#25 Missouri (10-1)
	vs
	NC State (9-2)
	Saturday, December 28st, 8:00pm TV: ESPN2

Missouri schedule to date:
Southeastern Louisiana W 89-53
Southern Illinois W 72-59
vs Hawaii W 92-80
Gardner-Webb W 72-63
IUPUI W 78-64
vs Northwestern W 78-67
vs Nevada W 83-70
West Virginia W 80-71
#18 UCLA W 80-71
Western Michigan W 66-60
vs Illinois L 65-64


Need a full house for this one!

12/24/2013 1:13:07 AM

Mizzou lives off points inside the arc. I doubt they get those against us.

They don't shoot threes at all. That's our main weakness defensively.

Defensively they are horrid.

They are hopelessly short and have zero depth.

I like NC State vs the spread. This has all the makings of a 30+ point game that might only be a 15 point spread.

12/24/2013 1:33:58 AM

I went to high school with Earnest Ross (one of Mizzou's starting guards) at Panther Creek in Cary. Guy got suspended right before what was like the final four of the state championships his senior year, along with 2 other players, for whipping a kid on the JV baseball team with a towel in the locker room.

12/24/2013 1:35:26 AM

just looking at a few of their games...they go about 7 deep. EXTREMELY guard driven team. They start two forwards who are listed at 6'9 and 6'10. The 6'10 guy is a sophomore and averages 4.0 rpg. The 6'9 guy is a freshman and averages 8.1 rpg. Neither average double digits in scoring.

They start 3 guards, all who are listed at 6'5 and all shoot the 3 ball. Ross and Clarkson shoot it at a 32% clip while Brown shoots at a 42% clip. Those three account for 67% of the teams scoring. They also account for 38% of their teams rebounding.

Their team free throw percentage is at 71% which is pretty decent. Their team FG% is .496 where as ours is .497, so very similar in that regard. They shoot FT's and 3's at a higher percentage than we do.

If we can play good perimeter defense and our bigs can stay out of foul trouble, I believe this is a game that we should be in from the tip to the buzzer. They have some big guards but their big men leave a bit to be desired. I also don't believe they have anyone on their team with the talent of TJ Warren. Our team will need to continue to TEAM rebound as Missouri seems to do that with their guards. This is a Frank Haith coached team so don't expect to see a complicated offense. Ball screens to get their guards open for shots and dribble drives. That's all he ever did at Miami and it seems that is what he has carried with him to Mizzou

12/24/2013 2:25:22 AM

^^^ came to post that

iop1 for a top 25 win

12/24/2013 3:52:24 AM

frank haith coached team

12/24/2013 4:32:58 AM

isn't this the team that full court presses the whole game? if so lewis will be needed.

12/24/2013 6:29:17 AM

We gotta have this one to salvage somewhat of a decent non-conference resume. The Tennessee road win was nice but that loss to Central really fucks us.

12/24/2013 8:22:16 AM

Haith is the coach, which means that they pack the paint and force teams to shoot from outside. They rebound well. Not good news for us since we aren't a great 3-point shooting team.

Probably gonna be an ugly game.

12/24/2013 8:55:47 AM

Lewis might find little PT against these tall guards.

12/24/2013 9:35:12 AM

I'll be there. Go Pack!

12/24/2013 9:57:05 AM

Mizzou aint ranked no more

12/24/2013 10:10:41 AM

How ya figure?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/ncaa/men/polls/

12/24/2013 10:15:36 AM

i think we can pull this out. Foul trouble will shake us though if warren gets a couple early on.

12/24/2013 10:19:10 AM

^^
The bad is mine. Thought they would have been out of the 25 by virtue of the lost last week.

12/24/2013 10:49:30 AM

One of their assistance coaches, Mark Phelps, was an assistant coach here under Herb.

12/24/2013 11:07:19 AM

Quote :

"I like NC State vs the spread. This has all the makings of a 30+ point game that might only be a 15 point spread."

I'm not sure where to begin but what, how, and why are the first thoughts that come to mind. This won't be a 15 point spread and neither team will win by 30. This will be Mizzou -2 to -4 when it come out.

[Edited on December 24, 2013 at 11:15 AM. Reason : .]

12/24/2013 11:14:41 AM

^That whole post was a meme from last season. Ignore it, you'll see it in every thread.

12/24/2013 11:15:29 AM

Was at the Canes game last night and noticed that there was no 2013 NCAAT banner up yet. Kinda odd I though.

I'll be in attendance for this one. Go Pack

12/24/2013 11:57:33 AM

We will get blasted and this loss sews up our ncaa at large hopes.

I doubt we make the nit. Id give us a 38% chance . Team just stinks unfortunately

12/24/2013 12:41:20 PM

iop1plz2notlose

12/24/2013 12:55:35 PM

Their resume don't look very impressive to me. I like this teams chances compared to last years team as this team will fight to the bitter end. Hopefully Turner, Lee, and Cat can swoosh some of 3's, and hopefully we rape them in the paint. If we can do this and plus play solid all around d then we got this in the bag.

12/24/2013 1:29:37 PM

^x5 it was from two seasons ago vs Campbell

12/24/2013 1:37:44 PM

^^So if we can score from inside and outside and play good defense we'll be successful?

12/24/2013 2:00:28 PM

Yeah, but only if we score more than they score.

12/24/2013 2:10:41 PM

He must have attended the John Madden school of sports analysis.

12/24/2013 2:21:41 PM

we've got to win the field position battle...perhaps guard the center

12/24/2013 2:29:08 PM

working on our free throw defense will be our key to success.

