Ole Miss Basketball

Marshall Henderson burst onto the college basketball scene this year, becoming an entertaining and polarizing personality as Ole Miss has positioned itself for a possible NCAA tournament berth.

Henderson’s rise to popularity coincided with the fact that the Rebels were playing well. From Dec. 23 to Jan. 26, Ole Miss won nine games in a row, and after that stretch, the Rebels were 17-2 overall and 6-0 in SEC play.

Now, Ole Miss and Henderson are in a tailspin. The Rebels have lost five of their last seven games with the wins coming over SEC basement-dweller Mississippi State and a home overtime win over Georgia, neither anything to write home about.

While the Rebels have struggled, so has Henderson. He is making 35 percent from three on the year, but in four of the recent five losses, Henderson made just 9-of-38 from beyond the arc, which is 23.7 percent.

The Rebels hit a low point on Wednesday when they lost at South Carolina, 63-62. It was by far the worst loss of the season as the Gamecocks are just No. 196 in the RPI, according to CBSSports.com. It is a setback that threatens to move Ole Miss to the wrong side of the bubble and isn't a good sign for the rest of the season.

Henderson was held to just 11 points on 4-of-17 shooting, 3-of-11 from beyond the arc. As has been the case recently, he really had to work to get open and resorted to forcing shots when he did get his hands on the ball.

It seems as if film has caught up to Henderson. Since he transferred to Oxford after two years at a junior college, there wasn’t much known about how he evolved since his freshman year at Utah. Now, the opposition has a lot of film from which to scout how Ole Miss coach Andy Kennedy has used Henderson.

South Carolina coach Frank Martin went into detail after the game about how his team went about stopping Henderson. This from Darryl Slater of The Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.:

“Then with Marshall Henderson, scouting reports are pretty detailed now. If you allow him to catch the ball and pivot on his left foot toward the basket, just put the points up. He ain’t missing that shot. But if you make him catch, turn and then face, he doesn’t shoot at as high a clip. If you make him run the other way and pivot on the right foot, he doesn’t shoot it at such a high clip. We tried to put him in those other situations, rather than allowing him to pivot on his left foot.”

Henderson does a lot of damage by running off baseline screens. He is relentless and never stops moving without the ball. What South Carolina tried to do was make those passes to Henderson on the baseline longer by pressuring the ball handler.

Here is how Martin explained it, according to The Post and Courier:

“We were pressuring the ball to get (Ole Miss) closer to the half-court line, which then keeps the ball away from the baseline where they put (Henderson) in so much action. Now it makes it long passes, which gives your defenders a chance to be there on the catch (when Henderson caught the ball).”

Now that the scouting report has caught up to Ole Miss and Henderson, the question will be how they adjust.

The Rebels have five regular season games left and only one coming against a team in the top half of the league standings, at home against Alabama on Mar. 5.

That means Ole Miss and Henderson will have plenty of opportunities to right the ship, but it also means they have no room for error.

Following a crushing defeat at South Carolina Wednesday, February 20, all the talk was about whether or not the loss would cost Ole Miss a ticket to the Big Dance. The Rebels remain alive for an NCAA Tournament berth, but their room for error the rest of the way is now zero.

One more loss likely puts Andy Kennedy and the Rebels once again on the outside looking in come Selection Sunday. It would be a very bitter pill to swallow for a team that started the season 17-2 and were at one point ranked as high as No. 16 in the nation.

ESPN's Joe Lunardi had Ole Miss listed as an 11-seed prior to the South Carolina loss, while CBS bracket expert Jerry Palm projected the Rebels as a 10-seed before the loss. 

Despite the upset to a South Carolina club 2-10 in the SEC prior to defeating the Rebels, Jerry Palm still feels it's entirely too early to count Ole Miss out of the NCAA Tournament.

“@jppalmcbs: @sephtalkssec: way too early to eliminate ole miss” - this just now from Jerry Palm on our NCAA hopes after the SC loss - alive

— Seph Anderson (@SephTalksSEC) February 21, 2013

With five games remaining before the conference tournament, Ole Miss really must win all five outings to try and stay off the tournament bubble. With five more wins, Kennedy's team would finish regular-season play 24-7 (13-5 SEC). While 24 wins certainly doesn't guarantee Ole Miss a ticket to dance in March, it should put them darn close.

