*I can identify with Dennis Gates today. My Internet provider had a bad day. I tried. Our postgame show made it through 25 or 30 minutes. It looked like it was over once or twice and I managed to revive it and get it going again. But in the end, I didn't have the horses.
Neither did Missouri today.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to admit the other guy was better. That's the story today. The other guy was just better. Missouri is a really good team led by a really good college basketball player that has had a really good season. Alabama is an elite team led by an NBA lottery pick that might be headed for a national championship season. And in the end, talent usually wins out.
Talent won out. Missouri led this game with 13 minutes to go. And then Alabama went on a 14-3 run led by eight points and an assist from Brandon Miller. I absolutely understand why it's hard to give the other team credit. I understand it even more when it's a team led by a coach that's very, very easy to dislike and a player many don't believe should be on the floor. But this post isn't about the morality of Alabama basketball. It's about the game that was played today. And in the game that was played, the best player in the SEC showed why he is the best player in the SEC and took over the game and won it.
*Missouri did not go down without fighting. It never does. That's not nothing. There were times where if one whistle would have blown (or not blown) or one shot would have fallen (or not fallen) it might have been enough. But every single time Missouri punched, Alabama answered. Missouri had to work incredibly hard to get its 61 points. Alabama had to work significantly less hard to get its 72. Think of it like a team that goes on a 17-play, 75-yard drive in eight minutes and gets a field goal. And then watches the other team throw a 60-yard touchdown. You can do your best, fight your hardest and give yourself a chance. But eventually you need the other team to blink. And in the second half, Alabama didn't.
*Neither team shot the three well. Mizzou was 7/25 and Bama was 8/27. Two things made the difference. After starting 2/20, Bama finished 6/7. And the biggest difference was the two-point shooting:
Missouri 14/43
Alabama 20/30
Ballgame
*I am sure a lot of people are bemoaning Missouri efforts and saying "We can't even make layups." The thing is, those layups mostly weren't easy shots. Alabama contested EVERYTHING. The Tide gets a lot of credit for being an elite offensive team. It doesn't get nearly enough for being an elite defensive team. Even the layups were contested. And it reached a point in the second half where Missouri was getting in the lane seeing ghosts. They quit even trying to go at the rim in the last eight minutes. And I truly do understand why.
*On the other end, Missouri was getting beat off the dribble, which meant they had to collapse and the Bama guards were finding the guy that got left over and over. Most of the time those turned into layups or dunks. At the end, they turned into threes.
*I haven't read the board reaction to this game. I cannot tell anyone else how to feel. I can tell you how I feel: Not bad. I know "They played hard and they're a good team but they're not quite to that level yet" isn't what anybody wants to say. But it's how I see it. Today was about Bama being good and little else.
*That said, Missouri needs Sean East to figure it out next week. He doesn't have to be the star. He doesn't have to win them games. But he can't play the way he played yesterday and today. I'd probably say the same thing about Mohammed Diarra. It seems apparent that Dennis Gates doesn't think Aidan Shaw is ready for bigger minutes in a game like this. Given that he's pushed nearly every correct button this year, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's right. So if that's the case, with Ronnie DeGray hurt, he doesn't have much choice but to try to steal minutes with Diarra. It was very apparent very early both against Tennessee and Alabama that the number of minutes he was going to be able to steal wasn't going to be very big. Missouri survived it yesterday, but couldn't today.
*I like what I saw out of Noah Carter in this tournament and in the last five games or so. He's found his niche and he's become a factor.
*I would guess some are frustrated with Dree Gholston. I get he was 6/17. But as Drew King wrote yesterday, when the three isn't falling, this team needs Gholston and Kobe to be able to go get some points and shots inside the arc. They did that. Just not enough of them went in today and, again, that's mostly due to Bama's defense. Against teams that aren't Alabama, he plays a big role and can win you games. He just couldn't do it today.
*If I'm seeding the tournament, Missouri's a 6 and it's closer to a 5 than a 7. That's a little unique because it means Missouri is quite possibly playing someone coming off a play-in game. I think that's the ideal scenario for this team. What it means is they could face back to back games where the other team is coming off a game and has only one day to prepare. Missouri is an absolute nightmare to play on the second leg of a back to back with limited preparation time. Because they play a way that very few teams play. If Mizzou gets on the six line, I think it's got a hell of a chance to play into next week. I'm not making predictions before a bracket comes out, but this really is a team that's playing some of its best basketball and that nobody's going to want to see on the line opposite them.
*It's been an incredible season. It has at least one more game left. We'll find out the path tomorrow. Drew has a lot more coming from Nashville. We'll give you blow by blow coverage from Mizzou Arena, including a live show afterward (assuming this one works) and then we'll chart our path to cover the NCAA Tournament. Appreciate everyone who has followed along all year. Let's keep it going for a little while.
