Mizzou-Arkansas Game

[ozark trout fisher]

Pressey didn't kill Mizzou, those boys dressed in black and white did. When the comontators count how many fouls the pigs commit before the whistle is finally blown, you have a problem.

I think the Tigers were called one time because some sweat dripped on the floor.

Yep. I was about to post the same thing. It is normal not to get the calls on the road, and it seems like Mike Anderson's 40 minutes of heck system is crafted to take advantage of that to the fullest extent. Thus you have the great home/road disparity. Missouri played well and is still probably fine to make the tournament. Mizzou should soundly defeat Arkansas and LSU at home (especially since MIzzou lost on the road to both of those teams, and will be unlikely to look past them), and probably South Carolina on the road. Win one of Florida/Kentucky/Tennessee and Missouri should be safe, with one win in the SEC tournament. Sounds doable, though not exactly a given.

[Quillback]

Even as a Hogs fan gotta admit the refs maybe were a tad favorable towards the home team. Pressey didn't play a good game either. Chippy game, physical, not a lot of X's and O's going on.

[stlfisher]

the officials were bad, but pressey did turned it over twice on two possessions in the last minute. he has done that at ucla, a@m, lsu, and now arkansas. the refs missed 3 calls that i saw in the last minute or so so it was a double whammy.

[moguy1973]

pressey killed mu AGAIN.

At times it seemed like it was Pressey vs. Arkansas and there wasn't any other Mizzou players on the court...When he passes Missouri is really good, when he hogs the ball they lose...

Although that last play where Mizzou inbounded and Pressey ran into that guy it clearly was a foul on Arkansas and that would have put Phil on the line for 2 and most likely the lead...

[ozark trout fisher]

the officials were bad, but pressey did turned it over twice on two possessions in the last minute. he has done that at ucla, a@m, lsu, and now arkansas. the refs missed 3 calls that i saw in the last minute or so so it was a double whammy.

He had a rough game but I thought he handled the last minute basically okay. Honestly, the team as a whole did. They were in an excellent position to win up 4 with around 30 seconds to go. A couple somewhat questionable and one calls go the wrong way for MU, and all of a sudden they are in a position where they have the ball down two with five seconds on the clock. Arkansas could draw a foul on pretty much any shot around the rim all day long. Missouri really didn't stand a chance from the moment Arkansas decided to do that instead of shooting threes late in the game. And even if Missouri was "clutch" (a concept that statistics show is very overrated) the odds of winning or even forcing overtime with that little time left on the clock is very low. So here we are with another close road loss, saying that this team just can't handle close games. I just don't buy it. Close games involve a lot of luck.

Missouri has been on the wrong end of that a whole lot lately. I think we are 2-4 in games decided by 3 points or less. And that includes all three of our "worst" losses. Though none of Missouri's losses this season are truly bad. Even LSU will probably sneak into the RPI top 100 after a win today pushed them up to 15-8 on the season. Arkansas is now a bubble team...A&M and LSU will probably be playing in the NIT, so it's not like we have lost to the dregs of the league. This is why despite a semi-mediocre win-loss record and a poor SEC, Missouri has yet to find itself truly on the bubble. The computer numbers are still good, and quality wins against three almost sure tournament teams (Illinois, VCU, and Ole Miss) are more than most teams that are fighting for the last few bids can hold up. Illinois' resurgence has actually been the best thing to happen to Missouri in the last couple of weeks.

But that said, they have put themselves in a position where a whole bunch more work needs to be done to seal a tournament spot up for good. A win against Florida would probably do it. But MIssouri will likely have some more close games down the stretch, and at least a couple probably will need to be wins.

[snap]

Missouri did everything they needed to do to win this game!!! they get down by 7 latter part of the game and battle back to take the lead by 4 under a minute. They shoot the 2nd of a doube bonus with less than a minute left and make a play by getting a rebound.....only to get shoved from behind and called for a travel instead of going to the line to extend lead to 6!!! 11 for arkansas comes down the floor and makes a move, taking 4 steps, the ball goes in and not only do the officials count the basket, they give him +1 and the guy wasn't even fouled.....finally, the official at the scorers table starts the clock when he/she should not so instead of mizzou getting the ball at half court with 5.3, anderson instructs a player to get on pressey in the backcourt.....like a free timeout....ALL THIS UNDER A MINUTE!!!! ...and how about Oriaki's rebound in the 2nd half where he gets fouled, and fouled, and then finally fouled again!!!! .....Pressey did play poorly, but under a minute, he was solid, and beat up,.......Basically 4 different incidents that went against mizzou in the last minute!!! I have hated and loved college basketball the last few years.....hateful cause of things like that homer officiating.....my theory is the officials are scared to walk out of the arena because they must fear they will get attacked by some crazy fans!!!! If mizzou makes the tournament, they should be tough because they play well at neutral sites and are now playing well on the road.....which is difficult .....obviously......!!!