On the other hand, a loss in any of its remaining games would almost surely knock Ole Miss out of the NCAA Tournament.

The Rebels play Auburn, Texas A&M and Alabama at home, while traveling to Mississippi State and LSU the rest of the season. A loss to Auburn, Mississippi State or even LSU would be a "bad loss" in the eyes of the selection committee, while a loss to Alabama would likely leapfrog the Crimson Tide over the Rebels for a shot to dance. Texas A&M, well that's just a game Ole Miss has to win.

I've said since Jan. 16 that Andy Kennedy's Rebels controlled their own March Madness destiny, and it's never been more true than it is following the debacle at South Carolina.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee takes into strong consideration how a team finishes the regular season. If the Rebels can win their final five games, I think they'll be on the safe side of the bubble.

Win out, and you're likely still dancing in March, Ole Miss.

Drop even one more contest, and you're probably headed back to the NIT without winning the SEC Tournament.

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Ole Miss finds itself on the right side of the bubble in 2013 after being close for so many years under head coach Andy Kennedy.  Currently, many of the prognosticators have the Rebels firmly in the field of 64, somewhere around the neighborhood of a No. 10 seed (via ESPN). 

Andy Kennedy is nearing the end of his seventh season at Ole Miss and is tied with Country Graham in career wins (144).  Most Ole Miss fans don’t even know who Country Graham is, which tells you how little basketball history exists at Ole Miss.  (He was the head coach at OM from 1950 to 1962, before the Tad Pad was built.)

 In the last six seasons, Coach Kennedy has had a lot of success:

• Five 20-win seasons 
• Five postseason berths
• Most victories by an Ole Miss coach in a five-year period (105)
• First coach in school history to record four 20-plus win seasons (Ole Miss had seven total 20-plus win seasons in its program’s history prior to Kennedy)
• Reached 100 wins faster than any coach in the program’s history (158 games)
• First coach since R.L. Sullivan (1920-25) to lead Ole Miss to five straight winning seasons
• Highest winning percentage (105-64, .621) of any coach through five years
• Most SEC regular-season wins (38) by a coach in his first five years
• Second coach to lead the program to four playoff appearances in five seasons.

Kennedy has also won SEC Coach of the Year (2007) and has a pair of SEC Western Division titles (2007, 2010).

But (and when you say “but” after all those facts, it tends to erase everything before the word), he has not broken through the threshold of the NCAA tournament.

In order for a school to have even a snowball's chance in a Mississippi summer of winning a national championship, you have to get invited to the NCAA’s final tournament at the end of the year.

Barring winning the conference tournament at season's end, you have to be one of top 37 teams in the nation to receive an “at-large” bid.  Ole Miss has come close under Andy Kennedy, but has never actually been good enough to be one of those 37 teams. 

Truthfully, only a handful of the total 68 teams invited to the tournament, including all play-in games and conference winners, actually have a chance to win the tournament;  but you have to be invited to even start pretending. 

No one has to tell this to Andy Kennedy.

He knows the pressure is on and probably also realizes he would not be coaching at many others schools after six seasons without getting to the tournament.

Kennedy does have some handicaps at Ole Miss that all fans must recognize.  First, Ole Miss has no basketball tradition to promote.  There are few impressive banners hanging from the rafters at Tad Smith Coliseum. 

The SEC in general is down and not a serious basketball league.  So it makes it difficult to reach out to the Midwest or more urban areas and pull in quality talent to play in a mediocre-to-poor league.

And the hardest obstacle for Kennedy is the coliseum itself.  Ole Miss has the worst basketball facility in the league; It’s a relic, a dinosaur, and immediately shows the level of support (or lack of support) basketball receives at Ole Miss to recruits.

So, now that the season is getting tough, the guys are getting tired (they have lost four out of the last six). What does Andy Kennedy have to do to push this team to a new level they have never personally reached?

My opinion is they have to ignore the drama.

Ignore the pressure, ignore the comments, ignore the newspapers and most of all, use the past failures to play faster and loser than they have in the past,  especially in the post.

Murphy Holloway and Reginald Buckner have to be the leaders of this team over the next six games.  When these two guys are playing at a high level, taking shots and getting rebounds, it opens up the perimeter for guys like Marshall Henderson. 

