This team just can't ever make it easy, can it? I had already started writing my story about how Mizzou did to Alabama what Alabama had been doing to everyone else this season, playing suffocating defense and pushing the pace and winning in a blowout. And then the final six minutes happened. And I really thought Missouri was going to lose, especially when Mark Smith missed the front end of the one-and-one and Alabama got a second chance down a point. But this team just keeps finding way to win. Yes, they are probably overdue to lose a close game eventually, but they didn't today, and they beat a top 10 team for the third time this season and are still alive to win the SEC. At the end of the day, that's the biggest story.
I thought Missouri won this game with its defense, and not just in the final minute. No SEC team had held Alabama under 70 points all season. For most of this game, I thought the Tide weren't even going to get to 60. Missouri did a remarkable job defending one-on-one, keeping Alabama from getting shots at the rim while also not helping and opening up three-point shooting opportunities. Alabama shot just 11-23 on layups and got out-scored in the paint 46-22. For a team that couldn't keep anyone out of the paint to save its life a week ago, that really impressed me.
Mitchell Smith obviously had the biggest of those defensive plays. He altered Herbert Jones' first shot in the final minute (I'll be honest, I thought he got away with a foul there, but I am open to being wrong as I had a bad angle and never saw a replay) and then had the huge block to all but seal the win (that one was absolutely clean). You have to be happy for a guy that came in under Kim Anderson and has seen some very lean years and never tries to do more than he's asked and makes all the dirty, hustle plays for this team. I think Missouri loses both of the past two games without Mitchell Smith, which is a sentence I did not ever expect to type. Dru Smith, while brutal on the offensive end down the stretch, also came up big on that defensive play by helping without fouling. That allowed Mitch to get there for the block. Dru was really solid for most of the game, too, with 16 points and eight rebounds. And I know this might not be the most popular opinion, but I thought Mark Smith played his butt off today. Yes, he made one of eight threes, and the front-end free throw miss was awful. But he had five steals and he scored four times inside the three-point line, which might actually match the number of twos he made previously in conference play. I thought he was Pickett-esque on a day when Pickett couldn't go.
Of course, we can't just ignore the late collapse. I thought the big mistake for Missouri was drastically slowing down its pace. The Tigers went from pushing at every opportunity to running down the shot clock every possession, and their halfcourt offense couldn't get it done against Alabama's very good halfcourt defense. They also started getting beat down the floor on the other end. It's kind of the second game in a row the offense has stalled out down the stretch. That's obviously something to monitor going forward. But if you're going to criticize the coaches and the team for the last six minutes, you have to give them more credit for the first 34. And I look at it this way: If someone had told you when you woke up this morning that Mizzou would win by three, you probably would have been psyched. Really, when you step back and think about it, the fact that this fanbase is in a position to nit-pick a third win of the season against a top-10 team is pretty remarkable considering where it was four years ago and even one year ago.
I have a story up, I know Gabe has posted some thoughts, and we have video of Cuonzo. Enjoy the win and the football game tomorrow, if you care about such things. I'm out.
I thought Missouri won this game with its defense, and not just in the final minute. No SEC team had held Alabama under 70 points all season. For most of this game, I thought the Tide weren't even going to get to 60. Missouri did a remarkable job defending one-on-one, keeping Alabama from getting shots at the rim while also not helping and opening up three-point shooting opportunities. Alabama shot just 11-23 on layups and got out-scored in the paint 46-22. For a team that couldn't keep anyone out of the paint to save its life a week ago, that really impressed me.
Mitchell Smith obviously had the biggest of those defensive plays. He altered Herbert Jones' first shot in the final minute (I'll be honest, I thought he got away with a foul there, but I am open to being wrong as I had a bad angle and never saw a replay) and then had the huge block to all but seal the win (that one was absolutely clean). You have to be happy for a guy that came in under Kim Anderson and has seen some very lean years and never tries to do more than he's asked and makes all the dirty, hustle plays for this team. I think Missouri loses both of the past two games without Mitchell Smith, which is a sentence I did not ever expect to type. Dru Smith, while brutal on the offensive end down the stretch, also came up big on that defensive play by helping without fouling. That allowed Mitch to get there for the block. Dru was really solid for most of the game, too, with 16 points and eight rebounds. And I know this might not be the most popular opinion, but I thought Mark Smith played his butt off today. Yes, he made one of eight threes, and the front-end free throw miss was awful. But he had five steals and he scored four times inside the three-point line, which might actually match the number of twos he made previously in conference play. I thought he was Pickett-esque on a day when Pickett couldn't go.
Of course, we can't just ignore the late collapse. I thought the big mistake for Missouri was drastically slowing down its pace. The Tigers went from pushing at every opportunity to running down the shot clock every possession, and their halfcourt offense couldn't get it done against Alabama's very good halfcourt defense. They also started getting beat down the floor on the other end. It's kind of the second game in a row the offense has stalled out down the stretch. That's obviously something to monitor going forward. But if you're going to criticize the coaches and the team for the last six minutes, you have to give them more credit for the first 34. And I look at it this way: If someone had told you when you woke up this morning that Mizzou would win by three, you probably would have been psyched. Really, when you step back and think about it, the fact that this fanbase is in a position to nit-pick a third win of the season against a top-10 team is pretty remarkable considering where it was four years ago and even one year ago.
I have a story up, I know Gabe has posted some thoughts, and we have video of Cuonzo. Enjoy the win and the football game tomorrow, if you care about such things. I'm out.
