Missouri can’t figure out K-State, The Blues lose another key player, and the Pujols Saga II.
Thomas Gipson shoots over Ricardo Ratliffe
Missouri Misses “5-Point Shots”
Frank Haith described the first home loss of the season perfectly, “We had no resistance inside.” If there was one game the Tigers really could have used Laurence Bowers–it was Tuesday night.
Kansas State pounded away with F Jamar Samuels (6’10, 230lb), C Jordan Henriguez (6’11, 250lb), and F Thomas Gipson (6’7, 275lb). The Wildcats’ big men scored 28 points compared to Missouri’s 9 points from Ricardo Ratliffe. Steve Moore was a non-factor. More than anything though, the game had a physicality to it that Mizzou seemed to resent.
Frank Haith: Tigers couldn’t match physicality
When you rotate 7 players, and 5 of them are guards–draining buckets is essential. Missouri shot 38% from the field compared to KSU’s 54%.
KSU went 6/9 from downtown, Mizzou 8/26. Now some of those 3’s are inflated because when you trail by double-digits, 3’s become more of a commodity. But, 0/9 after Kim English cut the lead to just 3 points really hurt.
The loss stings anyway you look at it. Especially when you have to travel to Lawrence to play the Jayhawks, who play tonight at Texas A&M. For Mizzou, the challenge is exactly what a good team should want. Get right back to the grind (pun intended) and beat your rival for the last time ever, maybe.
Kim English on Wildcats gameplan:
NHL
Jamie Langenbrunner will miss 4 weeks with a broken foot (Flickr by BridgetDS)
The Blues were 6-7-0 on November 6th when they fired Davis Payne in favor of Ken Hitchcock. Since the coaching change: 30-9-7. That has to be one of the best records for a coach who took over during the season.
The loss of Jamie Langenbrunner will be prevalent in all phases of the Blues’ game. “Lags” is such a team player. He does it all. He will miss 4 weeks with a broken foot suffered on Sunday at Chicago. His stat line simply doesn’t justify what he does for the team.
Tonight features an absolute battle. The Boston Bruins come into the Scottrade Center losers of 2 straight, and just 4-6 in their last 10 games (including being shutout 4x). St. Louis is looking to rebound from their loss in Chicago.
MLB
Yadier Molina is set to be a free agent after the season (image via wikipedia)
The Pujols saga, I mean Yadier Molina’s contract talks is hot in Jupiter, FL. I applauded Lance Berkman for his candidness regarding his situation last season saying they, “always come down to the money”, so I guess I can’t have a double standard with Yadi. It’s a tricky situation.
NBA
The Miami Heat are freakishly good. They are tied for 1st in the NBA scoring 103.8 PPG, and it literally seems as though the “Big 3” are on the bench every time the buzzer sounds. They have won 7 straight.
Jeremy Lin is 0-1 when Carmelo Anthony starts. They host the struggling Atlanta Hawks, who are 3-7 in their last 10. If the Knicks lose, ‘Melo could be castrated by fans, ESPN, and several homeless New Yorkers.
Daily Grind Sports 
Can someone explain why Missouri is ranked No.3 in the country? More less, why is Duke ranked No.4 again? The gap between the elite two (Syracuse & UK) is significant, so much so is the selection committee is going to have a hard time selecting the other two No. 1 seeds because no other teams have stood out this season. – Its the Elite 2 & everyone else vying for a chance to be upset once tournament time arrives
I don’t think Mizzou is that far off to be honest. Kentucky is the clear #1 … hands down. But Mizzou has a good team. Two things can’t happen for MU in any game: 1) early fouls on Steve Moore/Ricardo Ratliffe 2) miss open shots
The team lives and dies with perimeter shooting, and when they don’t fall, it’s ugly.
If Mizzou wouldn’t have lost last night there would be no argument for them being an elite team. They were #3 because they only had two losses on the road in the big 12. And beating Kansas and Baylor twice didn’t hurt. Who else would you put at #3?
Let’s just all agree that college rankings don’t mean a damn thing. Get to the tourny … and win on neutral court. The best teams always prevail.
Parity is certainly widespread this year in college basketball. My concerns with Missouri is their short bench and their over-reliance on the three pointer late in games. Far too many times this season Missouri has slept walked through the first half and have recovered late in the second half to win games in double digits. This Missouri Tiger team reminds me of that St. Josephs team that featured Delonte West and Jameer Nelson in the backcourt and Dwayne Jones rebounding and blocking shots down low.
I believe Missouri’s short bench may come back to haunt them come tourney time, because they certainly cannot afford for Ratliffe to get into foul trouble if they are fortunate to make it past the Sweet Sixteen
You heard it hear first, this may be the season that a team like Wisconsin which is a fundamentally sound defensive team makes some noise in the tourney bringing back memories of Duany and the now retired Coach Bennett.
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Thanks, what’s a link to your blog?
Also, I am not disagreeing with you … Missouri is incredible vulnerable come March. Saturday presents a huge challenge @ KU….and your 100% correct: the bench is a serious issue.
Sweet 16 if their lucky in my opinion.