Over the last few weeks, shooting guard Marshall Henderson had had to lead this team and has become the first option instead of the kick-out option, and he is not having as much success from behind the arc.  In the Georgia game, Henderson made only one of his seven three-point attempts.

Coach Kennedy can’t let this team settle for three-point shots.  Even with Henderson, the highest scorer in the league, it’s still a lower-percentage shot than a Murphy Holloway layup.

The seniors have to re-establish their leadership and take control of this team.  If Kennedy can get the frontcourt to loosen up and exert their will early in these next six games, you will see this squad break through to perhaps new heights never before seen by a Rebel team.

The Ole Miss Rebels (19-6, 8-4 SEC) head east this weekend to play the reeling South Carolina Gamecocks (12-13, 2-10), who are losers of six straight. The Gamecocks haven't won since Jan. 26 when they knocked off Arkansas, 75-54, in Columbia. On the other hand, the Rebels enter the game fresh off a thrilling 84-74 overtime win against Georgia.

Ole Miss should have no trouble against Frank Martin's club, right?

Conventional logic would lead one to believe that, but the Rebels are 1-9 all-time when playing at South Carolina. The Gamecocks are one of the weaker SEC teams this year (2-10 SEC), but Ole Miss has struggled on the road as of late. In fact, Andy Kennedy's club has dropped their past three road games: Florida, Missouri and most recently Texas A&M.

While the Rebels rely heavily upon offensive production from the SEC's leading scorer Marshall Henderson (19.7 PPG), South Carolina doesn't have just one or two main scorers. They currently have four players averaging between 9.9 and 11.7 points per game.

Unfortunately for Ole Miss, the trend has been as goes Henderson as go the Rebels.

When Henderson stays out of foul trouble and doesn't get a cold hand, he's lethal. But when he does have an off night or gets in early foul trouble, the impact on his team becomes readily evident. Look no further than the Rebels' most recent outing against Georgia. Henderson got in foul trouble early in the first half. Then he struggled a little bit to get back in sync before the final minutes of the game.

Ole Miss trailed the Bulldogs with just over three minutes left in regulation, and all of Oxford held their collective NCAA Tournament breaths. Suddenly, Marshall Henderson turned into Super Marshall, scoring the final 14 points of regulation to get the Rebels into overtime. The Rebels went on to win 84-74, thanks to renewed team spirit and play.

Andy Kennedy and the Rebels understand the importance of each of their remaining six conference games. More than two losses the rest of the way, and the Rebels will likely need to advance well into the SEC basketball tournament to receive an NCAA Tournament bid.

If the Rebels don't want to be a bubble team come Selection Sunday, they need to take care of business on the road this weekend at South Carolina.

After the Gamecocks, Ole Miss' toughest remaining games will come at home against Texas A&M and Alabama. It's never an easy path to March, but the remaining schedule is about as good as Kennedy could have drawn up.

Knowing the importance of each remaining game, look for the Rebels to cruise in Columbia.

And by the way, a win makes Kennedy the all-time win leader at Ole Miss with 145 victories.

Prediction:

Ole Miss 82 - South Carolina 68

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Andy Kennedy's Ole Miss Rebels need not worry, despite dropping four of their last five basketball games. Seriously.

Let me explain.

Prior to a January 29 tilt with Kentucky, the Ole Miss Rebels were off to their best start in school history (17-2, 7-0 SEC). Things couldn't have looked brighter for Andy Kennedy's club, ranked as high as No. 16 nationally prior to taking on the Wildcats.

Then, things began to unravel a bit in Oxford.

Beginning with a 87-74 home loss to Kentucky (17-7, 8-3 SEC), the Rebels have now lost four of their last five: 78-64 at Florida (20-3, 10-1 SEC), 98-79 at Missouri (18-6, 7-4 SEC) and 69-67 at Texas A&M (15-9, 5-6 SEC). The lone victory in the past five outings came at home against a much-maligned Mississippi State team, 93-75.

As of Valentine's Day, the Rebels certainly weren't feeling much love (18-6, 7-4 SEC).

However, the Marshall Henderson-led Rebels don't need Cupid to shoot any arrows their way.

