STARKVILLE — Confidence isn’t a problem for Mississippi State guard Fred Thomas.
Days after opening preseason practice for the 2014-15 men’s basketball season, Thomas was asked what he thought about MSU coach Rick Ray saying he “should be an All-SEC Defensive player this season.”
Thomas, a 6-foot-7 junior guard from Jackson, agreed.
“Playing defense is easy for me,” said Thomas, who averaged 9.3 points and three rebounds per game as a sophomore. “I don’t really go into a matchup thinking I can’t guard somebody. I feel like I can guard anybody.”
Through two seasons, Thomas has backed that up. According to Ray, Thomas “is somebody we will have matched up on the other team’s best scorer on a night-in, night-out basis, and we will feel really good about it.”
But within Thomas’ comments, a more profound meaning can be taken: These Bulldogs, after two years of struggling under Ray, are confident entering a season that kicks off at 6 p.m. Thursday with an exhibition game against Delta State at Humphrey Coliseum.
Much of that confidence starts in the backcourt, where Ray returns four guards who averaged at least 24 minutes per game a season ago. That includes Thomas, who Ray expects to take a leap forward. It also includes junior Craig Sword, MSU’s leading scorer a year ago. Sword, who averaged 13.7 points per game as a sophomore, is expected to miss a few games to begin the season due to a back injury diagnosed at the beginning on fall camp.
The return of Thomas and Sword and point guards Trivante Bloodman and I.J. Ready gives MSU a level of experience that has been lacking in previous seasons under Ray.
“We’ve been there now, we’ve been through it,” Bloodman said. “It’s up to us to step up as leaders to show the young guys what college basketball is all about. We never had anybody to show us, but now that’s part of what makes this team better.”
Getting better is the name of the game for the Bulldogs in Year 3 under Ray, who has dealt with attrition and health concerns in two injury-plagued seasons. As a result, the Bulldogs are 24-41 under Ray, but the third-year coach believes a resurgence could be at hand.
“At the end of the day, it’s about qualifying for postseason basketball,” Ray said.
MSU’s backcourt, which features the five returning guards and a talented bunch of newcomers, will go a long way toward determining MSU’s postseason fate.
In addition to Sword and Thomas, freshman shooting guard Maurice Dunlap, of Greenville, and 6-foot-7 swingman Demetrius Houston are expected to contribute. The addition of Dunlap and Houston and a new group of post players gives Ray depth and the ability to play at a faster pace.
“I think now we will have the ability to do some things we haven’t done, especially defensively,” said Ray, who has a full complement of players at his disposal for the first time in three seasons. “We will be able to get after teams, to press, and make them play 94 feet. We couldn’t do that before.”
For Bloodman, the chance to play a more harassing type of full-court defense is good news.
“I know, as a point guard, a team pressing me and making me work can put a lot of stress on me,” said Bloodman, a senior from New York who averaged 6.5 points and 2.5 assists as a junior. “For us to be able to do that to other teams, I like that.”
As the preseason has unfolded, Ray has mentioned the need for leadership on a team that is still young. That leadership could fall to Ready and Sword.
“I think any coach would say they would want their point guard to be a leader,” Ray said, “because they have the ball in their hand so much you want them to be the coach on the floor. We have to make sure we’re having an environment and fostering an environment where a guy like I.J. Ready can become a leader as a sophomore.”
Follow Dispatch sports writer Brandon Walker on Twitter @BWonStateBeat
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