I'll admit up front that I'm not a huge basketball fan. I'm fairly certain that I haven't watched an NBA game since Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were still playing. I don't really watch much college basketball unless the Tigers are involved, and rarely will sit for an entire game. I think a part of that is I've never been able to understand how people that tall are able to do some of the things they do with such grace. Football I can understand. It involves hitting people with reckless abandon and no regard for your personal safety. Besides which, I really fell out of love with Tigers basketball during the Quin Snyder era. It was a bitter pill to swallow after watching a lot of exciting teams that were sent out during the 30 years Norm Stewart was patrolling the sidelines.
But then 2006 finally brought an end to the Snyder era when Mike Alden hired Mike Anderson from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The news conference the day he was to be announced was surreal as it was held up for almost 2 hours for a board of curators meeting being held on whether or not to fire Alden. His first 2 years were some really rocky times for Anderson until they caught fire early during the conference race in 2009, and continued all the way to the elite 8 where they fell to UConn, failing to reach the school's first final 4. Despite losing their 2 leading scorers from that team, the Tigers won 23 games last year and won their opening NCAA contest before falling to West Virginia in the 2nd round.
This year the Tigers opened with lofty expectations and a top 20 ranking and have added big man Ricardo Ratliff and the Pressey brothers to go with such returning players as Kim English, Marcus Denmon and Laurence Bowers. After yesterdays 87-54 win over Iowa State the Tigers stand 17-3 and 3-2 in conference play. A huge game lurks next Saturday as they travel to Austin to take on the 16-3 and 4-0 in conference play Texas Longwhorns, coming off a 74-63 win in lawrence over the previously undefeated kansas jayhawks. Anderson's teams have been noted for improving as the year goes along and a win next Saturday would propel them into serious discussion as a possible Final 4 candidate.
As a shameless plug to my new store, as well as an excellent book written by an acquaintance of mine, I urge you to visit my site at
www.merlinsedge.com Just hit the link "
The Outpost" and go to page 4 to find "True Sons:A Century of Missouri Tigers Basketball" written by Michael Atchinson. If I do say so myself it's a great book, loaded with photos that you'll never find together at one spot.
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