Game 12: UCLA

This was a wildly entertaining game with a horrible finish for Tiger fans.  Not only did Missouri completely fold, but some questionable officiating sure went UCLA's way.  From a critical standpoint, I thought Missouri played pretty poorly.  Some disturbing trends continued in this game which show the glaring weaknesses that the team will need to shore up if it wants to make a deep run this year.  In all the things to be disappointed in this game (bad calls, Bell's missed gimmie, etc.), the thing that most frustrated me was how lazy Mizzou looked, especially in getting back on defense.  UCLA had tons of easy shots in this game just because they pushed the ball up the floor and beat Missouri defenders to the other end.  That is ridiculous.  The worst play of all was when UCLA had the fast break in which the player out in front missed the lay-up and ALL of the UCLA players were trailing the play while ALL of the Missouri players didn't even bother to run back.

Ever wonder why Missouri is one of the worst teams in the nation at forcing turnovers...they don't hustle.  There were numerous occasions where a UCLA player on offense lost control of the dribble and the Missouri defenders just stood there watching as the player would track down the ball.  On one occasion, the UCLA player dribbled the ball off of his foot and it darted forward toward the Mizzou defenders and none of them even made an attempt to get it.  Inexplicable.

As annoying as Bill Walton was in the telecast, I completely agreed with his point about stats not being worth a lick when the only thing that matters is the win or the loss.  As a result, Pressey's huge night is lost because they couldn't close out the game.

Frank Haith
I normally don't grade the coaching, but tonight I was just floored with what I saw from Missouri.  Surely it should have been a no-brainer to insert Oriakhi in the game for UCLA's last possession.  But instead, NWC is kept in the game who hasn't made a play on defense all year.  Missouri looked like a poorly-coached team in the waning moments of the game and I didn't see a single move that Haith made that helped.  That was disappointing.

Haith also figured it would be nice to go to zone, despite looking horrible every time they tried it in the Bahamas.  Well, it looked just as bad as UCLA scored a wide-open dunk against it.  Why do these guys struggle with defense so much?  Grade: 3/10.

Phil Pressey
Phil had a great game, but was visibly tired at the end and made some questionable decisions late that proved to be costly.  I hope that he will learn from it and move on.  I also hope that he will forgive Bell for blowing what would have been assist number 20.  I'm going to give Pressey high marks because he did a lot of amazing things in this game.  However, his defense was very poor in this game.  He pretty much let Larry Drew II get to whatever spot he wanted on the floor.  Grade: 8/10.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers also wilted at the end after making so many good cuts for a good portion of the game.  All of Bowers makes were dunks and lay-ups on Pressey assists.  But someone has to finish in close.  It seems that is harder than we might think.  Grade: 7/10.

QUICK OFFICIATING NOTE: Pressey and Bowers shot 36 shots from the field in this game, but only were given one free throw attempt.  Hmmm....

Jabari Brown
Brown hit 50% from behind the arc and also made some big shots at crucial times when it was needed.  However, he botched the play at the end of regulation which proved to be costly.  Grade: 6/10.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi played 19 minutes due to foul trouble.  Missouri's defense was noticeably better when he was in the game and I felt like when he was out, UCLA was more likely to get an offensive rebound (which was absolutely the case during the Rosburg-Jank minutes).  Now we know that it is better to grab a player with two hands who is driving to the basket than it is to put the ball down on the floor.  Grade: 5/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan was disappointing because he completely loses his mind whenever Pressey goes out of the game.  He did an okay job when he was guarding Kyle Anderson, but every other guard who he tried to defend blew right by him.  Grade: 3/10.

Earnest Ross
Ross had a very nice stat line, but missed a crucial free throw late and also struggled on defense (really, the whole team did so there's no point in me singling people out in this regard).  He made a couple of fundamental errors in this game (like trying to save a ball from going out of bounds that clearly went off a UCLA player and then late in the game, not giving the ball up on a 3-on-1 fast break which would have presumedly led to a Brown dunk).  Otherwise, Ross was a very steady contributor in this game.  Grade: 7/10.

Keion Bell
It's hard to rag on Bell since he did knock in 17 points and provided some nice energy when Missouri took it's big lead.  He also was a force on the offensive boards, converting a number of tips early on and then keeping some balls alive.  However, I can't get past that missed lay-up.  Unbelievable.  Grade: 6/10.

Jankovic and Rosburg
These guys just aren't ready for big-time basketball.  UCLA scored on every possession in which these guys were on the floor.  They are such a huge defensive liability that it's hard to justify them getting any minutes in a tight game.

Overall Thoughts
Missouri allowed UCLA to score 97 points on 81 possessions by giving up so many easy baskets due to UCLA beating the Tigers down the floor.  Missouri's team defense needs to improve.  They looked good in the one spurt when they pushed the lead to 9 points, then got lazy (or tired) and seemed to let the Bruins take whatever shot they wanted.  Missouri had 17 turnovers, UCLA only had 6.

It would have been nice to win this game, but it's really not a huge deal overall.  I just hope they learn and get better.

Next up:  Bucknell on the 5th (Saturday).

Christmas Wish List

This is largely an extension of my thoughts from the Illinois game after allowing the immediate euphoria to subside as I critique what each player needs to do to improve based upon what we have seen up to this point in the season.

Phil Pressey
For whatever reason, Pressey has not been able to make lay-ups like he has in the past.  He had some easy looks against Illinois due to great penetration, but still came up empty in getting the point-blank shots to fall.  If he could start making these close shots, it will make him that much tougher to defend and continue to open up shots for the big guys.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers shooting and scoring have been better than I could have hoped for.  His defense has been okay, but he seems to get tired over the course of a game and his rebounding has been suspect.  Even in the Illinois game where he ended up with 10 boards, there was a ten-minute stretch in the second half where he never jumped and allowed more aggressive Illinois players to get rebounds over him.  (Illinois had 14 offensive rebounds of their own and I noticed that Bowers and Criswell were caught flat-flooted a number of times in the second half.  The refs didn't help during that stretch since it appeared to me that Illinois got away with a couple of over-the-backs.)  Bowers has the ability to dominate and I'd love to see him continue his torrid shooting while adding some meanness on the back boards.

Alex Oriakhi
I loved the way that Oriakhi played against Illinois.  He was a huge presence on the boards on both ends of the floor and really kept Illinois from getting anything going in close.  However, when you consider that he missed 5 shots and none of his shots were from more than 3 feet away, you can either hope that he improves his touch or becomes even more selective in the shots that he takes.  As a senior, it would seem that he's not likely going to all of a sudden develop touch around the basket.  Thus, I'm just going to want to see him improve in his shot selection by passing out of some situations.  He hasn't shown this aspect of his post game and it is an important one.  In the Illinois game, he was triple-teamed on two occasions and rather than pass the ball out for a wide-open shot from the perimeter, he tried to muscle up a shot between three defenders.  Both times he was stuffed and Missouri came away with nothing on both of those possessions.  He needs to recognize when additional defenders collapse on him and kick the ball back out.  Other than that, keep crashing the boards and showing no mercy on that rim when you take it up strong Alex!

Jabari Brown
I really like what I've seen from Brown so far.  Frankly, I haven't seen enough to properly critique his game.  However, he did commit the cardinal sin of basketball when he tried to save a ball from going out-of-bounds by throwing it back underneath Illinois' basket which resulted in an easy dunk for them.  I just want to see that outside stroke which we've been hearing so much about start making 3s at a 50% clip.

Tony Criswell
Criswell continues to provide great minutes and is especially effective on offense.  I'd love to see him use his size better on defense though as he seems to really struggle when it comes to defending.  Hard to complain with anything else when it comes to Criswell and the energy that he brings.

