Mizzou Tiger Hoops

Mizzou Tiger Hoops pretty much died down after a scorching start. I apologize for this. However, as odd as it may be after all the triumphs of the past month, today’s debacle (that’s a generous term) in Lawrence has inspired to start blogging about the Tigers again. 

Where to start… I don’t want to go too much into the game because frankly it pretty much explains itself. Mizzou shot 35% this afternoon while kU connected on better than 55% of their shots. I thought that the tone for the game was pretty much set on two different occasions early in the first half.

The first ominous event: J.T. Tiller’s steal, break-away, and missed lay-up with the Tigers trailing 7-5. The “Jayhawks” then went down and got another awkward, non-jumping dunk from Cole Aldrich (who looks more and more like a Soviet Bloc extra from a Bond film every time I see him) to go up 9-5. Only a four point swing, but it really fed the beast that was their crowd, and this was bad as early as it was. You also don’t want to give up easy opportunities when you absolutely, positively have to get off to a quality start. 

Yeah...that about sums it up.

The second ominous event: At just under the 14 minute mark, Matt Lawrence fouled Mario Little, sending him to the stripe with the Tigers trailing 13-5. Little made the first, missed the second, GOT HIS OWN REBOUND, and kicked it out for a Sherron Collins three. Allowing a four point possession, awful rebounding, and finding yourself down by 12 in a flash are not things that are conducive for a Tigers win against a very good oppenent like the “Jayhawks.” The team was struggling to find any kind of offensive flow at this point, and with the deficit extended so rapidly, it was harder for them because they started to press even more. 

As much as this one stings, when you take away the heart-strings and rivalry undertones, nothing really has changed. Yes, the Tigers need to virtually climb Mt. Everest now to win the Big 12 regular-season title, but let’s be realistic, if you honestly thought Mizzou SHOULD have won the conference title you are kidding yourself. 

Asking a young team to win in Lawrence with the “Jayhawks” coming off their biggest win of the year last Monday over OU is asking too much. Then expecting them to turn around and beat a full-strength OU team that has been among the finest in the nation is a little too much as well. Even if they had done all that incredible stuff they would still have had most likely a must-win game on the road against a decent team in Texas A&M that would be adamant on improving its seed in the conference tournament.

It just wasn’t realistic. Instead of being disappointed in what this team didn’t do on Sunday, Tiger fans should take a tough step back from the emotion and realize how great this season has been already. Many “experts” picked them to finish 7th in the conference. Mizzou will finish 3rd, maybe even 2nd. This in itself means a successful season to me. 

All I ask for in this final week is for the team to come out and compete with OU, and maybe steal a game in the latter portion of the second half on Wednesday. Winning in College Station I would say is a big deal right now to create some momentum and confidence going into the conference tournament. 

-Greg M.