I've seen enough Buzz Williams basketball to know this game was going to be ugly. I could not have imagined it would be this ugly.
Missouri led 13-4 after a Sean East basket with 14:13 to go. After that point, the Aggies went on a 21-2 run. 21 points in 11 minutes isn't even that impressive. But Missouri looked absolutely clueless on offense. They weren't even starting to look at the basket until 8 seconds left. Every lineup Gates puts out there has at least three guys that aren't even going to look at the basket.
Missouri had two players score in the first 17:19. TWO. They had four score in the half.
Back to back shot clock violations is embarrassing.
All that said, it feels like Missouri should be losing by 30 and it's a 5 point game.
On the other end of the floor, Missouri got called for 245 fouls (officially it was 14). Only one or two of them were bad calls. They just hack nonstop. They're constantly out of position, undersized and just don't do anything well defensively. On A&M's opening possession Nick Honor got a steal and had to pull up at the three-point line because Missouri didn't have numbers.
I don't want to put this all on one player. But Noah Carter was supposed to be one of this team's best players. He played three minutes, committed three fouls, didn't score and is now shooting 27% from three point range. You can't survive that from a guy you were counting on. You can blame Gates for counting on him if you want, but he was a capable SEC player last year. He isn't this year.
That said Carter's 5-0 run (as ugly as it was) got Mizzou back in the game.
The saving grace is that A&M isn't going to score 80. They'll let you stay in the game simply because they don't score that much. You just have to make some shots. And not give them 20 free throws in the second half. Both of those things seem questionable in watching this team.
Missouri led 13-4 after a Sean East basket with 14:13 to go. After that point, the Aggies went on a 21-2 run. 21 points in 11 minutes isn't even that impressive. But Missouri looked absolutely clueless on offense. They weren't even starting to look at the basket until 8 seconds left. Every lineup Gates puts out there has at least three guys that aren't even going to look at the basket.
Missouri had two players score in the first 17:19. TWO. They had four score in the half.
Back to back shot clock violations is embarrassing.
All that said, it feels like Missouri should be losing by 30 and it's a 5 point game.
On the other end of the floor, Missouri got called for 245 fouls (officially it was 14). Only one or two of them were bad calls. They just hack nonstop. They're constantly out of position, undersized and just don't do anything well defensively. On A&M's opening possession Nick Honor got a steal and had to pull up at the three-point line because Missouri didn't have numbers.
I don't want to put this all on one player. But Noah Carter was supposed to be one of this team's best players. He played three minutes, committed three fouls, didn't score and is now shooting 27% from three point range. You can't survive that from a guy you were counting on. You can blame Gates for counting on him if you want, but he was a capable SEC player last year. He isn't this year.
That said Carter's 5-0 run (as ugly as it was) got Mizzou back in the game.
The saving grace is that A&M isn't going to score 80. They'll let you stay in the game simply because they don't score that much. You just have to make some shots. And not give them 20 free throws in the second half. Both of those things seem questionable in watching this team.
