- 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).
Random Thoughts on B4A
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.
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.
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.
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