By Steve Walkentik
Columbia Daily Tribune
March 19, 2009
But Missouri Coach Mike Anderson made it without the slightest hesitation: “I always think the tournament format, it favors a team like ours.”
When pressed to explain himself, Anderson talks about the depth that has helped bring Missouri to where it is now: preparing to play 14th-seeded Cornell (21-9) at 2 p.m. tomorrow in the first round of the West Regional at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, Idaho.
The third-seeded Tigers (28-6), coming off three straight victories in the Big 12 Tournament, have had more players contribute than nearly anybody else in the country. No MU player averages more than 27.8 minutes, because 11 get at least 7.1 minutes. That means, in a tournament setting, Anderson’s players are fresher than their foes, both in the last 10 minutes of a first-round game and, two days later, in the second round.
The coach has worked to cultivate that depth. He stuck with four freshmen — Kim English, Marcus Denmon, Miguel Paul and Laurence Bowers — for significant minutes, even as they struggled, particularly against Big 12 competition.
“At the time, probably a lot of people were like, ‘Get them out of there, get them out of there,’ ” senior guard Matt Lawrence said. “But it’s very beneficial, because you saw Kimmie step up and have a huge game in the championship game. That’s because he’s had the experience this season, and he’s played against all the Big 12 teams. You saw Miguel play some really good minutes, and Marcus as well, and Laurence Bowers out there. They’re doing great things for us.”
But it’s more than the waves of players Missouri uses to wear down its opponents. It’s also the style the Tigers play: up-tempo for 40 minutes.
Few teams use a system like it, but it’s an approach that’s proved successful in postseasons past. Arkansas, under Anderson’s mentor, Nolan Richardson, used it to reach three Final Fours in the 1990s, including in 1994, when it won the national championship.
“It’s hard to simulate in practice,” said Kansas Coach Bill Self, who had the unfortunate chore of getting his Jayhawks ready to play against it in only 48 hours earlier this season. “It is a style that does not let you rest. For 40 minutes, you’re always thinking about attacking or how to handle certain things because they give you so many different looks.
“I really think the best way to play Missouri is to have good playmakers, and you put them in position to make plays as opposed to running plays.”
The system’s greatest asset is that, more often than not, it allows Missouri to dictate the terms of the game. Anderson and his staff don’t have to spend as much time scouting an opponent because that foe won’t get to do very many of the things it wants anyway.
“In a tournament format, obviously, the first game is going to be the most important game for everybody, but I think when you start having that game the next day, when you’ve prepared for one team and now you’ve got to prepare for this team, I think that’s been to our advantage,” Anderson said. “How do you prepare for Missouri? We figure we’re preparing for everyone at the same time.”
There are traits specific to this year’s team that make it an unwelcome foe.
The biggest might be its balance, which makes it hard for a coach to decide which player to make the focus of his defensive game plan. Senior forward DeMarre Carroll leads Missouri in scoring, averaging 16.8 points, but he is only one of six players to register a team high in a game this season. He’s also only one of 11 players to score at least 12 points on a given night.
Cornell Coach Steve Donahue has noticed.
“If you watch them on film, they have so many different pieces,” he said. “You’ve got to really pay attention when you’re watching film. … It’s hard to get your eyes off of Carroll, because he just does so many things. He’s the point guy on the press. He’ll come out and he’ll guard somebody full court man-to-man and then he’ll post up and then he’s running the floor. He just does so many different things for a guy that size. I can’t imagine that he isn’t the most important guy in their wheel.
“But I’m telling you, there’s guys I’ve got to rewind the film a couple times and decide who the heck that was because they have nine or 10 guys contributing.”
Donahue’s rotation, mostly intact from last year’s NCAA Tournament appearance, is more often only eight or nine deep. Junior swingman Ryan Wittman has led his team in scoring 18 times during its first 30 games and averages 18.5 points for the Big Red, who rely heavily on their perimeter shooting. They have made 41.5 percent of their 3-point attempts, third-best in the country.
No comments:
Post a Comment