Patience is a virtue, and Andy Kennedy is having to spend it on his 2016-2017 basketball team. The Rebels opened the year 2-0 with a couple of tight wins over Tennessee-Martin and UMass, in which they had a sluggish start and were able to overcome it. On Wednesday night against Middle Tennesee, the 48-19 halftime hole the Rebels put themselves in was too large to climb out of.
His group has a lot of new faces this season, more so than usual of a Kennedy, which usually has some turnover. But not this much. They’ve played well in spots. Ole Miss went down to the Virgin Islands and placed runner up in the Paradise Jam Tournament, beating Oral Roberts and Saint Joseph’s before leading for much of the game against a dangerous and very good Creighton team, but it fell just short.
Head coach Andy Kennedy talks to sophomore guard Terence Davis during a game earlier this season. (Photo by: Cameron Brooks
“This group is so difficult for me to read,” a frustrated Kennedy said following the loss on Wednesday. “And maybe it’s because of the new faces.”
Ole Miss has struggled with turnovers in the early going, a symptom of a team looking for cohesiveness. It had 14 in the first half against the Blue Raiders and seven in the first four minutes of the game.
“Maybe this will get our attention. We’ve got to play harder. We’ve got to be more locked in. I’m tired of saying ‘Guys, let’s go. Let’s go.’ It’s unacceptable. We’ve got to change that,” Kennedy said.
The team is trying to find its footing. Cullen Neal and Deandre Burnett make up a new-look back court, while Justas Furmanavicius is still getting adjusted in the front court. Forward Nate Morris has yet to join the team due to some off-court issues, and freshman guard Breein Tyree is still getting healthy.
There is an adequate number of pieces to this puzzle. It’s just going to take some time to get them to fit.
“Some of it could be that they’re new to me and new to the system and I just don’t know how to read them yet,” Kennedy said earlier this week. “My goal in the Virgin Islands was to find out more about this team. You play three games in four days in a contained environment, and play a good team in Saint Joseph’s, probably our best 40 minutes of the year. Then we came back against Creighton and really answered the challenge of being locked in. Creighton is just really good and made more plays than us.”
It just hasn’t come consistently. UMass had the Rebels on the ropes before they forced overtime and pulled it out of the fire. It started sluggishly in the season opener as well.
They’ve played well in flashes, like Creighton and Saint Joseph’s. Burnett dropped 41 on Oral Roberts, and the Rebels played better defensively against the Jays.
“We learned (in the Virgin Islands) that we could be a good team. We showed flashes of a good team. We guarded better on the perimeter and in the paint,” Burnett said.
The trouble for Ole Miss, is that it’s still working out the kinks while simultaneously entering into its toughest non-conference stretch. Memphis looms on Saturday before a trip to Virginia Tech followed by games against Murray State and Bradley.
“I think once we have more and more time together, it will start getting better,” Neal said.
Ole Miss still has time, but it will need to produce some wins before it hits SEC play to buy some more. The Rebels can help their NCAA tournament résumé in the next few weeks, but they can also hurt it if the losses keep coming.
“I don’t think I can be a new guy anymore,” Neal said. “I got to act like the veteran I am, because I am a graduate transfer. Now I have gotten my feet wet, so I’m ready to go. It is time to step it up.”
