1. I'm not a software designer, but v2.0 should theoretically be better than v1.0, right? If that's true, consider Cuonzo Bill Gates in this particular application. What a difference between games, huh? I don't like to soapbox, but if you don't watch much college basketball outside of Mizzou (or if you don't watch much of basketball at all), THIS IS NOT CRAZY. There are two elite teams in college hoops. There are a fair number of really good teams. If your team is not named Gonzaga or Baylor, you can lose (or win) just about any game remaining on your schedule. You can dominate a game physically and lose. You can play poorly but go apeshit from 3 and win. College hoops is unpredictable. A team can look like a final four contender against another in 1 game, and look like a bubble team the next (See: Volunteers, Tennessee). This is why it's fun. Even Baylor today looked incredibly beatable in Stillwater vs. a Cowboys team lacking Cade Cunningham and one other rotation player. Embrace the insanity. These games, matter, but one game does not a season make. It's what makes it fun.
2. January 21, 2012. That is the last time Mizzou beat a top 20 pomeroy team on the road. It was Baylor in the midst of an incredible regular season. Kim English had 10 points, 2 boards and 4 assists. Kim English was on the other bench tonight. Tennessee isn't playing exceptional ball right now, but make no mistake, this is an incredible win. Tennessee fell to 19 in pomeroy's numbers tonight...but that won't hold. Tennessee was 6th in the NET prior to tonight's game. They'll fall a bit, but not considerably, since Mizzou is 24th. These shouldn't come around once every 9 years. But that's the situation we've found ourselves in. If you feel that next year's squad (that we don't know who will be a part of) is a bigger concern than enjoying what's happening now, you do you. But this is why I follow Mizzou basketball game to game through Kim, through injuries and tough stretches under Martin. There isn't always a payoff. That's no guarantee. But if you're following along, don't forget to enjoy the results. That's my bit on that. Let's talk about the game.
3. I'm not bastion of impartiality, but I do try to provide a balanced perspective. The team is never as good as you may think after a W like tonight. They're never as bad as you may think after a blown lead in Starkville (still, fvck that place). As such, let's look at what happened. My biggest gripes tonight:
A. WAY too many open threes. You tell me before the game that Mizzou allows 9-22 from 3, I'm guessing this isn't a good night. Tennessee wasn't able to claw back without the number of uncontested 3's they had in the last 11-12 minutes of the 1st. I believe UT scored 29 points in roughly 11 minutes. Cleaned it up in the 2nd, lucky it didn't burn them.
B. Mizzou picked up UT's 6th foul with ~15:30 left in the 2nd. Mizzou picked up UT's 8th foul with 3:30 left in the 2nd. Mizzou was scuffling offensively during that stretch. Would've liked to see them push the issue and get to the line and rack up 30+ free throws.
C. There were stretches in the 2nd where the offense was ROUGH. 9 straight missed shots. Fortunately, they corrected 3.A. and held UT at arm's length. They managed to scratch out 33 points in the second half, but it was a rapid departure from half #1.
D. Mizzou left 6 points on the board that fortunately did not matter on missed Tilmon dunks and whatever happened with Pickett and Mark. Didn't matter. Could've, but didn't.
4. Everything else was pretty good. Some things were excellent. Most of which, Mizzou outshot UT. They didn't from a % basis, but they did from a volume basis. Mizzou took 57 shots, UT 48. How? 7 less turnovers and 2 more offensive rebounds. You'll see below the game was otherwise pretty even. But Mizzou did the small things to win this game. And that's a huge feather in their cap. This wasn't really an outlier game in overall shooting on either side. Mizzou out executed a very good team in their own house. That's what damn good teams do. And a credit to Coach for getting those details right.
