This one was bad, guys. We said before SEC play started that these were the types of games Missouri was going to have to win. Auburn, Kentucky, LSU and Florida are probably the four best teams in the league. Vandy and A&M are pretty clearly the two worst. In between, 5-12 could get thrown into a hat and picked out at random. The team that finishes 5th is probably going to be 2-3 games better than the one that finishes 12th (if that's mathematically possible). You can lose at Kentucky, no problem. You can even lose to Florida at home. But the games that are going to give you a chance to play for something meaningful are the ones like tonight. They have to be wins. This one wasn't and now the margin for error, however thin it was before, just got cut.
Tennessee played pretty well when it actually managed to get a shot off. But they turned the ball over 21 times including at least three shot clock violations. The last time Missouri forced 20 turnovers and lost a game was in 2011. That can't happen. Not to this team. At least the last time it was against a really good kansas team who was talented enough to get away with it. Tennessee isn't and shouldn't.
Who's the go to guy on this team? Well, there isn't one. Dru Smith is the best player, but he's not a go to guy and he has been in foul trouble a little too much. Jeremiah Tilmon came into the season as the most important player, but he probably won't even be on the court for the next four or five games (I'm guessing here) and he wasn't a go to guy when he was. Xavier Pinson and Torrence Watson and Mark Smith and even Mitchell Smith, Tray Jackson and Kobe Brown have had stretches where they look really good...and then disappear for long stretches either due to ineffectiveness or not even getting on the floor.
The talk of "we just need to play better defense" is vexing to me. They gave up 69 points and forced 21 turnovers. That shouldn't prevent you from winning a game. It certainly shouldn't be a double digit loss. But Missouri hasn't won a game when it's given up 60. Right now, they're the equivalent of a team that uses sac bunts and stolen bases and a couple of seeing eye singles to score a run or two and then tells the starting pitcher it's his fault if he isn't perfect and can't make it hold up. They simply have to find points from somewhere. I don't know exactly where they do it, but they have to.
For much of the last 24 months, I feel like I've been the guy who gets shouted down for having questions about Cuonzo Martin and this team. Tonight, I feel like I need to be the opposite guy. I'm not burying them. I'm not saying they can't get this thing going. I don't think they're far off being able to reel off some wins. But the time to do it is pretty damn quick. I don't expect them to be able to beat Florida, but they've got to start finding some wins in short order, whether it's 90-88 or 50-48. Because otherwise, we're simply biding time till spring football.
With Kim English on the other bench, I was struck tonight how far away we are from 2012 right now. It's not just the record, although yes, a big part of it is the record. It's the program and the arena and the complete lack of energy (other than the PA guy), excitement and momentum. In four years from 2008-2012, Missouri lost four games in this building. Four. In 2012-13, the Tigers went undefeated at home. In six and a half seasons since, they've lost 37 games at home. They've been mostly in front of stale, uninspired crowds that arrive late and leave early (and, no, I'm not blaming fans for not coming. They need a reason to show up. That reason has to be provided by the team and the team hasn't given them a reason for way too long). Most of us became familiar with this program when this was a tough place to play and when this program was one of the best in the country, even if it didn't usually perform that way in March. But I'm not even talking about getting back to where this thing was in the 80s or 90s. I'm not even talking about getting it to where Quin Snyder or Mike Anderson had it. I'm just talking about getting it back to where it was in Frank Haith's last couple years. It wasn't great, but it sure seemed a lot more exciting than it does right now. This program has no energy. And it hasn't for a long time. That's not on Cuonzo Martin. That's not on any one individual. That's on a program that hasn't mattered in about seven years now. I want it to matter again. I'm sure the rest of you do too. Coming to games here used to be the highlight of the week. It used to get a lot of us through the winter. Right now, it just seems like something you do because you always have or you're supposed to. A lot of people thought those days were going to come back this year. Maybe they still can. But time is running out.
Tennessee played pretty well when it actually managed to get a shot off. But they turned the ball over 21 times including at least three shot clock violations. The last time Missouri forced 20 turnovers and lost a game was in 2011. That can't happen. Not to this team. At least the last time it was against a really good kansas team who was talented enough to get away with it. Tennessee isn't and shouldn't.
Who's the go to guy on this team? Well, there isn't one. Dru Smith is the best player, but he's not a go to guy and he has been in foul trouble a little too much. Jeremiah Tilmon came into the season as the most important player, but he probably won't even be on the court for the next four or five games (I'm guessing here) and he wasn't a go to guy when he was. Xavier Pinson and Torrence Watson and Mark Smith and even Mitchell Smith, Tray Jackson and Kobe Brown have had stretches where they look really good...and then disappear for long stretches either due to ineffectiveness or not even getting on the floor.
The talk of "we just need to play better defense" is vexing to me. They gave up 69 points and forced 21 turnovers. That shouldn't prevent you from winning a game. It certainly shouldn't be a double digit loss. But Missouri hasn't won a game when it's given up 60. Right now, they're the equivalent of a team that uses sac bunts and stolen bases and a couple of seeing eye singles to score a run or two and then tells the starting pitcher it's his fault if he isn't perfect and can't make it hold up. They simply have to find points from somewhere. I don't know exactly where they do it, but they have to.
For much of the last 24 months, I feel like I've been the guy who gets shouted down for having questions about Cuonzo Martin and this team. Tonight, I feel like I need to be the opposite guy. I'm not burying them. I'm not saying they can't get this thing going. I don't think they're far off being able to reel off some wins. But the time to do it is pretty damn quick. I don't expect them to be able to beat Florida, but they've got to start finding some wins in short order, whether it's 90-88 or 50-48. Because otherwise, we're simply biding time till spring football.
With Kim English on the other bench, I was struck tonight how far away we are from 2012 right now. It's not just the record, although yes, a big part of it is the record. It's the program and the arena and the complete lack of energy (other than the PA guy), excitement and momentum. In four years from 2008-2012, Missouri lost four games in this building. Four. In 2012-13, the Tigers went undefeated at home. In six and a half seasons since, they've lost 37 games at home. They've been mostly in front of stale, uninspired crowds that arrive late and leave early (and, no, I'm not blaming fans for not coming. They need a reason to show up. That reason has to be provided by the team and the team hasn't given them a reason for way too long). Most of us became familiar with this program when this was a tough place to play and when this program was one of the best in the country, even if it didn't usually perform that way in March. But I'm not even talking about getting back to where this thing was in the 80s or 90s. I'm not even talking about getting it to where Quin Snyder or Mike Anderson had it. I'm just talking about getting it back to where it was in Frank Haith's last couple years. It wasn't great, but it sure seemed a lot more exciting than it does right now. This program has no energy. And it hasn't for a long time. That's not on Cuonzo Martin. That's not on any one individual. That's on a program that hasn't mattered in about seven years now. I want it to matter again. I'm sure the rest of you do too. Coming to games here used to be the highlight of the week. It used to get a lot of us through the winter. Right now, it just seems like something you do because you always have or you're supposed to. A lot of people thought those days were going to come back this year. Maybe they still can. But time is running out.
