Mississippi guard Stefan Moody goes up for a layup in Saturday’s game against Florida. (DM Photo | Payton Teffner)
It’s every commentator’s favorite comparison. Every time junior guard Stefan Moody hits a deep three, he draws some type of Marshall Henderson reference from the television commentators. The junior guard has burst onto the scene this season and quickly become one the of the top scorers in the Southeastern Conference. However, watching Moody play does raise some questions, one of them being: how similar is Moody to former Rebel standout Marshall Henderson?
Marshall Henderson is one of the most prolific scorers in the history of Ole Miss Basketball. His talent and erratic behavior brought a lot of attention and exposure to an Ole Miss program that badly needed it. Though you probably won’t ever catch Stefan Moody yelling into the stands at opposing fans, or running down the court throwing up the “landshark” with his tongue hanging out, Moody and Henderson have quite a few similarities.
Moody is a prolific scorer. He averages just over 15 points per game and 17.5 points per game in conference play. Henderson averaged 19 and 20 points per game in his two years with the Rebels. Moody also has tremendous range and is a more accurate shooter than Henderson. Moody has the ability to penetrate and get to the rim. I would argue that he does this better than Henderson because of Moody’s strong physical make-up.
Moody often hits extremely difficult and contested shots that remind people of Henderson’s shot-making ability. This parallel in ability is largely because head coach Andy Kennedy has done a tremendous job of using Moody in ways similar to how he used Henderson. Kennedy often runs Moody off the same baseline and zipper screening actions that Henderson came off of, allowing him to create space and make contested three-point shots. Like Henderson, opposing teams dedicate so much attention on defense to Moody that it allows him to create easy and open shots for other players. There was definitely a distinct method to Kennedy’s madness in the way he used Marshall Henderson, and it’s proving to be successful with Moody as well.
Though Moody is largely similar to Henderson, there are also quite a few differences between the two. Moody is a better defender than Henderson was. Henderson was by no means a bad defender. He was a smart player and used his high basketball IQ to create turnovers, but Moody’s strong physical makeup and hustle allows him to force more turnovers and give opposing offenses problems.
One thing Moody does very well is let the game come to him. Henderson was a very exciting and electric offensive player, but he often forced shots in bad situations. With the exception of a few instances, Moody seems to not force a lot of bad shots and knows when to give the ball up when he is not open. He creates opportunities for others with his selfless play and boasts a 1:2 assist to turnover ratio, which is second best on the team behind Jarvis Summers.
Moody and Henderson are two of the most exciting players at Ole Miss. They both have similar qualities in their game as well as a few differences. There is no question that if Ole Miss is going to play well down the stretch and make a post season run, Stephan Moody will be a crucial factor. It should be an exciting finish to the 2014-15 season.
