In my preseason picks I had MU cruising on offense to an easy 3-0 start, before a combination of being in the Virgin Islands and facing their first tough defense from Drake or Mississippi dropped them to 3-1. Obviously tomorrow I will be hoping I was wrong in the preseason.
Vander Blue’s explosion Friday night to hit his first 9 shots, including two treys, en route to a 95-73 win caps an incredible opening three games during which MU scored an average of 17 points per game MORE than predicted for an average 95-60 win on 76 trips per game down the court:
| 1st 3 games | MU | Opponents | Trips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Predicted | 78 | 60 | 67 |
| Actual | 95 | 60 | 76 |
However, heading into Sunday’s clash, Mississippi’s defense has also been even better than expected, with the top shot-blocking duo in the country leading by far the best defense MU will have faced:
| Defense Faced | Rank |
|---|---|
| Mount St. Mary’s | 223rd |
| Norfolk State | 246th |
| Winthrop | 133rd |
| Mississippi (Sunday) | 27th |
MUs 99-point performance against Norfolk State did look even more impressive when Norfolk State shut out Drexel for more than six minutes Friday night en route to a huge upset that pits them against TCU in the other semifinal that will determine MUs opponent Monday night at 7:30 CST, should the Warriors win Sunday night.
But when you match up MU’s incredible offensive punch against Mississippi’s defense, you see this will be a real test position-by-position.
| Position | MU offense | Mississippi Defense |
|---|---|---|
| PG | MU leads nation in assists behind Junior’s 20; D. Wilson’s 1 turnover in 48 minutes | NINE! Steals Friday between Nelson (6) and Aniefiok (3) |
| SG | DJO 20 ppg, 4 apg; Mayo 23 pts in last 33 minutes on 5 of 8 treys | Ex-MU recruit Nick Williams their one guard with size (6-4, 225) to rebound without fouling |
| SF | Vander 17 of 25 shooting (68%) but may need J. Jones & Anderson height vs. Miss | 6-7 Holloway averaged 7.4 rebounds as soph before sitting out last year |
| PF | Crowder leads in rebounds (22), steals (8) & 2nd in scoring; J. Wilson may be key | At 6-9, Henry a matchup problem and one of top shot-blockers and rebounders (14 Reb. Friday) |
| C | Otule 9 ppg, 5 rpg; Gardner 8 of 10 from floor | Cox may start, but 6-8 Buckner 2nd best shot blocker in country behind James of Flo St. |
Is MU so confident and on a roll that they can overcome Mississippi’s defense to set up a Monday night championship game against upset winners Norfolk State or TCU, or will Mississippi be able to frustrate MU and grind out the win?
Among players returning to a major conference, the following are the top shot-blockers based on the percentage of opponents’ two-points shots they block:
| Rnk | Player | Team | Ht | %Blks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bernard James | Florida St. | 6-f-10 | 13.46 |
| 2 | Reginald Buckner | Mississippi | 6-f-8 | 13.07 |
| 3 | Ty Walker | Wake Forest | 7-f-0 | 12.71 |
| 4 | John Henson | North Carolina | 6-f-10 | 11.56 |
| 5 | Festus Ezeli | Vanderbilt | 6-f-11 | 10.59 |
| 6 | Daniel Miller | Georgia Tech | 6-f-11 | 9.78 |
| 7 | Terrence Jennings | Louisville | 6-f-9 | 9 |
| 8 | Chris Otule | Marquette | 6-f-11 | 8.87 |
| 9 | Ralph Sampson | Minnesota | 6-f-11 | 8.57 |
| 10 | JaMychal Green | Alabama | 6-f-8 | 8.24 |
1 comment:
One note - the shotblocking percentages in the bottom table were from LAST year over the course of the entire season.
They will not be available this year for several weeks, and would be pretty inaccurate based on just 2 or 3 games.
Post a Comment