Post by MizzouTiger on Feb 9, 2008 12:14:40 GMT -5
www.kansascity.com/167/story/482208.html
Tiller is finally up to speed with Missouri
By MIKE DeARMOND
The Kansas City Star
COLUMBIA | J.T. Tiller contends speed is relative, and often misunderstood, especially when it comes to how he plays basketball.
“I’ve got fast, and sometimes medium comes out,” Tiller said. “But I think I’m going medium and people say I’m going fast. When I think I’m going fast, they think I’m going faster.”
Not up for dispute is that Tiller, a sophomore guard who will lead Missouri into a 12:45 p.m. tipoff against Texas A&M today at Mizzou Arena, is up to speed just when the Tigers need him the most.
Since replacing Stefhon Hannah and then Jason Horton as Mizzou’s point guard three games ago in the wake of the Athena Night Club incident, Tiller has averaged 15.7 points and 33 minutes a game. In Missouri’s first 20 games Tiller averaged 5.6 points and 15.9 minutes per game. Hannah, who was arrested Friday on suspicion of third-degree misdemeanor assault, remains suspended and out because of a broken jaw.
He’s transformed himself from a defensive specialist whose 80-mph start-to-finish style often seemed so out of control he sometimes had to be taken out after only short stints before he’d foul out.
“I speed things up,” Tiller said, shrugging his shoulders.
Yet, something quite obvious has changed about Tiller’s game. Something that may decide whether the Tigers can beat their third ranked team at home and hold together a season that appeared at one time to be falling apart.
“He’s more in control,” said fellow guard Keon Lawrence. “He’s not going 80 in a 25 anymore. He’s doing about 25 in about a 15. That’s not too bad. I can deal with that. That’s definitely fast.”
Lawrence, another sophomore guard, seems to have benefited from Tiller’s emergence as much as any other Tiger. Before Tiller and Lawrence took over the starting guard roles, Lawrence was averaging 10 points a game and hitting only 39.7 percent of his shots.
In the last three games, including an upset of Kansas State here last Saturday, Lawrence has hit 64.3 percent of his shots and bumped his scoring average to 14 a game.
Tiller has improved from 44.7 to 50 percent accuracy.
Much of that has come because Tiller and Lawrence see most possessions as an opportunity to drive hard to the rim, and woe to anyone who isn’t quick enough to handle that.
That’s a huge change for Tiller, who last season attempted only 55 shots in 16 Big 12 Conference games and only 103 the entire season.
“Last year I wouldn’t even look at the goal,” Tiller said. “You couldn’t even tell me it was up there.
“But Keon, he’s telling me, ‘Attack! Go to the rim!’ ”
To hear MU coach Mike Anderson tell it, Anderson has done very little to bring about this change in Tiller.
“The coach is getting out of his way, I guess,” Anderson said. “Letting him play.”
In reality, Anderson took the fear of failure away.
“At the beginning of the season I was scared to make turnovers, and scared to make mistakes,” Tiller said. “Now coach Anderson has given me that freedom. He just says go out there and play, and that’s what I do.”
Tiller’s journey to Mizzou from Marietta, Ga., by way of Alabama-Birmingham provides a glimpse into a psyche that might be termed “hesitant at full speed.”
Tiller wasn’t highly recruited out of high school. He said he had offers from George Washington and Clemson but took Anderson’s offer from UAB. Then Anderson took the job at Missouri.
“He was the head coach that I signed with,” Tiller said, “but I couldn’t talk with him because he was the head coach of another school.”
Anderson couldn’t initiate contact, but Tiller could have called Anderson, except for one thing.
“I didn’t know the number,” Tiller said.
Fortunately, new UAB coach Mike Davis did.
“He and coach Anderson were friends,” Tiller said. “He knew I wanted to play for coach Anderson, so he let me out.”
Tiller admits his all-out style comes at a price. After playing 35 minutes against both Nebraska and Kansas State, Tiller said he felt like an old man. At Kansas on Monday night, another 29 minutes meant Tiller had played 99 of a possible 120 minutes in three games over six days.
It showed. Tiller at one time nearly stumbled to the bench on a substitution at KU, sounding an alarm from Lawrence.
“You all right?” Lawrence asked Tiller.
“Man, I’m tired, I’m tired,” Tiller whispered heavily.
“You’ve got to suck it up,” Lawrence chided.
But later Lawrence assured: “And he always does.”
That is an indication of how ready Tiller has become to do whatever is necessary.
“Last year, he used to play 2 or 3 minutes at a time and get his hand up,” Lawrence said. “Now, he won’t put his hand up.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taking the Tiller
Since taking at point guard for Missouri, J.T. Tiller has seen his numbers rise dramatically.
