In the words of Sprite pitchman Miles Thirst, "King-sized waterbed, plasma screen, blah blah blah." The game was almost boring in its efficiency. State had nothing left for the game, and due in large part to Lord Baltimore's previously unknown mutant power, it was over early. Mizzou kept it in cruise control after the under 16 timeout. Coaches love these kinds of blowouts so they can work on their curmudgeon routines. Anyway, one thought on OSU and one on ISU.

1. Kimmeh has improved his handle. Before getting to that though, he came out and refused to let Mizzou play down to the level of the opponent. I have argued that he's a 3/stretch 4 stuck in a 2's body, and he may yet get me to re-think that. My impression over the past few games is that he is taking the ball into traffic far less often in the halfcourt. On the break he's not overhandling the ball. His defense has been good-to-borderline-outstanding all year.

2. Even if we lose, I am glad it's Texas rather than ISU. The Longhorns are playing well, and obviously they gave us a lot of trouble in Austin. So if we're not on our Ps and Qs they can beat us. The difference is that beating Texas is an easy, straightforward baseball metaphor. "The 'Horns are gonna give you a fastball to hit. You have to be ready. They're not trying to fool you." On the other hand, Iowa State defies any single metaphor. The Cyclones are a mixed metaphor. They are all Big 12 defensive end Royce White surrounded by a gaggle of guys committed to putting up 35 collective three-point shots. I'm ready to see them play somebody else. I wanna see the "what the bloody hell?" look on the faces of some unsuspecting team when White flies by their power forward then pancakes the help defender (and then airmails the free throw attempt).