Study Hall: Kansas
by Bill C. on Feb 8, 2011 9:00 AM CST
in Mizzou Basketball 10-11
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Your trifecta: PPressey-Bowers-Ratliffe. Your Winner: nobody. blackgoldorange came awfully close.
As usual, it's my fault. At halftime, I was marveling a bit at Kansas' ball movement and thinking, if KU beats Mizzou because of ball movement that good (and the 3's resulting from it), then so be it. Naturally, then, it was a couple of stupid 3's with little to no ball movement that officially put Mizzou away in the second half. In the end, one truism remained true: when the home team gets some momentum and makes a fadeaway 3-pointer with the shot clock expiring, you're screwed. The only surprise was that Mario Little's stepback 3-ball with 12:24 left didn't bank in off the glass or something.
Kansas 103, Mizzou 86
| Mizzou |
KU | |
| Pace (No. of Possessions) |
70.3 | |
| Points Per Minute |
2.15 | 2.58 |
| Points Per Possession (PPP) |
1.22 | 1.47 |
| Points Per Shot (PPS) |
1.48 | 1.69 |
| 2-PT FG% | 59.5% | 61.9% |
| 3-PT FG% | 38.1% | 57.9% |
| FT% | 81.8% | 64.3% |
| True Shooting % | 63.5% | 70.2% |
| Mizzou | KU | |
| Assists | 16 | 23 |
| Steals | 5 | 6 |
| Turnovers | 8 | 12 |
| Ball Control Index (BCI) (Assists + Steals) / TO |
2.63 | 2.42 |
| Mizzou | KU | |
| Expected Offensive Rebounds | 10 | 10 |
| Offensive Rebounds | 6 | 14 |
| Difference | -4 | +4 |
19 Miserable, Miserable Possessions
First things first: Mizzou showed up. Not everybody did, mind you, but despite getting next to nothing from Marcus Denmon and Kim English in the first half (or in English's case, the entire game), Mizzou trailed by just four at halftime thanks to some fantastic work from Laurence Bowers, Ricardo Ratliffe and Phil Pressey. Unfortunately, Kansas turned ridiculous in the second half. Here are 19 Kansas possessions from early in the second half:
- 18:34 - Marcus Morris layup (2 pts) 46-44
- 17:39 - Marcus Morris and-one (3 pts)
- 17:08 - Missed layup, offensive rebound, Marcus Morris free throw (1 pt)
- 16:37 - Missed jumper, offensive rebound, Markieff Morris layup (2 pts)
- 16:15 - Marcus Morris jumper (2 pts)
- 15:51 - Tyshawn Taylor 3-pointer (3 pts)
- 15:19 - Marcus Morris and-one (3 pts -- granted, there was no foul here whatsoever, I mean none, I mean less than none, but alas)
- 14:57 - Travis Releford 3-pointer (3 pts)
- 14:14 - Missed 3-pointer (0 pts)
- 13:55 - Missed jumper, offensive rebound, Thomas Robinson free throws (2 pts)
- 13:32 - Thomas Robinson dunk (2 pts)
- 12:24 - Mario Little 3-pointer (3 pts)
- 11:29 - Travis Releford 3-pointer (3 pts)
- 10:59 - Missed 1-and-1 FT (0 pts)
- 10:13 - Marcus Morris jumper (2 pts)
- 9:41 - Tyrel Reed 3-pointer (3 pts)
- 9:11 - Marcus Morris free throws (2 pts)
- 8:49 - Two missed layups, two offensive rebounds, Marcus Morris free throw (1 pt)
- 8:06 - Travis Releford jumper (2 pts) 85-69
That's 39 points in 19 possessions, or 2.05 points per possession. Mizzou scored a robust 25 points in those same 19 possessions (1.32 per possession, or what they average when they're drubbing cupcake teams in December), and they saw their deficit rise from two points to 16. For all intents and purposes, the other 29 minutes of the game were a draw. But when your opponent is scoring on 17 of 19 possessions, you are going to lose. When that opponent is a top five team on their home court, you're going to lose big.