Keion Bell
Slowly but surely Bell has been filling the role that this team needs by playing solid defense and getting out in transition.  He never had a chance to play much in the Illinois game but this team is going to need him this season and I wouldn't be shocked to see him have a nice outing in his hometown against UCLA.

Earnest Ross
Like most Tiger fans, I'd love to see Ross go from being an outside player to an inside player.  I'd also like to see him improve his free throw shooting.

Negus Webster-Chan
Defense and confidence.  Confidence and defense.  He exhibited neither against Illinois in his few minutes in the game.

Game 11: Illinois

Whew!  What a great win!  Ugly at times...frustrating at times...disappointing at times...but another great installment of this amazing series and overall AN OUTSTANDING game from our Missouri Tigers.  I thought Coach Haith did a good job of coaching and substituting as the final result is exactly what we were hoping for.  Three Tigers with double-doubles and all three were crucial to the win!  The best thing about the win is that Illinois is a very good team and Missouri beat them despite playing far from perfect.

Phil Pressey
Live by the sword...die by the sword...win by the sword.  Phil is who he is.  A playmaker with a bit of the wild west in him.  I've defended him all season and I'm not going to stop now.  There's no question he takes quick shots that he has no business taking (but those were the shots that won the VCU game).  If he doesn't keep driving, then he doesn't get the opportunity to make the dimes that he does.  Even on many of his misses, the end result was a made basket due to the defense having to defend him.  In the last three minutes, he was nails.  Loved the way he kept competing despite the woeful shooting.  Grade: 7/10.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers was streaky, but like Phil made the plays down the stretch to pull out the victory.  He kept battling and weathered the storm.  The stat that I thought was the most telling from Bowers was the fact that he had 25% of the Mizzou assists (only one other Tiger had an assist outside of Pressey...Ross had 1).  In watching the game, I was frustrated with Bowers inability to dominate inside on defense, but think that Illinois deserves a lot of credit as they are a very good team.  Grade: 9/10.

Jabari Brown
Brown is the player that this team needed.  18 and 7 is more than I would have dreamed from him in a game like this.  He is a huge upgrade and the best perimeter newcomer without question.  He made some big 3s when the team needed them and was fairly solid on D as well.  Grade: 7/10.

Alex Oriakhi
I thought Oriakhi was the key to this win.  His presence on the boards was so profound as he gathered 7 boards on both offense and defense and kept a number of offensive possessions alive.  He also was perfect from the line.  Great job Alex!  Grade: 9/10.

Earnest Ross
Ross was solid and made a few nice plays at crucial times.  His offensive rebound and put-back when Mizzou was down late in the second half was the pivotal turning point in momentum.  Nice to see him go inside and come up with a big play.  Grade: 7/10.

Tony Criswell
Criswell definitely provided some excitement.  Watching him play defense is like riding a roller coaster without a seat belt.  But he's big enough and active enough to really help the team.  Like Oriakhi, he came up with some big offensive rebounds and made some important baskets when the offense seemed to bog down.  Grade: 6/10.

Keion Bell
Bell was mostly a non-factor and never really got into the flow of the game.  Grade: 5/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
Haith has given Webster-Chan lots of minutes this year to prepare him for these types of situations.  Unfortunately, Webster-Chan wet the bed just as he did against Louisville.  This was disappointing to see as he should be the best player to provide Pressey some rest.  As a result, Phil ended up playing 39 minutes because no one else seems to be able to handle the ball against quality opponents.  Grade: 1/10.

Overall Thoughts
It feels so good to feel like Mizzou played very average, but still came away with an excellent win due to decent defense and domination on the boards (51-29).  I thought the guards played some of their best defense and forced Illinois into outside jump shots.  When Illinois took the lead, they were making some pretty tough shots, but it wasn't due to poor defense.  They were going one-on-one and getting space with crossovers but still settled for 17-foot jumpers.  When they stopped falling...game over.  Illinois is much tougher than UCLA and I hope that Missouri is able to continue to play with a high level intensity out in California.  This team has the potential to be really good.  Merry Christmas!

Next up:  UCLA on Friday.

Game 10: South Carolina State

Getting a mid-season transfer is always an exciting thing, but very rarely does the transferring player live up to the hype that seems to be generated during the early part of the season.  In fact, I can only think of one time when the player met or exceeded expectations, as Albert White most certainly did.  Obviously, Jabari Brown was a highly sought-after recruit coming out of high school who has now had over a year in a college program.  It would be logical to think he could be a major contributor to this year's team, but it is always wise to not let expectations get too carried away.  Actually, his debut in a Tiger uniform comes at a perfect time as South Carolina State would otherwise not be a very interesting match-up.  Brown's arrival provided quite a bit of drama to what would have otherwise been a complete snooze of a game.  Haith made things interesting by utilizing a steady stream of substitutions which while entertaining, did not necessarily give us much of an idea as to what line-up worked the best together.  Unfortunately, SC State was so overmatched that even Mizzou's walk-ons were able to score rather easily against them.

Jabari Brown
Might as well start with the new guy.  Well, he is pretty much EXACTLY what this team needs.  Showed some great teamwork early on with two assists almost immediately after coming into the game.  He looks to be a great ballhandler and plays within his limitations which is the sure sign of a player who has a good understanding of the game.  He struggled with his outside shot, but showed good poise and though credited with two turnovers, neither was bad (first one was an offensive foul on an aggressive drive to the hoop and the second was a nifty pass that Criswell completely whiffed on).  Grade: 7/10.

Phil Pressey
Phil started off nicely with two shots from the lane and then basically kind of took a back seat for the rest of the game, yet still had a nice line of 6 points and 6 assists.  Grade: 8/10.

Laurence Bowers
I loved that Bowers on his very first touch took the ball from the top of the key all the way to the basket.  He got fouled on his way, but I liked the aggressive approach which I feel is the one area that he needs to work on.  He went to the goal on his third touch with a nice baseline drive as well.  Like Phil, took a backseat as this game provided an opportunity to see the other guys play.  Looked great running the floor.  Grade: 8/10.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi didn't see a whole lot of time but put in his usual effort with 9 points and 11 rebounds.  Loved that he dunked any time he was close.  Grade: 8/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
I thought Webster-Chan looked great in this game.  He made nice passes and good cuts and was active on the boards.  He didn't miss a shot and didn't have a turnover...that's efficient basketball.  Grade: 8/10.

Earnest Ross
Ross worried me in the first half, but seemed to catch the bug and looked much better in the second half when he started going inside with the basketball.  However, he and Jankovic still struggle on the defensive end.  Grade: 7/10.

Keion Bell
Bell looks good in the starting lineup.  He seems to realize what he needs to do to help this team and has a better all-around game over Ross, in my opinion.  He was very active in the passing lanes which led to some easy baskets in transition.  I really want to see these types of results when the competition becomes stronger.  Grade: 8/10.

Tony Criswell
Criswell looked very nice in this game making an early presence on the boards and providing a nice scoring threat from the free throw line.  I really like his game and the energy he brings whenever he is on the floor.  Grade: 7/10.

Stefan Jankovic
Jankovic was given the start tonight.  His defense makes me cringe and his offense makes me smile and laugh at times.  His behind-the-back dribble and finish on the and-one was beautiful and got me on my feet.  Jankovic has the offensive skills to get quality minutes.  His defense though is going to hold him back.  Grade: 7/10.

Ryan Rosburg
I felt like Rosburg finally slowed things down and was able to do what he wanted to do in this game.  That was an encouraging sign as he has played out-of-control up until this point (stage fright perhaps?).  He showed some nice poise and was able to use his size and finish plays in close in tonight's game.  Grade: 7/10.

Overall Thoughts
Really liked the way the team came out showing some different looks on defense, though they did give up a few offensive rebounds when Oriakhi was not in the game.  They showed some 1-3-1 full court pressure and plenty of 2-3 zone (which still needs some work).  The addition of Brown is huge as he is very strong with the ball and looks plenty comfortable at the free throw line.  More importantly, he provides another good player competing for minutes which will only make this team better.