Ole Miss is going to be just fine, actually they're going to be better than fine.

Saturday, February 16, the Georgia Bulldogs (12-12, 6-5 SEC) travel to Oxford.

After playing Georgia, Ole Miss' remaining schedule shakes out like this:

@ South Carolina (12-11, 2-8 SEC)

Auburn at home (9-15, 3-8 SEC)

Texas A&M at home (15-9, 5-6 SEC)

@ Mississippi State (7-16, 2-9 SEC)

Alabama at home (16-8, 8-3 SEC)

@ LSU (13-8, 4-6 SEC)

Assuming they have no trouble with Georgia, the Rebels should be 19-6 overall and 8-4 in the conference with only six games remaining in the regular season.

As of February 14, Alabama is the only remaining opponent with a winning conference record.

Honestly, the worst Ole Miss should fare is 4-2 over their final six games, although a 5-1 finish is entirely possible. A 4-2 finale after the Georgia game would leave the Rebels with a 23-7 (12-6 SEC) regular season record, one which should easily secure Andy Kennedy with his first trip to the big dance at Ole Miss. 

Currently tied for fourth in the conference standings with Missouri, it's paramount that Ole Miss finds a way to finish the regular season as one of the top four teams in the conference.

Finishing among the top four in conference play is important because it would assure them of a bye all the way to the quarterfinals of the SEC basketball tournament. More importantly, it would mean the Rebels would only have to win two games for an appearance in the conference championship game.

The combined record of the four conference teams—which Ole Miss lost to—currently sits at 70-25, as opposed to a 72-75 overall record of the six teams the Rebels will play after Georgia. That's a big difference.

Florida will be the eventual one-seed in the conference tournament, essentially leaving Alabama, Kentucky (now minus Nerlens Noel), Ole Miss and Missouri with the best shots to land the final three first and second round byes during the conference tournament.

While the remaining regular season competition shouldn't be too tough, Andy Kennedy does need to pull his team together as a unit because stiff competition awaits the Rebels come postseason play.

Simply put, the Ole Miss Rebels are in absolute control of their postseason destiny.

The big question is how strong will they finish?

We'll know after their March 9 finale in Baton Rouge.

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Marshall Henderson and the Ole Miss Rebels (18-4, 7-2 SEC) are currently tied with Kentucky for second place in the SEC, as the Rebels look to close out their remaining conference games strong before looking to the SEC tournament.

Finishing regular-season conference play on a high note is crucial for Ole Miss before entering conference tournament play. In the expanded 14-team SEC. the format of the 2013 SEC basketball tournament will be slightly different than in the past.

With the additions of Missouri and Texas A&M, making the conference now comprised of 14 institutions, the four teams at the bottom of the SEC standings at the end of the regular season now must play first round games on the Wednesday of tournament week. In the prior year's 12 team league, the first round of postseason tournament games didn't begin until a Thursday rather than a Wednesday.

The new tournament format in the expanded conference simply makes it harder for the 11, 12, 13 and 14-seed teams (Auburn, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State and South Carolina respectively as of Feb. 7) to advance very far in the tournament. These seeds would have to win five games in five straight days to win the conference tournament championship. That's a tall task for even the best of teams.

Fortunately for Andy Kennedy's Rebels, they will finish nowhere close to the bottom of the conference. However, exactly where they fall in the tournament seeds will make a huge difference in their potential to make a run at taking home the crown.

Currently at 7-2 in the SEC heading into the rematch against Missouri February 9, Ole Miss has nine conference games left to try and finish regular-season conference play as one of the top four schools. Teams that finish one, two, three and four receive byes in the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament, making the road to a tournament championship game appearance (Sunday of tournament week) far less difficult. Should Kennedy's Rebels finish as one of the top four SEC clubs at the end of the regular season, their march to an SEC tournament title would only require wining three games.

Coach Billy Donovan's Florida Gators will most likely win the regular-season SEC title, as long as they don't play like they did at Arkansas (L 80-69) anymore. If the Gators finish on top, then Ole Miss would need to finish either second, third or fourth prior to the conference tournament.