When I was watching the game live during this stretch, I was grieving about Missouri's lack of perimeter defense; and to be sure, it left something to be desired for the game (in all, this was another nice lesson for Phil Pressey and company regarding the difference between going for steals and playing strong man-on-man defense). But really, this was the perfect inside-out strategy from the Jayhawks. The first five possessions in this string consisted of layups, short jumpers and offensive rebounds. Then Marcus Morris got an assist on the Taylor 3-pointer. Then Robinson scored four straight points before the silly 3's from Little and Releford. Ten of the first 11 possessions in this string were completely interior-based before the perimeter became a true factor.
Knowing Mizzou was up for this game, and knowing that Laurence Bowers and Ricardo Ratliffe were playing well, they almost immediately got both of them in foul trouble to start the second half, then went to town. It was clinical. It's annoying watching Kansas score 67 points in 45 minutes against Michigan and barely escape USC and UCLA, then play like this against Mizzou, but ... well, it's a rivalry game. We should expect no less. In terms of recruiting and star ratings, few teams in the country are more talented than Kansas, and their A-game is pretty staggering.
Despite the fact that Kansas put Mizzou away with the Morris twins asserting their will, I maintain that it was good for Kansas that Josh Selby didn't play. They had some incredible ball movement in the first half, and I don't think it would have been as good with Selby. He's clearly talented, and on the road Kansas might need his versatility; at home, however, they do just fine with ball movement and role players.
The Good News?
As good as Mizzou's offense was, they only averaged 0.08 points per possession over their season average. Kansas averaged 0.29 per possession over theirs. In front of a Mizzou Arena crowd in another month, a fired up Mizzou team can, and should, keep things much, much closer.
Asserting Your Will on the Glass
I was extremely impressed with Missouri's work on the boards in the game's first 15 minutes or so. Twenty-five minutes later, Kansas was +8 in terms of expected rebounds. Mizzou lost a step in terms of intensity (I think they wore out), then Bowers/Ratliffe got in foul trouble, then the rebounds all went to Kansas. In those 19 possessions above, KU grabbed five offensive rebounds to Mizzou's two defensive rebounds. It went to hell on a stick awfully quickly.
Mizzou Player Stats
(Definitions at the bottom of the post.)
| Player |
AdjGS | GmSc/Min | Line |
| Phil Pressey | 20.5 | 0.68 | 30 Min, 17 Pts (6-8 FG, 4-5 3PT, 1-2 FT), 6 Ast, 5 PF |
| Laurence Bowers | 20.2 | 0.75 | 27 Min, 19 Pts (8-11 FG, 3-4 FT), 5 Reb, 2 Stl, 2 TO, 5 PF |
| Ricardo Ratliffe | 16.1 | 0.95 | 17 Min, 12 Pts (5-5 FG, 2-2 3PT), 3 Reb (2 Off), 2 Blk, 5 PF |
| Matt Pressey | 12.5 | 0.50 | 25 Min, 11 Pts (3-7 FG, 0-2 3PT, 5-5 FT), 4 Reb (2 Off), 2 Ast |
| Marcus Denmon | 10.0 | 0.33 | 30 Min, 11 Pts (4-7 FG, 1-4 3PT, 2-2 FT), 3 Reb, 2 Ast, 2 TO |
| Justin Safford | 3.7 | 0.28 | 13 Min, 5 Pts (1-5 FG, 0-3 3PT, 3-4 FT), 5 Reb, 2 Stl, 2 TO, 5 PF |
| Kim English | 2.0 | 0.14 | 14 Min, 6 Pts (1-6 FG, 0-1 3PT, 4-4 FT), 2 TO |
| Mike Dixon | 2.0 | 0.15 | 13 Min, 5 Pts (2-7 FG, 1-2 3PT), 2 Ast |
| Steve Moore | 1.4 | 0.08 | 17 Min, 0 Pts (0-1 FT), 3 Reb |
| Ricky Kreklow | -3.3 | -0.23 | 14 Min, 0 Pts (0-2 3PT) |
Well, "Young Pressey"...