Missouri looked more like last year in the way they pushed the ball up the floor and was able to get some easy looks due to how quickly they got the ball into the forecourt.  Hard to say whether this was due to the quality of the opponent (SC State is one of the worst teams in Div. I) or whether this is something that they will continue to do successfully.  Missouri just brutalized SC State in transition in this game.

My only significant gripe was that Missouri did not dominate the boards in this game as they have in their previous games.  SC State got 14 offensive rebounds which is disappointing but might be attributable to the wholesale substitutions that Haith was employing in this game.

Next up:  Hmmm....I wonder.

Game 9: Tennessee State

This was a difficult game to evaluate.  I felt like Missouri played pretty poorly overall and the final score was more a result of cold shooting from Tennessee State than from good defense by the Tigers.  Even more so than the last game against SEMO, this game highlighted some rather significant concerns that need to be addressed for this team to succeed.  Two of my three primary concerns which have been noticeable all year and were again highlighted in this game were (1) ballhandling and (2) outside shooting.  (Team defense is the third concern which gets a pass in this game.)

Phil Pressey
Pressey has to be frustrated.  He continues to make passes which should get assists, but this team just doesn't have the ability to finish.  I thought the first half was interesting when he went out of the game and Missouri failed to get a shot up on three straight possessions.  Against good defenses, this team is horrible at handling the ball and Phil is the only player who can move the ball with the dribble.  Pressey's shot selection was improved and his passing was fine, just little help from the recipients of his passes.  He sat out most of the second half.  Grade: 5/10.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers was solid.  His shot was very smooth today.  My only criticism is that he is still reluctant to cut to the basket and is more content to stay at the free throw line and beyond.  He had one nice cut on a break and Pressey hit him with the pass for the easy basket.  Grade: 8/10.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi was decent.  I'm starting to accept him for what he is.  He is never going to have the touch that Ratliffe had around the basket.  He's a bruiser and provides nice interior defense and rebounding.  I'll take a double-double from him any day of the week.  Grade: 7/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan looked pretty weak again in the first half, but had a nice second half as he was active on the boards and actually got the ball to places where his teammates could score, finishing the game with a team-high 4 assists.  This was nice to see after the last couple of games where he was a virtual no-show on the stat sheet.  Grade: 5/10.

Earnest Ross
Pretty bad.  Grade: 1/10.

Keion Bell
Not much better.  Did make a couple of baskets, but was otherwise a complete non-factor in this game.  Grade: 3/10.

Tony Criswell
Criswell really is a Bowers-lite.  He's decent in the high post as he can knock down the shot from the free throw line and showed that he can find the open man down low.  Unfortunately, he still loses the ball way more than he should.  Not sure if we'll see much improvement in this area this year.  I certainly hope so.  Grade: 4/10.

Stefan Jankovic
Jankovic is one of those players who needs to get in the game for a few minutes and get his game legs.  His first touch was dreadful as he threw the ball right at the feet of Bell resulting in a turnover, but then seemed to settle down and provide some nice minutes.  I still don't completely trust him though as being the type of player who can give quality minutes in a tough game.  Grade: 6/10.

Ryan Rosburg
More of the same.  He was given a great pass down low which he squandered by putting the ball on the floor and going to the left side of the hoop WHEN THERE WAS NO ONE THERE.  Result: ball stuffed right back in his face when all he had to do was lay the ball in as soon as he caught it.  These are fundamentals which he still hasn't mastered which will become more pronounced when the competition stiffens.  Grade: 3/10.

Overall Thoughts
This team really needs a shooter who can knock down the open shot from outside.  Right now no one seems to be able to do that and it's clogging things up and slowing this offense down.  Bell and Ross were back to stinking it up as between the two of them, they finished with 5 points, 6 rebounds and 8 turnovers.  That is ridiculous when you consider how little they actually handle the ball.  They are just not getting it done on offense and are really hurting the team when they are putting up these types of numbers.  Ross has been getting worse each game as he can't knock down the outside shot and doesn't have the handles to take the ball inside.  Bell has shown some good signs but struggled today.  I am really hoping that Brown can provide some solid results from the perimeter.  Thankfully, from now on, we'll have all players available and will soon know whether Brown is the player that we are hoping for.

Next up:  South Carolina State on the 17th (Monday).

Game 8: SEMO

This was an interesting game.  The bad news is that Missouri's defense in the first half looked as bad as I've ever seen it.  SEMO looked quicker, more aggressive and ran the floor scoring at will against the Tiger defense.  The good news is that the first half punch in the face seemed to wake the Tigers up and they looked quite a bit better holding SEMO to only 20 second half points.  The nice thing about a game like this is that even when Mizzou doesn't play its best, there are some positives that can be gleaned which I will touch on after the individual breakdowns.

Phil Pressey
Phil stunk.  Not sure why he thought he needed to keep shooting.  Not only were his shots dumb, but they weren't even close to going in.  Yet he kept shooting and shooting.  His poor shot selection contributed to the first half deficit.  This was definitely a disappointing outing from him.  Grade: 2/10.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers finally put two decent halves together and looked like a star going for 26 and 9.  I also liked the way he fought for boards (but I could probably say this about everyone on the team).  Grade: 10/10.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi just did not have it tonight.  He really struggles to score and thought it was interesting that Haith elected to start the second half with Oriakhi on the bench.  It is demoralizing to work the ball inside and so close to the goal and yet come away empty on multiple occasions.  Grade: 3/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan also started the second half on the bench (more on this later).  Again, not much to say about him as he is statistically almost a non-entity (3 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist in 24 minutes of playing time), yet he clearly struggled on defense in the first half.  Grade: 4/10.

Earnest Ross
Speaking of no-shows, I don't remember Ross much in this game other than him getting lost on defense and shooting up a guarded 3 (which was the only FG he took).  From my vantage point, I thought he was the worst defender during that horrific first half as it was usually Ross that was caught in the lane on the screen giving a SEMO shooter a wide-open shot.  However, Haith did start him in the second half and it seemed to work.  Grade: 2/10.

Keion Bell
Bell started off rough, but really made his presence felt and is slowly becoming a nice piece of the rotation.  I really liked how tough he was going for the rebounds which is what I want to see him do in every game.  He ended up with a solid 12 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and a block.  And both of his free throws were as pure as could be.  Grade: 8/10.

Tony Criswell
This may have been a breakout game for Criswell.  He is showing that he can be quite a weapon on offense and he just needs to be as committed on defense as he is to scoring.  I thought it said a lot that he got the second half start and really delivered during those first ten minutes when Mizzou really destroyed SEMO and took the game over.  Grade: 7/10.

Ryan Rosburg
Rosburg continues to get minutes and but one for one sequence, didn't look half bad while he was in.  He still seems a little intimidated at this level and I hope he works through that and becomes a player that can be counted on.  Grade: 4/10.

Overall Thoughts
I really thought it was interesting that Haith went to a line-up of Pressey, Ross, Bell, Criswell and Bowers to start off the second half.  It seemed to work and I think that with Bell slowly but surely coming along that this is a line-up that offers plenty of athleticism and offensive firepower.  Oriakhi is a bit of a conundrum right now with how poorly he has been shooting and doesn't have the quickness to defend on the perimeter that this line-up does.

A few positives that came from this game were the emergence of Criswell and the nice results that came from the line-up that started the second half.  I think Haith may have stumbled upon something that will work nicely in the future.

Funny stat:  Mizzou's forwards were 3-3 from behind the arc, while the guards were 1-10.

Next up:  Tennessee State on Saturday.

