Mizzou/Arkansas hoops

[Al Agnew]

Sexton had no business making that shot...took off on the wrong foot, body all twisted, going full speed.  He or anybody else misses that shot 4 times out of 5.  But this time it went in.  Meanwhile, Robertson gets an open three pointer that he'd make at least half the time to win it for Mizzou, and clanks it off the back rim.  There's always some luck involved.

[joeD]

Hey, I thought it was over after that dagger 3. But, it's college and stuff happens. Look at Virginia at Louisville. Down by 4 with 1 second left and won (called "don't foul" guys, 3 point shot doesn't matter). Still love it. Roll Tide and go Mizzou. Kentucky on a roll for sure.

[Al Agnew]

It's really hard being a Mizzou fan.  So they get MPJ back in the lineup just in time for the tournament, looks like they are a lock for making the tournament, and then Barnett gets picked up for driving while intoxicated.  So he's almost certainly out for the tournament, at least the opening weekend.  And since they are projected as an 8-9 seed, they don't have a big chance of getting through the second game even with Barnett, and unless MPJ suddenly looks like he was expected to look like at the beginning of the year, they have zero chance of it without Barnett.

[Quillback]

Virginia loses to UMBC?  (University of Maryland Baltimore County).  I have followed college hoops since the 60's and I have never heard of UMBC until now.  

Arkansas out after a weak effort.  Haven't watched the Mizzou game yet, but have it recorded.

[Al Agnew]

Guess we'll always wonder what might have been this season.  What if MPJ had played the whole year?  What if Harris or even Phillips had worked out at point guard?  Heck, what if Barnett hadn't done something monumentally stupid, and what if Van Leer hadn't gotten hurt?  It was obvious MPJ just didn't have his legs yet, no explosiveness whatsoever, and he got totally worn out playing that many minutes.  Tilmon was the victim of a couple of questionable calls as usual, but also made a couple of stupid fouls as usual, and was not a factor except in a bad way.  And Jontay seemed to be intimidated by the whole scene.  Robertson hit some beautiful threes, but made two or three REALLY stupid, careless passes for turnovers.  And they just weren't ready to play a team that pushed the ball down the floor that well off missed shots.

But it was a fun year to watch them.  We watched Tilmon (mostly) improve, Jontay become a force, Robertson and Barnett shoot lights out AND buy into Cuonzo's expectations of working extra hard on defense, Puryear work his butt off to get the most out of limited size and ability, Van Leer become a role player who always knew what to do even if he was a non-factor scoring, Nikko do some good things, and Geist may have been my favorite of all of them, because he gave you 100% plus for 30 plus minutes every game playing a position he shouldn't even have been playing, getting the absolute most out of his ability, becoming a good ball handler.  He wasn't a point guard, but was forced to act like one.  You can't learn to be an effective point guard in one year, you gotta have point guard instincts, skills, and understanding, and play the position for years.

Excellent job coaching through all the turmoil by Cuonzo.  Not many people thought the team would do any better than it did even WITH MPJ (and Harris and Phillips).  I'm still not sure of Cuonzo's Xs and Os, but he apparently can recruit and he can motivate players, and seems like a fine man.

Now...if only MPJ and Jontay would both decide to stay one more year...