...you've won over Brent Musberger and Bob Knight. Congrats. Your man-to-man defense still leaves something to be desired (it's all or nothing -- steals or an open 3-pointer), but you had no idea you were supposed to be cowed in the confines of Allen Fieldhouse. Have I mentioned how fun the next few years could be?
That Might Have Been...
...the best overall offensive performance I've seen from Laurence Bowers. He got shots off around the rim against the Morrises, and he made a series of very pretty mid-range jumpers. He's not going to shoot 8-for-11 every night, but if he can bring that array of skills to the table consistently, then Mizzou is a much, much better offensive team. (And they were already a pretty good offensive team.)
Good and Bad
Ricardo Ratliffe's skill set is very well-defined at this point, aren't they? Good: a set of post moves growing in diversity and effectiveness. Bad: couldn't draw fouls to save his life. Good: an improving jumper. Bad: somewhat nonexistent on the defensive glass. Good: solid body-on-body post defense. Bad: guaranteed bad foul after giving up an offensive rebound.
Make no mistake ... I love having him on this team. Love it. And I really love that he actually shows up on the road almost every time (unlike another Mizzou player from the eastern time zone whose name I won't mention right now). But it is difficult to get a more clear read of somebody's skill set than what we have with 'Cardo right now.
He Must Have Had This Line Saved Up for a While...
Last night during the game, Doug Gottlieb posted the following on Twitter:
Matt Pressey is one of those guys you hate to play with at the y, he is not terrible, but he shoots as if he is awesome.
Matt Pressey against Kansas: seven field goal attempts in 25 minutes. Eleven points in seven shots. Gottlieb pretty clearly came up with this line a while back and had been waiting for a chance to use it, but ... it was pretty dickish and ill-timed. I was very frustrated with Big Pressey's early-season shot selection, but it's not early-season anymore. I've been impressed with his shot selection for a good, solid month now.
| Player | Usage% | Floor% | Touches/ Poss. |
%Pass | %Shoot | %Fouled | %T/O |
| Phil Pressey | 17% | 68% | 4.5 | 77% | 17% | 4% | 2% |
| Laurence Bowers | 29% | 56% | 2.4 | 26% | 50% | 15% | 9% |
| Ricardo Ratliffe | 16% | 100% | 1.9 | 54% | 46% | 0% | 0% |
| Matt Pressey | 19% | 49% | 2.7 | 51% | 31% | 18% | 0% |
| Marcus Denmon | 17% | 46% | 2.2 | 53% | 31% | 7% | 9% |
| Justin Safford | 27% | 32% | 3.2 | 42% | 35% | 23% | 0% |
| Kim English | 37% | 25% | 2.3 | 0% | 53% | 29% | 18% |
| Mike Dixon | 28% | 33% | 4.2 | 63% | 37% | 0% | 0% |
| Steve Moore | 1% | 48% | 1.1 | 88% | 0% | 12% | 0% |
| Ricky Kreklow | 11% | 0% | 0.6 | 0% | 67% | 0% | 33% |
- Excellent passing numbers. Seven of ten players averaged 40% pass or better, and that made such a huge difference, especially in the first half. In the second half, as Mizzou was losing ground in a hurry, it became more of a 3-point shooting contest, but I'm okay with that -- what else were they supposed to be doing at that point?
- Very good fouls numbers too. Obviously it didn't matter last night, but if Mizzou attacks and draws contact in the future like they did in Lawrence, they'll win a couple of road games.
Three Keys Revisited
From yesterday's preview.
Risk a Blowout
There are two ways Missouri could get blown out tonight: 1) They could attempt to play their game and get eaten alive on the glass and in transition, or 2) They could overcompensate for Kansas' strengths and neutralize their own, finding themselves in a halfcourt game and shooting 30% until KU eventually pulls away. Give me (1). Kansas is a strong transition team, but Mizzou absolutely must push the tempo if they stand any chance whatsoever. If that means sacrificing a few rebounds in the name of long outlet passes, or taking a few quick 3's, or allowing a few dunks because Kansas broke the press, then fine. Playing faster, and faster, and faster is the only way Mizzou has any chance, and if it means their odds of losing by 25 (instead of, say, 15) are higher, then so be it. Do your best to swarmswarmswarmswarmswarm.
