that I represent this team and this university, and I have to hold myself to a higher standard than people in the stands, because I am a student-athlete at Ole Miss.

Hotty Toddy,
Marshall Henderson

Oh Marshall, you don't ever have to apologize to us. We love you, wild gesticulations and facial contortions and all. I do wonder what exactly the impetus for the penning of this open letter was, and I also wonder just how much Marshall intends to alter his demeanor for next season if he does. Furthermore, I wonder how much of this has to do with the public's perception of Marshall Henderson's behavior and personality as opposed to what the coaches and basketball administrators actually perceive of Marshall.

Either way, it's exciting to think that the SEC's leading scorer could indeed return to the Rebel program for 2013-14.

The Magic of Moog

Joel D — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 21:08:13 -0000

When Mark Lyons walked off the court at the end of Arizona's three-point loss to Ohio State last night, he already began fading into the tapestry of college basketball history. Unless he finds unlikely noteriety at the next level, ten years from now he will be indistinguishable in the memories of most fans from Casper Ware and Curtis Jerrells and Zabian Dowdell and a hundred or a thousand other guards who shot too much and distributed too little to be true point guards but were too short or too streaky or too passive to be true scoring guards. They come and they go, each entering school with his dreams and leaving with little more than a degree and no debt.

Mark Lyons deserves more than that.

Plato asserted that, outside of this physical domain, there existed non-material, abstract "forms" of everything that we see, and that the physical manifestations in the world around us do not possess the same immutable reality as these forms do. I don't know if that holds any water, but it is still a little applicable to college basketball. Marshall Henderson may always have been a goofball, but he clearly feeds off the reactions of the people he offends. JJ Redick recently told Grantland that he "was kind of a [slang term for male parts]" because he loved it when opposing fans hated him. Henderson and Redick and "Psycho-T" and almost everyone else who grabs his 15 minutes of fame when ESPN turns its eye to our sport are all playing the role, growing into it as it grows with them.

Mark Lyons, on the other hand, never, ever seemed to give two pints of warm garbage what anyone thought of him; he was always exactly himself, no matter what. He showed up on campus gunning, began gunning as soon as he was eligible, and gunned his way to Arizona this year. While Tu Holloway was graft and guile and softly spoken press conference quotes (with one notable exception), Mark Lyons got "King of Upstate" tattooed on his arm and then played every game like he was out to prove he deserved his self-appointed regency. He was in attack mode 100% of the time.

This, of course, was a two-edged sword. When he scored the final seven points of Xavier's 70-69 win over Dayton in the A-10 tournament last year, you loved his guts. When his decision making made you wonder if he had suffered a very recent concussion, you begged him to switch it off for just one minute. He never did though. Whether he was hitching a ride to the game with Xavier's opponent before dropping six threes on them or flying into the Cincinnati bench in what can most graciously be described as an overzealous attempt to defend a teammate, it was full go all the time from Lyons.

In his final game, Lyons came up against Aaron Craft, the man many talking heads have described as the best on-ball defender in the nation this year, and completely shredded him. The man they call Moog (I have no idea why, or even what that means) needed only 12 shots to drop 23 on Craft and OSU and posted an ORtg of 125 on the game. On the second to last possession of his career, Lyons took Craft to the top of the key and attacked, executing a barely contested finger roll at the rim while Craft frantically backpedalled in a doomed attempt to stay on his feet. The very next play, with his team down three with less than half a minute to go, Lyons eschewed the three-pointer to attack LaQuinton Ross in the open court, finishing through contact before tying the game at the line.

It wasn't enough, as Ross hit the game-winning shot on OSU's last possession. Hack writers are already telling you that Craft and his 3-9 from the floor willed the Buckeyes to victory, but my enduring memory of this game will be OSU's rosy-cheeked savior collapsed against the stanchion that supports the bucket as Lyons soared above him to lay the ball in, confident of his claim to supremecy, not giving a crap what anyone else would think.

March Madness 2013: Sweet 16 Thursday schedule and thread

Craig Powers — Thu, 28 Mar 2013 22:45:02 -0000

One more day until Dunk City.

Next Game

Marquette Golden Eagles
@ Miami Hurricanes

Thursday, Mar 28, 2013, 4:15 PM PDT
Verizon Center - Washington, DC

RD. of 32
6:10 pm ET, TNT
Record	21-12	27-7
Head-to-Head	None
KenPom	18	1

RD. of 32
8:09 pm ET, TruTV
Record	23-9	27-8
Head-to-Head	None
KenPom	49	29

SB Nation - Marshall Henderson

The Shot That Saved Ole Miss Basketball?

Kentucky Wildcats: Morning Quickies - The 2014 Season Begins Today Edition

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

Kentucky basketball

Other UK sports

Links posts

College football

College basketball

Marshall Henderson's Apology Letter to Ole Miss Fans

The Magic of Moog

March Madness 2013: Sweet 16 Thursday schedule and thread

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Ole Miss vs. La Salle: 2013 NCAA Tournament ends with a last second loss for the Rebels

More in College Basketball:

NCAA Tournament 2013 scores, Ole Miss vs. La Salle: Explorers win it at the buzzer, 76-74

More in College Basketball:

2013 NCAA Tournament Preview: First Sunday

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Florida, Ole Miss Seek Sweet 16 Opportunities

RD. of 32

6:10 pm ET, TNT

RD. of 32

8:09 pm ET, TruTV

March Madness 2013: Round of 32 Sunday schedule and open thread

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