MICHAEL ATCHISON

Beautiful on the Inside

Michael Atchison

Excuse me while I talk about some basketball . . .

What in the name of Clarence O. Gilbert is going on here? The whole world has been turned on its head. While Kansas has evolved into a trey-jacking, post-ignoring gang of turnover merchants (see below), the Missouri Tigers have become a post-pounding, ball-sharing group of turnover merchants that is riding to victory on the back of a three-headed monster in the paint. It wasn’t always like this.

In Quin Snyder’s first year at Mizzou, he relied on just one true post player, Tajudeen Soyoye, a tenacious defender with elbows sharp as switchblades but a game as raw as sushi, and he made due with a makeshift power forward in 6’5” guard Jeff Hafer. Faced with nightly mismatches in the paint, Snyder did the only thing he could: He looked at Keyon Dooling, Clarence Gilbert, Brian Grawer and Kareem Rush and said “let it rip, fellas!” Let it rip, they did, to the tune of 804 three-point tries in 31 games. It wasn’t textbook, but desperate times call for desperate measures, and the mad bombing barrage carried the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament.

Over the next couple of years, Snyder found that once the horses are turned loose, it’s tough to rein them in. Even as the Tigers’ low-post talent improved and matured, the bombardiers kept bombardiddling while the big men kept thumbs-a-twiddling. When the shooters lost consciousness, it could be thrilling to watch, as in Missouri’s 81-59 pasting of Kansas (remember that great photo of Gilbert draining a three despite Jeff Boschee, quite literally, being inside his shirt?). But when they lost the range, it could be a crime against aesthetics, as vividly demonstrated by the Tigers’ 6-for-27 three-point shooting in a 63-62 loss to DePaul, now officially designated The Ugliest Game Ever Played.

That era appears to be over. Part of it, to be sure, is a matter of personnel. There are no shameless gunners on this roster. Mizzou’s perimeter contingent is more than happy to share the ball. But much of it has to do with the confidence the club has in the best trio of big men that Missouri has had since, well, ever. And that confidence only grew during the last four and a half minutes of Saturday’s win over Indiana. Who in the world thought that the Tigers could overcome a ten-point deficit after Arthur Johnson fouled out? The answer is Travon Bryant, Linas Kleiza and the three guards who kept giving them the ball. Bryant and Kleiza played with a channeled fury rarely seen in these parts, or any parts for that matter. And when the final buzzer sounded and 17,000 spectators shuffled silently out of Assembly Hall, the stat sheet looked as good as the performance. Bryant collected 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Kleiza added 15 and 13. Had Arthur Johnson been able to add one more rebound to his 15-point, 9-board performance, the Tigers would have recorded three double-doubles in one game, one of the rarer feats in college basketball.

It’s far too early in the year to get lost ever-so-dreamily in the numbers, but as it stands, Kleiza leads the Big 12 in rebounds, with Johnson tied for second and Bryant tied for ninth. Johnson leads the team in scoring, Bryant has posted consecutive 16-point efforts and Kleiza is averaging double figures off the bench. When Rickey Paulding gets healthy and Jason Conley gets eligible, some of those points are sure to revert to the perimeter, but Saturday’s game taught the team a lesson it won’t soon forget: A team trying to find itself should look inside.

Travon, it’s a crazy feelin’ and I know it’s got me reelin’: Speaking of Mizzou’s resurgent senior, regular readers of the basketball board may have noted the absence of statistical comparisons between Bryant and another Big 12 post player that formerly were posted by a fine feathered friend. I won’t rehash that debate. I’ll simply note that through Tuesday’s games, Bryant, at 13.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per contest, is outscoring James Thomas of Texas and out-rebounding Wayne Simien of Kansas, a pair of post players that the Big 12 coaches put on their preseason all-conference team.

Let’s be stupid for a minute: It’s pointless and ridiculous to make projections for a freshman just three games into his career, but pointless and ridiculous is what I do best. Linas Kleiza – who is quickly becoming a folk hero among Mizzou fans – has started to make us gaze wistfully into the future, and we like what we see. Despite averaging just 21 minutes per game so far, Kleiza is leading the Big 12 with 11.3 rebounds per game, more than a full board ahead of second place. No Tiger has averaged that many rebounds in a season since Al Eberhard’s 12.0 per game in 1973-74. None has averaged that many for a career since Bob Reiter nearly 50 years ago. Just for grins, let’s say that Kleiza plays a full four years and continues to grab about 11 caroms per game. He could wind up with over 1400 rebounds. No other Tiger has reached 1100.