The main teams in the mix to finish second, third or fourth are Kentucky, Ole Miss, Alabama and Missouri. Kentucky is currently tied with the Rebels for second in the SEC standings at 7-2. Alabama sits at 6-3 in SEC play, while Missouri is a game further back at 5-4. After their upcoming game on the road at Missouri, Ole Miss will only play Alabama out of these teams in the hunt in their final eight games. Without question, Kennedy's squad controls their own destiny the rest of the way in hopes of landing a coveted top four seed in the SEC tournament.

There is a vast difference between having to play four games in four days versus only requiring three games in three days to make a run at an SEC tournament championship, and Andy Kennedy is well aware of what's at stake for his club as they close out the regular season. 

Ole Miss posted a 7-2 mark in the first half of conference play. There is little reason to believe Marshall Henderson, Murphy Holloway and the Rebels can't go at least 6-3 in their final nine conference games, likely earning Ole Miss a top seed and bye all the way to Friday's quarterfinals.

Expect the Rebels to finish third in the conference at the end of the regular season, earning their pass to the quarterfinals. At that point, I like Ole Miss' chances to win three games in three days.

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Coach Andy Kennedy's Ole Miss Rebels (18-4, 7-2 SEC) are now halfway through Southeastern Conference play following a convincing 93-75 win over rival Mississippi State on February 6.

Nine conference games now stand between the Ole Miss Rebels and their postseason lives.

Over these final nine regular-season games, it's crucial that Marshall Henderson and the Rebels play their very best to position themselves for solid seeding in both the SEC and NCAA tournaments.

Next up for Ole Miss, the same No. 21 Missouri Tigers (16-6, 5-4 SEC) that the Rebels knocked off in Oxford 64-49 on Jan. 12 when the Tigers held a No. 10 ranking. The difference in the upcoming rematch in Columbia, MO will be that Missouri's leading scorer, forward Laurence Bowers (15.5 ppg, 6.2 rpg), will be in the lineup this time around. Bowers missed the earlier matchup with an injury.

Andy Kennedy knows that his club will have very limited opportunities for quality wins down the stretch (SOS: 119), so a second victory over No. 21 Missouri (RPI: 34) would look very solid on the Rebels' NCAA tournament resume come mid-March. After Missouri, the Rebels won't likely face another ranked team the remainder of the regular season.

On to the matchup at hand, here is a look at some telling statistics.

Scoring Margin

Ole Miss, led by SEC leading scorer Marshall Henderson (20 ppg), is fifth in the nation in scoring (79.9 ppg). Not very far behind, Missouri is scoring 76 points per game (29th nationally). Neither team has a probably putting up points, so a high-scoring affair should be expected.

Rebounding

While the Rebels (40.5 rpg) and F Murphy Holloway (10 rpg) are 13th nationally in rebounding, Missouri (41.5 rpg) and F Alex Oriakhi (8.2 rpg) are the nation's seventh best squad on the boards.

Digging a little deeper into the rebound category though, and Kennedy's Rebels only possess a plus-2.9 rebound margin per game compared to SEC leader Missouri's plus-9.2 rebound margin per game.

The battle of big men on the boards could very well be a deciding factor in the outcome of the game. Keeping the guys in the paint out of foul trouble will be paramount for both clubs.

Turnover Ratio

Missouri turns the ball over at a much worse rate (minus-0.67 turnover ratio per game, ninth in SEC) than does Ole Miss (plus-4.2 turnover ration per game). Protecting the ball will be another key element in the rematch.

If Rebel guards Marshall Henderson, Jarvis Summers and Ladarius White can continue to be stingy with turnovers, it could have a very positive impact on the outcome of the game.

Free-Throw Percentage

Marshall Henderson may be third in the SEC in free-throw percentage (.860), but as a team, the Missouri Tigers lead the entire conference from the charity stripe (.740). Ole Miss as a team is eighth in the SEC, only sinking 67.9 percent of their free-throw attempts each game.

Sure, the Rebels may get to the free-throw line more than any other team in the league (561 attempts on the year), but they will have to become more consistent from the charity stripe as competition stiffens.

In the End

While Ole Miss defeated Missouri handily earlier in the year, the rematch at Missouri should be a much closer affair from start to finish. The Tigers may have dropped their most recent game on the road at Texas A&M (L, 70-68), but Missouri is an entirely different team at home.

