Mizzou Links, 4-27-11

by Bill C. on Apr 27, 2011 5:26 AM CDT in News

This guy might be a bit bulkier next year.

Draft Links

The Trib: Gabbert leaves MU offense behind in showcasing skills for NFL
The Trib (Dave Matter): Getting a draft buzz with Bunting
Buffalo Rumblings: Baker's Dozen Bills Scheme Fit: Blaine Gabbert (An absolutely outstanding post.)

While not the project that other quarterbacks in the class are, Gabbert is still a project. He's going to need reps running Gailey's vertical timing plays, in particular, to solve whatever issues he has completing deeper throws. Keep in mind that the plays described earlier are the among the simplest reads; the majority of the plays from the offenses are much more complex, and involve both sides of the field, and the running backs.

If forced to play early, Gailey will need to narrow his offense to away from vertical timing plays. While this seems to be OK, with Gailey able to draw plays from the other three philiosophies, taking away the vertical timing plays will allow a defense to collapse all 11 defenders inside 10 yards from the line of scrimmage. This will clog up the horizontal timing lanes, and diminish the run game.

Gabbert reminds me of another player Buddy Nix drafted: Philip Rivers. Like Rivers, it is in Gabbert's best interest to sit a year (or two) to learn the vertical timing offense and open up his passing options.
Cat Scratch Reader: The gravity of the Panthers' decision should they select Gabbert
SB Nation KC: Blaine Gabbert's Selection Range is Widening As NFL Draft Approaches
Yahoo.com: Scout takes pride in 'rogue' label
NBC Sports: Report: Redskins still want to deal up for QB

Mizzou Football Links

KC Star: The Ups and Downs of Mizzou's Spring Depth Chart

3. Junior to be Rolandis Woodland is No. 3 at the X wide receiver slot and Woodland may be running out of time to deliver on the potential so many believed he had. He is quite obviously not the next Jeremy Maclin. But perhaps this is one of those who is being delivered a message by the coaching staff about the difference between potential and tangible performance.

4. Andrew Wilson doesn't like to talk about himself to the point of paranoia. But the redshirt sophomore-to-be out of Peculiar has risen to a starting spot at strongside linebacker for a reason. Case in point, a wide receiver saying - after a bone-jarring hit - that he didn't know who delivered it but that it felt like Wilson. If Wilson can continue to do that, no one will worry about the Sound of Silence approach to media ops.
Scout.com: The Bootleg's 2011 Graduation Rate Analysis
Fox Sports MW: Derrick Washington eyes return to football

Big 12 Football Links

Big 12 Sports: Three Additional Big 12 Football Games Announced as Early TV Selections

Mizzou Basketball Links

The Trib: New strength coach brings a little bulk to Missouri basketball

The man overseeing the pushing has been new strength-and-conditioning coach Todor Pandov, who two weeks ago started Dixon and his teammates on a three-day-a-week weightlifting regimen.

It’s a first step as he begins to help them retool their bodies for a new brand of basketball under Coach Frank Haith, one dependent more on strength than the speed and agility required for the Fastest 40 Minutes in Basketball of predecessor Mike Anderson. That’s particularly true for forwards such as Laurence Bowers, who will be asked to bang under the basket.

Pandov, a 31-year-old native of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, has a good idea what physical attributes will be important for Haith’s system. He spent two stints on the coach’s staff with Miami, working as a graduate manager during the 2007-08 season before returning to South Florida to be the head strength coach before last season.

"Coach and I talk all the time about what he wants the guys to be like and what he expects them to be," Pandov said.
PowerMizzou: The visits begin

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Comments

I wonder how much weight Bowers can put on

without losing the stuff that makes him effective. Either way, I’m just glad that Coach Haith is savvy enough to know that while he can’t get us the fullback we have all longed for, he can make his basketball team look like fullbacks.

by mizzou2396 on Apr 27, 2011 8:59 AM CDT reply actions

The most amazing thing about the Posnanski column

is how genuinely humble he is. “If you think I’m bad at this, you should see the rest of my life.”

by AlaTiger on Apr 27, 2011 9:04 AM CDT reply actions

So, wait... the Chicago Bears are coming to Simmons Field today? Awesome!