Neither did Missouri today.
The hardest thing to do in sports is to admit the other guy was better. That's the story today. The other guy was just better. Missouri is a really good team led by a really good college basketball player that has had a really good season. Alabama is an elite team led by an NBA lottery pick that might be headed for a national championship season. And in the end, talent usually wins out.
Talent won out. Missouri led this game with 13 minutes to go. And then Alabama went on a 14-3 run led by eight points and an assist from Brandon Miller. I absolutely understand why it's hard to give the other team credit. I understand it even more when it's a team led by a coach that's very, very easy to dislike and a player many don't believe should be on the floor. But this post isn't about the morality of Alabama basketball. It's about the game that was played today. And in the game that was played, the best player in the SEC showed why he is the best player in the SEC and took over the game and won it.
*Missouri did not go down without fighting. It never does. That's not nothing. There were times where if one whistle would have blown (or not blown) or one shot would have fallen (or not fallen) it might have been enough. But every single time Missouri punched, Alabama answered. Missouri had to work incredibly hard to get its 61 points. Alabama had to work significantly less hard to get its 72. Think of it like a team that goes on a 17-play, 75-yard drive in eight minutes and gets a field goal. And then watches the other team throw a 60-yard touchdown. You can do your best, fight your hardest and give yourself a chance. But eventually you need the other team to blink. And in the second half, Alabama didn't.
*Neither team shot the three well. Mizzou was 7/25 and Bama was 8/27. Two things made the difference. After starting 2/20, Bama finished 6/7. And the biggest difference was the two-point shooting:
Missouri 14/43
Alabama 20/30
Ballgame
*I am sure a lot of people are bemoaning Missouri efforts and saying "We can't even make layups." The thing is, those layups mostly weren't easy shots. Alabama contested EVERYTHING. The Tide gets a lot of credit for being an elite offensive team. It doesn't get nearly enough for being an elite defensive team. Even the layups were contested. And it reached a point in the second half where Missouri was getting in the lane seeing ghosts. They quit even trying to go at the rim in the last eight minutes. And I truly do understand why.
*On the other end, Missouri was getting beat off the dribble, which meant they had to collapse and the Bama guards were finding the guy that got left over and over. Most of the time those turned into layups or dunks. At the end, they turned into threes.
*I haven't read the board reaction to this game. I cannot tell anyone else how to feel. I can tell you how I feel: Not bad. I know "They played hard and they're a good team but they're not quite to that level yet" isn't what anybody wants to say. But it's how I see it. Today was about Bama being good and little else.
*That said, Missouri needs Sean East to figure it out next week. He doesn't have to be the star. He doesn't have to win them games. But he can't play the way he played yesterday and today. I'd probably say the same thing about Mohammed Diarra. It seems apparent that Dennis Gates doesn't think Aidan Shaw is ready for bigger minutes in a game like this. Given that he's pushed nearly every correct button this year, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he's right. So if that's the case, with Ronnie DeGray hurt, he doesn't have much choice but to try to steal minutes with Diarra. It was very apparent very early both against Tennessee and Alabama that the number of minutes he was going to be able to steal wasn't going to be very big. Missouri survived it yesterday, but couldn't today.
*I like what I saw out of Noah Carter in this tournament and in the last five games or so. He's found his niche and he's become a factor.
*I would guess some are frustrated with Dree Gholston. I get he was 6/17. But as Drew King wrote yesterday, when the three isn't falling, this team needs Gholston and Kobe to be able to go get some points and shots inside the arc. They did that. Just not enough of them went in today and, again, that's mostly due to Bama's defense. Against teams that aren't Alabama, he plays a big role and can win you games. He just couldn't do it today.
*If I'm seeding the tournament, Missouri's a 6 and it's closer to a 5 than a 7. That's a little unique because it means Missouri is quite possibly playing someone coming off a play-in game. I think that's the ideal scenario for this team. What it means is they could face back to back games where the other team is coming off a game and has only one day to prepare. Missouri is an absolute nightmare to play on the second leg of a back to back with limited preparation time. Because they play a way that very few teams play. If Mizzou gets on the six line, I think it's got a hell of a chance to play into next week. I'm not making predictions before a bracket comes out, but this really is a team that's playing some of its best basketball and that nobody's going to want to see on the line opposite them.
*It's been an incredible season. It has at least one more game left. We'll find out the path tomorrow. Drew has a lot more coming from Nashville. We'll give you blow by blow coverage from Mizzou Arena, including a live show afterward (assuming this one works) and then we'll chart our path to cover the NCAA Tournament. Appreciate everyone who has followed along all year. Let's keep it going for a little while.
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