Showing posts with label Mike Anderson Arkansas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mike Anderson Arkansas. Show all posts

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Mike Anderson Leaves Mizzou - Not As Significant As You Think

Many Missouri fans are up in arms after the news that head coach Mike Anderson will leave the program to coach the Arkansas Razorbacks. However, they really aren't losing that much. Anderson is a good guy, but in the end he is a system coach, and this season proved that he will never be able to get Mizzou to the top.

Missouri needed someone to clean up the program after the Quin Snyder debacle, and the coach has run a tight ship. In the end though, it is all about wins, and Anderson never really had a real memorable season apart from the 2008 campaign where the Tigers went 12-4 and made an Elite 8 run. Missouri has still never made a Final 4 in its program's history (which is simply embarrassing), and Anderson and Snyder both had an Elite 8 run.

Just for kicks, lets compare the two coaches:

(Big 12 record, then postseason finish)

Snyder Years:

2000 – 10-6 NCAA first round

2001 – 9-7 NCAA second round

2002 – 9-7 NCAA Elite 8

2003 – 9-7 NIT

2004 – 7-9 NIT

2005 – 3-7

Mike Anderson:

2006 – 7-9

2007 – 6-10

2008 – 12-4, Elite 8

2009 – 10-6, NCAA second round

2010 – 8-8, NCAA first round

Snyder had success when the Big 12 was at its competitive peak - Kansas, Texas, Oklahoma and Oklahoma State all crashed Final 4's and Iowa State was a dangerous team as well. I will give Anderson credit for cleaning up the program, but in the end, he hasn't really been anything special. However, there aren't a lot of sexy coaching picks out there this offseason, so Mizzou might make a coaching hire mistake, something like hiring Quin Snyder over Bill Self. Ouch.

Mike Anderson Leaves Missouri for Arkansas

Mike Anderson should brush up on his SOOOUY pig call, or whatever it is those rednecks down in Arkansas yell at Razorback games. Wednesday night Coach Anderson announced his decision to leave the University of Missouri to rejoin the Arkansas Razorbacks program he was a part of for 17 years. The decision was not a shock in this age of coaching carousel that is college sports especially taking into account the years he spent there as an assistant to Nolan Richardson.

The only thing a little surprising is that less than a week ago Anderson reiterated that he was Missouri's coach and planned to "retire here". I always though Coach Anderson was an honorable man, but I guess, like most men, his honor only goes so far. I can say I appreciate the coach's efforts in bringing Missouri back to respectability, but as for wishing him luck in Arkansas? I'll pass. I hope he loses, a lot. I hope Arkansas regrets paying him $2.2 million per year. Oh well, good riddance.

Now let's look to the future. This could be a great opportunity for Missouri to make a great hire. Some possible candidates?

Cuonzo Martin - currently the Head Coach at Missouri State -played collegiately at Purdue and several seasons in the NBA. Grew up in East St Louis. Never been to an NCAA tournament as a coach, but is a rising star. Would probably accept if offered.

Brad Stevens - Currently coaching at Butler. Went to the NCAA championship game last year. Missouri would take him in a heartbeat, but he probably would not leave Butler, even for more money. He stated this when he was being courted last off season, he is a man of character and will probably stand by his word.

Gregg Marshall - Currently coaching at Wichita State. In the Final FOur of the NIT this year. Another up and coming coach who would probably come to Missouri if offered.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Mizzou Squeeks into NCAA Tourney with 11 Seed

University of Missouri's Basketball team just barely slipped into this year's field of 68 teams for the NCAA Tournament. They secured an 11 seed in the West region - 11 and 12 seeds are generally reserved for the final at large bids into the tournament. Mizzou will play the Bearcats of Cincinnati University on Thursday night in an 8:50 Central time tip. The game will be played in Washington, DC - kind of ironic seeing as how this is the west region and you can't get much further east than DC.

Missouri was the last of 5 Big 12 team to get in the tournament. Most pundits thought Colorado would make it, but the committee chose UAB and Virginia Commonwealth instead. Strange, since Colorado finished with the same Big 12 record as Missouri with arguably better wins than the Tigers (they beat K-State 3 times) - in the Conference, anyway.

The Bearcats are a decent match up for the Tigers. It should, at the very least, be an entertaining ballgame is you like a fast pace. Cincinnati plays a similar style to Missouri's "40 Minutes of Hell". They both push the ball down the court and like to full court press. The 11 seed is actually a bit of a break for Missouri. Projections had the Tigers in the dreaded 8/9 game where the winner has to face the region's #1 seed. I don't think Cincinnati is markedly better than any 8 or 9 seed in the tournament. The highest seed Missouri could face if they beat Cincinnati is #3 Connecticut - a big step down from any of the #1 seeds.

Also on Sunday, Arkansas officially fired their coach renewing speculation that Coach Anderson could be headed to the University where he was an assistant for 17 years under Nolan Richardson. Coach Anderson reiterated what he said several weeks back that he is a Missouri Tiger and has no plans to leave, he would like to "retire here". I take the man at his word, and hopefully turning down Arkansas will be the end to yearly speculation of his leaving.

Monday, March 7, 2011

KU beats Mizzou, Wins Big 12 Title Outright

Turns out, Kansas won't be sharing anything this season, as it won the Big 12 title outright with a tough 70-66 win over Mizzou in Columbia. The game showcased the Jayhawks' toughness, as they survived a late Tiger push, some of the worst calls you will ever see and even the ever classy Mizzou fans throwing things on the court. Kansas has now won at least a share of seven consecutive conference titles, and has won the last three outright.

Despite being terrible on the road, Missouri had been undefeated at home leading up to Saturday's contest. Once again, the Tigers had absolutely no answer for the KU big men, especially Marcus Morris, who had a monster game with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Thomas Robinson helped KU build a lead it wouldn't lose in the second half with a lot of tough put-backs, and ended up with 15 points and 13 boards. If KU's big men continue to play at a high level, KU is almost unbeatable - no other team in the country has the firepower to match what the Jayhawks do inside.
For Missouri, it was the same old story. Despite a perfect home record, the Tigers again couldn't avoid a season sweep at the hands of their rival. Is it time for Mizzou fans to panic? Possibly - Mizzou ended its regular season with three straight losses and is limping into the post season. Its tournament seed will be average at best, which means the Tigers will likely have to knock off a very good team in round two to crash the Sweet 16. It looks like Mike Anderson may have taken this program as far as he can. MU is always competitive and good enough to finish in the top half of the Big 12 and make the NCAA tournament, but thats about it. Missouri rarely beats Kansas - the Jayhawks have won the last five meetings and 11 of the last 14 - and has still never been to the Final 4. Anderson is rumored to be interested in the Arkansas job, and it would be interesting to get a Tigers' perspective on this.

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