Texas-Missouri preview

[Clendon]

Hey folks. We just posted over at Inside Texas our free preview of the Missouri game, including Mizzou player tendencies, strengths, weaknesses and keys to the game. Here's the link, if you're interested:

Coaches Corner: Missouri Preview

Enjoy!

 

[Bevo-Stevo]

We'll see what's more the fluke....losing 5 of 7 or stomping NU.

 

[Bob in Houston]

Excellent breakdown. They have to handle pressure and stick with three-point shooters. And rebound, of course.

We should know early on if Brown can handle PG. If he can get the ball to Pittman and James consistently, Texas probably wins. If he can't, Texas probably doesn't.

 

[salonghorn-70]

At this point in the season, beating the Tigers would be huge.

 

[Statalyzer]

8 of their top 10 guys hit over 2/3rds of their free throws.

 

[Third Coast]

we stand a chance if Missouri stays out of foul trouble.

 

[douger241]

does anyone know how to watch the game on direct tv, this stinkin notre dame louisville game wont end

 

[Third Coast]

One thing about this ND - L'ville game is that I now realize Fran Fraschilla is prone to stupidity.

 

[Dewbrewer]

Okay...would it be legal for Hamilton to shoot FTs from the 3 point line? Seriously, where are you allowed to stand?Otherwise, good comeback, down by 1 at half. Do this thing Horns!!!!

 

[bierce]

You can stand anywhere inside the semi-circle to shoot a free throw.

How the hell can a shooter like Hamilton also become a sub .600 free throw shooter? I can kind of understand everyone else, even if Bradley is a bit of a stretch, but for Hamilton to be that bad?

 

[cochamps]

Doesn't Bradley shoot about the same % from 3 as from the line? Low 40's?

 

[bierce]

Yeah, but Bradley came here with outside shooting as the one question mark in his game.

 

[Dewbrewer]

I don't have a problem with the defense in this loss. Missouri shot lights out in the 2nd half. It wasn't good to have Balbay and Mason on the floor for too long at the beginning of the half, but we came back anyway but just could not keep up. Overall I liked the rotations. Obviously FTs in the first half prevented us from winning by about 5 at half, which could have helped. Wangmene provided some pretty good minutes tonight and with Dexter just not able to figure things out, Wangmene can help out inside. Record 6-5 though....whodathunkit. Let's destroy Tech on Saturday. Gotta finish strong Horns!!!!

 

[Third Coast]

This is the modus operandi of this team and it probably won't change much between now and the dance.

 

[bierce]

I had big problems with the defense for much of the game, like guys regularly getting the ball into the paint for easy shots and all the break aways. Perimeter defense was pretty good, as Missouri didn't get many good open threes to shoot, but this team can't adequately defend the paint when Pittman is a no show.

 

[Bob in Houston]

See, I think of the driving as a breakdown of perimeter defense. I understand closing out, but when there's nothing behind them....

 

[bierce]

Except a lot of what I saw started with a guy being screened for near the free throw circle, driving into the lane and having no one pick him up. While some those might have been the fault of the perimeter defender (and I thought Brown was pretty bad on several plays in letting his guy just blow by him), I don't think most were, and when the guy penetrated, there was no challenger near the basket.

Texas is playing smaller than anyone in the Big 12, except OSU. Take each player, multiply his height by his minutes played in conference, take the sum of those products and divide by total player-minutes, and you have a yield of 6' 4.4". That's the average height of the Texas players throughout conference play.

The only reasons Texas is bigger than OSU are OSU plays 5'9" point guards and Moses keeps fouling out.

While I had previously stated I thought the lack of height was affecting UT offensively (the difficulty of finishing close to the basket), the defensive problems may be more telling, particularly since UT is actually leading the conference in scoring with 79.8 points a game in conference play. That kind of surprised me.