Missouri Tigers Rumors + 2012 Recruits + News + Blog: Go MU!

2010-12-20T16:32:00.000-08:00

Tigers Win, Beautifully Ugly

2010-01-24T11:34:00.000-08:00

Saturday's contest between Mizzou and the Nebraska Corndogs was guaranteed to be slow and ugly, just the way Nebraska likes their girls. Despite Nebraska's attempts , by wearing no makeup & loose fitting clothes, Mizzou was able to bring some beauty to the court in the 2nd half and ended up pulling away in a 17-point home win, which has stretched their streak to 31 straight at Mizzou Arena. For most of the game, there was no flow and MU was uable to force their tempo on the Corndogs. Missed shots and sloppy play made the game more interesting than it should have been. But out of all the ugliness (thanks to Nebraska) rose the beauty of the Tigers style of play, in the form of Miguel Paul. The 3rd string Sophomore point man was able to add some spice to the recipe around the 7 minute mark in the 2nd half, scoring a career high 15 pts, 10 of which came down the stretch. End result, the Tigers finally caught some fire and rode the momentum to a convincing win against a lesser opponent.

A couple beauty marks to this game...
The Tigers should have won the game by 13, by expert opinion, and they did. They should have extended their home winning streak, and they did. While Texas and Kansas State both suffered conference losses this week, MU held fort and are simply taking care of business.

Miguel Paul and Justin Safford were the key players in this game. A couple guys you might not have expected to provide the sparks, but that's the beauty in a true basketball TEAM. Every player has a role, and Coach Anderson deserves credit for recognizing the players playing the best and awarding them playing time to continue to do so. So many other coaches rely on players who simply aren't having a good game, and it ends up costing them.

Lastly, the beauty really lies in Mike Anderson's suit/tie combo. Damn, he looks good on the sidelines! Whoever is responsible for dressing that man deserves a substantial pay raise.

Some encouraging signs for Mizzou in Norman

2010-01-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

Of course everyone Mizzou fan wants to see those pesky Tigers devour every opponent who enters Columbia and then go on the road like gangbusters burning down Big 12 town after town, leaving only hot ashes behind. Unfortunately, reality sets in on some of those road trips, regardless of whether the best team wins. More times than not in the Big 12, the home team has enough of an advantage to squeeze out the win in the end. MU's latest trip to Norman was no different. That's the way the cookie crumbles sometimes. However, behind the blemish of the Tigers' first conference loss are a couple beauty marks that could put a positive spin on the early conference season.

First of all things, it's been proven very difficult to win on the road in this league, and Mizzou is not immune to that disease. So far they're 1-1 on the road, which if you multiply it out would be a very solid 4-4 road record. If you combine that with a 6-2 home record (I'm being very modest), you end with a 10-6 conference record and 22 win season prior to the Big 12 tourney in Kansas City. That, my dear friends, would be more than enough to place the Tigers right back in the ballroom dance come March.

Secondly, Mizzou shot terrible from the field, at only 35%, and they still had chances to win the game late. Knowing they had their worst shooting game and still gave themselves a chance to win should be encouraging going forward.

Lastly, there wasn't a time in the game until Tiller's suspect travelling call, where I didn't feel like the Tigers were the better team on the floor and should have won the game. I don't have anything to back that up, but its just the feeling I got by watching the game. They looked in control and with the knowledge of what to do the entire game. They had the poise and confidence, the only thing holding them back were the ice cubes they were throwing up at the basket. Of course, scoring is what wins, but some nights the bucket has a lid on it.

And one more sidenote. For anyone wondering how the white kid down low was able to score all day long, inside and out, he had the influenza. Nobody wants to get sick guarding a guy with the influenza!

30 straight wins @ the Jungle

2010-01-11T18:10:00.000-08:00

Engulfed in a black and gold sea, the heat and energy inside Mizzou Arena was enough to make you forget about the frigid temperatures of a Columbia afternoon in January. Any hopes K-State had of ending the Tigers' 29 game home win streak were gashed with a clutch 3-pointer from Zaire, and an exclamation point disguised as a reverse hammer-dunk from an emerging Laurence Bowers to cap off Mizzou's 74-68 upset win over the 10th ranked Wildkittens from that other town in Kansas. Despite the collection of zebra's blowing whistles like traffic cops, the matchup of Tigers and Wildcats proved to be just the jungle brawl most Missouri and Kansas State fans expected. Coach Anderson's group held their poise and kept applying pressure despite an excess of personal fouls, turnovers and unknown infractions, which ultimately led to the Tigers marking their territory on Norm Stewart Court for a 30th straight home victory.

A few black and golden nuggets to take away from this one...
1. Welcome to the Jungle. To begin conference play, MU was able to re-establish to the Big 12 how difficult it will be for an opposing squad to escape Columbia with a win.

2. 40 Minutes of Hell became 2 & 1/2 hours of stop and go traffic. Thanks to one of the worst officiated games I've ever witnessed, the Tigers were challenged in a game where they weren't allowed to apply constant pressure and wear the opposition down, as has become their signature style. They showed the ability to play defense and rebound when it mattered most and emerge victorious.

3. Team basketball. Mike Anderson's team continued to find scoring from different players. Zaire Taylor, Marcus Denmon and Laurence Bowers were able to score points in a game where Kimmie English and Michael Dixon were obsolete.

4. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The picture is becoming clearer with every game, that Anderson's style of basketball is what wins games, perhaps more-so than the players on the court. No matter what time during the game, you get back from a bucket of popcorn or a quick trip to the toilet, you will undoubtedly see three pesky guards and two lanky forwards applying more pressure than a 10 year relationship. 5 in, 5 out, and they just don't skip a beat.

Sitting courtside inside Mizzou Arena for the first time in 2 years, I was revived with the energy that lead all MU fans through last season's joyride and refueled with the pride of being a Missouri Tiger. If Saturday's conference opening win was a sign of things to come, this winter will be a lot warmer than Doppler Dave might lead you to believe.

-Unclebean