This was the point of no return loss. Texas A&M isn't good. They're worse offensively than Missouri. They had good defensive numbers coming in, but they've lost two in a row at home, they're 8-8 on the season and they just don't do anything particularly well.
They beat Missouri and it took a minor miracle to make it close in the last couple of minutes.
I don't mean to oversimplify things, but this team can't shoot. It shoots from outside a lot. It's not going to stop shooting from outside a lot. But it doesn't make from outside a lot (or really even all that much from inside). From anywhere other than the free throw line, Missouri just doesn't shoot the ball well.
The critics (and there are more showing up after every game) are going to complain about the offense. The thing is, the offense looked pretty good tonight. They were driving and getting to the line. They were moving the ball. They were making the extra pass. They were getting open looks. And they were just missing about 75% of them. Ultimately, yes, that's on the coach because he recruited these players and he has a roster full of guys that don't appear to be very good shooters, at least in the game. But if the complaint is "What is he doing on offense?" I actually thought he got his guys a lot of good looks tonight. At some point, they have to go in.
They shot terribly for 39 minutes and 58 seconds. And then Cuonzo Martin drew up one of the more impressive inbounds plays you're going to see and Mark Smith threw a perfect pass and Parker Braun executed the catch and kick to Torrence Watson beautifully and Watson got off a clean look that appeared to be on target. And it missed. Like most of the other shots. We can spend as much time as we want breaking down all the issues and why they're losing games. But really it's as simple as this: They don't make enough shots. It sounds incredibly simple because it is. It just isn't simple to fix.
So Missouri is 9-9 and they're 1-5 in the SEC and at this point they have a better chance of playing on Wednesday at the SEC Tournament than they do playing in the big tournament after that. It is, at this point, pretty much a lost season to me. Because the goal was the NCAA Tournament. That's what they said the goal was. They thought they were good enough. And now they can afford to lose about three more times the rest of the regular season and one of them's probably coming Saturday and there's no way this team is good enough or consistent enough to get that kind of hot and make that kind of run.
I'm not going to start getting into breaking down the future until at least we get to the offseason. There are still at least 14 games left and if you guys want to have the same conversation after every game I'm not going to tell you not to do it, but I just don't have the energy to join in at this point. We'll keep covering the games. Some days they'll look pretty good. Some they won't. And at this point the only real question is whether they win enough to make the NIT and get a little more experience and find something to build on for next year. Wish I could be a little more optimistic than that and give you guys something to look forward to other than spring football, but I'm not in the business of blowing sunshine up your posteriors when it looks cloudy and gray.
They beat Missouri and it took a minor miracle to make it close in the last couple of minutes.
I don't mean to oversimplify things, but this team can't shoot. It shoots from outside a lot. It's not going to stop shooting from outside a lot. But it doesn't make from outside a lot (or really even all that much from inside). From anywhere other than the free throw line, Missouri just doesn't shoot the ball well.
The critics (and there are more showing up after every game) are going to complain about the offense. The thing is, the offense looked pretty good tonight. They were driving and getting to the line. They were moving the ball. They were making the extra pass. They were getting open looks. And they were just missing about 75% of them. Ultimately, yes, that's on the coach because he recruited these players and he has a roster full of guys that don't appear to be very good shooters, at least in the game. But if the complaint is "What is he doing on offense?" I actually thought he got his guys a lot of good looks tonight. At some point, they have to go in.
They shot terribly for 39 minutes and 58 seconds. And then Cuonzo Martin drew up one of the more impressive inbounds plays you're going to see and Mark Smith threw a perfect pass and Parker Braun executed the catch and kick to Torrence Watson beautifully and Watson got off a clean look that appeared to be on target. And it missed. Like most of the other shots. We can spend as much time as we want breaking down all the issues and why they're losing games. But really it's as simple as this: They don't make enough shots. It sounds incredibly simple because it is. It just isn't simple to fix.
So Missouri is 9-9 and they're 1-5 in the SEC and at this point they have a better chance of playing on Wednesday at the SEC Tournament than they do playing in the big tournament after that. It is, at this point, pretty much a lost season to me. Because the goal was the NCAA Tournament. That's what they said the goal was. They thought they were good enough. And now they can afford to lose about three more times the rest of the regular season and one of them's probably coming Saturday and there's no way this team is good enough or consistent enough to get that kind of hot and make that kind of run.
I'm not going to start getting into breaking down the future until at least we get to the offseason. There are still at least 14 games left and if you guys want to have the same conversation after every game I'm not going to tell you not to do it, but I just don't have the energy to join in at this point. We'll keep covering the games. Some days they'll look pretty good. Some they won't. And at this point the only real question is whether they win enough to make the NIT and get a little more experience and find something to build on for next year. Wish I could be a little more optimistic than that and give you guys something to look forward to other than spring football, but I'm not in the business of blowing sunshine up your posteriors when it looks cloudy and gray.
