| 14 July 2009
Sorry for the delayed post. After last night I didn't exactly feel like coming home and blogging. I felt like going to Harpo's. That's why this is late.
And let me start by saying this game wasn't about kU. I know they're down this year (although they're still pretty damn good) and if you're going to be a top 10-15 team then home victories over No. 17-ranked teams should be a common occurrence.
But if you don't think this game was cause for celebrating like Mizzou fans did last night then you haven't been following the program over the last decade. As I mentioned in my previous post, last night the Tigers did everything they've failed to do so many times since Norm Stewart retired. They showed toughness and heart. They never once lost their composure. And they battled. My God did they battle.
So for any kU posters planning on coming on here to talk about how pathetic Mizzou is for making such a big deal about this: Save your energy. If anything it's a compliment to your program when knocking you off is still significant even when it's a down year for you. Like I said, this wasn't necessarily about beating kU, this was about Missouri showing what it hasn't shown in nearly a decade.
- Wow, where to start. Well I guess I'll actually start with a criticism of coach Anderson. That lineup he occasionally plays with some combination of MP3, Marcus Denmon, Kim English, Keith Ramsey and Laurence Bowers or Justin Safford doesn't really do it for me. There's just no scoring on the floor, especially when Denmon and English are struggling. I know he's gotta get Leo and DeMarre some breathers at some point but I think he's gotta try to get keep at least one of them on the floor as much as possible. And I'm sure he does try to do that it's just I thought he stuck with that lineup a little too long last night. That's when kU first started stretching their lead to 10+.
- Kim English provided us with a little spark to open the second half but he really struggled for most of the night. But you could tell he was trying so damn hard and wanted it so bad. You can tell he's a player that wants to be known as someone who always rises to the occasion and hits big shots. Unfortunately, that's what causes him to make most of his mistakes because he'll often force a shot or pick up a foul because he's overaggressive on defense. But I love that as a freshman he's willing to take big shots even if it means he fails. I'll live with a freshman making mistakes if he's playing as hard as Kim does.
- The most underrated play of the game was probably that Matt Lawrence offensive rebound and putback with 3:38 to play. The Tigers were down seven at that point after cutting the lead to three points for a second time. If kansas had stretched the lead back to nine or 10 again, I'm not sure we would have had enough left for another comeback. And for as much as we tend to rip on Matty for his defense, he ended up with three steals including a big one as the Tigers were making their final run. And if you'll watch the replay of Zaire's game-winner you'll notice that—just like at Texas—the help defense came late because Matt Lawrence was on the floor.
- Another player whose contributions I think were a little overlooked was Keith Ramsey. He ended up with a very Ramsey-like stat line: 5 points, 5 boards, 2 blocks, 1 steal. When Mizzou made that second run to cut the lead to three, and Leo was getting a final breather, Ramsey was getting his hands on every loose ball and creating all kinds of havoc with his interior defense.
- It's been awhile since kansas had a player that I really just fucking hated along the lines of a Jeff Boschee. I always kinda liked Julian Wright for some reason and I hated Chalmers but I absolutely loved the way he played. But I think I'm going to love hating the Morris twins. And on that note I want to take this opportunity to personally thank Marcus for getting that technical foul in the opening 40 seconds of the second half. In case you didn't notice, you had taken us fans out of the game by holding the Tigers to 16 points in the first half. But that's all it took to reenergize us. Heady play, rook.
- All season long I've read Jason Whitlock comparing Sherron Collins to Chris Paul. I gotta admit when I first read that I found it pretty comical. I know Collins is good, but CP3? Come on, right? But after watching him last night I think that's who you have to compare him to. Collins had a pretty awful game (four-of-13, six turnovers) and he's still nowhere near as good as Paul. But in the first half, he played just like him. Dude can ball. If he ever finds some consistency in his game then forget about it.
- I also can't get over how impressive Cole Aldrich was/is. That guy is a beast. He destroyed us for most of the game. Before he got winded, Leo and DeMarre couldn't get by him and God knows our guards weren't going to penetrate and score with that mastodon protecting the rim. The good news for us is that, for now at least, the jayhawks don't appear to have the inside depth to be able to compete for very long with him on the bench for long periods of time, especially against a team like ours that has two very good post scoring threats. So the key becomes keeping an up-tempo pace long enough so that he starts to wear down. Which is exactly what happened last night. In the final minutes Leo and DeMarre were getting great looks on the perimeter because Aldrich was to winded to be able to defend out there. And when they attacked he ended up fouling them and putting them at the line. That's what happens when you're able to execute the 40-minutes-of-hell system.
- How fun was it watching J.T. Tiller in the final six minutes of that game? I don't know if I've ever seen a player lay out like J.T. was doing. All you had to do was watch him to tell which team wanted it more.
- The first time I really felt like this might just be our night was on that DeMarre Carroll 3-pointer. That was totally a "Follow me, follow me to freedom!" shot by the JYD. And what a bounce! I've been watching Mizzou sporting events for a long time, and that's a bounce that the Tigers just don't get. Ever.
- Every time we kept inching closer and closer I kept thinking that if we could just tie it the crowd would take care of the rest. And that's exactly what happened. Basketball's great because it's one of the few sports where a home court advantage can literally almost single-handedly carry a team to victory. And this was a classic there's-no-effing-way-we're-losing-this-game type of crowd.
- One of my favorite moments of the came came with about 1:30 left in regulation. Mizzou was down two and had the ball. Like I said, I kept thinking that if we could just tie it we'd be able to win. But every time we got close we took a bad shot and kU seemed to kick it into another gear and pull back ahead seven or nine points. But not this time. Leo caught the ball on the wing and the Tigers ran that iso play that they often do when they need a big bucket. Leo was guarded by Aldrich and had him one-on-one. By this point, you could tell Aldrich was sucking wind and for a second or two Leo just held the ball and stared Aldrich in the eye. It was such a great mano-a-mano, our guy vs. your guy moment. I couldn't actually see Leo's mouth but I like to think that right before he made his move he stared at Aldrich and just said "Fuck. You." After the staredown Leo drove to the rim, drew the foul, hit the free throws and the rest is history.
- And finally, I get to talk about the Closer. Mr. Zaire Taylor. I don't even know what to say. If I didn't have a man-crush on this guy before Monday I definitely do now. I know kU fans kinda have "The Shot" trademarked thanks to Mario Chalmers. But how about calling that shot "The Bounce." Because that was another bounce that Mizzou just never seems to get. After that shot went through the hoop I was too happy to even yell. I just smiled and gave the classic Michael Jordan fist pump. I'm convinced there's no better feeling in this world.
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