During the first 2 games and the few exhibition games I’ve seen an unappealing trend. It’s what I call “The Light Switch.” There seem to be times in each game where they just flip the switch on and start playing really well. On the same note they can turn it off just as easily. I understand that basketball is a game of runs, but with Mizzou it seems so abrupt. In a flash this team goes from good to bad, or bad to good.
In the first 2 regular season games the light switch was flipped on right at the end of the half and in both games it stayed on until the “good” (the guys that play all the time) players came out of the game.
We seem to forget to flip it on at the beginning of games. We are not going to be able to fall behind good teams like we have to begin the game. This team has to come out with fire and put some points on the board early in order to get the rhythm going (and keep from turning the switch off).
Also, good teams play well all the time. They may go into shooting funks or have problems scoring at some points in a game, but it doesn’t last long, and the defense never suffers. With Mizzou, when that switch is off, both ends struggle. This must be fixed if we want to be successful this weekend.
In conclusion, there are two options:
A) Turn it on, and keep it on for most of the game.
B) When we feel like we start to struggle and it may be in the process of being turned off, pick up the intensity, and bear down on D.
We do that, this team will be able to hang with some good teams.
-Ken Boehlke
Filed under: Preview | Tags: Fairfield, Memphis, O’Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip -Off, Seton Hall, USC, Virginia Tech, Xavier
There have been a number of discussions that I have been a part of as well as ones that I have overheard about the upcoming tournament Mizzou is about to play in. The way it works you are guaranteed 3 games no matter how many you win or lose.
That being said the difference in competition Mizzou will face is vast based on whether the Tigers win or lose their first game. The game against Xavier is obviously a good one for Mizzou to have on the schedule. Tigers beat Xavier they go on to play Virginia Tech (Unless Fairfield knocks off VT), lose to Xavier and Mizzou plays Fairfield. But that’s not where the discussion comes in. The interesting part of the tournament is where losers go. If Mizzou loses game 1 they fall to the losers bracket where the best team they could play barring any massive upsets is Seton Hall. Win game one and VT is followed by USC or Memphis (Mizzou would play the team that has the same result as them in respective game 2’s.)
So the question is, do you want to beat Xavier and take your chances with VT and Memphis or USC, or lose to Xavier and basically guarantee yourself a winning record in the tournament?
I am here to answer the question for you. While I fully understand the logic behind wanting to win as many games as possible while in Puerto Rico. I don’t think feeling good about losing a game so that you can win 2 more is the way to think. Not to mention if Mizzou beats Xavier, they should not have that hard of a time knocking off Virginia Tech so that 2nd win shouldn’t be a monumental climb after game 1.
The more I look into it the more I can see a Mizzou/Memphis final, which I can tell you will not be pretty to watch for the Gold and Black Tigers. The reason why I see this as possibile has nothiung to do with Xavier. To set the record straight I don’t think Mizozu will beat Xavier. But in the event that they do, they would be playing their next game against a slightly worse opponent (based on polls, Xavier is receiving votes while VT is not). Therefore if Mizozu can beat Xavier, in theory they can beat VT too. But don’t get your hopes too high.
So when you sit down mid-afternoon tomorrow to watch Mizzou face off with Xavier, don’t even think about the benefits of losing that game, because if it happens then we can talk about how nice it was to lose later.
-Ken Boehlke
Filed under: Preview | Tags: Add new tag, Athlon Sports, Columbia Tribune, Davidson, DeMarre Carroll, Keith DeWitt, Mike Anderson, Norm Stewart, Praire View A&M, Southern Conference, Stephen Curry, Steve Walentik, Tennessee, UT-Chattanooga, Xavier
On Saturday afternoon the Tigers finally put together an effective full-court defense for the first time since CMA (Coach Mike Anderson) has been at Mizzou. Seeing as this is allegedly his specialty, that is pretty exciting. Yes it was against a weak opponent, but Prairie View A&M played most of the game with a four guard lineup, and it still worked against all those ball-handlers. Against Tennessee last weekend, Chattanooga committed 24 turnovers. Put the pedal to the medal tonight CMA!
Look at that athleticism!
Tonight’s game against UT-Chattanooga should keep the thrills coming. Athlon Sports has Chattanooga winning their division in the Southern Conference (where Stephen Curry the excellent lives and rains 3’s). I’m no SoCon expert, but Davidson will probably win that conference, but who knows, maybe Chattanooga can get a conference tourney uspet and sneak into the NCAA’s. So potentially tonight we are facing a team that could wind up in the NCAA’s. All feeble attempts to hype up this game aside, I am excited.
Athlon Sports lists Chattanooga’s main weakness as ball-handling, and notes that last season they committed 80 more turnovers than they forced. This could mean a great time for Tiger fans tonight with the newfound press taking over. If the ball isn’t rolling all around Norm Stewart Court tonight than the press should probably be scrapped.
It looks like the Chattanooga’s best player is 6-7 forward Nichaeus Doaks, who went for 16 and 9 against Tennessee. This will be nice test for DeMarre Carroll early in the season, especially before next Thursday’s game against Xavier.
- Greg M.
Here is an interesting article dealing with new recruit Keith DeWitt from Steve Walentik at the Tribune.
Filed under: Postgame | Tags: Keith Ramsey, Leo Lyons, Mike Anderson, NBA, Tiger Talk
I was not exactly thrilled with this afternoons game. I will say I was very encouraged with a number of things I saw in the game but still there were spurts of the “old” Mizzou. Hopefully that is am real term that I will continue to write because that would mean that the garbage we have seen the last few years is old. But I’m afraid it may not be true.