(yay autolinking)

Elke ware zoon, zo blij van harte / Hemels boven ons zijn blauw / Er is een geest zo diep binnen ons / Oud Missouri dit is voor jou / Wanneer de band het Tijger oorlogslied speelt / En wanneer de strijd over is / We zullen stampen, stampen, stampen, rond de kolommen / Met een kreet voor oud Mizzou!

by Dutch Missourian on Apr 27, 2011 9:31 AM CDT reply actions

Bunting...

Because when you can give away an out and decrease your run scoring potential in one play, it’s just something you have to do.

Gah, I hate bunting.

I think we'll reconcile it by winning!
-Kim English

by Jack618 on Apr 27, 2011 10:41 AM CDT reply actions

Errr... last I checked, a well-executed bunt results in an increased run scoring potential.

by Dutch Missourian on Apr 27, 2011 11:10 AM CDT up reply actions

If you move the runner on first with zero outs to second base with one out, your scoring percentages decrease.

Unless by “well-executed” you mean “get on base”, then yes that obviously helps.

by DnrW on Apr 27, 2011 11:32 AM CDT up reply actions

Not according to most statistical research.

I’m not saying a team should never bunt, but it does decrease the likelihood of run scoring potential. Sometimes it will increase the potential to score one run, so a successful bunt is a good strategy if you are tied or down one in the late innings of a game. However, a bunt pretty much always decreases the chances you will score more than one run, so it should almost never be used before the end of the game.

I think we'll reconcile it by winning!
-Kim English

by Jack618 on Apr 27, 2011 11:47 AM CDT up reply actions

i don't think you've checked.

i got nuthin

by joeschmitt on Apr 27, 2011 11:52 AM CDT up reply actions

When your biggest, slowest power bat is at the plate...

…you don’t have him bunt. The stats do back up that bunting, at best, barely improves your run scoring potential in certain cases, but that’s not even the point … having Pedro Alvarez bunt is just insane.

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by Bill C. on Apr 27, 2011 11:53 AM CDT up reply actions

Ah, sorry, I hadn't read that article and didn't realize he was refering to it.

But then, I ALWAYS bunted in OOTP with a runner on first with no outs, even if it was Albert Pujols or some equivalent, and that strategy worked just fine in video-game land. (of course, unlike the Pirates, my entire lineups typically consisted of Pujols-level players)

by Dutch Missourian on Apr 27, 2011 2:12 PM CDT up reply actions

I guess I should add

that I’m a big small-ball, fast-pace, every-base-runner-is-a-threat-to-steal-at-any-time advocate, and probably should have been born 50 years ago…
But this is also a big reason I’ve become more and more of a fan of Mizzou softball. I really wish Mizzou (as well as professional) baseball played with their level of energy, which is much more my kind of game.

by Dutch Missourian on Apr 27, 2011 2:24 PM CDT up reply actions

gabbert was on the dan patrick show this morning

heard a few minutes on the way to work. handled himself pretty well imo.

a few highlights…
dp: who has better hair, you or mel kiper? bg: i know you’re obsessed with your hair. i’ll say mine is better than mel’s

dp: who is the best qb in draft? bg: selfishly, i’ll say me

dp: why are you better than cam newton? bg basically said that mizzou’s offense required him to make plays downfield, not just dink and dunk or run

dp: would carolina be wrong to ont pick you? bg deflected, said they will make what they think is the best choice for their team

dp asked if bg’s girlfriend was going to the draft (no). good choice because the longer you sit there, the more time people have to pick apart your gf

funny exchange about a background noise (sounded like a doorbell or elevator)

talked about the wonderlic and bg’s ‘photographic memory’. dp: which sooner has a 70’s porn star ’stache? bg: landry jones

that’s all i can remember off the top of my head. bg did well, he came off as a little too earnest in some of his answers, but that can happen since dp is full of crap most of the time. after a few years, bg will have the non-answer answer perfected.

m-i-z... z-o-u!

by Wooderson on Apr 27, 2011 12:41 PM CDT reply actions