Kermit Davis addresses offensive struggles of Ole Miss

Ole Miss has not gotten off to a fast start offensively this season but things were particularly not good on Tuesday night against Alabama. Kermit Davis saw his team shoot under 35% from the field and make two of 24 three-point attempts. It was rough for the Rebels to say the least.

Davis voiced his displeasure with Ole Miss not making shots during his postgame interview, saying there are plenty of open opportunities. Whether they are outside the arc or down low, Davis is going to be running some shooting drills at practice this week.

“Making open shots,” Davis said when asked what the offensive problem is. “It’s a pretty simple game of basketball. We had just as good of shots as Alabama did. And our inability to make them — we had wide open, step in threes. We had shots right around the rim, around the post.”

If there was a positive out of the head coach, it was the open shots being there. He’s “pleased” with how Ole Miss is playing offensively from that aspect but when they do not go in, it does not matter too much.

“We got to make open shots,” Davis said. “We had open shots against Tennessee. So, that’s just what we got to do. Offensively, I think what we’re doing is good. We just got to make shots and keep giving guys confidence and shoot shots that they can make. I was really pleased with a lot of the shots that we got, just got to make them.”

Ole Miss shot 37% against Tennessee, keeping them under 40% in both SEC games thus far. An in-state Egg Bowl showdown will take place on Saturday, with Davis needing to get a win against Mississippi State.

As he said after the Alabama matchup, the shots just need to go in.

Kermit Davis looking to expand NCAA Tournament pool

Ole Miss men’s basketball coach Kermit Davis wants more teams in the NCAA Tournament and he wasn’t shy in explaining why. Simply: An expanded field would mostly benefit mid-level high-major programs getting pipped for spots by automatic qualifiers from one-bid leagues.

In the current 68-team construct, a number of teams from leagues like the SEC, Big 12, and Big Ten that are unquestionably better than some of the automatic qualifiers get left out. That exclusivity is, of course, a draw but Davis thinks it would be better to open the field to more comers.

“Every time they’ve expanded playoffs, whether it’s Major League Baseball, NFL, NBA, college football to 12, it just makes it better,” Davis said. “Every time they do it it makes it better. There’s a lot of really, really good teams. And I think it’ll give a lot, probably, more Power 5 schools opportunities.”