[ozark trout fisher]

If mizzou makes the tournament, they should be tough because they play well at neutral sites and are now playing well on the road.....which is difficult .....obviously......!!!

I couldn't agree more with this. The NCAA tournament will not be played in hostile arenas, and most teams aren't going to get the vast majority of calls the way Arkansas did yesterday. I'm not even complaining. That's just how it goes when you are playing on the road in an environment like Bud Walton was yesterday. It reminded me of how Kansas must of felt when they came to Mizzou arena last year, honestly.

The more I really look at it, the less concerned I am about Mizzou making the tourney. At two games above .500 in the SEC (7-5), Mizzou would be easily in the tournament if the season ended today. So unless we do something like lose to South Carolina, I have every reason to believe if Missouri can just get to 10-8 they should most likely be in the tournament (unless maybe they lose their first game in the SEC tournament.) Probably with a really low seed (maybe even one of the "First Four" games), but did that stop teams like VCU or Butler from making runs in the tournament in the past? Not really. Still plenty to like about this team, and honestly, I still think they are a threat to go as far as the Elite Eight, maybe further. They are built for the tourney, especially if we rely more on getting the ball to Alex Oriakhi and Laurence Bowers than outside shooting.

Just got to avoid taking some bad losses down the stretch to give yourself the opportunity.

[snap]

agree!!!!!!!!!!

[Al Agnew]

I knew that if the refs called the kind of game where Anderson's crew would get by with the slapping and hacking, it would be tough for Mizzou to win. Saw it too many times when Anderson was at Mizzou. It's nice when it goes for your team, bad when it goes against.

But what I can't stand is when the calls don't go both ways. Mizzou, especially Bowers early in the second half, was called for several really ticky tack fouls down low, while Arkansas was getting away with muggings down low, especially when MIzzou would get a defensive rebound. That was just in the flow of the game, and wasn't quite as obvious as the traveling call on Ross and the four step and one play for Young. But it had a big effect on the game, perhaps especially on Bowers, who is still trying to get his confidence back after the mid-season knee injury. As much as anything, that completely threw him off his game. He gets called for touch fouls, while he's getting pounded.

To be slightly charitable, Anderson has been in the SEC for two years now, and probably knows the referees and their tendencies better than Haith. Perhaps he knew that the referee that would be under Mizzou's defensive basket in the second half was quick to call fouls on drives in the lane, but never called anything on battles for rebounds, and instructed his players to play accordingly.

IF Mizzou can go on and make the tournament with anything other than an 8 or 9 seed, I'm beginning to like their chances to go a long way. As disappointing and frustrating as the loss to Arkansas was, it was the best road game Mizzou has played all year (a good juco team could have beaten Mississippi State), and they are finally playing pretty tough defense. Pressey made a few questionable decisions and shot a couple of shots he shouldn't, but he didn't lose this game. The time keeper screwed up the last play, the play before where he got stripped on the jump out on the screen should have been a foul on the Arkansas player, and Bell's charge a little bit earlier should also have been a foul on the Arkansas player. Oriakhi looks to be controlling his emotions a little better, Bell has become fairly dependable as the back-up point guard and has also become the team's best scoring threat as well as a very good defensive stopper, Ross has figured out his role, and Rosburg is giving them good minutes. Right now, the biggest thing that's holding them back is actually Bowers, who simply isn't the player he was before the latest knee injury.

[Quillback]

Pressey needs to take his game up to the next level. He needs to play smart, disciplined basketball. As I watched that game I kpet wondering why Mizzou wasn't taking advantage of their bigger and stonger inside game. If Pressey learns how to feed the big guys, rather than looking for his own shot, Mizzou can be tough to beat. But if they continue to play like they did vs AR, they're going to fail in the Big Dance.