Mizzou absolutely played the game they needed to play, and I commend them for that. The defense just wasn't up to snuff, but they played at the pace required of them to win. They pushed the tempo wherever possible, but once their inside presence disappeared, they had no chance. I always talk about body blows when describing Mizzou's style, but Kansas landed far too many body blows for Mizzou to be effective last night. Mizzou became jelly-legged and lost, but I applaud both the effort and the game plan.
The Bench
Mizzou's Bench: 71 minutes, 16 points (4-20 FG, 1-8 3PT, 7-9 FT), 5 Reb (0 Off), 4 Ast, 3 TO, 2 Stl, 5.8 AdjGS Pts (0.08/min).
Turrible. In a game in which Kansas' No. 8 and No. 9 players scored 27 points and grabbed six rebounds by themselves, this isn't going to cut it.
Kim English
Kim English: 14 minutes, 6 points (1-6 FG), 1 rebound, 1 steal, 2 turnovers.
At home in Big 12 play, English is averaging 11.3 AdjGS/game and 0.48/minute. On the road: 3.5/game, 0.14/minute. One person (a team leader, no less) playing 7.8 points worse on the road. I'm growing extremely bitter about this right now, so I'm just going to move on before I say something overly bitchy. Clearly he is not responsible for Mizzou's defensive regression on the road, and clearly nobody in the world yearns and tries to succeed more than No. 24; but ... we could use those eight extra points on the road, Kim. All I'm going to say.
(And while we're at it, Mike Dixon, we could use the extra 4.8 points you lack on the road as well -- 10.2 AdjGS/game at home, 5.4 on the road.)
Summary
We've taken our medicine, and now it's time to move on to the most important set of games the season has to offer. Mizzou's next four games: Oklahoma, Texas Tech, at Iowa State, Baylor. We know how difficult Hilton Coliseum can be at times, but if Mizzou wants a good seed in the NCAA Tournament, they really, really need to go 4-0 in this stretch. We've seen glimpses of everything we need to see -- significant improvement from both Presseys, initiation of more contact, a pretty jumper from Bowers, steady play from Ratliffe, good play at home from Dixon and English (hey, three of the next four are at home) ... now we just need to see the correct results. This season may be somewhat disappointing, but Mizzou still has a chance to move to 22-6 over the next two weeks. I'll take that.
---
AdjGS: a take-off of the Game Score metric (definition here) accepted by a lot of basketball stat nerds. It takes points, assists, rebounds (offensive & defensive), steals, blocks, turnovers and fouls into account to determine an individual's "score" for a given game. The "adjustment" in Adjusted Game Score is simply matching the total game scores to the total points scored in the game, thereby redistributing the game's points scored to those who had the biggest impact on the game itself, instead of just how many balls a player put through a basket.
Usage%: This "estimates the % of team possessions a player consumes while on the floor" (via). The usage of those possessions is determined via a formula using field goal and free throw attempts, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. The higher the number, the more prevalent a player is (good or bad) in a team's offensive outcome. As you would expect, someone like Kim English has a high Usage%, while Steve Moore has an extremely low one.
Floor%: Via Basketball-Reference.com: Floor % answers the question, "when Player X uses a possession, what is the probability that his team scores at least 1 point?". The higher the Floor%, the more frequently the team probably scores when the given player is involved.
Touches/Possession: Using field goal attempts, free throw attempts, assists and turnovers, Touches attempt to estimate "the number of times a player touched the ball in an attacking position on the floor." Take the estimated touches and divide it by the estimated number of possessions for which a player was on the court, and you get a rough idea of how many times a player touched the ball in a given possession. For point guards, you'll see the number in the 3-4 range. For shooting guards and wings, 2-3. For Steve Moore, 1.30. You get the idea.
Anyway, using the Touches figure, we can estimate the percentage of time a player "in an attacking position" passes, shoots, turns the ball over, or gets fouled.