Game 7: Appalachian State

After the quality competition that was faced last weekend in the Bahamas, it was to be expected that the Tigers may look relaxed (or rusty) facing an opponent who to this point in the season has not played well.  On top of that, the team has been dealing with the distractions that were DixonGate.  But the guys really came out strong and I was especially pleased with how they played defense in the first half after giving up a few easy baskets.  They really buckled down and actually played very good team defense.  Unfortunately, the second half was a different story, as Missouri actually got outscored in the second half (horrible second half efficiency with 12 turnovers...many of them unforced).

Phil Pressey
Pressey was content to not force the action as he didn't even take his first shot until 17 minutes into the ball game.  He got a little trigger happy in the second half and ultimately ended up with a pretty forgettable stat line of 5 points, 7 assists and 4 steals.  While the Bowers dunk was the highlight of the game, Pressey should get 90% of the credit as he did a ridiculous spin-move with the dribble at half court that very few can pull off at full speed (no one does it better than Pressey).  The no-look pass to Bowers was the cherry on top.   Grade: 5/10.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers started off great by scoring the first 7 points of the game and hitting his first 5 shots (2 of which were 3s).  He then continued to shoot well the entire half as he himself equaled the entire output of the Appalachian State team.  He normally starts off slowly, so it was great to see him start strong.  Unfortunately, he completely disappeared in the second half as his contribution to the team in the second stanza was 2 points, 1 rebound and 3 turnovers.  Bowers has yet to put two good halves together this season.  Will it happen?  Inquiring minds want to know.  Grade: 7/10.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi seems to have lost his touch from the line.  Not much else worth saying.  Grade: 4/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan gets a lot of minutes and pretty much does nothing (0 points on 4 shots in 28 minutes).  In essence, he is getting the minutes that would have been played by Michael Dixon.  He is not one-tenth of the player that Dixon is, but that is the last I am going to say along those lines as the Dixon ship has sailed.  My hope is that Jabari Brown is good enough on both ends to be getting all of these minutes because NWC is somewhat of a stand-in player at this point in his career in that he doesn't lose games, but neither does he win them.  Grade: 4/10.

Earnest Ross
Ross had a nice stat line and I was happy with his presence on the boards.  He had a nice sequence where he ran the floor and was able to finish with two lay-ups on consecutive possessions.  His shot selection is still a little suspect, but I'm not going to complain too much in this game.  Grade: 6/10.

Keion Bell
Bell is what he is.  I for one am learning to accept him just as that.  He is a great rebounder for his size and is decent enough on defense and in transition that he deserves the minutes that he is getting.  His outside shot is horrible looking, but he knocked down one three in this game (the basketball term "rainbow" doesn't quite do his outside shot justice).  I much prefer it when he picks his spots to attack the goal, but even then he rushes his shot a bit.  What I LOVE about his game is that he is virtually automatic at the line and he has that awkward long-step to the goal which is going to draw some fouls.  Bell is going to help this team.  Grade: 6/10.

Tony Criswell
Criswell continues to be active on the boards in his limited game action (grabbed all 3 of his rebounds in his first 5 minutes of action).  I wish he would be a little more judicious in his shot selection as he has a pretty quick trigger whenever he touches the ball on the offensive end of the floor.  The thing is...he makes some of them.  The problem with Criswell is that he has the game of a 6'5" small forward, but he's 6'9" (which I guess really isn't a problem...surely those 4 inches come in handy from time to time).  If Criswell could figure out how to play good defense, his minutes would double.  Grade: 7/10.

Rosburg and Jankovic
Rosburg continues to get minutes and he actually did a couple of nice things while in the game early on by taking two charges.  But when both he and Jankovic were in at the same time at the end of the first half, Appalachian State went on a 6-0 run to close out the half.  Based upon what we have seen from these two, it really would have made sense to redshirt one of them as they just don't seem to bring much when you consider that between the two of them, they played 16 minutes and finished with a grand total of 2 points on 4 field goals and 2 free throws.  No need to give these guys a grade.

Overall Thoughts
I considered this game (and the next two) as fillers.  Let's get Brown in the rotation and see what this team has as it preps for the meat of the season.

I don't have any desire to discuss the Dixon situation.  But I will say this, losing him is a huge blow to this team's chances to be really good.  I know the team is very upset (even angry) about how everything played out and are still a bit shell-shocked at the realization that Dixon will not be playing with them this year  (from a legitimate source).  While I don't expect anyone to perform as well as Mike would have, this does give plenty of opportunity for someone else to step up and be a primary weapon this year.  The lone positive in all of this is simply this...we know what we have to work with and they have been working together in all of the games up to this point in the season.  Let's hope they pull together and turn into a darn good team.

Next up:  SEMO on Tuesday.

Random Thoughts on B4A

• I am very pleased with Missouri's 3rd place finish and while initially being disappointed by getting blown out by Louisville, I can see where a game like that will be a good learning experience.  Louisville gave full effort for all 40 minutes while Missouri seemed to give up in the latter stages and the final score clearly reflects that.
• It's great experience to have close games like the Stanford and VCU games.  Winning does not come naturally and some of these players frankly don't know the first thing about winning games at the college level.  While I would have rather have blown these teams out of the water, I think there are lots of positives that can come from pulling out close games like what we saw.
• When Pressey took that step-back three, I was thinking "What the...?"  When it splashed through the net, I yelled "What a great shot!"  While I did not care for the shot selection, I LOVE the level of confidence that he has in his own game.  The fact that he made that shot and the next one...there's a player who knows how to win at this level.
• Laurence Bowers is going to drive me crazy this year.  He has been the most inconsistent player on the team so far.  Against Louisville, he played scared and was a waste of space for most of the game.  Against VCU, he took over at times.  It's great that he has some range on his shot, but in my opinion, he needs to stay down low as much as possible.  So many times, Pressey would drive and Bowers would be perched behind the 3-point line instead of cutting to the basket where there was open space.  As a result, Pressey would either have to take a shot or pass outside where the shot was taken and Bowers was in no position to get an offensive rebound.
• Pressey has been creating opportunities for the other guys, but none of them seem to understand the importance of cutting to the basket.  Even on the brilliant behind-the-back pass in the Stanford game, Bowers almost wasn't there as he took his time cutting to the open space.  My hope is that this bunch learns to do this which will really help this offense take off.  Pressey is going to force players to collapse on him and he is great at getting the ball to the man cutting to the basket.
• 1-2-3...Keion Bell.  Bell was awful against Stanford, good against Louisville and great against VCU.  From the first game of the tournament to the third game, Bell improved drastically.  It looked to me like a light bulb went on and he learned from his previous mistakes.  He can be such an incredible weapon with his leaping ability and free-throw shooting.  Not only that, he's one of the few players on the team that actually looks okay playing defense.
• Haith's use of Rosburg and Jankovic has me completely befuddled.  Some people believe that those small doses of playing time actually help in their development.  However, I felt like whatever small benefits were accrued by their time on the court were more than offset by their ineffectiveness while in the games.  Both of these guys are the worst defenders on the team...for a team that plays poor defense, that is quite an indictment.
• Defense.  I learned two things about Missouri's defense in this tournament.  One, they don't have a clue on how to play zone.  Two, Ross, Pressey and Bowers are very weak defenders.  Ross and Pressey are constantly out-of-position which leads to open looks from behind the arc while Bowers is very slow guarding his man and is frequently caught flat-footed which leads to lots of easy buckets inside.  My hope is that this team can learn to play team defense.  I actually think that Oriakhi, Bell and NWC have fairly good instincts when playing defense (though they have all been guilty at times as well).  I am so tired of seeing guys leaping out to defend a three-point shot after the shot has already been released.  It's almost pathetic how often that happens with this team.
• Again, very happy to get two wins in this tournament.  I hope the guys had fun as the resort looked pretty nice (from the hundreds of commercials that I saw over the last three days).

