M-i-z! Z-o-u!

[SackAttack]

68-63 the final. Suck it, Jayhawk Nation. :D

Seriously, what a fantastic game, and an even better finish. Hinrich's foul trouble probably cost Kansas the game, since Mizzou poured it on after his fourth. Clutch free throw shooting from Mizzou in the final 2-3 minutes, too. Was startin' to think the Tigers were gonna be ofer from the line.

[JeeberD]

Not a Missouri fan or anything, but any time Kansas loses is a happy day for me...

[kcchief19]

It was a great game. No doubt that Hinrich's foul trouble contributed to the victory, since we pulled back into it with a run after he went out.

It's starting to look like Bryant and Paulding are getting back into their postseason forms. If those guys can repeat what they did last year, I think we'll be dancing a little while longer.

I was really pulling for Tech in the second semi because beating OU for the fourth game in four days is going to be hell. I'm having flashbacks to '97 when we did that to reach the final against the Chickenhawks and got run.

With all the upsets around the country, I think this will get OU a No. 1 seed. I don't know if KU will hold on to theirs. More importantly, this run should get Mizzou off the 8/9 bubble and up to a 7 or maybe a 6. If they beat OU, I think you could make a case for a 5, but I'll doubt that they get it.

[SackAttack]

chief,

That's eerily similar to what I was thinking, although Joe Lunardi has been projecting Mizzou at a 7 seed even prior to the tournament, so if that's accurate, beating OSU and Kansas on consecutive days should be good for at least a 6 seed as long as OU doesn't work us.

Not sure I'd want a 5 seed, though. Remember the damage we caused last year as a 12? I don't want us to be on the receiving end of something like that this year. :D

The main keys I see for Mizzou if we want another deep March Madness run are:

1) Keep playing strong defense. When the defense tightens, it can help us ride the scoring droughts more easily.

2) Don't turn the ball over. This goes without saying. I'm looking at you, Jimmy McKinney.

3) Take advantage of free throw opportunities. We haven't been much better than average from the line of late, and that worries me.

[MizzouRah]

Too bad it was blacked out here! Damn, that pisses me off. Have both games so far and then black out this one. WTF?

Anyhow, I'm glad to see Paulding is finally picking it up. McKinney has been unreal this year and has really helped in the tournament. I think AJ could be the Big-12 player of the year next year. I'm hoping as well they get out of that 8/9 seed. If they can beat Oklahoma, I wonder where they'll end up? Oklahoma is tough.... should be a good game.

Just think, same guys next year and another great shooter coming around the time of the bragging rights game. Should be another good year next year!

GO MIZZOU!


Todd

[kcchief19]

Blacked out? Eek! Can you not pick up St. Louis stations out in Troy? It was blacked out on ESPN2 in markets that carried ESPN Plus/Big 12 package. Too bad, you missed a great effort.

100 percent with you, Josh. It's been defense that has carried them the last two games. KU played a sloppy game, but I think that had a lot to do with the MU defense. I also wish AJ would get out his funk. He hasn't been as sharp the last couple of weeks as he was earlier in the season. Thankfully Travon is starting to step up and share some of the load, so we have that going for us.

McKinney had an incredible game Friday versus OSU. I feel a lot better about him running the point that Clemons, but he does make some freshman mistakes sometimes. What I love about him is that he is smart enough to learn from them. After KU trapped him into a backcourt violation, he recognized the rest of the game and stepped out of it each time. Once, he looked like he purposely drew the defenders out to trap him and then accelerated past them to start the play. He also saved the game by grabing the ball from Clemons to get the play under control against the press at the end of the game.

As for bringing this bunch back next year, there is some more good news on that front -- the Spencer Laurie-led Kickapoo Chiefs (bastards!) are blowing out Raytown South on their way to the 5A state title on the floor Laurie will call home next year. He wasn't the scorer tonight, but he ran the team and looked good. Looks like he needs to work on defense, but he handled defensive pressure well and move the ball nicely. He should be a fine backup for McKinney at the point next season. He does not appear to be another Wesley Stokes, although Spencer does need a haircut. :)

[MizzouRah]

That's good news indeed. I can't believe I forgot to mention Travon, he did some of this last year around the same time. Does he just NOT like the regular season? :)

Should be a good game tomorrow and I am looking foward to coming off the golf course, grabbing a 12-pack, and watching the game.

I have Direct TV, don't know why it wasn't on. Oh well, at least I saw Osgood shutout Nashville.


Todd

[IMetTrentGreen]

missouri. every damn year. plummet out of the perseason top 10, out of the top 25, then some how put it all together for tourney time. i wish quinn snyder could hand mack brown some of that late season magic

and and kansas can kiss their 1 seed goodbye!:rolleyes:

[kcchief19]

Wow. Joe Lunardi of "Bracketology" game over at ESPN has the Tigers as a No. 4. He also has both KU and OU getting No. 1 seeds, although he says that could change depending on the outcome of today's game. I gather that means he thinks OU could fall if Missouri wins. Unclear if he thinks MU would move up with a win.

That being said, I think a 4 is a reach without a win today. Regardless of today's game, MU should finish in the top 20 in RPI and will have added some key wins and late wins to their resume, so I'm coming around to idea that a 5/6 or is automatic. I'd still have to be in that 5/12 game. That game is a killer every year.