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I think the Gottlieb comment makes a lot more sense when applied to a poor-shooting “gym rat” from Baltimore, MD.
by Krbd2a on Feb 8, 2011 9:12 AM CST reply actions 1 recs
Good shooting
Mizzou made enough baskets to put away a lot of teams, kansas just made enough to put us away.
We lost to Kansas by about the same margin we lost to Colorado, here is to hoping the home game revenge is to the same degree.
Great synopsis
It’s hard for me to get too mad about our D against the opponent that showed up last night. Holy God…their passing was crisp, unselfish, they didn’t miss an open shot. ku played absolutely the best game they could have played on offense. Yeah, a lot of open shots, but when they reverse the ball like that and their guards are that unselfish, that’s going to happen.
O Kimmie, Where Art Thou?
Over-pursuit?
I think we contributed to the open shots by over-pursuing the ball. I really don’t want to sound very negative today, because I sense a lot of comments to be more on the critical side. I can’t blame people because it was KU. But I agree with others who did point out positives from last night. The first half was just awesome. There were a lot of good from last night.
born Dodger blue, now dyed Cardinals red
Bowers looked like an NBA prospect out there last night...
great mid-range game, ball control and court awareness. Plus, he didn’t get rattled, or over-confident when he realized his shots were falling.
We've talked about it all year long...
But I still just don’t understand:
(1) How Kimmie has gotten to be so ineffective. That really is the rule now, its the exception when he excels.
(2) How Bowers can be so shockingly good when he asserts himself — even against two of the best big men in the country — and then disappear in other games. It’s not like he misses tons of shots in other games, he simply doesn’t take them. Does he lack confidence or is it more complicated?
He got in a rhythm last night
for much of the year, L-Bow’s J has been inconsistent compared to last year (still hasn’t made a 3 this year, made 10 and 40% of his attempts last year). I understand why he has been hesitant to shoot outside of 15 feet this year, but if he takes last night’s performance forward, that would be huge for this team.
Kim English ...
… is 2004 Brad Smith v 2.0
The DeArmonds have tried to hype English into something of an NBA prospect “if only he could do something besides hit an open jumper”. Well, despite being a heck of a nice kid, he is not a good athlete, has poor basketball instincts and no, as Bill mentions, is overthinking everything.
Rather than trying to strengthen his many weaknesses on the court (ie, he’s trying too hard to please everyone else), he simply needs to maximize his strengths. He needs to be the black Matt Lawrence (or our version of Tyrady Morningreed). He needs to camp out in either corner or wing and just sit there waiting for his opportunity to drill a catch-and-shoot three ball. That’s what he is. And he could be Ubervaluable in that role.
But somewhere along the line, he’s decided he can get to the league by being a complete player and now that’s really jacking with his head.
Was once caught putting at night ... with the 15-year old daughter of the dean
by mitch cumstein on Feb 8, 2011 10:22 AM CST up reply actions
I agree with you wholeheartedly, sir
damn, kareem rush got fresshh
by Tysonthebison on Feb 8, 2011 2:51 PM CST up reply actions
(1) My own theory is that Kimmeh is overthinking to a painful degree.
With all the work he put in this summer trying to expand his game — drawing contact, mid-range jumpers, etc…all the things we wanted him to work on — when he got onto the court this fall, his instincts were gone. He didn’t know what to actually do when he had the ball. Then, with Denmon catching fire, he willingly accepted a deferred role as the No. 2 or No. 3 option. Now, when he has the ball, he has no idea whether to attack, shoot, or pass. There are glimpses of what he could be in every game (he had a perfect drive-and-draw-the-shooting-foul moment in the first half last night), but he just seems unsure of himself most of the time when he has the ball. He seems to have taken all the right steps in his development, but nothing seems instinctive to him right now.
(My own personal opinion, obviously.)
(2) Both Bowers and Denmon seem to disappear at times, and I assume that has to do with both their own mindset (they’re so good at not forcing the issue, even at times when it might be okay to force the issue) and because of the defense at hand. They take what’s given to them, but if it’s not given to them, they forget to step up sometimes. Denmon suffered from this last year, and Bowers appears to be doing the same this year. He certainly did aggressively look for his shot last night, though, and that was great to see (since the shots went in).
