Post by MizzouTiger on Jan 19, 2008 13:25:53 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/167/story/442236.html
Big ups for the up and down Tigers
COLUMBIA | The buzzer had sounded, and Missouri, after announcing its intention as a Big 12 player after Saturday’s 97-84 throttling of 12th-ranked Texas, delivered one more message.
This one by Stefhon Hannah to his teammates. Don’t celebrate.
“When you scream and jump up and down, you act like you’ve never been there before,” Missouri forward DeMarre Carroll said.
Which they haven’t, not a victory this significant under second-year coach Mike Anderson. So calm handshakes with the Longhorns were all the season’s largest crowd at Mizzou Arena got to see.
What the crowd missed was a player procession of whooping and hollering as they disappeared into the runway. Coaches punched the air and slapped their clipboards.
A contradiction, to be sure, but why not? Until Saturday the Tigers had been a team of mixed signals. Dangerous at home, meek away from Columbia. Terrific one half, mind-numbingly bad the next.
Missouri might have been the Big 12’s biggest puzzle headed into league play, and if you were down on the Tigers before Saturday, the mystery continues. Mizzou chooses to believe Saturday’s near-perfect game revealed their true identity.
“I know this is how we can play,” wingman Marshall Brown said.
So thorough was Missouri’s conquest it’s difficult to know where to begin passing out plaudits. Keon Lawrence was the first to step up, personally changing the game with his 10-point burst in the first half.
The second half opened with Texas defenders’ heads on a swivel. Quick ball movement and slow reaction by the Longhorns left Mizzou shooters open, and they did not miss. The Tigers hit six of their first seven shots out of the break and quickly led by 10. Here, Jason Horton, Hannah and Matt Lawrence take a bow.
Disgusted Texas coach Rick Barnes apologized for intruding on Missouri’s shoot-around, suggesting the Longhorns’ defense was nonexistent. But his quip didn’t find favor with the Tigers.
“I thought we did some pretty good things out there,” coach Mike Anderson said.
Missouri didn’t let up and shot a blistering 70.4 percent for the half. Seven of the nine Tigers hit more than half of their shots.
As much as Anderson loved the shooting, one sequence he especially enjoyed. The Tigers scored three straight baskets on J.T. Tiller’s layup on a pass from Darryl Butterfield, Carroll’s recognition of floor space on a drive and three by Carroll from another Butterfield assist.
Teams can have freaky shooting games. That stretch proved everything clicked for Mizzou.
Maybe the most positive sign: Missouri smacked around a high-quality team without its signature defensive pressure. Anderson estimated his zone variations accounted for about 65 percent to 70 percent of the game. Forty minutes of heck became 30 minutes of how the heck do we attack that?
“I’ve always said I’m not married to one system,” Anderson said.
Even Missouri’s free-throw defense was superb. Texas guard D.J. Augustin, an 82-percent free throw shooter, bricked five of eight.
Texas players blamed a lack of energy for their second-half downfall. The Tigers said they caused that with superior depth. It had to be both for Missouri to script its best half of ball under Anderson, scoring an astounding 59 points.
Some nasty trends turned for the Tigers. They had lost nine straight to Texas, which dropped a league opener for the first time under Barnes. Mizzou’s last victory over the burnt orange was the last of Norm Stewart’s 731 career victories.
Last year, Missouri tripped out of the gate, opening 0-4 in league play, and was never really an NCAA Tournament contender because it lacked a statement victory.
The Tigers got the attention-grabber and see more fortune with effort similar to Saturday’s. If that happens, the nonchalant exit should continue straight into the locker room.
Big ups for the up and down Tigers
COLUMBIA | The buzzer had sounded, and Missouri, after announcing its intention as a Big 12 player after Saturday’s 97-84 throttling of 12th-ranked Texas, delivered one more message.
This one by Stefhon Hannah to his teammates. Don’t celebrate.
“When you scream and jump up and down, you act like you’ve never been there before,” Missouri forward DeMarre Carroll said.
Which they haven’t, not a victory this significant under second-year coach Mike Anderson. So calm handshakes with the Longhorns were all the season’s largest crowd at Mizzou Arena got to see.
What the crowd missed was a player procession of whooping and hollering as they disappeared into the runway. Coaches punched the air and slapped their clipboards.
A contradiction, to be sure, but why not? Until Saturday the Tigers had been a team of mixed signals. Dangerous at home, meek away from Columbia. Terrific one half, mind-numbingly bad the next.
Missouri might have been the Big 12’s biggest puzzle headed into league play, and if you were down on the Tigers before Saturday, the mystery continues. Mizzou chooses to believe Saturday’s near-perfect game revealed their true identity.
“I know this is how we can play,” wingman Marshall Brown said.
So thorough was Missouri’s conquest it’s difficult to know where to begin passing out plaudits. Keon Lawrence was the first to step up, personally changing the game with his 10-point burst in the first half.
The second half opened with Texas defenders’ heads on a swivel. Quick ball movement and slow reaction by the Longhorns left Mizzou shooters open, and they did not miss. The Tigers hit six of their first seven shots out of the break and quickly led by 10. Here, Jason Horton, Hannah and Matt Lawrence take a bow.
Disgusted Texas coach Rick Barnes apologized for intruding on Missouri’s shoot-around, suggesting the Longhorns’ defense was nonexistent. But his quip didn’t find favor with the Tigers.
“I thought we did some pretty good things out there,” coach Mike Anderson said.
Missouri didn’t let up and shot a blistering 70.4 percent for the half. Seven of the nine Tigers hit more than half of their shots.
As much as Anderson loved the shooting, one sequence he especially enjoyed. The Tigers scored three straight baskets on J.T. Tiller’s layup on a pass from Darryl Butterfield, Carroll’s recognition of floor space on a drive and three by Carroll from another Butterfield assist.
Teams can have freaky shooting games. That stretch proved everything clicked for Mizzou.
Maybe the most positive sign: Missouri smacked around a high-quality team without its signature defensive pressure. Anderson estimated his zone variations accounted for about 65 percent to 70 percent of the game. Forty minutes of heck became 30 minutes of how the heck do we attack that?
“I’ve always said I’m not married to one system,” Anderson said.
Even Missouri’s free-throw defense was superb. Texas guard D.J. Augustin, an 82-percent free throw shooter, bricked five of eight.
Texas players blamed a lack of energy for their second-half downfall. The Tigers said they caused that with superior depth. It had to be both for Missouri to script its best half of ball under Anderson, scoring an astounding 59 points.
Some nasty trends turned for the Tigers. They had lost nine straight to Texas, which dropped a league opener for the first time under Barnes. Mizzou’s last victory over the burnt orange was the last of Norm Stewart’s 731 career victories.
Last year, Missouri tripped out of the gate, opening 0-4 in league play, and was never really an NCAA Tournament contender because it lacked a statement victory.
The Tigers got the attention-grabber and see more fortune with effort similar to Saturday’s. If that happens, the nonchalant exit should continue straight into the locker room.