Game 6: Virginia Commonwealth

This was a very nice win for the Tigers.  They made it a little more interesting than they needed to, but fought hard and pulled out the win.  Pressey made some huge baskets and seems to have a lot of confidence in his shot as he is knocking down his outside shots at a pretty nice clip.  Despite some ugly performances, coming out of this tournament with two wins and a third place finish is a great thing.

Phil Pressey
I thought Phil played most of this game more out of control than he has in any other game.  However, he came up big with the game-winning baskets.  He finished the game 5-9 from the field (3-5 from 3), 8 assists and 5 turnovers.  For the second game in a row, he did not get to the line once.  For whatever reason, Missouri hasn't been getting too many breaks from the refs.  Grade: 6/10.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers is so inconsistent and it can be maddening at times at how he disappears for periods and then goes through a stretch where he plays at a much higher level.  14 and 11 is nice, but his defense really needs to get better.  Grade: 6/10.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi had a fairly quiet game.  He never got to the free throw line and missed a couple of gimmies.  He really should dominate as big as he is, but just has no touch around the rim.  Grade: 4/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan got his first start and played 36 minutes.  Haith really likes the steadiness that NWC brings to the lineup.  NWC might be the best defender on the team.  He's got some work to do, but he seems to get beat less often than most of the other guys.  Grade: 6/10.

Earnest Ross
Ross finally was able to knock down some shots, but is still a liability on defense as far as I am concerned.  He just doesn't seem committed to stopping the opponent from scoring.  His defense and rebounding were WAY overrated as this was the second game in a row where he only got one board.  He is spending way too much time floating around the 3-point line.  Grade: 4/10.

Keion Bell
Bell had his best as a Tiger I thought.  I really liked what he brought in this game and hope that he can build off of this performance.  Grade: 6/10.

Tony Criswell
Criswell is so active on the offensive boards and surely is racking up some impressive rebounding numbers per minutes played.  He's still very awkward around the rim though and looks the most comfortable shooting straight on from the key area.  Grade: 5/10.

Jankovic and Rosburg
Still have no idea why Haith chose to put these guys in during the first half.  VCU made a nice little run as both of these guys were just running around with little to no purpose.  Grade: 1/10.

Overall Thoughts
This team really struggles to play defense.  I thought VCU got a lot of open looks and Mizzou was fortunate that they didn't shoot all that well.  Bowers, Ross, Pressey and Criswell all struggle with staying with their man and NWC got caught sagging a couple of times as well.  If this team could improve on that side of the ball, then I think they have a chance to be really good.  I think their offense will come along as they start to get a better feel of playing together.

Next up:  Appalachian State next Saturday.

Game 5: Louisville

What a great challenge it was going up against Louisville, one of the better defenses in college basketball.  I was especially looking forward to the individual match-up of two of the nation's premier point guards -- Phil Pressey and Peyton Siva.  As is so often the case, things don't turn out like you expect them to as Pressey and Siva rarely went head-to-head, and when they did, Siva inexplicably was the better of the two.  I'll start with my overall thoughts before going into the individual breakdowns.

Overall Thoughts
Overall, I was pretty disappointed with the play of the team.  I thought Mizzou played scared, tentative and overwhelmed to be playing an elite team.  I was very confused with the coaching decisions made in this game and can only assume that either (a) Haith doesn't know what he is doing or (b) Haith knows exactly what he is doing and is willing to sacrifice November and December in hopes of reaping some dividends in February and March.  Since the former does not seem to be the more logical choice, then surely the latter is what we saw this evening.

Unfortunately, this game highlighted what I've been alluding to all season and that is that Mizzou has two guys that are used to winning (Pressey and Oriakhi) and a bunch of players who have no idea what winning means.  Bowers, Ross and Bell looked pathetic going up against elite competition and everyone else looked terrified (except for maybe NWC).

The other thing I have noticed with this team that has become the norm is the inexplicable inability to grab what should be easy rebounds and loose balls.  I don't know if every player has bad hands or what, but time and time again there are loose balls that this team just can't seem to corral.  Pressey is the only one who seems to be able to get a ball that is in his vicinity.  Everyone else either doesn't give full effort or just doesn't have the ability.

Phil Pressey
Phil is a great player.  Unfortunately, he is the only great player on this team.  He carried Mizzou at points and was forced into having to do too much because NO ONE ELSE WOULD STEP UP.  You can say all the bad things you want about him, but this team was a train wreck when he wasn't in the lineup.  I completely agreed with him on the play where he zipped it to Ross and the ball went flying out of bounds.  There was no defender on that side of the hoop and what did Ross do...went away from the basket and into the corner.  Pressey had every right to be frustrated, while Ross continues to frustrate me.  Grade: 6/10.

Laurence Bowers
There were numerous hints made that the loss of Bowers may have been a blessing in disguise last year and I'm worried that we may seem some confirmation of that when Mizzou goes up against good teams.  He is not a consistent threat and is just terrible on the boards when it matters.  Frankly, Bowers was horrible in this game.  Grade: 1/10.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi played well, but was awful at the line.  Grade: 6/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan plays hard, and usually plays safe, but ultimately is not the type of player that is going to strike fear in the heart of an opponent.  Grade: 4/10.

Earnest Ross
Ross has quickly gone from a player that I like to a player that I don't know what to think.  He is not fundamentally sound at all in the way that he plays.  He's not a great passer and has looked terrible on defense so far this season.  He committed a number of no-nos in this game and overall just didn't do a lick against Louisville.  Grade: 3/10.

Keion Bell
Bell looked better tonight than he did last night.  He drove into the lane a couple of times and made some nice passes.  He played much more in control.  However, he still plays as if he could care less whether he wins or loses.  Grade: 4/10.

Tony Criswell
Criswell has a nice shot, but is a poor ballhandler and is one of those guys who I was referencing earlier who seems to have trouble keeping the ball in his hands.  He had a fairly decent stat line with 9 points, 7 boards, 2 assists and a block (but also 3 turnovers).  Grade: 6/10.

Jankovic and Rosburg
Jankovic and Rosburg were overmatched and I have no idea why they got the minutes they did in this game. Grade: 3/10.

Coach Haith
I felt like Haith coached this game as if it was a scrimmage with no care as to whether Mizzou won or lost.  I thought he used too much of his bench early on at crucial points when I didn't think he necessarily needed to and I thought sticking with the zone defense was horrible strategy even though Louisville is not a great outside shooting team.  The zone defense was horrible because this team doesn't know how to play it.  Bowers and Ross were especially bad on defense tonight.  Louisville basically got to pick where they wanted to shoot their open shot, because ALL of their shots were WIDE OPEN.  They bricked a lot of open shots early which kept Missouri in the game, but then they started to fall at the same time that Missouri unraveled and at that point, the game was over.  But that zone defense was horrendous and I have no idea why Haith stuck with it for so long if he really had any desire to win that game.  I hope it was a learning lesson and that the team can improve.

Next up:  Virginia Commonwealth tomorrow (Saturday) at 6:00 PM CST.

Game 4: Stanford

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well, this was the first test for the Tigers and the one I was the most worried about just because I was so wanting to see the battle of the short, quick point guards...Pressey vs. Siva.  I was afraid that the Tigers might be looking past the Cardinal looking forward to a possible second round game against the #2 team in the nation.  Missouri did their job, now Louisville needs to win its game tonight in order to face Mizzou.

