bierce

Pope hit the three while Johnson is wondering how much punishment he has to absorb before a foul is called.

Second time a Missouri player has collected a rebound while lying on the floor.

Kent trying a bounce pass from the perimeter through a defender's body. UNDUDE!

Kent with the steal, drive the length, and pull up jumper. DUDE!

Johnson creamed twice in one play. no calls.

Alley oop to a guarded man from 28 feet out rarely works.

Kaluma looking for Manute Bol with that pass.

Pryor in early.

But at least he tried to get in the paint.

Bad to see Larry try to drive into the paint and lose the dribble.

Must have heard about the thing that happened 2 years ago in Ames.

Good to see Larry take it all the way to the rim.

Ah, they finally put it up on SEC+

We'll miss the first how many minutes of this game due to Vandy-Alabama going long? 3? 5?

I mentioned on the other thread about Missouri's offense being superior to its defense. Robinson draws a lot of contact as a PG, shooting almost as many fta as pga. That'll put pressure on our defense. Missouri also shoots very well from everywhere on the court and gets to the line a lot as a team, averaging 25 fta per game in conference. If we are short handed, we may run into foul trouble or wind up having to give away baskets. On defense, Missouri forces a lot of turnovers, so we need to watch those after 15 and 14 the last two games. Gates's team went 0-18 in conference last year, and 3 starters and the sixth man this year were big parts of that winless team. Now Missouri is 4-1 in conference with its only non-con losses being in a one possession game to Illinois and in a game it let get away from it in the second half in Memphis in the season opener, and it has three easy home wins over LSU, Vandy, and Arky, the last being by 19 points. I suspect Missouri admins are very happy they didn't jettison Gates after he went winless in conference last season. Of course, it would have been a big buyout to swallow since Missouri extended him after the 2022-2023 season. I always thought he was a good coach despite the disaster of 2023-24.

I saw the quit on defense over the last 8 minutes against Florida, but I don't think it has been much of a problem throughout the year. We saw some good ball movement and passing against OU, Tennessee, and early against Florida. We still needed Tre to hit a bunch of turnaround shots, which he is very adept at when he is otherwise not moving laterally, but three times Onyema was fed in the paint and kicked out to a shooter. Good stuff. Would be the sort of thing to build an offense around if Onyema was a guy you could expect to hit a 8-10 shot if the defense gives it up. But all we can really expect from Onyema is a pass out or taking it to the rim for a basket or a foul. I don't mind him doing the latter, but how much better he would be with a short range shot. Alas. Meanwhile, Shedrick has only 1 assist to 6 turnovers in conference play, and he has never been a good passer out of the post. We'll see tonight if we have just 1 on 5 stuff or if there is more of an effort to help each other out. Sometimes the 1 on 5 stuff isn't quite so 1 on 5 as it might seem. I remember Johnson at times waving Mark to take his man to the basket with the ball to score and at time waving Mark to go through the lane without the ball to get defenders moving to clear the lane for Johnson to drive. There's some teamwork there, even if it didn't include passing for an assist. But I'm less worried about Missouri's defense than I am about their offense tonight, even if Missouri forces a ton of turnovers. Missouri shoots very well from everywhere on the floor and gets to the line a ton. When the PG takes almost as many fta as fga, that's a PG that puts a lot of pressure on a defense. Tough game tonight. If we get a win, then it will be a win had to earn. BTW, Gates deserves huge credit for what he has done with this team. It has three starters and a sixth man who were on last year's team that went winless in conference. It lost the season opener in a second half collapse against Memphis, a down to the wire game against Illinois, and a blowout @ Auburn in conference opener, but it is 4-1 in conference with a win @ Florida and three easy home wins, including an 18 smack down of Arkansas. Currently NET 23. I think the Tigers are happy they didn't immediately pull the plug on Gates.

And I suspect the death threats directed at his family get pretty old. But NFL coaches aren't immune from those. Just ask Dan Campbell.

Oh, poke the bear trying to hibernate in his cave, will you? I kid of course. Bobby didn't have it right when he compared me to Michael Corleone being pulled back in. We all know I do this for, I mean to, myself. I think Terry will get another season if we make the tournament and get to the round of 32 or beyond. I don't think a second weekend is a must. On the other hand, I don't think just making the tournament guarantees his job. Those are general guidelines, but there could be extenuating circumstance moving the needle one way or the other. For example, the team could go on a tear, finish +.500 in the conference, make the conference semifinals, and suffer a bad injury to leave us shorthanded in the opening round. Alternatively, we could make the tournament, win a game, lose in the second round, and wind up watching Clark ask out of his NLI while the whole team declares for the portal, saying a lot of nasty stuff on their way out. There will be other factors at play. Pope and Mark's willingness to return will be a big factor. Codie, Pryor, Vinson and Presley showing development will be another, even if it is just in practice. Big money donors will have an impact. The quality and timing of other coaches becoming available. We might have a dynamic pg on the line. Royal Ivey might show up with Khaman Maluach and the entire South Sudan U18 team in tow. Ok, that's not happening because Maluach will go first round, and I can't find if there is a U18 team in South Sudan right now. Round of 32 isn't the goal for our program, but I have a hard time seeing how we punt a coach who wins tournament games in three straight seasons. We want the program to do better. We need to see reason to not just hope for better but reasonably expect better than annual first weekend bounce outs. Can we do that with our returning players? If they include Pope and Mark, and if we have an incoming plus penetrator and distributor and an experienced big man, then yeah, maybe. We're going to see Pope and Mark declare for the draft. Maybe they will get combine invitations. Maybe they won't. What will be a lot more telling is if they declare for the draft and enter the portal.

Maybe, and especially if he secretly hopes for an early retirement. Some guys last forever, but the average length of an NFL coaching job is 3 years. I think Day knows that.

I'm guessing it will push for the NCAA to recognize Flickerball.

I was referring to the thread in which several posters were saying Day is toast because he lost 4 straight to Michigan, but OK, let's talk NFL poaching here. Day already gets 10+ million a year from tOSU. There are only 9 NFL coaches making more than that. Day probably gets a bunch of bonus money for winning the natty. He probably gets an extension with a nice pay bump. How many NFL owners and GMs will make someone with just two years NFL coaching experience (as a QB coach for the Eagles one year and the 49ers another) one of the top 6 or 7 paid coaches in the league? It could happen, but I would not bet on it happening.

Remember the thread about how Ryan Day is done at tOSU?

Or just tell the conferences that they get one automatic bid. Just one. And every team in the conference ranked in the CFP above the team that gets the auto bid and didn't play in the conference championship game is automatically disqualified. I have to think the ACC is doing nothing more than rebranding itself as the All Cowardly Conference here. SMU was not only included (wrongly) in the CFP, it was seeded ahead of the team that beat it in the ACC title game.

Not kidding. The ACC is considering making the "Championship Game" a game between the second and third place teams. https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/43483852/acc-weigh-changes-title-game-commissioner-says

Little did I know the future writers of "The Cable Guy" were in the gym at the time.