“We were fortunate today. We were very, very fortunate.”
Mike Anderson, on Arkansas’ 73-71 win over Mizzou in Fayetteville, Columbia Daily Tribune
GH: Missouri got off to a 9-0 start at Arkansas and then managed to lose the lead and what appeared to be the game as the second half wore on. Then Mizzou awoke, took the lead and looked like they had the game won in the game’s final minutes. But then the curse that haunts Mizzou smote the Tigers with another remote-tossing, Flip-flopping loss for the black and gold archives. Read on.
“There was only one way Mizzou could lose that game in the final minute. SEC officials made certain Hogs were going to win. Zebra’s HORRIBLE!”
Jack Harry, @jackHarryKSHB, Twitter
GH: When Mizzou was in the Big 12 it was the Texas-based zebras who had it in for Mad Jack’s Tigers. Now that they’re in the SEC, it’s no different. Does every conference hate Missouri just because it’s Missouri? I doubt it. Bad stuff happens to every team and school. Some rise above it and some just bitch.
“I can’t stand people that blame officials, truly annoys me. Today I’m that guy. Never seen officiating like that before, ever. Unbelievable.”
Jarrett Sutton, @JarrettSutton25, former Mizzou basketball player, Twitter
GH: I watched the game from my couch and I saw a poorly officiated game. It looked to me like the officials allowed the game to get rough early and they lost a lot of control on both sides of the court. The calls and non-calls in the last few minutes were ugly – but really not much uglier than a lot of games I’ve watched this season in the SEC, the Big 12, the ACC and the Big Ten. Officiating is just a necessary evil when it comes to basketball – at all levels. I don’t think MU gets any more of a bad deal than any other school. The problem is that the officiating is just weak everywhere.
“I blame Phil Pressey more than I blame the referees. Hasn’t Missouri ever played on the road? That happens! You get home-cooked everywhere.”
Josh Klingler, 610 AM
GH: Mizzou listeners categorize Klingler as a Kansas guy because he works for the KU broadcast team and hosts their postgame show. But he’s actually an Iowa guy who happens to work in Kansas. I think he makes a lot of sense here. Sure, Mizzou got robbed at Arkansas but that’s what happens on the road. It’s not right or fair, but there’s a reason MU almost never loses at home – and it’s not just because of their talent. That return trip to Mizzou Arena is going to be one very loud and long day for Mike Anderson and his Hogs.
“Absolutely! Phil Pressey was atrocious!”
Bob Fescoe, responding to Klingler’s statement above, 610 AM
GH: Pressey is simply a time bomb under pressure. A time bomb that has no specific detonation device other than the appearance of pressure. He is a fabulous talent and extremely fun to watch…when he’s not trying to win the game. At Arkansas on Saturday, he lost the ability to stand up at least twice in the final minutes. It was maddening…again.
“I’ve seen [Pressey] do a lot of damage in 3 seconds, so you give him 5 seconds, man, we’re in trouble. We have somebody step up and take some time off the clock, and they had to rush the shot at the end.”
Mike Anderson, on how Arkansas pressed Pressey the final five seconds of the game, Columbia Daily Tribune
GH: The clock operator at Bud Walton Arena should be the focus of Mizzou’s ire more than even the referees. This incompetent boob should never again be allowed to work a clock at any level of basketball. By starting the game clock early, he robbed MU of their best chance to win or tie the game. How difficult is it to start the clock correctly with five seconds remaining? This person needs to find other employment immediately.
“We played good enough to win. We did. We put ourselves in position to win. I’m real proud of our guys, how they competed under the circumstances.”
Frank Haith, in his postgame comments, Columbia Daily Tribune
GH: Haith was likely very upset after the game and he focused more on not discussing the referees than his team’s play. His team executed poorly with a lead [again] in the final minutes. That’s coaching, Frank. Do better.
“Kansas looked great for a night [against Kansas State]. I kind of expect them to lose in Stillwater.”
Kevin Kietzman, 810 AM
GH: Kietzman isn’t the only person expecting or rooting for the Jayhawks to get swept by OSU on Wednesday night. This is now the Big 12 game of the year. With an 8:00 PM start, sounds like a perfect night to watch the oncoming snow blow from the glow of my flat screen.
“I’ve got a sixteen-year-old son I’m bringing with me to get his first taste of the Phog. I’m also going to take him to The Wheel – because he’s heard me talk about that.”
