Sidney To Suit Up Against A&M Tomorrow Night
Posted by dnspewak on November 16th, 2011Ever since Renardo Sidney signed with Mississippi State, his career has been marked with controversy. You need more than two hands to count how many adjectives have been used to describe his attitude: He’s got “baggage,” he’s “immature,” he’s “got to grow up.” And so on. But nobody has ever questioned that he has the raw skills to be one of the top big men in college basketball. Though coach Rick Stansbury held him out of this weekend’s win against South Alabama with a groin injury, Sidney will play against Texas A&M at the Coaches v. Cancer semifinals in New York City tomorrow night.
Sidney Will Play Against Texas A&M
That’s bad news for the Aggies. When Sidney plays focused, he is essentially impossible to guard. He lit up Ole Miss, LSU and Vanderbilt last season for 20+ points, and when he stayed out of foul trouble, he emerged as a productive SEC forward. Teaming with Arnett Moultrie, the 6’11” newcomer from UTEP, Mississippi State’s frontcourt will provide A&M with its first true test of the season.
The Aggies will counter MSU’s size, however. Always one of the most physically grinding teams in the Big 12, Texas A&M will lean heavily on senior David Loubeau to handle Sidney and Moultrie. Sophomore Kourtney Roberson and junior Ray Turner are no slouches inside, either. Still, although A&M made its mark as a defensive stalwart and rebounding machine first under Billy Gillispie and then Mark Turgeon, interim coach Glenn Cyprien‘s squad is a bit undersized against Mississippi State with Sidney in the mix. It will be interesting to see how they choose to defend the post.
No matter how he plays, the you can count on the television announcers to mention the polarizing Sidney’s name no fewer than a couple dozen times during the broadcast. You can bank on that.