Props for Paulding: Though he seems reluctant to acknowledge it, Rickey Paulding’s recently-sprained ankle appears to have hampered him offensively over the past two games. Nonetheless, he has played through the pain, and his defensive effort against Indiana was as crucial to victory as any of the heroics provided by Bryant and Kleiza. In 39 minutes of play, Paulding held Bracey Wright to a season-low 12 points, just half of his season average coming into the game. On a team struggling to find a defensive identity, Paulding made a statement. Luckily, the Tigers are in a stretch where they only play once in a 15-day span, time that should allow his balky wheel to heal.

Speaking of Paulding, I expect him to benefit more than anyone from Jason Conley’s impending eligibility. Last year’s Marquette game aside, Paulding has more Pippen than Jordan his game. As he has shown previously alongside Kareem Rush and Clarence Gilbert (and even Ricky Clemons), the naturally-retiring Paulding flourishes when paired with an assertive wing player. It allows him to handle the ball less on the perimeter, all the while crashing the offensive glass where he becomes a remarkably efficient scorer (stat talk for “he gets more dunks”). Look for Paulding’s game to come alive once Conley settles into the rotation.

Slow starters: If Mizzou could play every half like it’s the second half, they might never lose. Through three games, the Tigers have turned the ball over 38 times in the first half, and just 15 times in the second. They’ve been outscored 105-96 in the first half, but have outscored their opponents 127-99 after intermission.

Around the conference: You shouldn’t try to read too much into a team’s November/December play, but Kansas appears to miss Kirk Hinrich something awful. Without an established perimeter threat, opponents are packing the lane and daring the Jayhawks to bomb away from three-point range, and the Hawks are obliging to middling effect at best. Kansas has tried at least 19 treys in each of its four games against Division I foes, but has made more than five just once. Meanwhile, KU’s trio of big men – Wayne Simien, David Padgett and Jeff Graves – has combined to average just 12 field goal attempts per game over the Jayhawks’ last three Division I contests. Kansas needs Simien to get that many shots himself. Perhaps most surprisingly, the Jayhawks have turned the ball over 16, 18, 19 and 20 times in their four games. Hinrich was an excellent decision-maker and one of the best ball-handling wing players in the game. That kind of presence is hard to replace.

In Tigerboard’s Big 12 Basketball Preview, I offered the big question pertaining to Texas A&M: “Can Antoine Wright carry a team? The reigning Big 12 freshman of the year has terrific athleticism, size and skills for a wing player, but he shot just 36.4% from the field a year ago. For the Aggies to have any chance to advance to a post-season tournament for the first time since 1994, that number will have to increase dramatically.” So far, Wright isn’t getting it done. Through five games, he is shooting just 35.6% from the field, and he has been held to single-figure scoring three times.

Colorado raised its record to 4-1 with an impressive win over California, but David Harrison still isn’t getting enough shots. Despite shooting 68% from the field, Harrison – potentially one of the nation’s top centers – has taken nine or fewer shots in three of Colorado’s five games. If the Buffs can find a way to get Harrison 14 shots a game, he’ll have a monster year and Colorado will advance to its second straight NCAA Tournament and perhaps survive a round or two.

The league’s most surprising players so far? Baylor’s Terrance Thomas and P.J. Tucker of Texas. Thomas, a 6’6” senior forward, averaged less than 6 points and 4 rebounds a game last season. Now, with the Bears’ roster depleted by transfers, he has become Baylor’s go-to guy, and is averaging 20 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game. Tucker, a miniature power forward, is doing the world’s best Charles Barkley impression, averaging almost 15 points and 10 rebounds despite standing just 6’5” and playing just 19 minutes per game. The freshman isn’t just doing it against a string of patsies, either. He hung 16 and 14 on Arizona.

Questions, comments, maniacal rants?
Send them to atchison@tigerboard.net.