Ok, we've reached our consensus point where we judge the team.

I think tonight was a good glimpse of how this team will play down the stretch and in the tourney. Haith shortened the bench and as much as I like some of the freshmen, I think we were that much better tonight not trying to get minutes for 10 or 11 guys out there.

Mizzou has arrived. JBrown changed this lineup in my opinion. With Bowers and Oriaki down low, this squad will win a lot of ugly games. Reminds me of that UConn team that beat us in the Elite 8. Deep.

I think Haith made a mistake by not playing one of his freshman lastnight. I think Jankovic is an all around better player than Chan. I'm not sure what he judges when it come down to who gets playing time, but leaving Jankovic on the bench didn't make sense to me.

I don't think this team has reached it's peak yet. Thats good. They are playing just good enough to beat ranked teams. You don't want to peak in the season to soon. I see this with Kansas right now. I think they are peaking, and by Tourny time, they may be having trouble.

I like the physical essence of this team inside. They are tough and full of attitude. If Pressey can get his floater shot back down, this team is truley in line for an SEC title. If some of those floater shots fall last night vs. Ill., that game would not have been as close. The defense looked good but needs to tighten up alittle. But it's good enough to win alot of games. I'd also like to see alittle more passing and running the offense, but this may not be thier identity as a team. They are great scoring in transition. After watching Florida get handled by KSU lastnight, it's a real possibility that the two top teams in the SEC are Mizzou and Kentucky.

I can see this team going far in the tourny. My wish is to draw Kansas as one of our opponents. I'd like nothing better than to lay waist to KU's dreams of grandure one more time.

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I think Haith made a mistake by not playing one of his freshman lastnight. I think Jankovic is an all around better player than Chan. I'm not sure what he judges when it come down to who gets playing time, but leaving Jankovic on the bench didn't make sense to me

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Agree completely.

Chan also got in the game a second time, I really don't think he earned it after the display he put on the first time out.

I like watching guys reactions on the bench, whenever the camera allows it. Janko was not pouting, he was genuinely rooting for his team, first guy to stand up on big plays to cheer. I like that kind of character.

Missing the chance to get him some valuable time seems like a wasted opportunity.

I don't know a lot about bball, but I wish the rotation would allow J Brown to be the point guard when Pressey is out, and have Janko on the court too. Chan as the replacement for Pressey isn't sitting well with me, but again, I don't know much about bb.

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I agree with all of this, however last night was just a really bad matchup for Janko. He would have to be playing the 3 and at that point play better perimeter D than he has shown he is able to play at this point in his career. We just could not give up the 3 point defense we were playing last night to Janko on the court. That's just my opinion though.

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Ahh, I meant to say something about this, because someone mentioned it last night, and expected Janko to play more against UCLA. I don't know the sport well enough to know why Janko didn't match up well.

I want to preface my statement by saying that NWC and Jank are playing unbelievable for freshmen. Having said that, I still think the game is too fast for both of them. I think that's one reason Jank didn't play against Illinois. NWC seems to have adjusted to the speed of the game better except when he's asked to run the point. I also think NWC got more time than Jank because he handles the speed of the game on the defensive end better. I think both will continue to get time through out the year and by March, the game will have slowed down for both.

We really need that second ball handler. We can get through the season with just Pressey, but come tourney time, when every team Mizzou plays is solid, we have to have someone there if Pressey gets in foul trouble. NWC isn't there yet. Might be by year end. Hate to ask a scorer in Brown to handle the point but might not have a choice, at least for some minutes each game. What's the story on Bull? I know he's not a scorer. Heard he was a decent defender. I had hoped he was also a ball handler that could eat some minutes. Does anyone see him possibly transferring with the PG's coming in? If he can't run the point now for a few minutes a game, I don't know if he'll ever crack the line up.