No miracles for Mike's team this year

From where we sit there are two ways you can look at the 76-70 loss to Kansas last night.

One, Mizzou played extremely hard and hung tough with one of the best teams in the country. A moral victory could, and should, be claimed. The performance will result in positive momentum at Lubbock, Texas, for the next conference game. After so many near misses this team is on the verge of breaking through and stringing a bunch of wins together.

Or…

Two, Mizzou blew a golden opportunity to upset a vulnerable (overrated?) team in the friendly confines of its home arena. Fouls, turnovers, and missed open shots led to another close loss. Further, MU faces a talent deficiency against almost every team it plays and the string of near misses proves that MU just doesn’t make good enough decisions to compete with the best teams in the conference. And if you believe that the problems are a result of a lack of talent and poor decision making, there really isn’t much that is going to change with this team this season.

No matter which camp you’re in you should commend these players for their effort, which is consistent and earnest. The coaching staff deserves credit for getting the players to play hard, however the poor decision making on the court negates many of the positives that hustle produces.

John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood, has many great sayings attributed to him. One of my favorites, and one that I believe to be applicable to this team, is “Don’t mistake activity for achievement”.

Applying this mantra to the 2007-08 Tigers, it is clear this team is putting forth great effort and is playing with intensity. But that effort and intensity is translating to fouls and turnovers, which results in a net negative for the team.

If the effort was resulting in steals and fast-break buckets the effort would be lauded and the coaches would be praised. Instead the product we are seeing on the court is hectic, the kind of basketball that gives viewers an uncomfortable sense of dizziness.

Of course, the vertigo is averted at times when the club makes shots, as it did against Texas. Unfortunately that game, and not the Iowa State and Kansas low shooting percentages, appears to be the anomaly.

Our advice to Mizzou fans, and the approach we will try to take, is to stay patient with coach Anderson. Remember (how could you forget?) the mess left for him to clean up. Let him build a roster in his own way. Only then, in a couple of seasons, can a fair assessment be made. It’s hard to be patient we know, but we’re willing to give Anderson the benefit of the doubt a little while longer as he recruits the players that he wants. This approach might not be appealing. Unfortunately it may be the best we can do right now.

Austin Toros update
Quin’s club checks in at 14-6. The first place Toros, despite dropping two of their last three contests, maintain a three game lead over the Colorado 14ers in the NBDL’s Southwest Division.

In case you missed it, Quin was the subject of a Yahoo! Sports feature story this week.

NBA Tigers

Keyon Dooling: 8.0 Points; 1.3 Rebounds; 1.8 Assists. Magic record: 25-17.

Kareem Rush: 7.5 Points; 1.7 Rebounds; 0.9 Assists. Pacers record: 18-23.

Linas Kleiza: 11.1 Points; 4.2 Rebounds; 1.3 Assists. Nuggets record 24-15.

Kleiza also made a big splash when he scored 41 against Utah this week.

Former Tiger(s) of the Week
Byron Irvin (left) and Lee Coward after defeating Oklahoma in the finals of the 1989 Big 8 Tournament.

Finally, folks, remember that while it’s often hard to be a Mizzou fan it could always, and we mean always, be worse.

See you next week.