Michael Dixon would be a starter for just about any Division I basketball program in the country. The 6-foot-1-inch guard is a tremendous confidence player, and it is safe to say the Missouri men’s basketball team would not be where it is right now without his play.
The most incredible part is Dixon has not started a single game for the Tigers thus far this season. It’s something coach Frank Haith might want to reconsider.
The No. 4 Tigers have already well surpassed expectations. Part of the reason is from game to game, there is great continuity between the players and the coaches. The Tigers have had the same starting lineup all season long, and each individual player understands his role.
Although different circumstances call for different lineups on the floor, the Tigers struggle offensively at times with their starters, one reason being that brothers Phil and Matt Pressey are not particularly effective jump shooters.
Nor is it either of their roles. Phil is a distributer, a true point guard who works to create space to get clean looks for his wing players.
Matt is Missouri’s best perimeter defender and always matches up with the opposition’s best guard. With two weaker shooters, the defense can play more loosely on Missouri’s three primary scorers, Marcus Denmon, Kim English and Ricardo Ratliffe.
It says something about the way Dixon has responded to coming off the bench and executing the way he has, especially considering he has started for Missouri each of the past two seasons. Playing in just more than 25 minutes per game, Dixon averages 12.2 points on 46 percent shooting, whereas Matt Pressey averages 7.4 points on 42 percent shooting in 27 minutes.
Dixon is a fearless playmaker who comes through when his team needs him the most. On Saturday night, it was Dixon’s 15 points and five assists that boosted Missouri to a 74-71 victory over No. 8 Kansas. He delivered when the Pressey brothers struggled in shooting a combined 2-of-10 for four points. Dixon’s play late when he took a charge against Tyshawn Taylor and then buried two free throws to put the Tigers up by three points with 9.8 seconds left exemplifies why he is on the court at the end of games.
Not to mention last Monday’s 67-66 road victory against Texas, when Dixon was 9-of-10 shooting for 21 points in 27 minutes. Dixon’s layup with 31 seconds left won the game for Missouri in what was the perfect trap game.
With the exception of Syracuse’s Dion Waiters and Kentucky’s Darius Miller, is there a better sixth man in all of college basketball?
The beauty of what Dixon has done for the Tigers this season is this: Rarely is Dixon the best player on the floor. More importantly, he believes that he is. Sometimes the distinction between the two isn’t that great either.
Maybe it is something Haith realizes of his team in his vast experience of coaching basketball. It’s not who starts the game but rather who finishes it. Haith did a tremendous job subbing his players in and out at the end of the Kansas game for offensive and defensive purposes. Like any good coach, Haith places his players in situations to succeed.
For once I would like to go to Mizzou Arena this season and when Rihanna’s “Run This Town” starts playing, I would like to hear Michael Dixon’s name announced in the starting lineups. Even if he doesn’t get this opportunity, he deserves it.
