Who’s to blame for the current state of the Vanderbilt basketball program?

The Vanderbilt Commodores are currently 9-8 on the season, on a five-game losing streak, and 0-5 in the SEC. The team’s most recent performance — a 71-55 loss to Mississippi State, at home, two days after a reported players-only meeting (it’s never a good sign when you have one, and it’s an even worse sign when the players-only meeting is immediately followed by... that) — was one of its worst of the season. Vanderbilt’s KenPom rating is in free fall: the Commodores ranked 63rd in the metric entering the Ole Miss game on January 5, and are currently ranked 105th. In SEC play, the Commodores rank 13th in offensive efficiency, and 11th in defensive efficiency; they’re being outscored by an average of 0.17 points per possession. For comparison, last year’s team — which we all agree was bad — got outscored by an average of 0.06 points per possession, and while the defense was a nightmare (14th in the SEC in defensive efficiency), the offense was at least competent (2nd in offensive efficiency.)

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