Phil Pressey
I thought Phil played a whale of a game.  He is such a weapon on offense and the difference when he is not in the game is night and day.  He hit all of his free throws, came up with 4 steals, knocked down some big 3-pointers in the first half, tallied 8 assists and 5 rebounds including a big one late in the game where he just went up over the taller Stanford players to grab the ball and control it.  He looked like the nation's best point guard to me as Stanford just had no answer for keeping him out of the lane.  The pass late to Oriakhi was huge and vintage Pressey.  Grade: 9/10.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers finished the game with 19 and 10 and really came through at times in the second half with knocking down shots when the rest of the team went cold.  I still get frustrated at times with him though because he still has trouble corralling rebounds when he is the only one there and for whatever reason is unable to control the ball.  This seemed to happen a number of times in this game, but it's hard to argue with a double-double.  Grade: 8/10.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi finally had some big bodies to go up against and Stanford did a pretty good job of containing him though Oriakhi still went to the free throw line 8 times.  I had no idea that he was going to be such a solid free throw shooter.  Oriakhi obviously had a bone-headed play when he got caught with the frustration foul in the second half after getting his shot blocked.  Otherwise, he had a decent game.  Grade: 6/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan hasn't been able to get the ball in the hoop of late but still provides all the other things that the team needs, mainly in the area of ballhandling.  It was obvious in the second half that Haith trusts NWC more than Bell since bell spent almost the entire half on the bench.  NWC's one made basket was the second-chance 3-pointer in which Ross kept the ball alive.  Grade: 5/10.

Earnest Ross
Ross was 1-7 in the first half and 2-12 in the second half.  He just could not make anything, including lay-ups.  He did end up with a double-double though as he finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.  He needs to learn that when he gets those offensive rebounds to kick the ball out and reset the offense when there are defenders surrounding him.  Grade: 4/10.

Keion Bell
Bell was a mess.  He had as many turnovers as the rest of the team combined.  He made a great move on the first possession of the game to drive the lane and pass to a cutting Bowers for an easy lay-up.  But after that, he turned the ball over almost every time he touched the ball.  If you watch Bell (and Ross does this too), when a pass is made to him, his first instinct is to see if he can shoot or score, NOT to see if someone else is open for a better shot.  As a result, he appears to be a very selfish player and does not work well in a team context.  Haith had enough of Bell when he turned the ball over both times he touched it in the second half, and Bell did not come back into the ball game until the waning seconds for defense.  Haith just doesn't trust him.  And he shouldn't.  Grade: 2/10.

Overall Thoughts
I thought this was a very good win.  Stanford was a decent opponent and were fundamentally sound.  I was disappointed at times with the perimeter defense as Pressey and Bell got blown by a number of times by Randle who would then pull up for an easy shot at the free throw line.  Stanford got A TON of open looks from outside and it was fortunate for Mizzou that they only made 23% of their 3s.  Pressey was great and I thought Haith probably used the bench a little more than he needed to, but he was obviously wanting to give the guys some rest whenever he could since they will be playing 3 games in 3 days.  Nice to see Oriakhi and Pressey knock down their free throws late.  Very nice win.  (And decent showing by the Tiger faithful.)

Next up:  Winner of Louisville/Northern Iowa tomorrow at 8:30 PM CST.

Game 3: Nicholls State

Nicholls State came into this game having played only one other game, losing to Vanderbilt by 15 last weekend.  My hope/expectation was to see a convincing Missouri win (by 30 points) highlighted by another dominating performance on the glass.  Alas, it was not to be.  Mizzou started the game looking great on defense and awful on offense.  There were just so many wasted possessions early in the game which I hope to see cleaned up once the competition gets better (next game!).  Then in the second half they had numerous defensive breakdowns while looking a little better on offense.  As will be my practice from now on, I'll go from best to worst.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi was a great defensive presence in this game.  When he was in the game, Nicholls State really had trouble scoring.  As soon as he went out, Nicholls State would make a run.  He is as important to Mizzou's defense as Phil is to the offense.  However, he still misses too many point blank shots.  Twice he had the ball right at the rim and just hoisted it right over the rim missing the goal entirely.  Very perplexing.  Nice to see him knock down his free throws though.  Grade: 7/10.

Earnest Ross
Ross had a nice first half and was really the only guy knocking down shots as the rest of the team was throwing the ball away.  But he looked pretty sloppy in the second half as well.  Grade: 6/10.

Phil Pressey
Phil seemed like a non-factor in this game other than the fact that when he was not in the game the offense really bogged down.  Grade: 5/10.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers just can't get anything going in the first half of games.  He looked pretty bad on both ends of the floor during the first period.  He scored some buckets in the second half, but continue to look poor on defense as the Nicholls State bruiser seemed to out-muscle and out-quick Bowers on numerous occasions.  Grade: 4/10.

Keion Bell
Bell just doesn't seem to have what it takes.  He ended three early possessions with a brick from 3 and two turnovers.  He seems so slow and so far has proven to be a very inefficient player on offense.  I also caught him napping on a couple of plays where he was sitting in the corner and neither went for the offensive rebound nor got back to defend when a shot went up (see photo sequence below).  His fundamentals just aren't there.  I've seen enough of Bell to formulate an early opinion that he is not going to be one of the key players on this team.  I did like his defense in the second half when he grabbed some steals and got in the passing lanes.  Grade: 4/10.

Tony Criswell
Criswell needs to use his body and start making shots inside rather than settling for outside jump shots which have not been going down for him thus far in the season.  He's not looking as impressive now as he was early on.  Grade: 4/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan neither helped nor hurt the team in this game.  I think his minutes are going to go down significantly in the Bahamas tournament as Mizzou will want Pressey playing as much as possible.  Grade: 3/10.

Stefan Jankovic
Jankovic came back down to earth and unfortunately looked completely out of control in his few minutes in the game.  When you have one of the nation's best point guards, you let him run the break.  Grade: 2/10.

Ryan Rosburg
Nicholls State scored on almost every possession that Rosburg was in the game by either going right at him or getting an easy rebound where he should have been.  Grade: 2/10.

Overall Thoughts
I apologize for the negative tone of this edition of the Report, but I was very disappointed in the team's performance tonight.  Poor execution and fundamentals were on display as Mizzou made Nicholls State look a lot better than they really are.  I expect the rotation to tighten up considerably when facing Stanford as I have to think that Haith will want Pressey and Oriakhi on the floor as much as possible as those two are very key to Mizzou's success.  Hopefully, it was a good learning experience while still getting a win.  It will be interesting to see how these guys do next week against much better competition.

Next up:  Stanford on Thanksgiving Day at Noon.

Game 2: Alcorn State

The Tigers started the game really struggling as they didn't even get a shot off on their first two trips down the floor and didn't score their first basket until five minutes had run off the clock.  I was encouraged with the intensity that they brought to the second half as things went much better after halftime, but shooting 38% for the game is pretty ugly.  I will do my usual run-down of the players, but will now go in order from who I liked the best on down.

Stefan Jankovic
I have been Jankovic's biggest critic to this point, but tonight he finally won me over.  Why?  Because he led the team in assists.  The tallest player on the team was also the best passer in this particular game.  5 boards, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 4 assists and no turnovers from a 6'11" freshman?  Okay, I give up.  Grade: 9/10.

Earnest Ross
Ross started off slowly but turned it on in a big way, finishing with a nice double-double stuffing the stat sheet with all sorts of ridiculous numbers (7-8 from the field, 10 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 17 points).  I especially liked the way he played in the second half where he was driving to the hoop and finishing.  I hope to see more of this.  Grade: 8/10.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi is a nice addition to this team.  He is the anti-Ratliffe in that he has absolutely no touch around the goal, but he is a mean dude if there is a rebound to be had.  I'll take 12 and 10 from him any day, every day. Grade: 7/10.

