@drewking0222 is doing the hard work. Here are some impressions from me on tonight's game while he writes:
*This is a good win. Any road win over a high major team is a good win. Pitt isn't elite, but they were in the tourney last year and they may be this year. This is one that counts come Selection Sunday. It jumped Mizzou 11 spots in KenPom.
*One big criticism is that this team doesn't have a "go to guy." Maybe not. But Sean East is clearly the guy this team goes to. He has shot the ball really well most of this season, he can get in the lane and finish, he's got a great mid-range game and perhaps most importantly, he's excellent at the free throw line.
*Dennis Gates said after the game it was East's idea to start Aidan Shaw and Tamar Bates. East said the team knew it needed a change and those are two guys that bring a lot of energy. He said he thought pairing them with himself, Noah Carter and Nick Honor (more on him in a minute) would give the team a spark. It seemed to work. Gates said "Coach East has spoken."
Coach DeArmond says Bates should stay in the starting lineup and play a lot. I think he's pretty clearly the best shooter on the team.
*Gates was asked a lot about the officiating and the free throw disparity. He didn't seem to have any issues with the calls. He said the officials did a good job of controlling the game. He said he told the team when you go on the road let him deal with the officials. He said he told them he was the only one allowed to react to a call and they followed through. The final free throw margin was 31-14. There were definitely some bad ones, but overall, this team gets outshot from the free throw line most games. They shoot a lot of threes and they foul a lot. They survived it tonight. You can't survive a margin that big most nights.
*One big reason they did was rebounding. Pitt came in with a +7.5 rebounding margin and Mizzou beat them 36-33. Who saw that coming? I thought Caleb Grill was big in that regard. He only ended up with five rebounds, but he seemed to get some big ones in the second half. I thought this was Grill's best game. He only scored 10 points, but he only took eight shots. He hit a gigantic three when it was 52-49 to keep Pitt at arm's length. He had a nice assist and just seemed to be the guy getting a lot of loose balls.
*Connor Vanover had his best game. The shot isn't there right now. Maybe it will come, maybe it won't. But despite what Gates has told us over and over, I don't care if he's shooting a bunch of threes. Play him 15-20 minutes a game (it was 20 tonight), have him get some rebounds (seven tonight), make a couple dunks (six points tonight) and change the opposition's approach on offense (he did). Gates was asked what the difference was in Vanover tonight versus previous games. He gave an absolutely elite quote: "The difference was me as a coach." Gates said after the last game he told Vanover if he wasn't going to give the team what it needed he wasn't going to play. He didn't practice after the last game and spent the last two days on the scout team. Gates told him he wasn't going to play. He saw the response he wanted, put Vanover in and Vanover helped a lot.
*Give me the Noah Carter we saw tonight. Missouri's first possession Carter got the ball outside the lane, backed his way in and scored. He did it a few more times. He took nine shots and only two were threes (he made one). He's too big and strong not to spend a lot of time in the paint. He can score down there against a lot of guys. He can push some guys around. And he can be a factor on the glass (team-high eight rebounds). I thought he spent too much of last year trying to prove he is a three-point shooter. Go down low. Pop out and hit one from time to time, but spend more time inside the arc than outside.
*Anthony Robinson: Certified dude.
*Nick Honor has had a lot of good nights for Missouri. This wasn't one. I thought there was a legitimate chance Missouri was going to cough up the lead in the last three minutes because Gates kept him on the floor. It didn't happen and that's fortunate. Honor will have more good nights, but I thought he should have been sitting for the last 12 minutes. But Gates makes 4 million to coach this team and I just throw my thoughts up on a message board so I'll defer to him.
*I did not expect Missouri to win this game. This is one that makes you reevaluate some of what you thought. I still don't think this team is as good as last year's (it definitely isn't offensively). I think we're going to see them have to win a lot more games 73-68 than 93-88. But they showed tonight they've got some toughness and they aren't giving up a quarter of the way into the season. Do they need to improve still? Absolutely. But this was a good win. They're 6-2 with Wichita State coming in. Get that one and then you go on a three-game stretch of Kansas in Lawrence, Seton Hall in Kansas City and Illinois in St. Louis that will give us a pretty good idea where things stand headed into league play.