The first 4 minutes of this game almost made me vomit. It was like a nightmare. I keep having flashes of last year go through my head. I could just see 5 guys passing the ball abound the outside never once making a cut towards the rim, and therefore never once having a legitamate scoring opportunity. Luckily Leo decided it was time to impress the NBA scouts and we got going a little bit.
But the real fun came when we got to see some “young” guys (I put young in quotes because they are like 2 years younger than me and Ramsey is probably older than me). We began to see the real press. We began to see turnovers, made threes, fast breaks, GOOD BASKETBALL. It was great.
This flash of good play got me to realize exactly what will make this team successful and what will not. And it’s actually quite simple. Mike Anderson’s stubborness to play the guys he feels need to be in the game. I am not picking on one guy in particular and I am not throwing coach under the bus. But I feel like at times he makes substitutions that seem out of the ordinary, or unneccesary. I woud start listing examples but I’d like to keep this as short as possible.
My point is the success of this team rides on how much Anderson goes with hot hands and not how much he goes on preparation, age, and other factors that I can’t explain because I’m not him. For the first time this year I can honestly say I think this team has enough talent to be successful in the Big 12 and even enough to make it to the tourney. But these dreams will only be realized if the only committment Coach has is to winning. He cannot worry about playing time, cannot worry about who practices the best, cannot base subs on personal problems. No commitments but to winning the game in front of him. He does that and I think this team can be successful. He doesn’t and there’s going to be a lot of posts from me about Anderson’t stubbornness. He subs to my liking and I may actually kiss his ass at Tiger Talk on Mondays.
-Ken Boehlke
Filed under: Preview | Tags: DeMarre Carroll, J.T. Tiller, Zaire Taylor, Marcus Denmon, Matt Lawrence, Leo Lyons, Kimmie English, Praire View A&M, SWAC, UCLA, Tim Meadows, Chris Jones, Derek Johnson, Dorian McDaniel, Darnell Hugee
The Tigers season officially begins tomorrow afternoon with the Prairie View A&M Panthers of the SWAC dropping by Mizzou Arena. PVAM (0-2) had the privilege of playing UCLA in their opener and lost by 24 points, which frankly I think is a bit impressive just looking at the number. I didn’t watch the game and don’t how if UCLA called off the dogs or if PVAM hit some 3’s at the end, but losing by 24 to a top 5 team strikes me as not that bad.
Here are what I gather to be the probable starters
Mizzou: G Zaire Taylor, G J.T. Tiller, G-F Matt Lawrence, F DeMarre Carroll, F Leo Lyons
Prairie View A&M: G Tim Meadows (6-3), G Chris Jones (6-0), G Derek Johnson (6-1), G Dorian McDaniel (6-6), F Darnell Hugee (6-7)
PVAM apparently has quite the celebrity lineup what with funnyman Meadows and KC Chiefs linebacker Johnson (albeit the spelling is off) working in the backcourt. All joking aside, if this is clearly a game the Tigers need, should, and in all likelihood, will win. Here are a few things I really want to see in this game –
- Leo be assertive and really attack the rim instead of settle for mid-range shots. He is a great mid-range shooter, but against such an undersized team I want to see him really use his length and size in the post.
- Watch how the press handles a four-guard lineup. I’m assuming that all four guards can handle the ball, and this could make it easier for them to break the press. We will get an early look at how well this version of the Tigers can run the press.
- Watch someone hit a few threes. The obvious strength of this team will be its interior, so if someone can start shooting consistently from beyond the arc, it will be free things up for Leo and DeMarre. Possible candidates: Denmon, English, Lawrence
Here is what Athlon Sports said about PVAM…
“The Panthers aren’t expected to fare much better than the middle of the SWAC pack after losing Aaron Smith and Brian Ezeh, who combined for 24.7 points per game last season. Help could come from Derrick Johnson (11.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg) and Dorian McDaniel (5.5 ppg). Senior forward Jacoie Shivers will need to step up his inside game at both ends of the floor to make Prairie View A&M SWAC title contenders.”
- Greg M.
Filed under: Analysis | Tags: DeMarre Carroll, J.T. Tiller, Justin Safford, Keith Ramsey, Laurence Bowers, Marcus Denmon, Mike Anderson, UAB, Zaire Taylor
Now I understand all we have seen from this team is a scrimmage and two exhibition games, but I still have yet to see any of the promises that Mike Anderson claimed when he was hired.
I will not claim that I watched every UAB game under Anderson, but I do remember games he coached in the tournament. UAB was not the most talented team in the tourney and rarely even the more talented team in any particular game. But never were they out of a game because they could always rattle off 10 points before the other team got the ball across the mid-court stripe. And that style is what got Mike Anderson hired here at Mizzou.
So I ask, is it too much to ask for to actually run the style of defense Anderson told us we would see? A few times a game the press is run as full speed. Traps, deflections, diving players. Exciting basketball. Apparently for Coach Anderson it must be too much to handle for these players.
Finally Anderson has a full roster of “his” players. Yet still the Tigers truly press less than half of the possessions, and we have no explanations as to why not. It can’t be that there aren’t good enough athletes (Carroll, Tiller, Safford, Taylor, Denmon, Bowers, Ramsey). It can’t be youth because the Tigers were one of the oldest team in D1 last year and we didn’t see it. And it can’t be because the Big 12 can handle the pressure because the Tigers aren’t doing it against each other in scrimmages or against the D2 teams Mizzou has been playing.
So here’s to hoping it changes, or we may be in for 40 minutes of hell ourselves.
-Ken Boehlke
