As many of you saw earlier, my thoughts in sum were accurately portrayed. But taking a bit deeper dive...
1. As I mentioned after the WVU game, I think a big part of this game was winning experience. Florida had at LEAST (didn't take the time to look everyone up) 3 players that played meaningful time in their run to the Elite 8 last year. Mizzou has one player, Jordan Barnett, that has been on a team that appeared in an NCAA tournament. And he was never on the court. There's no metric for "winning experience," but it's a thing. In the final minute, with Mizzou holding a two possession lead, it went:
-Mizzou: Shot clock violation
-Florida: "Foul" on 3pa
-Mizzou: Turnover
-Florida: Made Layup
Now, a lot went into those possessions, but it's indicative (now TWICE) that Mizzou went up against an team who has been successful in the recent past, who is good, where the other team made plays down the stretch and Mizzou did not. I don't think there's a big gap between these teams in terms of skill and quality, but when it mattered...there was.
2. Last possession. No time is it more true than with an end of half situation does the outcome dictate the perceived quality of the play. I don't think it was a bad play that was called. I don't know if the shot at the top of the arc was the desired shot, or if there was a wrinkle in the last 5 seconds. It's unknowable (to us). What is known is that Geist made a bad pass. It looked robotic. Telegraphed. Late. Etc. And they had an excellent player (see #1) who made a play. It's unfortunate that it came down to that.
3. Florida is a good team. Whatever happened to them in late november/early december, is not a factor anymore. This team took down Gonzaga in an epic match, only to lose a 3 point decision to Duke the next night...both on a neutral floor. Pomeroy has them as a top 30 team, which still factors in the ugly losses. I see them as a team that if corrected, can be a top 3 team in the league, if not with a solid chance to win it.
4. The first 10 turnovers weren't a problem. The last one was. Florida is pretty decent (#74; 4th in the league) at forcing turnovers. Our 4 guards had 6 turnovers in 78 minutes. That'll play. Then the last mistake happened.
5. Was a little disappointed with Mizzou's results on the boards. They weren't bad, actually outrebounding Florida by 2. But Florida took 11 more shots and 4 more free throws. UF also was +4 on the offensive glass. Including the one that really hurt (2nd to last florida possession).
6. Outside of a handful of times/plays (see mostly #1), I really thought Mizzou played a good game. They did it with only 8 minutes from Jeremiah Tilmon. I don't know if either Florida or Mizzou played their A game, but I thought Mizzou played the better game today.
7. You guys had to like that when they were available, Mizzou made a concerted effort going inside to Tilmon, Puryear and Porter. But the results weren't great. Mizzou shot 12-29 from inside the arc. They did however pass well, especially Jontay, setting up a lot of inside/outside action. That surely contributed to Mizzou's 11-19 effort from 3 point range.
8. The elephant in the room. The officiating. Garrick Shannon and Olandis Poole were HORRENDOUS. They did not prevent Mizzou from having a chance to win the game. However, they were the reason Florida had a chance to. There's no magic formula or stat to show how bad they were. It was obvious to anyone and everyone who watched.
Summation: Much like the WVU game, this is not a game that will hamper Mizzou's tournament chances in the negative ledger. It does represent, however, another missed chance at a win that would look really good. The tigers will have PLENTY of chances to build on their resume. They're currently 2-3 in "Tier A" games via Ken Pomeroy, and 1-1 in "Tier B" games. They have ELEVEN Tier A games remaining, and 3 Tier B. The ending to their season is still in their hands. But they have 9 consecutive games that would rank Tier A or B until they face MSU at home in mid-february. To compare, Mizzou played 9 Tier A/B teams TOTAL in their conference schedule the last time they made the tournament. What we got from a nice road win at USCe, we coughed away today. Perhaps not a net push, but close.
They need to shake this shit off and do what they did for ~37 minutes tonight. Play good basketball. Do that, and things will take care of themselves.
Oh...and having a guy who you could look to for a big bucket would be nice. Say a lottery pick type guy? Maybe 6'10"? Athletic? Shooter?