Negus Webster-Chan
I thought I might be the biggest Webster-Chan fan around, but I think Coach Haith may have me beat.  He is loving his do-it-all freshman.  Who doesn't mind a guy who can play three different positions and do all the little things that it takes to help a team?  Webster-Chan led the team in both minutes played and rebounds though only connecting on 12% of his shots.  I never would have believed that this guy would make it into the rotation, but he's looking like he belongs the more I see him play.  Grade: 7/10.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers is developing a pattern of stinking it up in the first half and catching fire in the second half.  In these first two games of the season, he has scored a total of 2 points in the first half and 32 points in the second half.  While I liked his scoring spurt in the second half which all came in the first 6 minutes of the second half, he was pretty quiet and a non-factor in the other 34 minutes of the game.  Grade: 6/10.

Phil Pressey
It's not very often when you can be slightly disappointed with a player's performance when he scores over 20 points, but this just wasn't one of Phil's better games.  He forced way too many shots and I get the feeling that he is frustrated with his teammates for blowing too many gimmies and just would rather take things over himself.  He ended the game with only 2 assists and 3 turnovers (though the statistician made a mistake and charged him for a turnover that was clearly Bell's on the first possession of the game).  Grade: 6/10.

Tony Criswell
I like Criswell a lot and think that he has the potential to help the team in a lot of ways.  However, this was not a good game for him.  While he is a big body and does a great job on the offensive boards, he has struggled defending and finishing shots.  Grade: 4/10.

Keion Bell
Those of us who expressed concerns about Bell before we even saw him play are even more concerned now because while talented, he just doesn't seem to fit anywhere.  He only logged 16 minutes against Alcorn State and most of those minutes it was hard to tell what he was doing.  I have previously praised Bell for his defense and felt like his defense was good in this game as well.  But on the offensive end, he doesn't bring much.  He seems to have a very slow (and long) first step which good defenders have no trouble stopping which puts him in a tough position since he hasn't shown that he has any type of jump shot.  His passing and ballhandling skills also aren't very strong.  As a result, I think Bell is going to be a niche player who will get lots of playing time against teams that he can exploit, but not so much time against others.  Grade: 4/10.

Ryan Rosburg
Seven rebounds in 9 minutes of playing time is pretty impressive, but the rest of his game is pretty ugly.  He just doesn't seem ready yet and is playing way too fast.  Grade: 3/10.

Overall Thoughts

• I was hoping for a 40-point win and Mizzou won by 37.  Alcorn State next faces Stanford on Thursday so it will be worth checking in on that game to see how they do since Stanford will be Missouri's first big test next Thursday.
• Not only were Denmon and English great shooters, but they were also great passers.  I've noticed that the ball doesn't zip around the perimeter like we were used to seeing last year.  While it's hard to let it go, we can't expect this team to be as efficient as last year.
• Mizzou will be so much better on offense once Dixon returns.  I really hope he will able to play in the Bahamas.  We need him.

Next up:  Nicholls State on Friday.

Game 1: Southern Illinois - Edwardsville

The season has begun!  Though the opponent was lowly SIUE, it was nonetheless a good start to the season, despite not having Dixon in the line-up.  But my goodness, Mizzou came out out of the gate looking dreadful, especially on the defensive end.  If this team is going to be good, they really need to improve on defense and rebounding because SIUE was consistently getting second and third looks early on.  The first half was characterized by Mizzou unable to grab rebounds and missing way too many point-blank shots.  Really concerning how poorly the Missouri players were able to finish right at the rim.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi is very limited offensively as he missed a number of point blank shots, including a wide-open dunk from right under the basket.  My expectations were much higher for him as he just has not delivered at all on that end of the floor.  However, he did a pretty good job keeping the defensive glass clean as he ended the game with 15 rebounds.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers was awful in the first half and during a stretch in the second half, dominated as Missouri took control of the game.  It was nice to see some of the two-man game that Bowers and Pressey had going in the second half where Pressey would deliver and Bowers would finish.  I hope to see more of that.

Phil Pressey
Phil is great, but really needs Dixon back in the lineup to take some of the pressure off.  Phil tried to do everything in this game because no one else was able to do anything in the first half.  Guys weren't catching his passes, they weren't finishing plays.  He ended the game with a nice set of stats: 9 assists and 2 turnovers and looked like the great point guard that he is.

Negus Webster-Chan
Webster-Chan is really a great addition to this team.  He has really looked good in these early games and continues to impress with being solid in every phase of the game.  Early on, he got hung up on a couple of screens but closed out well and was able to keep his man from getting a shot off.  In the second half, he got stuck on some screens (as did a number of the Tigers late in the game) allowing some easy looks for SIUE.

Earnest Ross
Ross stunk.  Didn't rebound.  Couldn't guard.  Missed layups.  Threw airballs up from 3.  When SIUE was getting all of those open looks from 3, Ross was usually in no man's land and then would fly at the shooter after the shot was released.  It just wasn't his game.  Ross needs to start playing better defense or he's going to see most of his minutes go to Jabari Brown in December.

Keion Bell
Bell was pretty quiet.  After two early turnovers, he settled down and played much better in the second half. His outside shot sure hasn't looked good.  He's a slasher and was able to get into the lane and pick up some nice assists.

Tony Criswell
Criswell looked good in the first half as he was very active on the boards and grabbed a number of offensive boards to keep possession with the offense.  Unfortunately, he also had trouble finishing in close and seems very awkward on the left side of the goal.  He really favors his right side and doesn't seem to be able to use his left hand even when it's the right move.  He struggled defensively in the second half picking up four quick fouls which led to free throws for SIUE.

Stefan Jankovic
Jankovic continues to stroke it from the outside.  That's where his bread will be buttered this year.  He was a bit of a liability on defense I thought.  He just lacks strength.

Overall Thoughts
Right now, this team plays worse defense than last year's team.  I was just amazed at how easy a team like SIUE was able to get all the way to the basket time and time again.  There was little help defense and overall the team just looked lazy on D like they just weren't willing to play tough.  Even Oriakhi looked lousy on defense at times.

Dixon (assuming he returns) is going to cure a lot of the problems on offense as his quickness and reliability with the ball put additional pressure on opposing D's.  Mizzou scored 83 points on 76 possession which is not very efficient considering the opponent.  SIUE's zone defense late in the game really bogged Mizzou down, especially when Bowers wasn't in to man the high post.

Pressey, Webster-Chan and Jankovic were 7-9 from 3.  Ross and Bell were 0-7.  I know Ross lit it up in the first exhibition game, but he wasn't even close today.

Overall, it was a good early season game.  The team has plenty to work on.

Next up:  Alcorn State on Tuesday.

Exhibition 2: Missouri Southern

Some teams just don't provide a very good gauge for how far along Mizzou is.  It's especially hard when two of Mizzou's primary players don't even play.  Early on, I thought Missouri looked terrible.  Pressey was throwing up bricks from outside (0-5 from 3), Missouri Southern was outrebounding a much taller Missouri squad, Rosburg continues to look overmatched by Division II players and general sloppy play from the team as a whole.  I was happy to see the team start the second half with a little defensive intensity, but even then...it was a mixed bag.

Alex Oriakhi
Oriakhi sure did not impress in this game.  He didn't rebound, he turned the ball over and showed no touch on the offensive end.  I am really hoping that he can provide a solid inside presence this season, but this game sure was not a good sign.

Laurence Bowers
Bowers looked better this game than he did against Northwest Missouri State.  He played more within the flow of the offense and was more active on the boards.  That was encouraging to see.

Phil Pressey
Flip stunk.  But we know enough about him not to be concerned.

Earnest Ross
Ross also disappointed me in this game.  I was hoping that he would be a solid mid-range player, but he seems content to float around the perimeter looking only for 3-pointers.  I watched him on defense and he seems to do a pretty good job, but I never got a good feel for him and he's not near the rebounder that he was touted to be.  He did have 6 assists in this game though which shows that he's a pretty well-rounded player in that he can do a lot of different things to help the team win.