The biggest key to the game will be whether or not Ole Miss can keep forwards Murphy Holloway and Reginald Buckner out of foul trouble and on the court. Andy Kennedy now has to rely on freshmen reserves Terry Brutus and Anthony Perez to step up since forward Aaron Jones went down with a torn ACL. Both possess the physique to compete in the SEC, but both young men are very inexperienced right now.

Prediction: Missouri 78, Ole Miss 73

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University of Mississippi shooting guard Marshall Henderson is setting the world of college basketball on fire with his scorching hot shooting touch and controversial behavior. The junior college transfer is averaging an SEC-leading 19.3 points per game, 21 points per game in conference play.  

Standing a diminutive 6'2" and weighing 180 pounds, Henderson is not anyone's idea of a high scoring SEC shooting guard.  He's not long, only has average speed and no athleticism to speak of. But he does put the shoot in shooting guard.  

An icy, heartless gunner is what he is.  In fact, Henderson is so icy he even threw ice at the Ole Miss student section during a recent 87-74 loss to the University of Kentucky.  In his defense, it was ice they initially tossed on the court in protest of a call.  l can't say I completely blame him. Seriously, aside from slowing down the game, players could easily slip and hurt themselves on a piece of ice.  I never understood the logic of fans throwing things on the court.  Apparently, neither does Henderson. 

In the span of three months he has become the biggest name in Ole Miss hoops since, dare I say, Ansu Sesay?  When was the last time an Ole Miss Rebel averaged 19 points per game this late in the season?  Two-time Wooden Award candidate Justin Reed in 2001. Marshall Henderson's fist pumps, trash-talking, tongue-wagging, chest bumping reactions have many opposing coaches, and their respective student bodies and alumni, seething with anger—and perhaps envy.   

The Hurst, Texas native has awakened interest in a Rebels program that has not been to the NCAA tournament since 2002. The Rebels (17-4, 6-2 in conference) recently fell out of the Associated Press Poll—and dropped to No. 23 in the Coaches Poll—after back-to-back loses to an unranked Kentucky team and the No. 4 Florida Gators.  

Despite those losses things seem to be looking up for the SEC's former punching bag overall. But critics are asking at what cost?    Henderson's behavior flies in the face of conventional southern sensibilities, he talks more trash than a little bit, and he has an arrest record to boot.  

According to the Deseret News, court documents reveal Henderson was arrested for a 2009 incident in which he is alleged to have purchased marijuana with counterfeit money. He was eventually sentenced to two years of probation.  In 2011 he was arrested for misdemeanor possession of marijuana and sentenced to four months in jail during early 2012 for violating his probation. Henderson, according to reports, failed tests for alcohol, marijuana and cocaine while on probation as well.  

While I understand the concerns of critics regarding certain aspects of Henderson's behavior, any so-called concerns regarding his past run-ins with the law now amount to little more than sour grapes. Student athletes with arrest records or substance abuse problems prior to stepping on campus are a common part of modern collegiate sports. Former Georgetown Hoya Allen Iverson and former Fresno State Bulldog Chris Herren immediately come to mind. As long as Henderson goes to class and stays out of legal trouble, I don't see what the big deal is.    

Henderson's on-court behavior has made him the most polarizing player in recent college basketball memory. His arrest record and past substance abuse gives those who were inclined to not like him because of his on court behavior another reason to vilify him.  I like to call it The Three Degrees of Hateration.

During a recent ESPN broadcast of the the Ole Miss game vs. Auburn in which he taunted Auburn fans, former Wake Forest coach turned announcer Dino Gaudio had this to say regarding Marshall's antics. Via USA Today:

"How hard he plays, how much he loves to play, that's what makes him good. The big negative is...you can't be emotionally intoxicated. That's what he does a little bit. When the ball goes in the net and the possession is over, he goes from this highly intelligent player to being so emotional he's engaging the fans."

On the surface this appears to be a simple comment made by a paid sports commentator about a student athlete who many feel deserves to be called controversial.  But upon closer inspection, I notice a hint of a low blow in usage of the term "emotionally intoxicated." Some might say that Gaudio simply was searching for a term to describe what he felt was Henderson's abnormal on court behavior.  

