A little college basketball talk this morning ...
Reading Time 5 Minutes:
* Bad loss for Missouri at Oklahoma State. No need to overreact; these things happen. (North Carolina losing at Florida State by 30? Really?) But I think, and I hope, that the MU players understand that they're walking on the high wire. This is a very good team, but an unusual team in that MU is small, goes with a four-guard lineup, lacks depth and has to cover potential vulnerabilities in every game. I'm not saying Mizzou has to be perfect to make this work, but the Tigers won't be able to overcome too many lapses on defense. Their offense must be unselfish and efficient and can't disintegrate into helter-skelter ball. And the compete level must be extremely high at all times. Mizzou learned this lesson by getting wiped out at Kansas State on Jan. 7. The lesson didn't stick; MU drifted in Stillwater and fell for a second time this month. I love watching this team play. But the Tigers can't back down for a minute, or even a possession.
* It would help if Marcus Denmon can find his shooting touch. MU's splendid senior guard was lethal in non-conference games, shooting 50 percent overall and 44.8 percent from 3-point distance. But in Big 12 play Denmon is shooting 37.2 percent overall, and has made only 15 of 50 of his 3s. (That's 30 pct.) His non-conference assist/turnover ratio was 3.22. In the conference it's 1.50.
* Great win for St. Louis U at Xavier. No, Xavier isn't as good as predicted. Yes, Xavier hasn't been the same since the brawl with rival Cincinnati. No, X's homecourt advantage isn't as imposing as it used to be. I don't care. Xavier just doesn't lose Atlantic 10 games at home. This was an important win for SLU. And an overdue win for SLU. And a necessary win for SLU, which has to put some muscle into its potential case for an at-large bid for the NCAA Tournament. After the win, the Billikens moved up to the No. 13 in the Kenpom.com national rankings. Ken Pomeroy also has SLU rated 11th in his rankings for adjusted defense. And they are 31st (out of 345 teams) in effective field-goal percentage allowed.
* And defense will always be the foundation of a Rick Majerus team. But you know what? The Billikens can do even better. Through six A-10 games they've allowed opponents to hit 42.7 percent of their 3-point shots, which puts SLU last in the conference in 3-pt defense. Part of this of course is luck; sometimes the shots just go down and there's nothing you can do to stop it.
* The best thing about SLU's win at Xavier? SLU's resolve. I won't be a phony here; after the Billikens hacked up 12-point lead in the second half, I thought they'd lose the game. Pardon the bad metaphor, but when Xavier hit SLU in the mouth, how would the Billikens respond? Well, this always hasn't been the case but SLU fought back in Cincinnati. No surprise that SLU turned to senior power forward Brian Conklin down the stretch, when things got shaky. He finished with 19 points and was a reliable presence when the game got bumpy for SLU. Conklin, who has made nearly 59 percent of his shots, is among the nation's most underrated players. I say that because he's ranked 10th in the nation in the individual-player Offensive Rating devised by Dean Oliver and listed at Kenpom.com. (That No. 10 is among players that have been used on at least 24 percent of the team's offensive possessions.) That 24[percent minimum may not sound like a lot, but it's actually the second-highest category representing a player's level of offensive involvement. Translation: among the guys nationally who play a lot, Conklin scores well.
* The big stretch of important games continues for the Billikens, who are set to face three other 4-2 teams (A-10 record). They'll be at UMass, home against St. Bonaventure, home vs. Dayton. UMass is 3-0 at home in conference play.
-Bernie