Denmon is showing a new leaf
His willingness to drive to the basket in the last few games, or the increased amount, is a very positive sign that he’s listening to his coaches. His development as a player is (to me) very similar at JT, both in increased aggressiveness and exceptional musculature. I like where he’s going, but I guess I don’t like the pace he’s set.
Finds MvP RoC to be a stellar individual
Good stuff, Bill...described very well. my opinions:
I don’t know what made Kimmie think he’s a consistent slasher. He rarely dribbles with his left hand, and he cannot elevate over/around big men without fading away. If he doesn’t fade away, 50% chance or better it’s getting blocked. Marcus uses his body so much better, and is much more explosive than Kim. Granted, he makes it work at times…but that’s when he has a clear path to the basket. He does not “juke” anyone, ever.
I also agree with Mitch above; Kim simply needs to keep defenses honest on the perimeter and nothing else. In doing so, he will open up lanes for his teammates to utilize.
Hes actually kinda terrible at dribbling and ball control
He probably thought he was really developing those over the off season but it’s a whole nother story when youre in big 12 play
damn, kareem rush got fresshh
by Tysonthebison on Feb 8, 2011 2:55 PM CST up reply actions
Mystery to me
both BCI’s over 2? Is the that really possible?
Kudos to the team for hitting FT’s. Yes, kU got to the line more (that’s a rant building about the officiating in college basketball and how there should be a wrath of firings…or firing squads), but this was a game in which despite the score and the crowd, the easy shots came.
Finds MvP RoC to be a stellar individual
i like the optimism, but
I think we need 4-0 to get a seed in the tourney, not just a good seed. 3-1 leaves us at 7-6 with no road wins, 2 road games lefts and one home game against kU. Hilton may be a tough place to play, but if we can’t beat the worst team in the Big 12 on the road, I don’t know why we think we could beat K-State or Nebraska on the road.
apologies in advance if this comes off bitchy, and i'm not aiming this right at you BUT
these “is mizzou even going to make the tournament” arguments just need to cease. they’re making the tournament. even if they go 8-8 in the league, they’ll be 22-9 with wins over vandy, illinois, k-state at least once, and possibly kansas at home. they’ll have an RPI in the 35-50 range. mizzou was still widely projected to be a 4-5 seed yesterday with the toughest part of their schedule behind them.
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by stlcardinalsfang on Feb 8, 2011 10:43 AM CST up reply actions
I think Mizzou will make the tournament
I also think they will go 4-0. But, at some point, you have to win on the road to get in. If we lose at Hilton, I don’t see us getting to 8-8. We have to win a game on the road to do that (or beat kU at home) to get to .500.
Iowa State is awful this year. This isn’t a “Mizzou can’t win on the road” rant, it’s just an observation. Coloardo – Burks went nuts. A&M – we gave it away at the end. Texas – they were great. kU – they were even better. None of our road loses taken individually is that bad. But at some point, it becomes a trend. We have players who don’t seem to bring it on the road and they need to for us to win. Can they? You bet. Will they? I sure as heck hope so.
I think this team is a tournament team. I think this team has a chance to make a modest run in the tournament. I think they are superior to Iowa St. I think they have no reason not to win that game on the road.
I KNOW, that I have been wrong before. I think if we lose to Iowa St. on the road, there is a serious question about if we can get to 8-8.
I agree the hardest part of our schedule is behind us, but if we don’t execute on the easy part, why is it so crazy to think we would fall short?
correct me if I'm wrong, but
an 8-8 team from the B12 has never made the tournament. (On the flip side, I think there have been only one or two teams that finished 9-7 or better that missed the tourney.)
Also, Illinois and K-State wins are hardly anything to write home about at this point.
k-state is iffy at best, you are correct.
but the illinois win is still good. RPI of 38 and a kenpom ranking of 15. that’s still something to tout on your resume.
and an 8-8 team has never made the tournament, you are correct. but show me an 8-8 big 12 team that went 14-1 in noncon.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Feb 8, 2011 11:03 AM CST up reply actions
8-8 teams don't make the tourney...
