In what alternate universe should Missouri be top 25

[toadfoot]

Watching Missouri vs Tennessee. Missouri doesn't have anyone with quickness and they struggle just to pass to one another. Just awful.

 

[Frodo]

Are you watching this fiasco too? one of the announcers described it as 'a battle of wills'. All I could think of was that she was talking about the fans who wanted to go running from the arena to find a pickup game to watch in the parking lot. Both teams have been bad, but Missouri's phony 13-0 start is being exposed big time.

 

[toadfoot]

Are you watching this fiasco too? one of the announcers described it as 'a battle of wills'. All I could think of was that she was talking about the fans who wanted to go running from the arena to find a pickup game to watch in the parking lot. Both teams have been bad, but Missouri's phony 13-0 start is being exposed big time.

I got a huge chuckle from one of the broadcasters when she said there are no nights off in the SEC.

 

[EricLA]

It sure is a mess. The game I mean. Tennessee has 9 total field goals but is winning because Missou isn't quick enough to defend, or smart enough to play better team defense, so they are fouling.

Tenn has taken 21 FT's to Missou's 4...

Side note - I see no improvement in Tenn since the highly publicized team meeting combined with the ban on social media for the players. Missou is just plain bad so Tenn should easily out-talent them for the win. To be fair, though, I think Nared is a nice addition to the starting lineup...

 

[TerpWomenFan]

Tennessee is using their athleticism against Missouri. If only they can make a shot.

 

[Kaizen]

Tennessee is using their athleticism against Missouri. If only they can make a shot.

DD was 1/9 halftime, now is 3/12. I think she must like the ball in hand very, very much.

 

[UcMiami]

It is interesting because it is not just voters who put Missouri in the top 25 - both Sagarin (#20) and Massey (#13!!!) have them ranked even while recognizing the dreadful schedule they have played. Logarithms can create strange results when there is so much disparity in quality of competition and so few common opponents.

Missouri is the only team in Gagarin's top 50 to have not played at least one team in the top 50.

 

[SCGamecock]

Missouri isn't a terrible team, they just haven't played anybody with a pulse really. Their ranking is a little misleading though, they haven't faced anywhere near the athleticism they'll see in conference play. I still think any team that shoots the three as well as Missouri (not tonight obviously) is a tough out.

 

[toadfoot]

Missouri isn't a terrible team, they just haven't played anybody with a pulse really. Their ranking is a little misleading though, they haven't faced anywhere near the athleticism they'll see in conference play. I still think any team that shoots the three as well as Missouri (not tonight obviously) is a tough out.

Most players have to get open to shoot 3's. I see utterly no evidence that Missouri's 3 pt. shooters can get open against any decent team.

 

[Farney]

The only thing on Missouri that impresses me is Sophie Cunningham's potential. She's really struggled tonight but you can tell there is talent there. But yeah, Missouri is nowhere near good enough to be a top 25 team just based on watching them tonight.

 

[Nuyoika]

The crazy thing about this game, TN hasn't made beating them look easy and if Mizzou had gone to the rim more they could've kept it closer. If you spread TN out they will give you the lane. Mizzou kept working the motion offense looking for three but were pretty easily getting into the lane and then just standing there pivoting. If anyone on Mizzou had a midrange this one would have gone down to the wire. Tennessee does have a way of making winning look hard though.

 

[stwainfan]

Four players in double figures for Tennessee.

 

[SCGamecock]

It's obviously all about matchups and what team shows up on gameday but after watching Missouri play Tennessee I'm less concerned about our game versus the tigers on Sunday. I still expect to get Missouri's best shot, whatever that may be.

 

[stwainfan]

Missouri normally shoots a lot of threes. Tonight they were 2 for 21.

 

[bballnut90]

Not the prettiest of games, but Tennessee is definitely trending upward. A 16 point road win against a 13-0 Mizzou team is a good result no matter how cleanly the game is played.

Tennessee in the early part of the year had close wins against mediocre teams (Penn State, Syracuse, Witchita State, Albany and UT Chat), and lost by double digits to Stanford/Texas/Virginia Tech. Since the Stanford loss, they had a huge win against Oregon State, blew out Stetson and just beat a 13-0 Mizzou team. They aren't the best team and they don't play a pretty brand of basketball, but they have played much better basketball the last 3 games and it looks like this team moving in a good direction where earlier this year I wasn't even confident Tennessee was a tournament team while watching some of their games.

 

[donalddoowop]

They shot a lot of threes tonight. They just missed most of them.

 

[stwainfan]

Jamie Nared has played good.

 

[Blueballer]

That was one sloppy ugly game. But then most TENN games are like that. They need them to be for the best chance of winning.

 

[toadfoot]

It is interesting because it is not just voters who put Missouri in the top 25 - both Sagarin (#20) and Massey (#13!!!) have them ranked even while recognizing the dreadful schedule they have played. Logarithms can create strange results when there is so much disparity in quality of competition and so few common opponents.

Missouri is the only team in Gagarin's top 50 to have not played at least one team in the top 50.

The primary reason I wanted to watch this game was to get a look at Missouri given their Massey/Sagarin ratings. You're right of course that the disparity in quality and lack of common opponents can produce some pretty weird results, especially early in the season, but I confess to being shocked at how a team as woeful as Missouri could have achieved such lofty ratings. Just based on the eye test I'm hard pressed to conclude that Missouri is even a top 50 team, let alone top 25.

 

[DaddyChoc]

is Margo's video available yet?

 

[Huskies Rule]

The only thing on Missouri that impresses me is Sophie Cunningham's potential. She's really struggled tonight but you can tell there is talent there. But yeah, Missouri is nowhere near good enough to be a top 25 team just based on watching them tonight.

I'LL BE IMPRESSED WHEN SHE LEARNS HOW TO WEAR A BASKETBALL UNIFORM. (the rolled-up waistband AND the tied-up bottoms are ridiculous.)

 

[Bliss]

We made a poor showing against TN. I was disappointed with us not being able to handle TN's press and by the fact that we continued to try to rely on lay-ups and 3's and ignore the numerous mid-range jumpers that were available. (Apparently, Sophie doesn't care for the ridiculous MI fab five uniform that for some unknown reason everyone has worn for 20+ years.)

 

[DaddyChoc]

I'LL BE IMPRESSED WHEN SHE LEARNS HOW TO WEAR A BASKETBALL UNIFORM. (the rolled-up waistband AND the tied-up bottoms are ridiculous.)

that's why UConn backed off

 

[Ctpaul0825]

UT 8 assists for the game.
MO 9 assists for the game

Neither team will win against top teams.

 

[JoePgh]

I watched the game, and I have to say I was impressed by Tennessee's defense. Their offense is nothing special, even with all the talent, but I don't think UConn could have done a much better defensive job against Missouri than Tennessee did. Even on good cuts to the basket by Missouri, no one was open for more than a split second. That also reflects the team's basic athletic talent, but also a good level of hustle and intensity on defense. That (along with rebounding) is what Tennessee has always been good at, and they still are.

The 2-21 3-point shooting by Missouri had a whole lot to do with Tennessee's defensive pressure.