*This is a good win. Any road win over a high major team is a good win. Pitt isn't elite, but they were in the tourney last year and they may be this year. This is one that counts come Selection Sunday. It jumped Mizzou 11 spots in KenPom.
*One big criticism is that this team doesn't have a "go to guy." Maybe not. But Sean East is clearly the guy this team goes to. He has shot the ball really well most of this season, he can get in the lane and finish, he's got a great mid-range game and perhaps most importantly, he's excellent at the free throw line.
*Dennis Gates said after the game it was East's idea to start Aidan Shaw and Tamar Bates. East said the team knew it needed a change and those are two guys that bring a lot of energy. He said he thought pairing them with himself, Noah Carter and Nick Honor (more on him in a minute) would give the team a spark. It seemed to work. Gates said "Coach East has spoken."
Coach DeArmond says Bates should stay in the starting lineup and play a lot. I think he's pretty clearly the best shooter on the team.
*Gates was asked a lot about the officiating and the free throw disparity. He didn't seem to have any issues with the calls. He said the officials did a good job of controlling the game. He said he told the team when you go on the road let him deal with the officials. He said he told them he was the only one allowed to react to a call and they followed through. The final free throw margin was 31-14. There were definitely some bad ones, but overall, this team gets outshot from the free throw line most games. They shoot a lot of threes and they foul a lot. They survived it tonight. You can't survive a margin that big most nights.
*One big reason they did was rebounding. Pitt came in with a +7.5 rebounding margin and Mizzou beat them 36-33. Who saw that coming? I thought Caleb Grill was big in that regard. He only ended up with five rebounds, but he seemed to get some big ones in the second half. I thought this was Grill's best game. He only scored 10 points, but he only took eight shots. He hit a gigantic three when it was 52-49 to keep Pitt at arm's length. He had a nice assist and just seemed to be the guy getting a lot of loose balls.
*Connor Vanover had his best game. The shot isn't there right now. Maybe it will come, maybe it won't. But despite what Gates has told us over and over, I don't care if he's shooting a bunch of threes. Play him 15-20 minutes a game (it was 20 tonight), have him get some rebounds (seven tonight), make a couple dunks (six points tonight) and change the opposition's approach on offense (he did). Gates was asked what the difference was in Vanover tonight versus previous games. He gave an absolutely elite quote: "The difference was me as a coach." Gates said after the last game he told Vanover if he wasn't going to give the team what it needed he wasn't going to play. He didn't practice after the last game and spent the last two days on the scout team. Gates told him he wasn't going to play. He saw the response he wanted, put Vanover in and Vanover helped a lot.
*Give me the Noah Carter we saw tonight. Missouri's first possession Carter got the ball outside the lane, backed his way in and scored. He did it a few more times. He took nine shots and only two were threes (he made one). He's too big and strong not to spend a lot of time in the paint. He can score down there against a lot of guys. He can push some guys around. And he can be a factor on the glass (team-high eight rebounds). I thought he spent too much of last year trying to prove he is a three-point shooter. Go down low. Pop out and hit one from time to time, but spend more time inside the arc than outside.
*Anthony Robinson: Certified dude.
*Nick Honor has had a lot of good nights for Missouri. This wasn't one. I thought there was a legitimate chance Missouri was going to cough up the lead in the last three minutes because Gates kept him on the floor. It didn't happen and that's fortunate. Honor will have more good nights, but I thought he should have been sitting for the last 12 minutes. But Gates makes 4 million to coach this team and I just throw my thoughts up on a message board so I'll defer to him.
*I did not expect Missouri to win this game. This is one that makes you reevaluate some of what you thought. I still don't think this team is as good as last year's (it definitely isn't offensively). I think we're going to see them have to win a lot more games 73-68 than 93-88. But they showed tonight they've got some toughness and they aren't giving up a quarter of the way into the season. Do they need to improve still? Absolutely. But this was a good win. They're 6-2 with Wichita State coming in. Get that one and then you go on a three-game stretch of Kansas in Lawrence, Seton Hall in Kansas City and Illinois in St. Louis that will give us a pretty good idea where things stand headed into league play.
