Column:

Basketball team needs to improve

By Patrick Daugherty

Published March 7, 2008

It is March 7. This used to mean the MU men’s basketball team was looking two weeks down the road to who they might be playing in the NCAA Tournament. From 1999-2003, this was the case every season. Then the reality of the Quin Snyder era set in around the nation with recruits and in Missouri with the fans. Tiger basketball hasn’t been the same since.

We have our latest up-and-comer, Mike “I beat No.-1 seeded Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament” Anderson, but the returns in his first two seasons have been eerily similar to those of Snyder’s final two. The line this year: 16-14 overall and 6-9 in the Big 12, with the usual inexplicable wins, Texas and Kansas State, and horrifying loses, Nebraska and Oklahoma State at home and the 37-point blowout in the K-State rematch.

So the obvious question is, what in the world is still wrong with Missouri basketball?

First, let’s point to the players.

Senior guard Jason Horton is an athletic, hard-playing four-year contributor, but for the life of him he cannot shoot. He has never shot more than 36 percent overall and his 3-point percentage is better off not being printed in this paper. As a result, he cannot be kept on the floor for long lengths of time, rendering him ineffective as on-court leader. This would go a long way toward explaining his miniscule 3.2 assists in his average 23 minutes a game (less than one every seven minutes).

The stunning regression of junior guard Matt Lawrence has been equally as costly. After his tough freshman season, it looked like Lawrence had taken a big step forward last year. Knowing his weaknesses and playing to his strengths, he quickened his shot release and added 10 points to his average, 15 percent to his overall field-goal percentage (48.5 percent) and 5 percent to his 3-point percentage (a decidedly decent 44.3 percent). But this year his 3-pointer has taken a dramatic dive to 33.7 percent, while his overall field-goal percentage has sunk to 36.1. Lawrence works his butt off, but if he’s not hitting shots, what is his real value to the team? His one major bright spot this season, his 91 percent free-throw percentage, looks impressive until you see that for the entire year he has attempted a total of 23(!). This shows how one-dimensional he is and how that one dimension completely disappears when his shots aren’t falling.

On a whole, there isn’t one player averaging 15 points, seven rebounds or six assists.

Mike Anderson will be and should be on a short leash next season. People might think this is a snap reaction after only two years and will point out these mostly aren’t his recruits, but regardless of whether or not these are his players who can run his system, they simply haven’t responded this year, and have only played worse in his second season. That’s alarming. This doesn’t even take into account the rampant disciplinary problems that have continued under Anderson and were supposed to go away after Snyder was shown the door.

MU fans always think their teams have finally hit rock bottom, but this might be only the beginning. Mr. Anderson needs a solution and fast. If not, then despite being the only major public university in a state with six million potential recruits to choose from, Missouri will risk becoming more irrelevant than ever.