* I'm going to keep these relatively brief because I know everyone wants to talk about football tonight. Also, there's really not too much new to say at this point. Tonight was just more evidence that Mizzou is simply out-classed against quality competition. The Tigers have played three teams ranked in the top 40 by KenPom. They've lost those games by an average of 30.3 points. All were effectively over before the first media timeout in the second half. The Tigers simply look like a mid-major team in those games. Obviously, that's not where anyone wants this team to be, but it's the reality and it doesn't seem likely to change without an infusion of new players.
* The biggest problem, to me, is that this team isn't very good at the things Cuonzo Martin hangs his hat on. He said after the game the identity needs to be defense, rebounding and effort. I'll give them effort. They haven't quit. But every team should play hard. Rebounding has been hit and miss. (Fun fact, Mizzou is now 6-0 when it wins the rebounding battle and 0-6 when it does not). But it was rough tonight, with Illinois winning 39-27 on the boards. The defense has been consistently bad. Missouri's four high-major opponents are averaging 86.5 points per game against the Tigers. All four have shot 40 percent or better from three. Tonight, the team wanted to say that was partially because it tried to help on Kofi Cockburn, and while that's probably true, this is clearly a trend. The bad news is that when the other team gets hot from three Mizzou is generally screwed because it continues to be poor at shooting threes on the other end. Bottom line: When you're not good at the one thing you take pride in being good at, the season is not likely to go well.
* If Jordan Wilmore couldn't play more than one minute tonight, it's probably time to admit that experiment was a failure. The only reasons it ever made any sense to have him on the roster was a) that you can't teach size and he could develop and b) that he could help out in matchups like this one when the other team has a traditional big, that way you wouldn't have to ask Kobe Brown to guard that guy and risk foul trouble. I don't mean to bag on the kid, but after he's now played one total minute across the past two games combined, you have to call a spade a spade. That's one of several head-scratching recruiting decisions that have put this team in its current position.
* The conversation, as always, is going to be about firing the head coach, I'm sure. I don't think today does anything to change the timeline. I think Cuonzo will have at minimum until late February and probably the entire season to show enough to keep his job. But I also don't want to gloss over the significance of losing to your two rivals by an average of 31 points per game. The Kansas and Illinois games are probably the only two games the casual fan pays attention to before conference play, and now not many people are going to bother following that. Not only losing those two games but getting absolutely embarrassed both times kills fan support and will certainly be weighed into the decision to keep him or move on.
* The biggest problem, to me, is that this team isn't very good at the things Cuonzo Martin hangs his hat on. He said after the game the identity needs to be defense, rebounding and effort. I'll give them effort. They haven't quit. But every team should play hard. Rebounding has been hit and miss. (Fun fact, Mizzou is now 6-0 when it wins the rebounding battle and 0-6 when it does not). But it was rough tonight, with Illinois winning 39-27 on the boards. The defense has been consistently bad. Missouri's four high-major opponents are averaging 86.5 points per game against the Tigers. All four have shot 40 percent or better from three. Tonight, the team wanted to say that was partially because it tried to help on Kofi Cockburn, and while that's probably true, this is clearly a trend. The bad news is that when the other team gets hot from three Mizzou is generally screwed because it continues to be poor at shooting threes on the other end. Bottom line: When you're not good at the one thing you take pride in being good at, the season is not likely to go well.
* If Jordan Wilmore couldn't play more than one minute tonight, it's probably time to admit that experiment was a failure. The only reasons it ever made any sense to have him on the roster was a) that you can't teach size and he could develop and b) that he could help out in matchups like this one when the other team has a traditional big, that way you wouldn't have to ask Kobe Brown to guard that guy and risk foul trouble. I don't mean to bag on the kid, but after he's now played one total minute across the past two games combined, you have to call a spade a spade. That's one of several head-scratching recruiting decisions that have put this team in its current position.
* The conversation, as always, is going to be about firing the head coach, I'm sure. I don't think today does anything to change the timeline. I think Cuonzo will have at minimum until late February and probably the entire season to show enough to keep his job. But I also don't want to gloss over the significance of losing to your two rivals by an average of 31 points per game. The Kansas and Illinois games are probably the only two games the casual fan pays attention to before conference play, and now not many people are going to bother following that. Not only losing those two games but getting absolutely embarrassed both times kills fan support and will certainly be weighed into the decision to keep him or move on.
