ozark trout fisher Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 Well, Kentucky is not having a very good season this year. After not making the NCAA tournament at all last year, they are hovering right on the edge of the tournament bubble again way too late in the season for their fanbases sensibilities. Right now, 5 star freshman and all, this is a team that is, without all the Kentucky tradition, not that different from Tennessee or Arkansas or LSU. But it's still Kentucky. And Missouri blew a great chance to beat them at their place last year. If we can win, no one will remember in 2 years that Kentucky wasn't very good. Beating them is still a chance for a season highlight and a potentially helpful win to get into the NCAAs. Not often will Mizzou have such a great chance to knock off a John Calipari lead UK team. We better get it done tomorrow. Kentucky is just too young and lacks too much leadership to come in here and get a win, IMO. That was on display against LSU and Arkansas. Frankly, I think a UK win would be a fairly significant upset given the game is in MIzzou arena. Though I believe Vegas considers MIssouri a very slight underdog, so that is pretty open for interpretation. I'll go 82-74 Missouri. I hope they don't prove me wrong.
Quillback Posted January 31, 2014 Posted January 31, 2014 I think MO has a pretty darned good chance to win.
ozark trout fisher Posted January 31, 2014 Author Posted January 31, 2014 A must win game IMO. Close. If we don't get this one the pressure will be enormous in the next game at Florida. And that's not a game you want to feel like you have to win, because it is going to be much, much tougher than UK at home. We can reach the NCAAs without winning either, but to do so, it's going to take something like 24 wins in all likelihood. That means getting to 11-7 or 12-6 in SEC play, which will be a challenge (though not impossible) without winning either of the next two games.
Quillback Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 Got the DVR set, probably watch the game tonight.
Jerry Rapp Posted February 1, 2014 Posted February 1, 2014 close but no cigar. That lefty for KY never missed a shot, did he?
KCRIVERRAT Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 close but no cigar. That lefty for KY never missed a shot, did he? He sure didn't Jerry. But Jabari Brown did all he could do. Kid's a stud. Mizzou has NO frontline help and they might not make the tourney because of it. Haith better recruit some bigs and soon... or he'll be gone. HUMAN RELATIONS MANAGER @ OZARK FISHING EXPEDITIONS
Al Agnew Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Yes, I sure would love to see Jabari stay for his senior season, but I'm afraid he's gone after this year. Ross is inconsistent, Clarkson is good but tries to do too much. Brown brings it every night and his only weakness is a little carelessness with the ball now and then. I hate to say wait til next year, but if this team would still have Brown and Clarkson, along with Clark and Williams, and one of next year's transfers or recruits turned out to be a real quality big man, they would have one of the top starting fives in the country, playing a three guard offense. I watched the defense pretty closely today, and I think that their defensive troubles come from the lack of a quality big man inside. The reason KY got a lot of open threes is because the guards, especially Ross, kept collapsing on KY's bigs trying to help out Rosburg and the other forwards. Rosburg is getting about all he can out of his limited ability, but he does need help down low on defense, but the other teams know it and take advantage of it.
Quillback Posted February 2, 2014 Posted February 2, 2014 Tough loss for Mizzou. On the positive side, Jabari Brown seems to look better every game, he had a great game today, but he needs support. Mizzou definitely needs inside D, Kentucky was able to drive inside the paint all game, it wasn't quite as easy for them in the 2nd half, but in the last minute they got some fairly easy inside buckets, and as Al mentioned if the penetration was stopped, they kicked it outside for a jumper.
ozark trout fisher Posted February 2, 2014 Author Posted February 2, 2014 We're lucky to have Clarkson and Brown on this team. It's pretty rare to have two players that special on one team. Let's throw Ross in there too, even though he didn't play as well last night. That said, our frontcourt is essentially that of a mid-major. JWIII has talent, but is far too raw for a game like this. To be blunt, Neither Criswell nor Rosburg looked like they were ready to face a team like Kentucky. Our guards are good enough to beat bad and midlevel SEC teams by themselves often as not, but it's hard to see them competing at Florida. The Ole Miss game next Saturday is huge. Especially on the road, that presents another rare opportunity for a good RPI win that could actually move the needle on Selection Sunday. That game and the remaining home and home against Tennessee will be key. None of those three games can give us a 'marquee" win, but all would be solid RPI boosters. I think we have to win 2 of those 3 (assuming a loss in Gainesville), and win everything else. That would get us to 12-6 (and 24-7 overall) and too many wins to turn down. Of course if they somehow win at Florida they become a virtual lock, but I hesitate to even bring that up as a possibility. Just staying close would be a nice accomplisment. Bottom line: we have to win one of the two brutally tough road games this week or hope is really going to fade.
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