…because a team that goes 8-8 typically doesn’t have the overall resume to get in, not specifically because they went 8-8. I obviously hope we don’t go 8-8, but I still wouldn’t be worried about whether we’re in in that scenario…only that we’d be in position to get a terrible seed…
here's a fun one...
we go 22-9, 8-8 but then win the tourney to finish 26-9. what’s the seed? i’d say 6 or 7.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Feb 8, 2011 12:10 PM CST up reply actions
Two things to keep in mind
1) The bubble for “mid-majors” this year is incredibly weak, with traditional bid stealers like Gonzaga, Butler and Missouri Valley Conference teams struggling. Also, right now, the MWC has only two locks instead of three or four like the last few seasons.
2) 3 extra seeds are in play now that the tourney has expanded from 65 to 68. So while there is a historical precedent for an 8-8 B12 team to have never made the tournament, I don’t think it applies anymore.
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I reject your reality and substitute my own." ~ Adam Savage, Mythbusters
Good points...
There would have to be a “new precedent”. But since the committee looks at the end of the season more than the non-con…that’s a strike against us, if this scenario were to play out.
As far as a 14-1 non-con goes…again, our non-con wins look less and less impressive, IMO. Let’s just hope for 9-7 or better.
but they're still wins...and like i said, illinois and vandy are still legit.
and my only point is that there’s never been an 8-8 team that only had one loss in noncon.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Feb 8, 2011 1:05 PM CST up reply actions
I think the presumption of going 8-8 is the issue
If we don’t go 4-0 in the next 4, I don’t think we get to 8-8. I fully expect to win the next 4, so it shouldn’t be an issue. But if we lose 1, I think we are staring a bubble right in the face.
Thoughts
So we lost last night…which I’m pretty sure everyone was ready for. But this game brings a lot of good for the Tigers.
Think back to the last couple of years…the beginning of February is when Mizzou has started to put things together. In 2009 we didn’t lose in Feb, winning at Austin after losing in Lincoln and Manhattan. Last year after blowing the gam against aTm things started to click until Saffy went down with his injury and then we seemed to go into a little tailspin.
I really think things started to click in the Colorado game and we looked very good last night. Yeah so kansas hit damn near everything last night. They only missed 7 shots in the second half…and got 5 offensive rebounds. That happens. If we play with that kind of patience and ball movement that we displayed for the first half, we’ll win the majority of what’s left on our schedule.
I think Kansas could have missed a great more shots and the score wouldn’t have changed. We simply could not compete on the boards. We hardly got a clean rebound in the 2nd half and during their big run got none. All they had to was throw it up and go get it.
Can't agree more about the help side rebounding
This is not to place the blame squarely on the defensive help. The opposing dribble penetration or low posting created the double team, which resulted in the lack of blocking out on the help side. So maybe I am blaming more our defense at the top and not at the bottom.
born Dodger blue, now dyed Cardinals red
random place to ask this question BUT
we have three scholarships to give next season, no? safford’s, underwood’s, and mitchell’s?
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Feb 8, 2011 10:43 AM CST reply actions
I don't believe this year
Great moments are born from great opportunity.
Follow me on Twitter @muwxman
Correct, scholly was freed up and offered last year. Not this year.
The sleeper has awoken. . .awakened. . .he woke up.
by SleepyFloyd7 on Feb 8, 2011 12:01 PM CST up reply actions
It is close, but I think the flagrant was appropriate for that bitch move.
The sleeper has awoken. . .awakened. . .he woke up.
by SleepyFloyd7 on Feb 8, 2011 12:02 PM CST up reply actions
Agreed.
I obviously wouldn’t have complained if he’d been ejected, but I didn’t expect it at all. (And not in a “Of course they wouldn’t at AFH” way — wouldn’t have expected it at Mizzou Arena either.)
does anyone honestly think winning at hilton is going to be that big an issue?
we beat them by THIRTY THREE at home. granted, it took a lot of good for us/bad for them moments to make that happen, but playing on the road should never equate to more than 10-15 points much less 33.
follow me on twitter @nickg105
by stlcardinalsfang on Feb 8, 2011 12:12 PM CST reply actions
any place on the road is an issue for us, it seems.
if for no other reason than that we’re not allowed to play our game (due to tight calls). we saw last night what happens when our aggressiveness is completely stripped away. granted isu is no kansas, but i look for a struggle against the “magic” of hilton.