But I believe he knew exactly what he was doing, placing the words "emotionally" and "intoxicated" in a statement describing the behavior of a player who has struggled with substance abuse.  His words, no doubt, had an audience amid the list of haters Henderson has accumulated since the start of the season. Low blow, Mr. Gaudio. Besides, even if there were such a thing as emotional intoxication, wouldn't it be better if Marshall were addicted to emotion and basketball than cocaine?  

But Marshall Henderson has racked up a list of prominent fans as well; including University of Kentucky head basketball coach John Calipari, University of Tennessee head basketball coach Cuonzo Martin (whose team he's averaging 30 points against this season), and his own head coach Andy Kennedy.  ESPN analyst Jalen Rose called Henderson a cross between Sacramento Kings' guard Jimmer Fredette and rapper Eminem.

"I think it's passion.  We don't want it to be misconstrued," Andrew Kennedy told the Deseret News. "Everything that he does is sincere. It is team first. We just want to make sure he funnels it in the proper way. He's a guy that's certainly going to garner attention."

Will that attention be too much for Henderson to bare?  Only time will tell.  Televised confrontations with the head coach?  Yeah, he might have to pump his brakes on that just a tad.  Over all, I believe he could benefit by showing greater restraint.  But only to a degree.  

With the SEC tournament looming in the not-so-far off distance, it is safe to say that Marshall Henderson and the University of Mississippi Rebels basketball program will be the subject of further media scrutiny and criticism.  I would also bet academic records from Texas Tech, where he enrolled but later left after head coach Pat Knight was dismissed, the University of Utah, where he started in 2010-11, and South Plains Community College, where he earned National Junior College player of the year honors, are a hot item nowadays.  

Let's face it, the success of a student athlete turned rebel poster child will arouse the suspicion of the college basketball bourgeois.  I hope, for his sake, that everything is in order.  From Texas Tech, to University of Utah, South Plains and now the University of Mississippi, nothing says unstable like four collegiate basketball stops.

With all of the mistakes Marshall Henderson has made thus far in his young life, I would hope that he got it right by attending Ole Miss and doing everything humanly possible to remain eligible to play. In doing so, he can continue sticking it to his opponents and critics alike.  Both of which appear to give Henderson great joy.  

There are those who believe there is a racial component involved in Ole Miss' alleged coddling of Henderson as well.  They feel that Henderson would have been sanctioned for his behavior long ago by Ole Miss or the NCAA governing body if he were not white and attending an institution located in the heart of the former Confederate States of America. I will concede that as a possibility. However, it is not Marshall's fault he was born white.

Also, there is a tiny minority amid the Ole Miss fan base who feel he is being unfairly targeted because he is white. I laughed so hard off that one I almost gave myself a spontaneous appendectomy. Oh, the irony!  No matter what the circumstances are, it is not fair to judge a man by his past if he is doing everything possible to turn things around in the present. This rings true regardless of race or gender. 

Until the day when he is suspended by Ole Miss or deemed ineligible by the NCAA for some egregious violation, I say leave the man be. Let him play ball. But I would ask this of the Ole Miss constituency, please do not suffer from amnesia when the racial tables are turned. So,why don't you shoot that funky jump shot, Marshall. Shoot that funky jump shot right.  Shoot that funky jump shot, Marshall.  Pull up from half-court and shoot that funky jump shot 'til it drops.

The No. 23 Ole Miss Rebels (17-4, 6-2 SEC) look to return to their winning ways Wednesday, as they host in-state rival Mississippi State (7-13, 2-6). While Ole Miss has dropped its past two games (78-64 at then No. 4 Florida and 87-74 at home to Kentucky), the Bulldogs travel to Oxford having lost six in a row. Both clubs enter the game on losing streaks, but their roads ahead couldn't be any different.

After losing to a very strong Florida Gator team in their last outing, the remaining schedule for head coach Andy Kennedy and the Rebels is actually quite favorable. Out of their final 10 conference games left on the slate, Ole Miss only goes up against one opponent currently ranked (Missouri). It's the same Missouri Tiger team that the Rebels managed to knock off 64-49 when the Tigers were ranked No. 10 earlier in the year.

