Ole Miss This Season
In the ’24 – ‘ 25 season, there is little doubt which conference will place the most teams in the NCAA Tournament. When you have three of the top eight teams in the country in the middle of the pack in the current conference rankings, it becomes clear that the SEC will be the gift that keeps on giving to college basketball all season long. It is almost a shame that in a league with #1 Tennessee, #2 Auburn, #5 Alabama, and #6 Kentucky; several other exciting teams are in the shadows of the spotlight.
One team on the cusp of that shadow are the Rebels of Ole Miss who sit at 13-2 on the season and are one of only five SEC teams to make it through the first week with a pair of wins. What’s more, they did it in impressive fashion, appearing calm and in control even when struggling to contain their opponent. This team is full of do it all players who can handle the ball and score from several levels and they have the self-confidence and the confidence of the coaching staff to just hoop.
The first SEC opponent for the Rebels was the Georgia Bulldogs in Oxford on Saturday January 4th. The Rebels controlled the game against Georgia, going head to head to out-rebound and force the bulldogs to shoot just 11% from the three point line. Ole miss went on to win the game 63-51. Georgia is another one of those teams that is likely to be in the shadows of the SEC powerhouse schools but possesses big time physicality, athleticism, and grit to make any contest uncomfortable.
The second was in Fayetteville against the Arkansas Razorbacks who started the season ranked #16 in the country but have dropped a number of contests against ranked teams in the non-conference schedule as well as their first conference challenge against #1 Tennessee. This team is young, as are most teams coached by Jon Callipari, but are extremely talented and dangerous if they get momentum. The Rebels were able to put this team under a 10 point deficit in the second half and matched their runs to come out on top 73-67.
The Rebels are fortunate to have a proven head coach in Chris Beard who enters his second season at the helm in Oxford after a tumultuous departure from his Alma Mater The University of Texas in 2023. Beard recruits players that fit into his somewhat “pro-style” systems that seems chock full of small forwards and shooting guards. Although they have been beat before, they find themselves ranked #23 (although they are likely to ascend in the rankings) which will put a target on their back every night aside from normal SEC hostilities. What makes or breaks the Ole Miss Rebels though?
Positives
The big positives for this team are their aforementioned confidence, the coaches abilities to get the most out of his players, and the camaraderie of the individuals on this team. This scoring of this team is guard heavy with forwards generally getting their production from guard penetration. Scoring is also very balanced with four guards averaging between 11 and 14 points per game led by Senior transfer Sean Pedulla at 14.7 ppg. The forwards are all interchangeable, capable ball handlers with the ability to stretch the floor against the bigger teams in the SEC.
Coach Beard implements his game plans very well to enable his mobile big men to attack less mobile or younger bigs to expand the dribble drive offense to all positions and stretch the defense thin. I particularly like what I have seen out of Junior transfer Malik Dia who showed particular tenacity going after the bigs from Georgia and Arkansas where he dropped a season high 21 pts in Fayetteville. Coach Beard is not afraid to aggressively address mistakes by his players to dissuade them from making those mistakes again, and his team handles it very well. This is aided by the camaraderie this team shows.
This team looks like they enjoy playing together. They understand their roles and they have the ability to step up in the games they have a favorable match-up. They get excited for their teammates when they excel and appear to be uplifting when a player fails. Each player coming off the bench has an influence on the flow of the game and each has the confidence of their coach to do their job which leads to nine Rebels averaging at least 10 minutes of gameplay per contest.
Negatives
The negatives for this team are all related to physicality. They are generally undersized and often lose the rebounding battle which cannot be understated as both a practical resource and as a method to break the will in the flow of a game. In fact, in both of their losses this year, the Rebels were out-rebounded by 11 in each game. In a league with some high profile front-courts, it is an ongoing issue that has to be resolved to be more than just middle of the pack in this conference. In addition, the guards are also undersized which leads to some liabilities on the defensive end.
Conclusions
This is a fun team to watch compete, and they do compete at a high level. I wouldn’t place any bets on them being in the top three in the conference at the end of the season, but I would say they are a shoo-in to get to the NCAA tournament. I do believe they can be a dangerous team to play in the tournament where they can play with house money and play loose under the direction of Coach Beard to pick unfamiliar opponents apart. I look forward to covering more of their games as this season progresses.
The Rebels will face a struggling but dangerous LSU Tiger team in Oxford which will be available on the SEC Network.
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