Let's tag some guys...
I see that @GabeD beat me to the punch. Such is life when I'm in a hotel, on a significant delay on the game feed...and I'm hashing it out in my other favorite thread. Sorry for the delay.
I feel like a @rhc4y4 early meltdown is a harbinger of things to come. So to, was it tonight. Just busting balls...
Oh, and @BoatDan99 ... no idea who the hell you are. But keep on keepin on.
To the numbers...
1. Tigers have turned into the road warriors before our eyes. Team now sits at 4-4 on the season, 3-3 in conference. Only UCF is rated outside of Pomeroy's top 100 (and boy did I miss their game earlier tonight; saw they had 13 points...in the 2nd half). Anyway, that's damn impressive. Sure, they're not going into West Lafayette or Durham and getting these, but they're not rolling over Marist either (apologies to Red Fox fans).
2. I felt like there were two games going on. The first 5 minutes of the first half and the first 15 of the second half were an absolute Ole Miss rout. By my count, Ole Miss was +24 over that time. The other 20 minutes? Mizzou was +30. Not exactly how you draw it up, but you take it.
3. Who did we beat? Ole Miss. The Ole Miss that was carrying an 8 game win streak against the Tigers into the game. Believe they were 9-1 since we entered the league. Anyway, that's gone...and Marshall isn't pimp-walkin through that door anytime soon. Not an especially impressive squad on paper, ranked 83rd in the RPI and Pomeroy's system, but hey, it's a "Tier 2 win" for the committee, thanks to the weighted road wins.
4. Ole Miss is a dangerous, volume offense. Not particularly efficient, but a team that can get on a roll...quickly. They're a defensive abortion, which we saw for 20 minutes. But Kennedy is one of the more underrated coaches out there. He knew they struggled, and he threw the damn kitchen sink at us. By my count our guys saw:
a. Man to Man
b. 2-3 zone
c. 2-3 matchup zone
d. 1-3-1 half court trap
e. 1-3-1 3/4 court zone
f. full court man with jump traps
g. Might have seen a diamond and 1 press on one occasion, but my feed was cutting out
That's a crap ton of looks. Especially for a team that struggles with turnovers. Even moreso for a team that doesn't have an experienced point guard who can 1. Identify the defense; 2. Call the correct play; and 3. actually run the play. But....? Didn't matter, got a win.
5. 3 players for ole Miss combined for 46 points. The other six had 23. No one was a backbreaker. It wasn't the performance we had become accustomed to seeing recently, but holding Ole Miss to 69 (there's that number AGAIN) will play.
6. Into the numbers...Tigers shot 45% from the field, 44% from 3, 46% from 2, and an impressive 17-20 from the line. Rebels shot 40%, 28% from 3, 45% from 2, and 12-15 from the line (including a missed front end). Nothing outstanding on either side, except for making more free throws than your opponent shot...that's big.
Rebounds: Tigers 39 -- Rebels 35; OM had 3 more offensive boards, which seemed to come on a total of 3 possessions (miss, board, miss, board etc).
Assists: Both teams shared it well, with Mizzou having 16 on 24 makes, OM 19 on 26. Both are impressive numbers.
Turnovers: Mizzou 11 -- Rebels 5; Was getting a little concerned with this early on, and later when the Rebels were converting them. Believe the final tally was 16-8 on points off of in OM's favor. But, 11 is a number you can live with, especially with only 7 over the last 35 minutes.
Fouls: No major issues with officiating tonight. Porter and Tilmon contributed 8 of our 15 total fouls. That was aggravating.
7. Game ball goes to...duh. Robertson. Check this line
27 points
8-16
5-9 from 3
7-8 from the line
4 boards
2 assists
1 steal
5 turnovers
Yeah, the last number is concerning. 3 did come in the first 5 minutes, so that is a little misleading, although they still happened, and need to stop. But talk about a revelation. Canisius have any more guys available for next year? Thanks in advance.
8. Honorable Mention goes to Porter. His line may be even better, but I went with Kash due to Porter being absent for much of the second half...but that shouldn't diminish his key contributions in the first half (or the blocks at the end), because it gives you a peek at how dangerous this squad can be when he's on.
18 points
6-13
2-3 from 3
4-5 from the line
13 boards
4 assists
5 blocks
3 turnovers
Frankly, if you hadn't watched the game, I'd take that line over Robertson's. But...nah. Robertson answered every...single...run...with a big play on the offensive end when we were stagnant. He gets his due tonight.
9. Honorable Honorable? Mention: Puryear had 12 and 6 with some key plays. And the guy that often goes forgotten, or gets our (and my) wrath? Jordan Geist
10 points
3 boards
6 assists
0 Turnovers
Sign me up for that every night please.
Closing Thoughts: What looked to be a season running off the rails 8 days ago has had a dramatic turnaround. Dramatic may even be an understatement. Just a recap:
1. Knock of a tournament team on the road
2. Knock off a blue blood, for the first time ever, at home.
3. Knock off a team with an 8 game winning streak, and is 4-1 at home in conference, on the road.
Now there's scuttlebutt that we might, just maybe, get the best late season addition imaginable? That's pretty fun stuff.
But that shouldn't distract from what this team has done.
Looking ahead, ever so slightly, the Tigers have two in a row at home with a resurgent MSU squad and a dangerous aTm team (that the numbers love). Tigers need to defend their home turf. And if they do? Well, you're sitting at 8-5 in league play and 18-8 overall. With winnable games remaining in 4 of your remaining 5...hell, maybe even all 5? But that's getting way over our skis at this point.
Cuonzo has made Mizzou basketball fun again. And I'm loving it.
