Recruiting wrapped up (for the most part) on Wednesday. Ole Miss basketball went 2-0 on the week and baseball begins Friday with a home date against Louisville. I'll touch on those topics and more on this Sunday's edition of 10 Weekend Thoughts, presented by Harry Alexander.
Note: There won't be a 10 Weekend Thoughts next Sunday. I'm giving myself a weekend off.
1. At 1-7 in the Southeastern Conference, Ole Miss knew it was better than its record said it was.
It had blown double-digit leads in league losses to Texas A&M, LSU, Arkansas and Auburn. Change a couple of those losses to wins and the Rebels would've been in OK shape heading into the second half of the SEC slate.
Of course, that's not how it works, so Ole Miss opened its three-game homestead needing wins. Two games into that stretch, not only are the Rebels winning, they're winning in convincing fashion.
Ole Miss dominated South Carolina Wednesday and then put a 17-point beatdown on Florida Saturday afternoon. The Rebels' guards, Breein Tyree and Devontae Shuler, have been exceptional. KJ Buffen has been fantastic on the glass. Khadim Sy has given Ole Miss a rim presence on both ends. Blake Hinson is playing smarter basketball. Kermit Davis has shortened his rotation.
Suddenly, Ole Miss looks like the team most of us expected all year.
"We didn't look like a one-and-whatever team," Davis said. "We didn't feel like a 2-7 team coming in, but we were one. You have to come into our gym every day and come into our locker room every day and watch us practice. Our guys go about their business. ...We just totally shifted to try to win February and I think our guys totally bought into that.
"I just want them to look ahead, look forward."
2. Up next: Mississippi State.
The Rebels, as Davis said, look like a team "with some confidence about them." So do Ben Howland's Bulldogs. Mississippi State is 15-8 overall, 6-4 in the SEC and in a three-way tie with Florida and South Carolina for fourth in the league entering Tuesday's 6 p.m. tipoff at The Pavilion at Ole Miss.
Reggie Perry leads the Bulldogs with 17.4 points per game. Tyson Carter adds 13.3 and Robert Woodard chips in 11.7.
"Their physicality (impresses)," Davis said. "Reggie Perry is playing maybe as good as any forward in college basketball right now. They've got an an older team. The way they rebound, the way their bodies look, they're playing with a lot of confidence. They've gone on the road and won. Like I said, they've just got a really good college basketball team and our team will be excited about playing them on Tuesday."
3. Hinson talked on Friday afternoon about his progression as well as the team's recently. He also touched on the mindset of the team, despite the reality that their postseason hopes have been all but dashed by the awful start to SEC play.
4. Antavion Collum played 15 minutes against Florida, recording two points and an assist. His role might sound like a small one, but after sitting five straight games, Collum has been working his way into Davis' rotation.
Collum said he has had to learn how to be a better practice player.
"I'm really still adjusting now," Collum said, adding he went to Davis and asked what he needed to do to get on the floor more.
"He told me just focus on the small things, do the little things and play physical," Collum said. "That's exactly what he said. I did that and I started getting into games."
Sammy Hunter's ankle injury opened the door a bit for Collum. The freshman has made the most of the opportunity, but he's taking nothing for granted now.
"It's fast but it's slowing down," Collum said. "I try not to focus on making mistakes because if you focus on making mistakes, you'll end up making mistakes. Basically, I focus on rebounding and being physical on defense. I don't even think about offense at all. If I score, then I score, but I'm not focusing on scoring."
5. It's time for my weekly ranking of the SEC, with NET rankings in parentheses.
1. Auburn (15) -- The Tigers just win.
2. Kentucky (21) -- Ole Miss gets the Cats in Lexington on Saturday.
3. LSU (27) -- The Tigers will look back on that loss to Auburn as a real wasted opportunity.
4. Mississippi State (41) -- Tuesday night should be one hell of a basketball game at The Pavilion.
5. Alabama (42) -- The Tide has slipped some recently, but I still think 'Bama is dangerous.
6. Florida (47) -- The Gators had a rough week and were lucky to escape an upset bid from Georgia.
7. Tennessee (67) -- Vols are just mediocre. Not good. Not bad. Just there.
8. Ole Miss (92) -- The Rebels looked like a tournament-caliber team this past week.
9. Arkansas (38) -- Without Isaiah Joe, the Razorbacks don't have enough.
10. South Carolina (76) -- The Gamecocks are going to spoil a season. Remember I told you.
11. Georgia (91) -- I'm not sure Tom Crean can get it done in Athens.
12. Missouri (95) -- Tigers got a big win at home versus Arkansas.
13. Texas A&M (135) -- Ole Miss really should have won that game in College Station last month.
14. Vanderbilt (149) -- Hey, the 'Dores got a win. Good for them.
6. I don't normally spend much time writing about officiating. Most of this season, in the SEC, at least, it's sucked. Officiating styles change from one half to the next. Fouls are called far too liberally. The games lack flow. They're unwatchable.
However, on Saturday, the crew of Joe Lindsay, Patrick Evans and Garrick Shannon were very good in the Ole Miss-Florida game. Sure, they missed some calls. That happens. However, they consistently let the two teams play. They called 10 fouls on Florida and just 13 on Ole Miss. The Gators were 10-for-11 from the line. Ole Miss was 9-for-10.
The game moved quickly and was entertaining. Kudos. Let's have more of that moving forward, please.
7. National Signing Day (and its beloved first cousin, National Unfollow Day) has come and gone. New Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin did the right thing when he and his staff couldn't close the deal on some of their top targets -- rather than filling the class with Plan Bs and Cs, Ole Miss kept its powder dry.