Tony Criswell
I really really like Criswell's game.  He's the mid-range player that this team needs.  He moves and plays like he's 6'4", but he's a 6'9" bruiser who is a great ballhandler and has a really nice touch on the offensive end.  Right before halftime, he had a nifty steal and then led the break the other way and made a great pass.  Criswell is definitely going to be a part of this rotation.  He finished the game with 13 points shooting 63% from the field, 3 rebounds, 2 steals and no turnovers.  I'll take those stats any day of the week.

Ryan Rosburg
Not ready.

Stefan Jankovic
Jankovic obviously scored some points today, but I'm not wild and crazy about his game.  I actually think his potential is that of Josh Kroenke, as a 3-point specialist.  He's a little wild and doesn't have the strength yet to bang with the big bodies that are going to be down low during the meat of the season.

Negus Webster-Chan
I saved the best for last.  If anything good came out of this exhibition game, it was the arrival of Webster-Chan.  I loved the way he ran the point as Pressey's backup.  I loved how steady he was.  He didn't showboat.  He didn't gamble for steals on defense.  He was all business and was super-solid at getting the job done.  He played the most mature game of all the Tigers, yet is only a freshman.  I had somewhat written him off based upon what I saw at Mizzou Madness and the first exhibition game, but I finally saw what the coaches have been raving about.  He ran the point way better than what we saw from Bell in the last game.  He is extremely versatile and based upon today's performance is going to be one of those players who can be counted on to do whatever it takes to get the job done.  Jankovic had the big dunk in the game, but what got me off my feet was the bounce pass that made it happen.

Overall Thoughts
Three thoughts, all of which are slightly negative but highlight the things this team needs to work on:

1. Defense.  This was a weakness last year and I don't yet see an improvement in that area.  Last year I kept thinking that teams were making a lot of "hail mary" type baskets, but that trend continued all the way through the Norfolk State game.  At some point, there has to be a correlation between the success of those "hail marys" and the defense that is being played.  That trend continued in today's game.
2. Rebounding.  Mizzou had a huge size advantage today and still let Missouri Southern (yes...Missouri SOUTHERN!) get tons of second-chance points.
3. Efficiency.  This is mostly an indictment of Pressey as he played pretty wild today throwing lots of ill-advised passes.  Missouri wasted lots of possessions in today's game with low percentage shots and bone-headed turnovers.  Unfortunately for us fans, we were spoiled last year with a ridiculously efficient offense that played within itself and was unselfish almost to a fault (much like our frustrations with the QB play from our football team of late after having NFL-caliber QBs for the previous 5 years).  Pressey really needs to become a leader in this regard and limit the wows for the sake of the good of the team.  Pressey is an incredible talent and doesn't need to be flashy to be good.  He obviously has some flash (which is fun), but what this team needs right now is for him to be steady and get the job done.
4. Okay, I lied.  One other thing: we have yet to see this team play with Michael Dixon.  I am a huge Dixon fan and sincerely believe that he is the best player on the team.  My hope is that his presence in the line-up will alleviate some of my concerns.  He is an extremely efficient player due to his ability to finish plays, to get to the free throw line and to make those free throws.  I look forward to seeing how he interacts with the rest of this team.

Next up:  SIUE on Saturday.

Exhibition 1: Northwest Missouri State

The Halitosis Report is back.  I am thrilled that the season is underway with the first exhibition game now in the books.  This looks to be another exciting season and I have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about Mizzou's chances not only in the SEC, but also on the national scene.

The first opponent for the 2012-2013 Tigers was the Northwest Missouri State Bearcats.  This game went about like you might expect, especially when you consider that Coach Haith was experimenting with various line-ups to see what the different 5-man units brought to the table.  The Report, as always, will focus on each individual's performance and weigh the good with the bad.  Here we go...

Michael Dixon
Get it together Mike.  You are the best player on this team and need to set a good example for the young guys.  Looked pretty solid watching from the bench with Clarkson, Brown and Bull.  That is all.

Alex Oriakhi
This guy is a load.  I loved how when he got the ball in close he went up strong for the dunk.  If we can get 8 points and 10 rebounds every game from him, that will be a huge bonus.  I watched his defense carefully and couldn't tell for sure how effective he was, but that was what he was known for at UConn.  He did pull down 5 offensive rebounds though, which is great.

Laurence Bowers
I think of all the players, I was the most disappointed in Bowers.  I didn't care for his shot selection and he was getting outrebounded by much shorter NWMSU players.  I thought there were so many times when he had the opportunity to go up and get the rebound and he came away with nothing.  I had hoped that he would play stronger and fight for those boards.  I just didn't see that tonight as he finished the game with only 3 rebounds.  He did have 14 points thanks to some nifty passes from Phil.  I may be overly critical of Bowers and may have had unrealistic expectations for him, but this team really needs for him to be more active on the boards.

Phil Pressey
11 assists...good.  6 turnovers...bad.  A number of his turnovers were of the showboat variety that we know he won't try to pull off in a tight game.  His dish to Oriakhi for the dunk was amazing.  I love that we have a guy who can catch that pass and throw it down.  Mizzou's offense looks completely different when he is not in the game.  He is so important to this team.  Obviously, tonight that was even more apparent since Dixon was not there to pick up the slack.

Keion Bell
Overall, I thought this was a fairly good outing for Bell.  I think I will like it even more when he doesn't have to play point guard.  The offense really bogged down during the times when he was running the show.  He does not appear to have a very good outside shot, but seems lethal when going to the hoop.  I thought he played pretty good defense on the perimeter and was happy to see him pick up some nice steals due to ball pressure.  Will he be as effective on defense when the competition is considerably better than NWMSU?

Earnest Ross
Ross obviously had the hot hand tonight and looks to be one of the few outside threats this team will have outside of Dixon and Pressey.  He finished with 6 rebounds which was second best on the team.  He and Bell are both going to be great additions to this team.  He has an interesting form to his shot, but it sure seemed to work for him.  I would have loved to see some mid-range game from him (more on that later).

Tony Criswell
I really like Criswell's game.  He turned in 8 points and 5 rebounds in limited action (15 minutes).  Haith seems to prefer Bowers, but Criswell seems like he can do everything that Bowers does but is stronger on the boards.  It will be very interesting to see as the season progresses and the rotation tightens who gets the lion's share of the minutes between these two.

Ryan Rosburg
Rough outing for Ryan.  I wasn't particularly impressed with anything that he did.  Fouling out in 8 minutes of playing time against a Division II team is fairly ominous.  He's a freshmen, but I had hoped for something a bit more than what I saw tonight.

Webster-Chan, Haith, Jankovic, Feldmann
I seriously doubt these guys are going to get any significant minutes this year.  Webster-Chan has some potential though to be a very solid player in the coming years.

Overall Thoughts
Three things stood out to me in this game.

1. The starters can play some fairly decent defense when they want to.  I hope (HOPE!) that the defense will improve drastically over the course of the season as the players get used to playing together.  But for the first outing, I was pleased (i.e., the first half defensive performance).
2. Rebounding is still a concern.  Mizzou only outrebounded a much smaller NWMSU team 39-32.  I was critical of Bowers and I wasn't especially impressed with the team rebounding as a whole.  I did notice in the first half that everyone (including Phil) was crashing the boards, but this is still an area that needs improvement.
3. Not a single Missouri player showed any mid-range game in this game, except for maybe Criswell.  Of course, college basketball's best mid-range player was riding the pine tonight (Michael Dixon), so I shouldn't be too terribly worried about this.  But if you think about it, Missouri scored all of their points tonight either from 3-pointers or from lay-ups/dunks.  English and Denmon both were solid in this area and I am waiting for someone other than Dixon to show that they have this in their repertoire.  I expect Bowers, Ross, Bell and Criswell all to be capable in this regard.

Next up is Missouri Southern on Sunday.  See you then!