Jay Bilas, on his trip to Lawrence last weekend with the ESPN Game Day crew, 810 AM
GH: Bilas is a Dukie who knows something about great college basketball environments. I think it’s pretty cool that a Tobacco Roadie holds AFH and Lawrence in such high esteem.
“Get your cameras ready!”
Jay Bilas, as Ben McLemore prepared to take off for his 360 dunk against the Longhorns, ESPN
GH: I keep vacillating back and forth as to who is my pick for the Big 12 POTY. OSU’s Smart is currently my favorite, but KU’s McLemore is right there with Smart. Maybe that game Wednesday night will provide some separation between the two future NBA All-Stars.
“We have a chance to win the Big 12, we can’t let games like that slip away. We haven’t had a bad loss. We should have won at Iowa State, we should have won at home against Kansas, too. But that stuff happens. You just have to deal with it.”
Angel Rodriguez, KSU’s sophomore point guard, Kansas City Star
GH: Angel would make an excellent speaker at the next MU Tigers Club meeting in Westport. Stuff happens, deal with it.
“Why do I have to be the colored guy? Why can’t I just be the analyst?”
Jayice Pearson, having some fun with his cohosts on The Big Show, 610 AM
GregHall24@yahoo.com and Twitter / greghall24
Silliness. I assume you are of the position the 72 olympic basketball team should have just accepted their silver medals and not complained about officiating? hey, it happens. ok.
Seriously, Ross’ travel that wasn’t, the continuation/travel and one with no actual foul, the two boobs that weren’t watching the play so arky got the ball, the foul on Pressey before the timeout….etc. The last minute of the game was laughable.
Yeah, I see teams get an advantage at home, including Mizzou in Columbia.
What happened Saturday went well beyond that. 4 blown calls in 60 seconds? It’s really hard to overcome that.
Good Lord. I’m sure they’re over it, maybe you should let go too.
Phil Pressey might be playing his way out of being drafted into the NBA, which might be good for MU. He could go to the NBA tryout events, find out what he needs to work on and then have a much better senior season, just like Kim English. As for the Arkansas game, close calls in the final minute of a close game went in favor of the home team. It’s not the first time that has happened in college basketball. MU played better on the road, but the closing moments sucked again. If we can somehow go .500 this week, we’ll be sitting OK in our tournament chances.
Oh no!!!! Phil, hire an agent. Wait for the draft. And then pray that you can play in Europe. We don’t need you at Mizzou next year. Please!!!
Thief, Thief, Thief! Razorbacks and home cooking! We hates it, we hates it, we hates it forever!
Columbia Tribune writers are wondering if MU has better ball movement with Keion Bell at point guard as compared to when Phil Pressey dribbles a lot when he plays point. Interesting.
I wonder that too. Players seem to stand and wait for Pressey to get them the ball rather than move and run an offense.
I absolutely think so. Bell makes better decisions and the team seems to play more in control with him running things.
Love, love, love Angel Rodriguez! The kid has grown up this year. One game at a time, Wildcats, it starts tonight!
yeah, and AR’s complaints about losing were that the team let the games get away. That’s entirely different from blaming refs, scoreboard operators and local radio hosts for ruining your day.
The Tigers got some bad calls Saturday, no doubt about it. Particularly the travel that turned into a three point play the other way. BUT, no way that cost them the game. Not when Pressey, AO, LB, and Brown were all non factors. They did little to take advantage of their huge rebounding advantage. Coach Haith’s decision to have Phil dribble the shot clock out and go with 10 seconds left resulted in pretty much the same thing it always results in…nothing. Big 12, SEC doesn’t matter, all of that adds up to a loss to a team you should have beaten. Ugh
yes, they did cost them the game. I’m tired of people making excuses for officials by saying “play better” Why didn’t Arkansas have to play better? Oh yeah, cause the refs handed the game to them.
Exactly. You shouldn’t blame the refs every time you lose. Most of the time you just have to overcome a few bad calls.
But there’s a limit to that. A team doesn’t have to play perfect before one looks to bad officiating as one of the main reasons for a loss.
Jesus, you sound like a little BITCH! It’s a game. Get over it.
Late calls went against MU, but we also failed to take advantage of our height. Our starting center, Alex Oriakhi, took 3 shots in 19 minutes played while he had a double-digit rebound advantage for the game.
he took 3 shots cause he had foul trouble. Odd that our entire front line had 4 fouls while their Powell had 1 foul.