"You can't get a job without experience and you can't get experience until you have a job. Once you solve that problem you are home free." -Jack Buck
by threadkiller on Feb 8, 2011 12:45 PM CST up reply actions
Steve Moore
A silver lining over the past several games: Steve Moore has become a legitimate minutes-eater. No, he isn’t in danger of being a star any time soon, but you can see he’s working hard in there, contesting every shot, Fosbury-flopping every time there’s a chance he can draw a charge. He still gets beat by his man more often than you’d like, but it’s not for lack of trying. He’s going to have to keep it up if ‘Cardo can’t stop himself from fouling every three minutes over the second half of the conference season.
Anyway, Steve was overmatched last night, as he often is, but I like what he’s been bringing lately. Here’s hoping he keeps improving his game. We’re gonna need him.
Completely agree.
He knows his role, plays within it, and you know exactly what you’re going to get with him…for about 10 minutes or so.
I dunno man...hockey?
What I love about Steve Moore is
the improvement he has shown since day one. He was the definition of a project and has developed nicely. Really a testament to CMA and staff’s ability to teach and develop players.
"Anderson won't make substitutions. He'll change lines - Tiller, Taylor and English hit the bench while Denmon, Dixon and Paul hop the boards. Welcome to Hockey Night in Columbia. He won't take time outs. He'll take on fuel and tires. Welcome to the Hardwood 400." - Atch
Steeeeve is the biggest body out there
I am glad to see him get more minutes. As long as he can rebound and play solid D he will be extremely valuable. I actually think he has some offensive skills but I am happy even w/o him displaying them.
born Dodger blue, now dyed Cardinals red
10 minutes...
…a game from Steve in conference play used to seem like a ridiculous pipe dream. Now, it’s a realistic contribution. Getting 8-10 minutes a game from Steve is going to be essential from here on out, especially if we keep giving up so many fouls on the road.
Now, if only Kreklow could hold down his role (read: hit a jump shot once in a while).
Kreklow's role seems to be that of a ferret overdosed on Four Loko.
"Smell the perfume but don't drink it because it might kill you." Erin Andrews recounting advise from Gary Pinkel
by Gaknar on Feb 8, 2011 1:11 PM CST up reply actions 4 recs
LOL. He sure does shoot like this is the case.
Well done.
"Anderson won't make substitutions. He'll change lines - Tiller, Taylor and English hit the bench while Denmon, Dixon and Paul hop the boards. Welcome to Hockey Night in Columbia. He won't take time outs. He'll take on fuel and tires. Welcome to the Hardwood 400." - Atch
We were ready to play, we were just an inferior team.
We don’t play another team even close to the caliber of KU at AFH all year long. If we come out ready to play for the next 6 games, we should be able to win every game. When we play KU at home, we should be able to outplay them on our own court. They didn’t turn the ball over at home, but at Mizzou Arena they will. I’m very confident that this team will go 11-5, worst-case 10-6.
Boxing out on free-throws?
Anyone else notice how Cardo, Bowers and Saffy were constantly being beat on boxing out on free throws? I couldn’t believe how many times KU players got in on our players. I think KU did get called for an offensive foul once on jostling for free throw rebound positioning. I don’t want to sound too negative on Cardo and Bowers seeing that they were pretty awesome last night. Saffy did pretty good too.
born Dodger blue, now dyed Cardinals red
Gah!!
Though I was afraid the result would be what it was, there was that glimmer of hope especially the way we started out playing. It seemed like our big guys started getting called for everything & theirs got away with everything in the second half. Plus they were shooting lights out and what they missed they got the board and got the putback. I was glad to see us at least play well on the road for once. We seem to play just below the level of whom we’re playing on the road. Hopefully, we’re done with that!
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