Yeah. That would help.
1. As I mentioned after the WVU game, I think a big part of this game was winning experience. Florida had at LEAST (didn't take the time to look everyone up) 3 players that played meaningful time in their run to the Elite 8 last year. Mizzou has one player, Jordan Barnett, that has been on a team that appeared in an NCAA tournament. And he was never on the court. There's no metric for "winning experience," but it's a thing. In the final minute, with Mizzou holding a two possession lead, it went:
-Mizzou: Shot clock violation
-Florida: "Foul" on 3pa
-Mizzou: Turnover
-Florida: Made Layup
Now, a lot went into those possessions, but it's indicative (now TWICE) that Mizzou went up against an team who has been successful in the recent past, who is good, where the other team made plays down the stretch and Mizzou did not. I don't think there's a big gap between these teams in terms of skill and quality, but when it mattered...there was.
2. Last possession. No time is it more true than with an end of half situation does the outcome dictate the perceived quality of the play. I don't think it was a bad play that was called. I don't know if the shot at the top of the arc was the desired shot, or if there was a wrinkle in the last 5 seconds. It's unknowable (to us). What is known is that Geist made a bad pass. It looked robotic. Telegraphed. Late. Etc. And they had an excellent player (see #1) who made a play. It's unfortunate that it came down to that.
3. Florida is a good team. Whatever happened to them in late november/early december, is not a factor anymore. This team took down Gonzaga in an epic match, only to lose a 3 point decision to Duke the next night...both on a neutral floor. Pomeroy has them as a top 30 team, which still factors in the ugly losses. I see them as a team that if corrected, can be a top 3 team in the league, if not with a solid chance to win it.
4. The first 10 turnovers weren't a problem. The last one was. Florida is pretty decent (#74; 4th in the league) at forcing turnovers. Our 4 guards had 6 turnovers in 78 minutes. That'll play. Then the last mistake happened.
5. Was a little disappointed with Mizzou's results on the boards. They weren't bad, actually outrebounding Florida by 2. But Florida took 11 more shots and 4 more free throws. UF also was +4 on the offensive glass. Including the one that really hurt (2nd to last florida possession).
6. Outside of a handful of times/plays (see mostly #1), I really thought Mizzou played a good game. They did it with only 8 minutes from Jeremiah Tilmon. I don't know if either Florida or Mizzou played their A game, but I thought Mizzou played the better game today.
7. You guys had to like that when they were available, Mizzou made a concerted effort going inside to Tilmon, Puryear and Porter. But the results weren't great. Mizzou shot 12-29 from inside the arc. They did however pass well, especially Jontay, setting up a lot of inside/outside action. That surely contributed to Mizzou's 11-19 effort from 3 point range.
8. The elephant in the room. The officiating. Garrick Shannon and Olandis Poole were HORRENDOUS. They did not prevent Mizzou from having a chance to win the game. However, they were the reason Florida had a chance to. There's no magic formula or stat to show how bad they were. It was obvious to anyone and everyone who watched.
Summation: Much like the WVU game, this is not a game that will hamper Mizzou's tournament chances in the negative ledger. It does represent, however, another missed chance at a win that would look really good. The tigers will have PLENTY of chances to build on their resume. They're currently 2-3 in "Tier A" games via Ken Pomeroy, and 1-1 in "Tier B" games. They have ELEVEN Tier A games remaining, and 3 Tier B. The ending to their season is still in their hands. But they have 9 consecutive games that would rank Tier A or B until they face MSU at home in mid-february. To compare, Mizzou played 9 Tier A/B teams TOTAL in their conference schedule the last time they made the tournament. What we got from a nice road win at USCe, we coughed away today. Perhaps not a net push, but close.
They need to shake this shit off and do what they did for ~37 minutes tonight. Play good basketball. Do that, and things will take care of themselves.
Oh...and having a guy who you could look to for a big bucket would be nice. Say a lottery pick type guy? Maybe 6'10"? Athletic? Shooter?
Yeah. That would help.