Sure, the Rebels could still sign Marc Britt, Leonard Manuel and/or (Dear God, I promise to be a good boy if you'll just make this end) Zachary Evans. However, as has been written and said numerous times, the 2021 class is the one that will shape the course of Kiffin's path at Ole Miss, not the transition class thrown together in two months.
By this time next year, we'll have seen Kiffin coach 12 or 13 games and we'll have seen his staff recruit for a year. We'll know if they signed their quarterback, if they bolstered a very thin interior defensive line, if they signed some impact defensive backs, added another running back to the stable and more.
All we know right now is Kiffin can put together a strong staff, is determined to not settle on the recruiting trail and he's smart enough to know when it's best to wait and fight another day.
8. Ole Miss opens the baseball season Friday against top-ranked Louisville. It's the time of year when people here treat 56 games like they're football games, riding the highs and lows of a baseball season like a roller coaster. I can't criticize; I do this with the Cubs each year for 162 games. I get it.
With that said, here are my sure-to-go-wrong predictions for Ole Miss:
I've got the Rebels going. 35-21 overall and 15-15 in the SEC, a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament. The Rebels are a young team that should be dangerous in 2021, but the debate on message boards like this one will be, as the kids say, lit.
Let the fun begin.
9. Valentine's Day is right around the corner, so that means a week of non-stop baking competitions on Food Network. It also means dessert time from our resident Parisian chef, Burton Webb. Here's Burton with Taste of the Place, Lesson 23: White Chocolate Panna Cotta with Raspberry Coulis
So when you can double down and win, you double down and win. What I mean by this, Valentine’s day is around the corner. Plus, what dessert can you make that just isn’t for that day? It is this one. You will continue to make this dessert in the future, just an FYI. It goes great for each season and you can change the variation to, say, peach for summer, caramel for fall, or lemon for spring. Let’s get into the tidbits.
Tidbit #1: You will be working with gelatine sheets today. When ever you work with gelatine sheets, you need to hydrate them before you use them. We will put them in a bowl of cold water for about five minutes. After, we will take them out and gentle squeeze most of the water out of them before adding them to our cream mixture. This is what you always do when you work with gelatine sheets. They will feel like slime, another FYI.
Tidbit #2: As you heat the cream, milk, and sugar in a sauce pot, always use a whisk to make sure that the sugar doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. It is very easy to burn that sugar on the bottom which will produce a burnt flavour for yourself. You know the mixture is ready when you start to see steam coming from the pot.
Tidbit #3: You will need time for the mixture to set completely once you make them and place them in the refrigerator. It is about four hours, just a third FYI. Yet, you can make this dessert the day before and you have it off of your plate and ready to go for Valentine’s day.
Tidbit #4: You will need a balance for this recipe. It is in grams.
Things you will need:
2.5 People…You know…for seconds
1 Glass of Resiling, share or don’t
4.5 hours….4.25 Hours in the fridge
Equipment Needed:
1 Work Surface with a Pairing Knife
1 Medium Sauce Pot
1 Balance/Scale
1 Medium Wire Mesh Strainer
1 Whisk
1 Medium Bowl
2 “Glass Cups” you want to place the Cotta In
Stove Top
Fridge
Ingredients Needed:
87 Grams Whole Milk
300 Grams Heavy Cream
33 Grams White Sugar
1/2 Vanilla Bean
50 Grams White Chocolate
3 Grams of Gelatine Sheets
Raspberry Puree from the Store
Directions:
Step 1: “Mis En Place” everything. Place the sauce pot on top of the scale and zero it out. Add your sugar, cream, and milk to the pot.
Step 1.2: With your pairing knife, cut open the vanilla bean and scrape out the inside of the bean. Place everything in the sauce pot. Place the pot on the stove and turn to medium heat. Cook while stirring occasionally until you see steam coming from the pot.
Step 1.3: In your mixing bowl, add cold water and the gelatine sheets. Let sit for 5 minutes.
Step 2: Once your cream mixture is steaming in the pot, add the white chocolate and turn the heat off. Whisk until the chocolate is dissolved.
Step 3: Take your gelatine sheets from the water and gently squeeze them to ring the water out. Place them in the pot and whisk until dissolved, 1 minute.
Step 3.1: With the mixing bowl, pour the water out of it. Next, put your mesh stringer on top. Pour the warm cream mixture through the strainer into the bowl.
Step 4: Now, pour your strained cream mixture into the glasses that you want to use and then place in the fridge either overnight for the following day or in 4 hour window.
Step 5(Last Step): When you are ready to serve your panna cottas, pour the fruit puree on top. You want about 1/4 of an inch in height. Then eat with a spoon and enjoy. This dessert is deceptively good and before you know it, you will be already at the bottom of the glass. The warning has been said. So with this, Bon Appetite from the Mississippian in Paris!
10. We'll have coverage of Ole Miss basketball, baseball and whatever else may come up this week on RebelGrove.com. Until then, here are some links of interest to me _ and hopefully, to you _ for your reading pleasure:
‘Helicopter Went Down, Flames Seen’: Kobe Bryant’s Last Flight - The New York Times
Kobe Bryant's off-the-court moments were just as memorable - Los Angeles Times
Even Bill Belichick attended Rob Gronkowski’s beach party - Sports Illustrated
Trend lines paint a disturbing picture for the Pac-12 - FootballScoop
Five years later, Steve Spurrier wants to clear up a few things – The Athletic
‘Dark Arts’ and ‘Codebreaker’: The Origins of the Houston Astros Cheating Scheme - WSJ
Atlanta United’s Josef Martinez may like Braves as much as you do ...
Ranking the 2020 MLB uniforms: Brown and red and powder blue all over – The Athletic
Sex, drugs and Gandalf: Confessions of a movie theater employee - SBNation.com