Category
Last season/First 20 games this season/Last three games
Pts 4.2/5.6/15.7
Reb 1.3/1.7/4.0
Ast 1.1/1.4/3.0
Steals 0.7/0.6/1.3
Min 13.6/15.9/33.0
FG Pct. .427/.447/.500
Note: All stats are averages per game
Tiller is finally up to speed with Missouri
By MIKE DeARMOND
The Kansas City Star
COLUMBIA | J.T. Tiller contends speed is relative, and often misunderstood, especially when it comes to how he plays basketball.
“I’ve got fast, and sometimes medium comes out,” Tiller said. “But I think I’m going medium and people say I’m going fast. When I think I’m going fast, they think I’m going faster.”
Not up for dispute is that Tiller, a sophomore guard who will lead Missouri into a 12:45 p.m. tipoff against Texas A&M today at Mizzou Arena, is up to speed just when the Tigers need him the most.
Since replacing Stefhon Hannah and then Jason Horton as Mizzou’s point guard three games ago in the wake of the Athena Night Club incident, Tiller has averaged 15.7 points and 33 minutes a game. In Missouri’s first 20 games Tiller averaged 5.6 points and 15.9 minutes per game. Hannah, who was arrested Friday on suspicion of third-degree misdemeanor assault, remains suspended and out because of a broken jaw.
He’s transformed himself from a defensive specialist whose 80-mph start-to-finish style often seemed so out of control he sometimes had to be taken out after only short stints before he’d foul out.
“I speed things up,” Tiller said, shrugging his shoulders.
Yet, something quite obvious has changed about Tiller’s game. Something that may decide whether the Tigers can beat their third ranked team at home and hold together a season that appeared at one time to be falling apart.
“He’s more in control,” said fellow guard Keon Lawrence. “He’s not going 80 in a 25 anymore. He’s doing about 25 in about a 15. That’s not too bad. I can deal with that. That’s definitely fast.”
Lawrence, another sophomore guard, seems to have benefited from Tiller’s emergence as much as any other Tiger. Before Tiller and Lawrence took over the starting guard roles, Lawrence was averaging 10 points a game and hitting only 39.7 percent of his shots.
In the last three games, including an upset of Kansas State here last Saturday, Lawrence has hit 64.3 percent of his shots and bumped his scoring average to 14 a game.
Tiller has improved from 44.7 to 50 percent accuracy.
Much of that has come because Tiller and Lawrence see most possessions as an opportunity to drive hard to the rim, and woe to anyone who isn’t quick enough to handle that.
That’s a huge change for Tiller, who last season attempted only 55 shots in 16 Big 12 Conference games and only 103 the entire season.
“Last year I wouldn’t even look at the goal,” Tiller said. “You couldn’t even tell me it was up there.
“But Keon, he’s telling me, ‘Attack! Go to the rim!’ ”
To hear MU coach Mike Anderson tell it, Anderson has done very little to bring about this change in Tiller.
“The coach is getting out of his way, I guess,” Anderson said. “Letting him play.”
In reality, Anderson took the fear of failure away.
“At the beginning of the season I was scared to make turnovers, and scared to make mistakes,” Tiller said. “Now coach Anderson has given me that freedom. He just says go out there and play, and that’s what I do.”
Tiller’s journey to Mizzou from Marietta, Ga., by way of Alabama-Birmingham provides a glimpse into a psyche that might be termed “hesitant at full speed.”
Tiller wasn’t highly recruited out of high school. He said he had offers from George Washington and Clemson but took Anderson’s offer from UAB. Then Anderson took the job at Missouri.
“He was the head coach that I signed with,” Tiller said, “but I couldn’t talk with him because he was the head coach of another school.”
Anderson couldn’t initiate contact, but Tiller could have called Anderson, except for one thing.
“I didn’t know the number,” Tiller said.
Fortunately, new UAB coach Mike Davis did.
“He and coach Anderson were friends,” Tiller said. “He knew I wanted to play for coach Anderson, so he let me out.”
Tiller admits his all-out style comes at a price. After playing 35 minutes against both Nebraska and Kansas State, Tiller said he felt like an old man. At Kansas on Monday night, another 29 minutes meant Tiller had played 99 of a possible 120 minutes in three games over six days.
It showed. Tiller at one time nearly stumbled to the bench on a substitution at KU, sounding an alarm from Lawrence.
“You all right?” Lawrence asked Tiller.
“Man, I’m tired, I’m tired,” Tiller whispered heavily.
“You’ve got to suck it up,” Lawrence chided.
But later Lawrence assured: “And he always does.”
That is an indication of how ready Tiller has become to do whatever is necessary.
“Last year, he used to play 2 or 3 minutes at a time and get his hand up,” Lawrence said. “Now, he won’t put his hand up.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Taking the Tiller
Since taking at point guard for Missouri, J.T. Tiller has seen his numbers rise dramatically.
Category
Last season/First 20 games this season/Last three games
Pts 4.2/5.6/15.7
Reb 1.3/1.7/4.0
Ast 1.1/1.4/3.0
Steals 0.7/0.6/1.3
Min 13.6/15.9/33.0
FG Pct. .427/.447/.500
Note: All stats are averages per game