Bragging Rights Game, Missouri Vs. Illinois

[Jerry Rapp]

surprised there is no chatter yet. I figured Illinois would blow the game away. I didn't get to watch it, but I see that Illinois won with a 3 at the buzzer. It really surprised me that Missouri could hang with a 9-3 Illinois team. It will be an interesting for sure as K Anderson builds the team he wants.

[ozark trout fisher]

I'll be real...I didn't even watch the game, given how bad they've been and how I expected a total beat down. But it looks like they were more competitive.

But still a loss. And still 5-6. And that still really sucks.

[BATCAB27]

Illinois isn't any good either.

[moguy1973]

I'll be honest. I lost interest in watching Tiger basketball after they lost to UMKC earlier this year.

[ozark trout fisher]

Illinois isn't any good either.

They are where Missouri should be right now.....probably a non-tournament team, but they beat the teams on the level below them and are competitive against major conference teams. No reason Mizzou shouldn't be able to do that, even with an inexperienced roster.

There is A LOT of 4 star talent at Mizzou. Kim Anderson will get plenty of time, and he should, but the results are downright unacceptable to this point. I can't take any comfort in a three point loss to a halfway decent opponent who, well, we should expect to always be competitive with.

[ruthead]

Watched this game as well as most all televised so far this year. I think where they are is totally acceptable. Not where I'd like but have shown improvement every game. Sorry but I took a lot of comfort in the three point loss. Didn't think we would be able to hang with IL. IL didn't appear that good but we hung with them, got ahead of them, and didn't let them pull away and could of won it at the end. We should of won that game but inexperience showed its face and we didn't. I hate to lose but it looks to me like the boys are starting to buy into Kim's program and we are looking better.

[ruthead]

Gant looks as promising in his first few games as any freshman I can remember in 40 years at MU.

[Al Agnew]

Geez, lots of fair weather fans here...

They only have four guys that got any minutes last year, one of them appears to be completely ineffective, one tries hard but his skills are very limited, one is inconsistent. So only JWIII is good enough to maybe start for a typical D-1 team. So other than that they have a couple of transfers that are average at best and a bunch of freshmen. That "four star" talent isn't Kentucky type newbies that are just looking to polish their NBA resume for a year. They are freshmen and they play like freshmen. Sure, they shouldn't have lost to UMKC, but things happen (Norfolk State?). I'm finding it very interesting watching them this year and watching the freshmen figure it out, watching the team start to define their roles, and they ARE improving with each game. They played pretty good defense most of the time against Illinois, and didn't make too many mistakes on offense. And mainly they didn't let the pressure get to them, and played well up to the end. It took a really lucky shot to beat them, a step back falling away three pointer at the buzzer. I think they are going to be fun to watch throughout this year, and by next year they could be pretty darned good.

Having said that, it's become obvious they are lacking in two areas, big men and a really effective point guard. Clark can penetrate but is a shoot-first guy when he penetrates; he doesn't make his team better. Shamburger can't break down a defense. Without a good point guard they are always going to days when the jump shots they have to settle for near the end of the shot clock don't fall. And though JWIII and Gant can play around the rim, neither has the strength right now to be a beast underneath. So I just don't see what having supposed four star talent gets them when they are lacking in two key areas.

If they can get everybody playing defense like Allen, though, they wouldn't need to score a whole lot. He's becoming one of my favorite players on the team.

[Quillback]

January 24 - Hogs coming to Missouri.

[ozark trout fisher]

January 24 - Hogs coming to Missouri.

Ugh. I'll be there, but I'm not looking forward to it.

As for the fair-weather fan stuff....no. I love this program. It's just that I don't love where it is right now. I don't blame much of it on Kim Anderson....there's a lot at play, including Frank Haith, the emphasis on football over basketball, a million different things. I didn't think this team would be great. But they just play dumb, consistently, even for a team that is this young. I'm cheering for them, but getting emotionally invested at this stage just isn't healthy or worthwhile. Kim Anderson will get this going eventually, but the best thing for me right now is to have a healthy level of detachment from what's going on.

I expected this to be rough, but not "losing to UMKC and losing to everyone with a pulse by a thousand" type of rough. Seriously, UMKC? I can deal with a lot and stay engaged (ask Frank Haith), but that's asking too much.

I need more than one competent performance to think we're past that. I do think at a point the message has to be sent that they can't just trot any horrible product out there and expect me to support it. It has to be better, even in a total rebuild.

That was better against Illinois. Show that you're interested in at least being competitive a few more times, and I'm in. I don't need much, but I need that.