The Missouri/Arkansas game was surprising…I didn’t expect to see that much animosity between two slaver states.
You must be utterly shocked by Alabama/Auburn and Duke/UNC.
If this is a Kansas fan, I’m sure you’re also taking into account the racist behavior by KU students as recent as Wilt Chamberlain’s time there. Yeah, that’s why he didn’t set foot in Lawrence for about 35 years bro.
Missouri never seceded from the Union. Learn your American history.
Here’s some history for you right here.
http://teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interactives/sectionalism/lesson1/
The Tigers are a completely different team when they are “in the game” in the last 3 minutes. Coach Haith needs to get Pressey some 3 minute Xanax in those situations. I’m starting to feel sorry for the kid. Mental meltdowns at the end of games will get his ticket punched to playing in Europe. The maddening thing about NCAA refs is inconsistency from minute to minute, half to half, game to game and conference to conference. With the money these guys make they’ve got to do better.
Judgment calls suck and there were a lot of them that went against Mizzou, but agreed thats what happens on the road and they should have overcome it and could have. But the clock “malfunction” when flip was already to midcourt allowed pig sooey to reset their defense. I think that had a real factor in the game that had nothing to do with poor officiating. Then again I’m not a nubber or a ku network broadcaster so probably its me not being able to be objective. I guess if the clock guy who is hired by the home school screws up (at the very best) and mizzou fans get preached at for complaining about officiating then so be it.
That’s the key word in all of this: Inconsistency. On Ross’s travel (or non-travel) he had a guy on his back. When Pressey had the turnover with 13 seconds left, a guy hedged on the screen and ran right into him to knock him down. In reality, I think both of those could have been called, but they were 50-50 calls that could go either way. But then you look at the two fouls Bell got called for late in the game on BJ Young when he got both of his three-point plays. Also 50-50 (if that) touch fouls. If you’re going to call the game that way, do it for the entire 40 minutes.
I watched the game at a sports bar so I didn’t really notice the bad calls at the end. Not until I got home and saw the replays on the news. Yeah there were some AWFUL calls but that’s SEC refs. That’s how they are. They’re consistently bad and always favor the home team. If Mizzou would’ve played better and if Frank Haith had coached better, we would’ve overcome the officiating and gotten out of Fayetteville with a W. Phil Pressey is a disaster right now. Whatever the total opposite of dependable & reliable is, that’s Pressey in the late part of close games on the road. He has singlehandedly cost MU at least 2 games this season. The kid simply has a low basketball IQ. He’s a dumb player. And if your point guard is dumb, your team is going to be dumb. Until I see evidence that proves otherwise, this is a dumb basketball team. Smart teams win on the road. Dumb teams find ways to lose.
+1
Good programs don’t depend on officiating to win. Mediocre programs do. Winning solves those issues.
I am a huge Tigers fan and agree they made a lot of mistakes down the stretch that hurt their chances. But to act like the officials didn’t play a huge role in the outcome of that game (not to mention the game clock operator) means you’re either stupid and don’t understand basketball, didn’t watch the game or are just using your blog to troll Tiger fans. Which is it, Greg?
Officials play a huge role in the outcome of EVERY game. If you don’t realize that, then you are either stupid and don’t understand basketball, or you don’t watch ANY of the games. Bad calls happen to everybody. The Tigers got screwed, but what are you going to do about it???
2-14 from three
5-29 shooting from bowers, brown and pressey
17 turnovers
but lets bitch about the refs. Sure, they were shit, but too many players contributed too little to get us a quality road win
Saying play better and overcome poor officiating is just as big of a cop out as blaming the refs. Mizzou’s top players played poorly but the others stepped up and had the game in hand until the officials had their way. Saying you can’t blame refs because players it coaches played poorly. So it’s okay if the team plays flawlessly? Stupid
Officiating has become an art when it should be a science. It should be consistent, thorough and fair. It seems like the refs decide the type of game they are going to call. Also… there are so many D1 hoops refs… more than any pro or college sport. Maybe the talent pool is diluted. Why do conferences need their own refs? That partitions up the organization. It invites politics.
Honestly — multiple +1 fouls when Mizzou players were trying to back away? A 3-4 step walk turns into a +1? Ross rebounds a ball, gets bumped into a walk? Mizzou sets up for a game winning drive…the clock starts way too early, so they have to do it again? Mizzou sets up for a game winning drive, a defender rams into the ball-handler — turnover! You’re just supposed to overcome this shit because it’s on the road?