Video and a column on the front, Keegan's got another post-game story on the way.
I will rarely bend to agree that officials lose a game. I think they did today. It was bad. And the shame of it is that seasons ride on this, tournament berths are decided on it, multimillion dollar salaries are at stake. Officials are human. Sometimes they screw up. I will not listen to the argument that the refs fixed the game or anything along those lines. But they absolutely made some terrible calls that killed Missouri. In order that I can remember:
*Tilmon's fourth foul was awful
*Jontay Porter's fourth foul was awful
*Jeremiah Tilmon's fifth foul was awful
*Kassius Robertson's foul with 22 seconds left was not a foul
The one on Robertson is the only one that I will say absolutely changed the outcome. Because if that's not called and Missouri rebounds the miss, they're going to the line to make it a two possession game with 20 seconds left. And even if they don't do it, it changes everything. The other three were terrible calls, but there's no way to say for sure they changed the outcome. They might have, but it's not provable.
Anyway, that's the officiating rant.
There were other things Missouri should have done and didn't:
*The next to last possession that went from 110-40 seconds was awful. Missouri didn't hit the rim. I thought Cuonzo Martin should have called a timeout in the middle of it.
*I still think Kassius Robertson should bring the ball up in the last 15 seconds. I asked Martin and he explained why Jordan Geist did (basically he wants Robertson as the shooter and if he has the ball in his hands they can corral him and prevent him from being the shooter). I get it, but the game ended without either of your two best players (three best when you include Jontay) touching the ball on the final possession. It's like trusting your middle reliever to get out of the seventh inning to get the game to your closer in the playoffs. When he doesn't do it, you end the game without your best reliever having seen the field. I'll maintain my stance that Robertson should have had the ball. Reasonable minds can disagree.
*On the execution of that last possession, we watched it about 12 times. If Geist throws the pass half a second sooner when Robertson popped open, it gets there. And Jordan Barnett, who Chris Chiozza was guarding, was standing completely by himself on the left wing. The play worked. But Geist needed to throw the pass a little quicker. And even if he throws it when he did, there aren't four players in America who steal it. It sucks, but you do have to acknowledge the fact that the kid made a ridiculous play.
*If this team gets Michael Porter Jr. back at some point, it can be special. It's still a potential tournament team, maybe even a likely tournament team, without him. But I don't think it's special.
*I was hard on Martin for the end of the game. I blamed him and I stand by it. That said, as I wrote in my column, the fact that he has this team and this program where it is, despite two transfers, nothing from Porter, etc, is nothing short of a miraculous coaching job. The talent has been upgraded since last year. I think Missouri is playing better than the talent says it should be.
That's it, I'm off to watch football. We'll be back at it tomorrow.
I will rarely bend to agree that officials lose a game. I think they did today. It was bad. And the shame of it is that seasons ride on this, tournament berths are decided on it, multimillion dollar salaries are at stake. Officials are human. Sometimes they screw up. I will not listen to the argument that the refs fixed the game or anything along those lines. But they absolutely made some terrible calls that killed Missouri. In order that I can remember:
*Tilmon's fourth foul was awful
*Jontay Porter's fourth foul was awful
*Jeremiah Tilmon's fifth foul was awful
*Kassius Robertson's foul with 22 seconds left was not a foul
The one on Robertson is the only one that I will say absolutely changed the outcome. Because if that's not called and Missouri rebounds the miss, they're going to the line to make it a two possession game with 20 seconds left. And even if they don't do it, it changes everything. The other three were terrible calls, but there's no way to say for sure they changed the outcome. They might have, but it's not provable.
Anyway, that's the officiating rant.
There were other things Missouri should have done and didn't:
*The next to last possession that went from 110-40 seconds was awful. Missouri didn't hit the rim. I thought Cuonzo Martin should have called a timeout in the middle of it.
*I still think Kassius Robertson should bring the ball up in the last 15 seconds. I asked Martin and he explained why Jordan Geist did (basically he wants Robertson as the shooter and if he has the ball in his hands they can corral him and prevent him from being the shooter). I get it, but the game ended without either of your two best players (three best when you include Jontay) touching the ball on the final possession. It's like trusting your middle reliever to get out of the seventh inning to get the game to your closer in the playoffs. When he doesn't do it, you end the game without your best reliever having seen the field. I'll maintain my stance that Robertson should have had the ball. Reasonable minds can disagree.
*On the execution of that last possession, we watched it about 12 times. If Geist throws the pass half a second sooner when Robertson popped open, it gets there. And Jordan Barnett, who Chris Chiozza was guarding, was standing completely by himself on the left wing. The play worked. But Geist needed to throw the pass a little quicker. And even if he throws it when he did, there aren't four players in America who steal it. It sucks, but you do have to acknowledge the fact that the kid made a ridiculous play.
*If this team gets Michael Porter Jr. back at some point, it can be special. It's still a potential tournament team, maybe even a likely tournament team, without him. But I don't think it's special.
*I was hard on Martin for the end of the game. I blamed him and I stand by it. That said, as I wrote in my column, the fact that he has this team and this program where it is, despite two transfers, nothing from Porter, etc, is nothing short of a miraculous coaching job. The talent has been upgraded since last year. I think Missouri is playing better than the talent says it should be.
That's it, I'm off to watch football. We'll be back at it tomorrow.