[kcchief19]

Dola ... CBS Sportsline has the Tigers at a 5 seed right now.

Here's my guess, based on the history of the Tigers:

They will end up with a 5 seed, which means they will either draw the last team in the tourney (like an Auburn) or a screwed-over mid-major (Southern Illinois). Afer the tough first-round matchup, they will be set up to face a Big 10 school. If they make it through that, the path is setup for another nightmare tourney matchup with Arizona.

After that, it will all be downhill. :)

[SackAttack]

Jesus, what a championship game that was. I had the feeling a run was going to happen - Mizzou has been a 2nd half team of late, and OU has struggled in the 2nd half their last couple of games - but never in my wildest dreams did I think we were gonna have three separate chances to win that game in the final two minutes.

Early turnovers and mental mistakes (not to mention only going to the line ONCE all game, wtf?) were the nail in the coffin, I think. First off, no way we should have been going for the three pointer when we got the ball with 30 seconds left, and secondly, there should have been a timeout once we crossed halfcourt with 12.6 remaining. If you have to force it when you have the momentum, you've got problems.

Bottom line, Paulding (or was it Clemons? I get them mixed up) made too many mistakes (mostly related to turnovers), Price was way too hot in the first half, and only putting 18 points on the board killed us. Yeah, if OU had actually hit a field goal in the final 15 minutes it probably wouldn't have been that close, but the way things went, we had a chance...and didn't capitalize.

Great game, though.

[kcchief19]

It was an incredible game. I also kept thinking that Mizzou was going to put together a run, but I didn't think they would be able to actually pull it off all the way. The run was equal parts OU cooling off from that torrid first half and MU playing great defense.

What made me feel good is that while MU's incredible second half was done with good passing, working the ball inside and nice defense, OU's first-half run was done entirely through absolutely off-the-charts shooting. They had a run where Price banked a 3 off the glass, they had another 3 hit from 25 feet and a third 3 hit just ahead of the shot clock.

If MU took care of the ball better in the first half, I think they could have won this game. But part of the problem in the first half was that OU was a half-step faster. Regardless, I think these boys are ready for the big dance.

[bigdawg2003]

How can an unranked team get a #4 seed?

[SackAttack]

It would have been a stretch even if Mizzou had won the Big 12 tourney, but I absolutely think that if they were slotted as a 7 seed before it, their run through it merits a 5/6.

chief - turnovers bit us in the ass in the final three minutes, too. It was like the boys got a little too ahead of themselves and didn't take care of business. But even with the turnovers, OU made plenty of those in the 2nd half, so it more or less balanced out. If we had been able to draw more inside shooting fouls, or at least not sucked it up so badly in the first 20 minutes, yeah, we had a better than even shot at winning that thing. Price was getting so banged up that OU essentially *had* to hope their opening half was going to get it done, because Gilbert was in foul trouble, and nobody else was doing anything by then.

[DataKing]

Blech. :mad:

[SackAttack]

WOO! We cost Kansas a #1 seed! :D

[kcchief19]

Originally posted by kcchief19
Here's my guess, based on the history of the Tigers:

They will end up with a 5 seed, which means they will either draw the last team in the tourney (like an Auburn) or a screwed-over mid-major (Southern Illinois).
I guess I should have kept that thought to myself. :)

SIU is a tough matchup, but unless we throw it away this is a win. After that, I love this bracket. Pitt is the only team that finished on a real roll and we don't have to worry about them this week. I like the possible Marquette matchup.

Kentucky. Yeesh.

[SackAttack]

Kentucky got screwed, dammit. Texas shoulda been in our bracket, and Kentucky shoulda been facing the play-in winner.

I don't like the Saluki matchup because I HAD wanted them to be a Cinderella this year. Not anymore, obviously. :D

[MizzouRah]

Damn OU! I can't stand OU!! If we could avoid the 20+ early deficits, we'd be ok.


Todd

[the_meanstrosity]

The Big 12 needs to drop the conference tournament and finish the conference season out. 'nuff said.

Owner of the MoKan Mighty Bastards

[Samdari]

Originally posted by bigdawg2003
How can an unranked team get a #4 seed?

Because the polls do SUCH a poor job of reflecting how good teams actually are. At the end of the season, and in the first few weeks, teams get slotted into relative positions and pretty much fluctuate only slighltly, resorting themselves. When a preseason unranked team vaults to the top of their conference (Syracuse, Wisconsis) the polls are too slow to react. Meanwhile, teams who are ranked highly early, and perform under expectations without completely tanking, stay high. Duke in the top 10 in the final poll (ahead of Xavier, Wake and Marquette) was a joke.

[Easy Mac]

Originally posted by Samdari
Because the polls do SUCH a poor job of reflecting how good teams actually are. At the end of the season, and in the first few weeks, teams get slotted into relative positions and pretty much fluctuate only slighltly, resorting themselves. When a preseason unranked team vaults to the top of their conference (Syracuse, Wisconsis) the polls are too slow to react. Meanwhile, teams who are ranked highly early, and perform under expectations without completely tanking, stay high. Duke in the top 10 in the final poll (ahead of Xavier, Wake and Marquette) was a joke.

which of those 4 teams won their conference tourneys? When expecations are to win a championship, you're going to underperform if you lose.

[the_meanstrosity]

Conference tourneys are bogus. The selection committees clearly don't pay any attention to them...so other than for money...why play them?