Not much has been said, but Barro was huge last night. Not only did he do a solid job in containing McRoberts and that 7 ft freshman he played in control and avoided foul trouble. I think it was huge him playing strong but not fouling......we were in trouble with Fitz and Lott both with two fouls by the 14 minute mark in the first half. Needed Barro to be tough and he was.
I dunno .. was Barro playing great defense, or was McRoberts hooking up brick after brick? After a while, I was rooting for McRoberts to keep chucking up his masonry.
It was a little of both, but Barro did force him to his right hand and kept him out of dunk range for the most part. Atfer the early threes Duke hit, we weren't doubling down on McRoberts.
I was just going to comment on Barro as well... I hadn't seen him play since last year and he's made great progress. McRoberts did have a sh#t night, but Barro was tenacious. Plus 4-5 from the floor... Niiiice.
Quote from: mu_hilltopper on November 22, 2006, 07:56:19 AM
I dunno .. was Barro playing great defense, or was McRoberts hooking up brick after brick? After a while, I was rooting for McRoberts to keep chucking up his masonry.
Very funny to watch McRoberts chuck up brick after brick, however Barro was tenacious, he still has some work on the offensive side (a couple times when he got the ball on offense, I would just like him to get rid of it asap, but then he shot 4-5, so who can complain), very underrated performance last night that will never be shown on any highlight film or be talked about by Dickie V, but without Barro, I don't think MU wins last night
I didn't keep track but it seemed like Barro played 35 minutes of that game and as the game went on I wasn't really worried about McRoberts scoring because Barro was playing out of his mind. You guys are correct though, it will go unheralded, but I think Crean will reward his efforts.
Not a Dickie V fan, but he repeatedly praised Barro last night. Not sure why people would comment that his play went unnoticed by the broadcasters.
I agree -- Barro was huge last night. He held his ground against McRoberts (who is very, very good). He defended him strong and did not bite on most of McRoberts' fakes. I know McRoberts missed a lot of shots, but I think Barro should get credit for quite a few of those misses.
I loved it when Crean said that our big men are "vastly underrated" during his half-time interview. I think our big men need a little love to go along with all of the accolades for our guards.
Barro definitely deserves a lot of credit. He could have easily gotten into foul trouble but stood his ground and forced McRoberts into difficult shots. McRoberts is a heck of a player and we will see a lot of highlights from him this season. The Barro of last year would have not only been in foul trouble but also would have allowed McRoberts to get easier shots down low. As great as McNeal and James played last night, Barro and Fitz also played very well.
Quote from: CTWarrior on November 22, 2006, 09:54:07 AM
Not a Dickie V fan, but he repeatedly praised Barro last night. Not sure why people would comment that his play went unnoticed by the broadcasters.
I guess Im the one that said I didn't hear Dickie V talk about Barro, however I was at a friends house that was also throwing a going home party.... so really couldn't hear the announcers, so I take back my statement earlier about broadcasters not talking about Barro, but I am going to stick with the "without Barro, MU loses"
I'll give Barro some love...but it seems like this offense was set-up to spread us out around the paremiter, isolate McRoberts and Barro and then send guys off screens as they slash to the hoop (correct me if I'm wrong here...)
With that being said (in particular Fitz) we did an amazing job busting up screens and getting into the passing lanes. Therefore, after these 'options' were busted up McRoberts had to turn in shoot...many times out of position.
We all have our theories as to our MVP but mine goes to Fitz...however he needs to shoot the open three--honestly!!
Where did Barro get those soft hands? wow, he never seems to fumble a pass and finishes in traffic.
terrific work