Mizzou's Bowers Tears ACL
Basketball news that is non-NBA Lockout related normally gets the shaft to the backseat nowadays, but our job is to bring this to the front and center of your attention. On the college basketball front, Missouri forward Laurence Bowers (11.6 ppg, 6.1 rpg) has torn his ACL and will miss his senior season; no word yet of a medical redshirt application.
Bowers' injury drastically hurts the Tigers' already thin frontcourt rotation. It was basically Bowers and junior-college transfer Ricardo Ratliffe last season with Steve Moore earning spot minutes off the bench in relief. The only other big on the roster is 6'8" freshman Kadeem Green who sat out last season with a medical redshirt.
The latest injury to Bowers will force new coach Frank Haith to rely on Ratliffe for more minutes at center (24.5 minutes per game in '10-11), but also play a four-guard lineup often like Haith had with the Hurricanes in Miami. The versatile Kim English (10 points, 3.1 rebounds) will partner up with perimeter shooters Michael Dixon and Marcus Denmon, the top returning scorer in the Big 12 (16.9 points) and sophomore point guard Phil "Flip" Pressey.
With the way that Missouri has played in the past (14th highest tempo in 2010-11), the Tigers will have to slow down their "40 minutes of hell" pace famed by former coach Mike Anderson due to their limited depth.
By President Corey Ruff - 10 - 4 - 11
