The 2012 Missouri basketball team was, per Ken Pomeroy’s stats, the seventh-best team in the country. The Tigers had the best offense in the country by far but were held back at times by a tiny rotation and a lack of size. After Ricardo Ratliffe and Steve Moore, the biggest player in the rotation was 6’6, 200-pound Kim English.
All year, we knew Missouri had fatal flaws. But through game after game, the Tigers went out of their way to prove they could overcome them. They stretched defenses to the brink with 3-point shooting, then cut them in half with Phil Pressey’s penetration and Ricardo Ratliffe’s touch around the basket.