5. Numbers
2 PT
Mizzou: 17-38 (44.7%)
UT: 12-26 (46.2%)
3PT
Mizzou: 8-19 (42.1%)
UT: 9-22 (40.9%)
FT
Mizzou: 15-20 (75%)
UT: 13-21 (61.9%)
OReb%
Mizzou: 38.7
UT: 31.2
TO%
Mizzou: 16.7
UT: 27.3
PPP
Mizzou: 111.0
UT: 97.4
6. Continuing the Microsoft theme, MVP goes to Window XP. The lone negative in his game was the 5 turnovers. He was otherwise excellent. 27 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals and 30 minutes played. One of his finest moments immediately on the heels on one of his worst. When Tennessee was pushing hard late in the first, X kept them at bay with 19 scored in the first stanza. 7-11 inside the arc, 3-3 beyond and 4-4 at the line. Combined with Dru, who also had a whale of a game, it was like late season 2020 on steroids. No one played terribly, but beyond those guys, it was truly a team effort. Each guy who entered (only 8 guys total) made distinct contributions. But for my "unsung hero," we'll go with Kobe. Just earlier today I was ruing the fact that Liddell got away. I still feel that way. But games like tonight minimize the feeling. Kobe only scored 8, did not attempt a 2 point shot and 5 came at the line. But we was a factor inside. Ponz was going nuts in the first half and he (in addition to Mitch and JT) completely shut that down allowing UT's front line to score 12 points in the 2nd half. He was active on the boards and in passing lanes. Props.
7. Analytics updates. Mizzou finally received a noticeable "bump."
Pomeroy: 28th (highest since 2013)
Torvik: 18th
Haslam: TBD
Resume numbers available
Wins above bubble: 5th
SOR: tomorrow, currently 9th
Net: tomorrow; currently 24th
KPI: tomorrow; currently 6th
Tonight's performance is dragging their performance projection numbers closer to their results. It's been mentioned, but Mizzou is one of two teams with more than 4 quad 1 wins. They're 5-1 in such games, which represents exactly half of their schedule to this point. Pomeroy has their strength of schedule at 19. They have challenged themselves. And outside of 3 unfortunate halves, they've risen to the occasion, time and time again.
8. Game score. Mention it from time to time, but an analytic "figure" that looks at the numbers and competition and grades you on a classroom scale. Tonight's number? 99.0. Last time vs. Tennessee? 13.0. The software update was welcome.
9. Up next: Auburn. A dangerous team. Mizzou has unfortunately been bestowed with back to back road games twice in their first 7 conference games. That really sucks. Yes, the crowds are minimized. But road trips are still hard. Travel time. Different beds. Different gyms. Exhaustion. Avoiding the rona. Etc. They're factors. They fell apart late in game 2 of their last back to back. They will have to bring it to avoid the same fate this time around. Regardless, even should they falter, the season is no more over postgame than anything has been accomplished after this one.
Go Pack Go.
2. January 21, 2012. That is the last time Mizzou beat a top 20 pomeroy team on the road. It was Baylor in the midst of an incredible regular season. Kim English had 10 points, 2 boards and 4 assists. Kim English was on the other bench tonight. Tennessee isn't playing exceptional ball right now, but make no mistake, this is an incredible win. Tennessee fell to 19 in pomeroy's numbers tonight...but that won't hold. Tennessee was 6th in the NET prior to tonight's game. They'll fall a bit, but not considerably, since Mizzou is 24th. These shouldn't come around once every 9 years. But that's the situation we've found ourselves in. If you feel that next year's squad (that we don't know who will be a part of) is a bigger concern than enjoying what's happening now, you do you. But this is why I follow Mizzou basketball game to game through Kim, through injuries and tough stretches under Martin. There isn't always a payoff. That's no guarantee. But if you're following along, don't forget to enjoy the results. That's my bit on that. Let's talk about the game.
3. I'm not bastion of impartiality, but I do try to provide a balanced perspective. The team is never as good as you may think after a W like tonight. They're never as bad as you may think after a blown lead in Starkville (still, fvck that place). As such, let's look at what happened. My biggest gripes tonight:
A. WAY too many open threes. You tell me before the game that Mizzou allows 9-22 from 3, I'm guessing this isn't a good night. Tennessee wasn't able to claw back without the number of uncontested 3's they had in the last 11-12 minutes of the 1st. I believe UT scored 29 points in roughly 11 minutes. Cleaned it up in the 2nd, lucky it didn't burn them.