12/24/2013 2:45:28 PM

Free throw defense is a disaster again this year actually

12/24/2013 3:33:18 PM

The crowd is not doing its part

12/24/2013 3:40:26 PM

Last game was good, 15217 and pretty loud.

12/24/2013 4:02:40 PM

Quote :

"So if we can score from inside and outside and play good defense we'll be successful?"

Yes, and we also must not give up turn overs with the full court press, we also must out rebound them, and we also must out hustle them. I think i missed a thing or two but if i did i will be back to add it.

12/24/2013 4:53:21 PM

Attn Users < 30 posts

12/24/2013 5:01:13 PM

^^I think this guy should start the next game thread!!! Come on yrey, do it!

12/24/2013 5:23:18 PM

Seriously though poor ft defense will kill you. You should not be fouling guys who make free throws, period.

If a guy shoots 80% from the line , exactly what types of fouls are "good fouls"? Hes nor going to shoot 80% from hardly any spot on the court. At 80% even many layups and dunks are arguably not good fouls due to their likelihood of not preventing the basket.

Take Tyler lewis for instance. Hes a guy who cant shoot or finish around the basket. No team should ever foul him. Fouling vandy to prevent a certain dunk is a winning proposition. Fouling lewis isnt.

Weve got to stop fouling the other teams lewis and clarks.

This has been a critical issue under gottfried and one of the main reasons weve been two years without winning a ncaa tournament game. ( im counting this year since ive already written it off as a rebuild)

12/24/2013 5:31:27 PM

Will espn2 in Seattle be showing this too? Not sure if it's a regional or national telecast?

12/24/2013 9:42:32 PM

Yeah baby, finished wrapping gifts! Ok...

wolfpack2105 Im down for that

Quote :

" Take Tyler lewis for instance. Hes a guy who cant shoot or finish around the basket. No team should ever foul him. "

Tyler is an anomaly in this regard. Most sharp-shooters are also excellent free throw shooters. Tyler for some reason can't hit jumpers or 3 point shots consistently which i hope he improves on. However, look at the top scorers in the ACC and more then likely these guys are also superb free throw shooters. They end up getting fouled often b/c any half way decent coach will recognize the scoring threats for an offense and hopefully prepare their team to combat against this. However, sometimes teams will lose concentration and when they see the top scoring threat get a wide open look they go "oh shit, coach is going to be piss if i let this mofo score this easily" and try and make a play but actually make a foul instead. As long no one fouls someone while their taking a 3 point shot then i shouldn't be piss.

12/24/2013 9:55:40 PM

A win against the Tigers would be a good late Christmas present. Keep the arrow trending up for our season.

12/24/2013 10:13:29 PM

^^
He blamed his ft/shooting issues on not getting practice time at PNC. (at least thats what Tony Haynes said Tyler stated)

12/25/2013 12:00:09 AM

^what a shit excuse. You can either shoot or you can't. Dude has been here for a year and a half now. Hes taken plenty of shots at the PNC.

12/25/2013 12:14:22 AM

It wouldn't hurt if they got more practice time there. But, I get your point.

FWIW Scott Wood hated shooting at the PNC, and wasn't afraid to bitch about it.

12/25/2013 12:16:48 AM

Yeah, but its been this way for how long now? And we've had some pretty good shooters come along that still hit their shots at the ESA/RBC/PNC. Doesn't seem to affect the opposing teams shooters(who NEVER play there). Yet a guy thats been here for a year and a half complains that hes missing his shots because he never practices there? Come on...lame. Just admit that you're sucking right now and try to work through it and do your best. No need to make excuses. Then again, there was no need for him to send out a cryptic tweet about riding the bench after a huge road win either, so maybe this is just him being him.

edit: I'm not trying to pick an argument with you, more just trying to call out Tyler Lewis for seemingly blaming other things for his decline in play and not himself.

[Edited on December 25, 2013 at 12:32 AM. Reason : sdf]

12/25/2013 12:30:57 AM

Back to the game though, I just noticed something. This will be Missouri's first true road game of the season. They have played 4 games on neutral courts but no games on another team's home floor. Amazing that a team will not named Duke will not have played an actual road game before December 28th.

12/25/2013 12:38:49 AM

I don't really see us winning this, but I'll be there til the end making as much noise as possible. We seem to be improving in several areas and the point that they haven't had a true test on the road is valid.

12/25/2013 1:19:19 AM

Scheduling road games is just not smart. Also talk of tourney hopes right now is silly. We are not gonzaga. Tourney hopes will be made or lost in conference.

12/25/2013 3:27:47 AM

Scheduling road games is just not smart. Also talk of tourney hopes right now is silly. We are not gonzaga. Tourney hopes will be made or lost in conference.

12/25/2013 3:27:47 AM

^you don't think our team will be more prepared for road ACC games now that they have played @ Cincinatti and @ Tennessee?? I do. I think scheduling atleast one or two road games against decent competition is quite smart. It gets your young guys some experience in hostile environments.

12/25/2013 4:01:58 AM

Lol at the e man

Trying to know what he's talking about and failing. I'm not even sure why anyone responds to ole Earl

12/25/2013 1:58:31 PM

He's intensity in ten cities usernames.

12/25/2013 9:47:43 PM

We should be favored by a point. Missou hasn't played well this year and its their first road game. Its a 50-50 game and an absolute must win for us to have any bubble hope.

12/25/2013 9:49:08 PM