Random Thoughts after Mizzou

Some random thoughts:

• Where's the national Austin Freeman is Awesome articles? We've had plenty of Kemba Walker articles, but Austin is doing this over 7 games: 21.7 ppg while shooting 57% from 3 and committing only eight turnovers. Brian is waiting on the PBP from the Mizzou game to update the stats, but his ORating is probably sitting at about 140-150 after playing some darn good competition, mostly away from home. If Jon Wallace was a 180 shooter, Austin is a 201 shooter right now (60%+57%+84%).

• Henry Sims' emergence is something we fans can learn from. I'm not a believer in not criticizing players' play -- or this would be a poor analytical blog -- but there's a huge difference in "player X is not playing well right now" and "player X will never be any good." Many fans bailed on Henry over the course of two years despite some fairly obvious signs of potential (height, a nice stroke, good athleticism for his size). All college players are early in their careers and unlike a 26-year old NBA player, they generally improve. It's just not always a linear path. So when we look at someone like Aaron Bowen (who generally doesn't look ready yet), it's important to see that he seems to have good shooting fundamentals, a guard-level handle, and great size and athleticism. There's real potential there.

• In the whole Vee Sanford debate, I've settled into a fairly lame but reasonable position -- the "Vee is awesome but we're crowded at guard so what do you do?" Well, here's a couple ideas. One is, I think all three of the guards could have benefited from more rest in the Mizzou game (though it's important to not have Jason Clark as the ball handler when Chris is out -- Markel and Vee should be in then). But in a more fun vein, how about Vee for Power Forward? If we are going to go four guard, a la Nova in 2006, Vee should be the guy playing PF. Nate, Hollis, Julian and Henry only played 83 of a possible 90 minutes for bigs -- Jerelle got the rest. But Vee is the best rebounding guard we have, and while he'd be a really short PF, he's quick and pesky and could force a lot of steals. On the other end, unlike Jerelle, he's an offensive mismatch against a four, as he can hit the three and drive. If nothing else, he should play the three when Hollis is PF -- but I'd love to see him at PF for five minutes a game when the bigs can't play all 80.

Recap: Georgetown 111, Missouri 102 [OT]

Edited to add: Full game stats now posted; season stats will be updated Thursday night.

(h/t: Casual Hoya)

Just going to post some off-the-cuff thoughts here as I wait for the stats to post.

• Scotch.  I'm not much of a drinker, but games like this are much more survivable with a little something to take the edge off.  Most times, I'm looking for a nice small batch bourbon, but tonight called for some stronger stuff:  scotch.
• Dan Hanner probably didn't get to watch much of this game, what with UNC v. Illinois on the mothership - too bad if so, but glad for his sake that the Illini won going away.
• Missouri fans are going to point to two plays as travesties of justice that stole away the game from them.
• Should Austin Freeman's 3FG after the shot clock buzzer have counted?  Of course not.  Now whether those extra three points were the difference is another matter entirely, as Doug Gottleib correctly pointed out at the start of overtime.  You can't know how the second half unfolds if that shot is waved off.
• Did Jason Clark foul after the ball was in-bounded with 0.3 sec left?  From the mid-court camera, it certainly looked like it (and Digger Phelps made sure to bring it up on Sportcenter after the game), but from the baseline camera, it is clear (to this wildly biased observer) that he never actually was able to make contact.  Reminiscent of Chris Wright versus West Virginia, and inexcusable for trying.
• Speaking of Doug Gottlieb, I thought he was actually quite good tonight calling the game.  I suspect this may partly have been because he was balancing the Mizzou alum (Dan McLaughlin) doing the play-by-play, but I've noticed this with other games he's called.  I think it's because he forgets about the provocative schtick he uses in the studio during the game, and ends up playing it straight.
• I'm guessing the lunatic asylums are going nuts right now.  This game reminds me of a more exciting version of the game vs. Washington in Anaheim last year - Mizzou looks to be a notch better than the Huskies were last year, but I'd put in on that level right now.  Nice win, but it's only November, folks.

Stats have posted while I wrote the above, and look to be not very useful (e.g. no substitution data), so you'll just get a tempo-free box score tonight.  Hopefully I'll get the full stats package up tomorrow.

Much improved stats are now posted.   Full game stats are now after the jump.