As for Mississippi State and first-year head coach Rick Ray, the road ahead in the SEC only gets tougher after leaving Oxford. After taking on Ole Miss, the Bulldogs next travel to No. 4 Florida on Feb. 9 before then going up against No. 17 Missouri in Starkville on Feb. 13. While Ole Miss is playing each game with the postseason in mind, Rick Ray and the Bulldogs only have the future in mind.

Simply put, Ole Miss should have the advantage in nearly every category against Mississippi State. The Rebels are averaging 79.2 points per game (fifth nationally), while the Bulldogs are only averaging 61.0 points per game (309th nationally). Ole Miss is pulling down 40.7 rebounds per game (13th nationally) to only 34.4 rebounds per game for Mississippi State (202nd nationally).

As for scoring margin per game, Kennedy's squad currently boasts an average of plus-13.5 points per game to a deficient minus-5.2 average scoring margin for the Bulldogs. A quick crunch of the numbers equals a plus-18.7 average scoring margin between the two teams in Ole Miss' favor. That's nearly 20 points per game, and a figure very hard to ignore.

In a game which is clearly mismatched, at least on paper, Andy Kennedy should be able to get his freshmen reserves plenty of quality minutes. For a team that has lost two key reserves indefinitely, forward Aaron Jones and guard Nick Williams, newfound contributions off the bench will be vital down the stretch as the Rebels inch closer to postseason play.

The Tad Pad will be electric come tipoff at 8 p.m., as Ole Miss fans should be in high spirits with the expected news of a 2013 football signing class for the ages confirmed earlier in the day.

Prediction:

Ole Miss 84, Mississippi State 67

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Marshall Henderson is the newest name to dominate the national headlines, but few have discussed his NBA potential.

He's the SEC's leading scorer at 19.5 points per game and has Ole Miss ranked in the top 25.

I'm here to break down the transition process he'd have to make moving from one level to the next, and ultimately squash anyone's hopes of this being a Cinderella story.

Henderson will face some major challenges as an NBA prospect on both sides of the ball.

Offensive Transition Issues

Marshall Henderson is a shooting guard, period. He's not a combo guard or secondary ball-handler. He's got one possible position to occupy, and that's the off-ball slot.

Now think about the physical characteristics of an NBA shooting guard. They're usually the most complete athletes on the floor. Andre Iguodala, Joe Johnson, James Harden, O.J. Mayo—these are sizable men with all sorts of strength.

Marshall Henderson is severely undersized at 6'2'' and lacks the muscle and athleticism of your typical NBA 2-guard. Contact at the next level will not be welcomed.

He's also extremely one-dimensional. Henderson takes 14.6 shots per game, 10.9 of which come from behind the arc. He's shooting it at a 36.2 percent clip, but the specialists at the next level typically have a mark of at least 40 percent.

Wingspan

Wingspan is a key measurement for perimeter scorers. An extra inch could be the difference between an open look and a contested one. Since Henderson isn't an adept shot-creator off the dribble, he'll need every inch to get his shot off over bigger defenders.

According to Henderson, he only sports a 5'10'' wingspan, an awful number for an undersized scorer. To put that into perspective, Jimmer Fredette measured a 6'4.5'' wingspan at the NBA combine, and he's struggling to get clean releases off in the pros.

Now, I'm not sure if Henderson was just throwing a random number out there or if that's actually his measured wingspan, but anything even close could make things extremely difficult in the pros.  

 

Defensive Transition Issues

Henderson might be a high-energy defender at the college level, but energy doesn't always translate to success when defending in the pros.

With Henderson on the floor, opposing NBA coaches will immediately place a target above his head. Considering he has zero skills or instincts at the point-guard position, he'll be forced to guard opposing 2s who could eat him alive.

Henderson weighs 175 pounds. Most NBA shooting guards will have a good three inches and 20 to 30 pounds of muscle on him. And you can't just stick him on the point guard. For one, he's not laterally quick enough. And two, Henderson's backcourt mate, who will have to be a point guard, won't be qualified to guard opposing shooting guards either.

History

History suggests that 6'2'' jump-shooters just aren't cut out for the NBA. There's always the exception, but for every one that makes it there are usually hundreds that don't.

If you go down the NBA depth charts, you're unlikely to find a 2 with Henderson's limitations.

As strictly a shooting guard, Henderson lacks the size, length, athleticism, strength and shot-creating tools to be able to make the transition to the NBA.