How do you win a basketball game when you make only two of your 12 3-point attempts, miss 16 of your 37 free throws while your top big man is held to only three points and two field goal attempts.
You turn the ball over to your leader Kwamain Mitchell and let him do the rest.
That is exactly what happened last night at the Chaifetz Arena as Kwamain exploded for a career-high 33 points to lead the Billikids past UMKC 61-54.
After sitting out SLU's loss to Missouri State, Kwamain came back with a vengence on Tuesday night. With the Bills trailing 41-35 in the second half, Kwamain was determined not to let his team lose another game to an in-state opponent.
The little guy keyed a 12-0 run with one daring drive to the hoop after another to wake up an otherwise lethargic basketball team that was being out-played and out-worked by an inspired UMKC squad up to that point.
That is what great players do. They sense the moment when their team is in trouble and they step up their level of play to a place where the other nine players cannot reach. Kwamain is one competitive little dude. I haven't seen that kind of take-it-to-the-basket backcourt dominance since the days of Marque Perry. Boy, I loved me some Marque Perry.
It was a fantastic effort by Kwamain. Had he made a few more free throws (he was three of nine from the stripe), he would have reached the level of some of the truly great SLU individual performances such as Larry Hughes' 40-point masterpiece at Marquette or Anthony Bonner's 45-point game during his senior year.
Other than Mitchell's performance, we really had trouble with the Roos. They started three athletic 6'5" to 6'6" wing players on the front line and we had trouble matching up with them. They were either too big for our smaller players or too quick for our bigs. Plus, they ran some nice backdoor motion and scored several easy layups. We usually have trouble with one of those mid-sized athletes, but here come the Roos' with a whole slew of those interchangable 6'5" parts. They were giving me a headache with their slashing moves to the hoop.
Defensively, they put a crowd around Willie Reed and limited him to only two shots. Willie has finally earned his college bonafides. After several big performances, Willie is now seeing defenses determined to stop him down low.
It is something that he is going to have to get used to, especially when we struggle to hit shots from the perimeter. Opposing teams are also backing off our four man (Brian Conklin, Corey Remekun or Jon Smith) when he has the ball and staying in front of Willie. When Cody Ellis arrives, he can potentially solve that problem with his ability to shoot. (I'll have more thoughts on Cody in my next blog report).
You can tell that Willie was frustrated at being bottled up offensively, but he has to play through that and not let other parts of his game slip. He has to continue to rebound, block shots and run the court with great energy and intensity. His offensive touches will come around soon enough.
As many basketball coaches will tell you; you only have the ball in your hands a few minutes out of the 40 that you play, especially if you are a big man. What you do the other 30+ minutes when you don't have the ball can determine your performance. Big Willie just has to keep pushing.
Sometimes, Willie could just turn and shoot the short turnaround jumper or jump hook. With his size and elevation, Willie can just shoot over most defenders. No double-teams can combat that. Just keep it nice and simple. He does not always have to use his up-and-under or baby Dream Shake moves (his new toys). Just a nice turnaround jumper will do.
Freshman Corey Remekun was fun to watch with his effort plays last night. Corey got the start and he grabbed six rebounds and block a shot. He was all over the place, crashing the boards and getting on the floor for loose balls. He gets a little excited on offense (5 turnovers last night), but that's not his game at this point. I enjoy his effort and enthusiasm. He could turn out to be a bigger version of Jeff Harris before he's done.
After an excellent performance at the free throw line againt Mo. State, we took a step backwards by shooting 21 of 37 last night. At one point, we were below 30 percent. I thought my broadcast partner Bob Ramsey was going to have a heart attack because he has always been a huge stickler for free throw shooting. Plain and simple, we have to improve.
That's about it for the UMKC game. It wasn't pretty, but it's nice to get back on the winning track. The kids now get a chance to enjoy the Christmas holiday for a few days, then it's back to work to get ready for Eastern Illinois next Tuesday night.
I'll have a preview then.
Until then, Go Bills.
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