Stats don’t lie. Well they don’t, but I am not using them here. I watch enough Mizzou basketball to know that his play on the court is starting to hurt this team.
Pressey is taking bad shots and he is missing open guys. Every coach that plays Mizzou game plans to stop Phil Pressey. It is a hard thing to do and a talent like Flip is a hard thing to stop.
Talent can only get you so far though. Pressey's greatest strength comes when he is sharing the ball and he has to start using his teammates.
Pressey’s supporting cast is not as good as it was last year, but it is the job of the point guard to make that supporting cast better.
A coach’s job is to put players in positions to be successful. While Frank Haith is the coach on the bench, it is Phil Pressey who is the coach on the floor. He needs to hit shooters open on the wing, he needs to hit the man on the block and call the right set when the time is needed.
Pressey surely knows how to drive the lane, but the ball is starting to get stuck to his hand.
Here is a specific example. In the LSU game, with 20 seconds left and with Mizzou down three, the best shot Pressey can garner for his team is an off-balance three? This absolutely cannot happen.
This situation is where truly talented point guards take over and take the time to get the best shot available.
The Missouri Tigers are a talented team and will go as far as Phil Pressey can take them. The problem is talent can only get you so far on its own.
Phil Pressey needs to start getting teammates involved and maybe their talents together can get them where they want to go which is deep into the NCAA Tournament.
Is Phil Pressey talented? No doubt. Is Phil Pressey living up to his potential? Hardly.
