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'One possession': What Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer learned about his team

Tyler Horka
Mississippi Clarion Ledger

STARKVILLE – It was only one possession. Why must my coach scream? 

Those are the first two lines of a poem titled 'It's Only One Possession' by Jeff Smith. Mississippi State head coach Vic Schaefer hands out copies of the poem to his players prior to every season. 

They recently found out why. 

The Bulldogs' game against then-No. 3 Stanford came down to one shot. Freshman guard JaMya Mingo-Young missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game in the last minute. Stanford grabbed the rebound and went on to win the game by five. 

Schaefer didn't blame Mingo-Young for the loss. He instead attributed it to a possession here and a possession there that would have prevented MSU from needing a late three to tie altogether. 

"In the poem, it talks about a missed free throw, a missed block out on a free throw, a missed help-side defensive rotation, a no-contested shot – the list goes on and on," Schaefer said. "If you go to that Stanford game, it's a one-possession game. It's only one possession. And everybody that played had a hand in a bad possession." 

Mississippi State's Vic Schaefer was up late after his team's win over Georgia studying film. He wants his team to play up to its full potential. by Keith Warren

'I think those kids grew up' 

The loss to Stanford is nothing to scoff at for Schaefer and his team.

The Cardinal ascended to No. 1 in both polls after beating Mississippi State, thanks in part to losses by Oregon and Baylor. Schaefer is never satisfied with a loss, but it was easier to swallow when he considers who he had on the court in crunch time. 

Andra Espinoza-Hunter. Jessika Carter. Xaria Wiggins. JaMya Mingo-Young. Rickea Jackson. Or put it this way: a junior in her second year with the program, two true sophomores and two true freshmen. 

State trailed by eight entering the fourth quarter and nearly came all the way back. 

"I think those kids grew up," Schaefer said. 

They're not fully grown, though. Not yet. Schaefer circled back to one word that would categorize his players as the opposite. 

"The biggest thing right now, we're just a very immature, young team," Schaefer said. 

Schaefer said he made a list of 10 things that he didn't like about his team's road trip. Sure, State went 3-1 during the week. But the Bulldogs still displayed a lack of discipline that Schaefer wasn't fond of. 

One example from his list was a player losing an "item" that she shouldn't have lost. That has nothing to do with basketball, but it has everything to do with being accountable. 

"Those are things to me that are big deals that a lot of places aren't," Schaefer said. "Some coaches don't even care about that stuff. I do." 

'None of this is terminal' 

Schaefer is always the last one to get on the team bus. 

"Because when I get on the bus, we're leaving," Schaefer said. 

Schaefer is a man of routine. That's why he went off on his players a few weeks ago after a 40-point win. The Bulldogs were dazzling in many areas that night, but all Schaefer could think about was nine of his players being late for pre-game shoot-around. 

It reminded Schaefer of something a fan told him after a luncheon the following week. 

"Coach, in Vietnam if you were a minute late, somebody was going to die." 

This isn't war. It's basketball. But it's still the business the Bulldogs are in. 

"Things happen when you're tardy," Schaefer said. "If you're late to work in the business world, they're going to fire you. It's our job not just in the Xs and Os piece but to teach them the importance of being on time and doing things right and having the right stuff on and all of that." 

Schaefer made sure to say growing pains on and off the court aren't unique to his team. Programs across the country go through them year after year. Schaefer has had the luxury of putting teams on the court that are laden with seniors and experienced players. That just isn't the case this season, and it's showing. 

They say you don't know what you had until it's gone. Well, those seniors are gone. The JaMya Mingo-Youngs and Rickea Jacksons of the world will one day be seniors themselves. That day is a long way off. For now, Schaefer is hard at work molding them to become more mature players in the meantime. 

"None of this is terminal," Schaefer said. "It's just stuff that if you don't address it now, I'll be dealing with it in February and it will be hurting me in games." 

Contact Tyler Horka at thorka@gannett.com. Follow @tbhorka on Twitter. To read more of Tyler's work, subscribe to the Clarion Ledger today!