B. Mizzou picked up UT's 6th foul with ~15:30 left in the 2nd. Mizzou picked up UT's 8th foul with 3:30 left in the 2nd. Mizzou was scuffling offensively during that stretch. Would've liked to see them push the issue and get to the line and rack up 30+ free throws.
C. There were stretches in the 2nd where the offense was ROUGH. 9 straight missed shots. Fortunately, they corrected 3.A. and held UT at arm's length. They managed to scratch out 33 points in the second half, but it was a rapid departure from half #1.
D. Mizzou left 6 points on the board that fortunately did not matter on missed Tilmon dunks and whatever happened with Pickett and Mark. Didn't matter. Could've, but didn't.
4. Everything else was pretty good. Some things were excellent. Most of which, Mizzou outshot UT. They didn't from a % basis, but they did from a volume basis. Mizzou took 57 shots, UT 48. How? 7 less turnovers and 2 more offensive rebounds. You'll see below the game was otherwise pretty even. But Mizzou did the small things to win this game. And that's a huge feather in their cap. This wasn't really an outlier game in overall shooting on either side. Mizzou out executed a very good team in their own house. That's what damn good teams do. And a credit to Coach for getting those details right.
5. Numbers
2 PT
Mizzou: 17-38 (44.7%)
UT: 12-26 (46.2%)
3PT
Mizzou: 8-19 (42.1%)
UT: 9-22 (40.9%)
FT
Mizzou: 15-20 (75%)
UT: 13-21 (61.9%)
OReb%
Mizzou: 38.7
UT: 31.2
TO%
Mizzou: 16.7
UT: 27.3
PPP
Mizzou: 111.0
UT: 97.4
6. Continuing the Microsoft theme, MVP goes to Window XP. The lone negative in his game was the 5 turnovers. He was otherwise excellent. 27 points, 4 boards, 2 assists, 3 steals and 30 minutes played. One of his finest moments immediately on the heels on one of his worst. When Tennessee was pushing hard late in the first, X kept them at bay with 19 scored in the first stanza. 7-11 inside the arc, 3-3 beyond and 4-4 at the line. Combined with Dru, who also had a whale of a game, it was like late season 2020 on steroids. No one played terribly, but beyond those guys, it was truly a team effort. Each guy who entered (only 8 guys total) made distinct contributions. But for my "unsung hero," we'll go with Kobe. Just earlier today I was ruing the fact that Liddell got away. I still feel that way. But games like tonight minimize the feeling. Kobe only scored 8, did not attempt a 2 point shot and 5 came at the line. But we was a factor inside. Ponz was going nuts in the first half and he (in addition to Mitch and JT) completely shut that down allowing UT's front line to score 12 points in the 2nd half. He was active on the boards and in passing lanes. Props.
7. Analytics updates. Mizzou finally received a noticeable "bump."
Pomeroy: 28th (highest since 2013)
Torvik: 18th
Haslam: TBD
Resume numbers available
Wins above bubble: 5th
SOR: tomorrow, currently 9th
Net: tomorrow; currently 24th
KPI: tomorrow; currently 6th
Tonight's performance is dragging their performance projection numbers closer to their results. It's been mentioned, but Mizzou is one of two teams with more than 4 quad 1 wins. They're 5-1 in such games, which represents exactly half of their schedule to this point. Pomeroy has their strength of schedule at 19. They have challenged themselves. And outside of 3 unfortunate halves, they've risen to the occasion, time and time again.
8. Game score. Mention it from time to time, but an analytic "figure" that looks at the numbers and competition and grades you on a classroom scale. Tonight's number? 99.0. Last time vs. Tennessee? 13.0. The software update was welcome.
9. Up next: Auburn. A dangerous team. Mizzou has unfortunately been bestowed with back to back road games twice in their first 7 conference games. That really sucks. Yes, the crowds are minimized. But road trips are still hard. Travel time. Different beds. Different gyms. Exhaustion. Avoiding the rona. Etc. They're factors. They fell apart late in game 2 of their last back to back. They will have to bring it to avoid the same fate this time around. Regardless, even should they falter, the season is no more over postgame than anything has been accomplished after this one.
Go Pack Go.
