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Mizzou fans rightfully frustrated

It’s the greatest time of the year, it’s the holiday season, yet Mizzou fans have seemingly found a lump of coal in their stockings. Between the BCS BS and the disappointing start of the basketball team, fans must be wondering what they did to deserve such awful gifts.

I don’t know what they did, but they sure are getting the short end of the stick this winter.

I don’t want to stir up the BCS pot any more. I’m tired of endlessly debating the system and have come to the simple conclusion that it sucks. But I’ll still watch Missouri play in the Cotton Bowl on New Year’s Day (their first January bowl game in almost 40 years) and try to regain the excitement that I would normally have under such circumstances.

Somehow, I can live with that. What’s bothering me, and many Tiger fans, is the underachieving basketball team. There’s no other way to put it; they’re frustrating.

Watching games has become painful for me now, as I constantly wonder if a 20-point lead on McNeese State will suffice. I’m always waiting for the next boneheaded turnover to lose the game for Mizzou, and that’s no fun. I have no confidence anymore that this team can beat anyone beyond the North Carolina A&Ts of the world. And that is frustrating.

Three of the Tigers’ four losses have come by a combined seven points. Yeah, combined. That is ridiculous. That is heartbreak heaven. That is something no fan base should ever have to go through. A three-point loss to a top 10 Michigan State team, a three-point loss at Arkansas, and the one-point heartbreak of all heartbreakers in St. Louis against Illinois. Add a loss to Cal in which Mizzou led late in the game, and you find a mediocre team sitting at 8-4 on the season.

What is wrong with these guys? Why can’t they pull out the big wins in close games? Why can’t they get the job done? The reality is, no one knows. The players know Coach Anderson’s system by now (the only freshman, Justin Safford, barely even plays), so there’s no excuse for poor play.

The Tigers didn’t do the best job in the world recruiting the last few seasons, but Keon Lawrence and J.T. Tiller are very good players with incredible upside. They, however, have underperformed. And DeMarre Carroll was supposed to fill the shoes of overhyped-recruit-turned-suburban-thug Kalen Grimes but has yet to prove his dominance against any real competition. The only guy who has separated himself from the pack is Leo Lyons, who continues to impress after spending the summer in the gym.

Add hot-and-cold players Stefhon Hannah and Matt Lawrence and about eight other players with the same average skill level, and you’ve got one mediocre team searching for an identity.

As recently as December 17, ESPN.com’s Joe Lunardi had the Tigers as a No. 10 seed in his bracketology. So shouldn’t they be winning these close games against teams also fighting for a Tourney berth?

That question was rhetorical, if you didn’t catch it. Everyone knows the answer, but no one knows why it’s not happening. Mike Anderson is a good coach, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. I was there when his UAB team suffocated top-seeded Kentucky in its 40 Minutes of Hell to advance to the Sweet 16 four years ago. But it hasn’t happened in Columbia yet, and now fans are watching 40 Minutes of What the Hell Was That.

That’s why they are frustrated to tears (or maybe that’s just me) and are staying away in droves this winter. Mizzou Arena crowds look like those of the women’s team. And can you blame them? Everyone tries to come up with excuses not to go now. Hell, I was planning on catching the Tigers take care of Coppin State Thursday night until experiencing the Braggin’ Rights Debacle last weekend. Now? Well, I’m not sure I can go.

I think it might snow.

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 27th, 2007 at 2:26 pm and is filed under Missouri basketball, Mizzou, Matt Lawrence, walk-on, Mizzou basketball, St. Louis, J.T. Tiller, Mizzou recruiting, Cotton Bowl, Braggin' Rights, Stefhon Hannah, Mizzou fans, Kentucky, California, Mizzou Arena, Bracketology, Keon Lawrence, Kalen Grimes, Missouri Tigers, NCAA Tournament, college basketball, ESPN, DeMarre Carroll, Mike Anderson, BCS, Mizzou basketball schedule, Illinois, Mizzou football, Justin Safford, Leo Lyons, Blogroll. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.