Column:
Tigers must lean on Anderson in the tourney
The search for further success starts in Boise against Cornell.
Published March 16, 2009
Selection Sunday has come and gone. The brackets are out, the match-ups made and the times set. Welcome to Boise, Idaho, Tigers.
The scene Sunday night inside the Clinton Club at Mizzou Arena was one of a big happy family. The players sported their newly acquired Big 12 Championship shirts and hats, while their loved ones and other important members of the MU community gushed over their champions. When the selection show began, a hush settled over the room, only to be broken by a slight groan when the Tigers were passed up as the No. 2 seed to play in Kansas City and an eruption of joy when their name was finally announced in the West Region.
Missouri's yellow brick road has now been laid for its run through the NCAA Tournament. They'll hook up with Cornell, the regular season champions out of the Ivy League at 2 p.m. Friday in Boise.
The players, although their first choice was obviously to play closer to home, were thrilled to be included in the Big Dance and found every positive in going to Boise. In fact, junior guard Zaire Taylor will be one step closer to completing one of his life goals.
"Boise sounds good," Taylor said. "I've always wanted to go to all 50 states."
And while Taylor is crossing another state off his list, freshman guard Kim English has a plan of his own.
"I'm going to eat some potatoes and play some basketball," English said.
The real question now becomes how much basketball the Tigers will end up playing. Coach Mike Anderson rightfully refuses to allow his squad to focus its attention on anything other than Cornell. But the rest of us can afford to look ahead. Their first round game pits them against a Big Red team ranking third in the country in 3-point shooting percentage. Missouri should be able to wear down the No. 14 seed with a press unlike anything it has faced all season.
If the Tigers can prevail in their opening round, they would face the winner of No. 6 Marquette and No. 11 Utah St. Without a sizeable upset (which one can never count on come March), Missouri will play a strong Golden Eagle team led by Jerel McNeal. This is a winnable match-up for the Black and Gold, especially with Dominic James sidelined by injury.
Surviving two games in Boise will be no easy task for a school six years removed from its previous NCAA appearance. Were it to happen, the Tigers would travel south to Glendale, Ariz., where the Memphis Tigers and Connecticut Huskies would most likely be waiting. No. 2 Memphis enters March with a sizeable chip on its shoulder. Memphis believes it deserved the final No. 1 seed awarded to the Huskies. They'll want the opportunity to prove they deserved it.
The Missouri Tigers should also compete with a ticked-off attitude. CBS analyst Seth Davis gave MU plenty of bulletin board material when he said UConn and Memphis have an easy road to the Elite 8.
It is impossible to predict how much more joy these athletes can bring to Columbia. Nobody knows how the team will handle a type of pressure they've yet to face in their careers. The Tigers will lean on their head coach to guide them through the process.
"They're going to have to see it through my eyes," Anderson said. "We won't change anything we do."
As the yellow brick road twists and turns through Boise and Glendale before ultimately ending up in Detroit, there's no better leader than Coach Anderson.