I see that @GabeD beat me to the punch. Such is life when I'm in a hotel, on a significant delay on the game feed...and I'm hashing it out in my other favorite thread. Sorry for the delay.
I feel like a @rhc4y4 early meltdown is a harbinger of things to come. So to, was it tonight. Just busting balls...
Oh, and @BoatDan99 ... no idea who the hell you are. But keep on keepin on.
To the numbers...
1. Tigers have turned into the road warriors before our eyes. Team now sits at 4-4 on the season, 3-3 in conference. Only UCF is rated outside of Pomeroy's top 100 (and boy did I miss their game earlier tonight; saw they had 13 points...in the 2nd half). Anyway, that's damn impressive. Sure, they're not going into West Lafayette or Durham and getting these, but they're not rolling over Marist either (apologies to Red Fox fans).
2. I felt like there were two games going on. The first 5 minutes of the first half and the first 15 of the second half were an absolute Ole Miss rout. By my count, Ole Miss was +24 over that time. The other 20 minutes? Mizzou was +30. Not exactly how you draw it up, but you take it.
3. Who did we beat? Ole Miss. The Ole Miss that was carrying an 8 game win streak against the Tigers into the game. Believe they were 9-1 since we entered the league. Anyway, that's gone...and Marshall isn't pimp-walkin through that door anytime soon. Not an especially impressive squad on paper, ranked 83rd in the RPI and Pomeroy's system, but hey, it's a "Tier 2 win" for the committee, thanks to the weighted road wins.
4. Ole Miss is a dangerous, volume offense. Not particularly efficient, but a team that can get on a roll...quickly. They're a defensive abortion, which we saw for 20 minutes. But Kennedy is one of the more underrated coaches out there. He knew they struggled, and he threw the damn kitchen sink at us. By my count our guys saw:
a. Man to Man
b. 2-3 zone
c. 2-3 matchup zone
d. 1-3-1 half court trap
e. 1-3-1 3/4 court zone
f. full court man with jump traps
g. Might have seen a diamond and 1 press on one occasion, but my feed was cutting out
That's a crap ton of looks. Especially for a team that struggles with turnovers. Even moreso for a team that doesn't have an experienced point guard who can 1. Identify the defense; 2. Call the correct play; and 3. actually run the play. But....? Didn't matter, got a win.
5. 3 players for ole Miss combined for 46 points. The other six had 23. No one was a backbreaker. It wasn't the performance we had become accustomed to seeing recently, but holding Ole Miss to 69 (there's that number AGAIN) will play.
6. Into the numbers...Tigers shot 45% from the field, 44% from 3, 46% from 2, and an impressive 17-20 from the line. Rebels shot 40%, 28% from 3, 45% from 2, and 12-15 from the line (including a missed front end). Nothing outstanding on either side, except for making more free throws than your opponent shot...that's big.
Rebounds: Tigers 39 -- Rebels 35; OM had 3 more offensive boards, which seemed to come on a total of 3 possessions (miss, board, miss, board etc).
Assists: Both teams shared it well, with Mizzou having 16 on 24 makes, OM 19 on 26. Both are impressive numbers.
Turnovers: Mizzou 11 -- Rebels 5; Was getting a little concerned with this early on, and later when the Rebels were converting them. Believe the final tally was 16-8 on points off of in OM's favor. But, 11 is a number you can live with, especially with only 7 over the last 35 minutes.
Fouls: No major issues with officiating tonight. Porter and Tilmon contributed 8 of our 15 total fouls. That was aggravating.
7. Game ball goes to...duh. Robertson. Check this line
27 points
8-16
5-9 from 3
7-8 from the line
4 boards
2 assists
1 steal
5 turnovers
Yeah, the last number is concerning. 3 did come in the first 5 minutes, so that is a little misleading, although they still happened, and need to stop. But talk about a revelation. Canisius have any more guys available for next year? Thanks in advance.
8. Honorable Mention goes to Porter. His line may be even better, but I went with Kash due to Porter being absent for much of the second half...but that shouldn't diminish his key contributions in the first half (or the blocks at the end), because it gives you a peek at how dangerous this squad can be when he's on.
18 points
6-13
2-3 from 3
4-5 from the line
13 boards
4 assists
5 blocks
3 turnovers
Frankly, if you hadn't watched the game, I'd take that line over Robertson's. But...nah. Robertson answered every...single...run...with a big play on the offensive end when we were stagnant. He gets his due tonight.
9. Honorable Honorable? Mention: Puryear had 12 and 6 with some key plays. And the guy that often goes forgotten, or gets our (and my) wrath? Jordan Geist
10 points
3 boards
6 assists
0 Turnovers
Sign me up for that every night please.
Closing Thoughts: What looked to be a season running off the rails 8 days ago has had a dramatic turnaround. Dramatic may even be an understatement. Just a recap:
1. Knock of a tournament team on the road
2. Knock off a blue blood, for the first time ever, at home.
3. Knock off a team with an 8 game winning streak, and is 4-1 at home in conference, on the road.
Now there's scuttlebutt that we might, just maybe, get the best late season addition imaginable? That's pretty fun stuff.
But that shouldn't distract from what this team has done.
Looking ahead, ever so slightly, the Tigers have two in a row at home with a resurgent MSU squad and a dangerous aTm team (that the numbers love). Tigers need to defend their home turf. And if they do? Well, you're sitting at 8-5 in league play and 18-8 overall. With winnable games remaining in 4 of your remaining 5...hell, maybe even all 5? But that's getting way over our skis at this point.
Cuonzo has made Mizzou basketball fun again. And I'm loving it.
