Let's keep this simple, and look at the halftime keys
If you had told me Arkansas would have 8 steals on 11 Mizzou turnovers, I'd figure this would be pretty ugly. Certainly not at half with Mizzou leading.
Tigers need to do the following:
1. Be better in the half court. Only 12 2 point attempts to 15 3 point attempts. We're a good 3 point shooting team, but Mizzou can score on Arkansas inside. We need to do it. Reintroduce Tilmon to the offense via something other than putbacks.
Result: Fail. 12 second half turnovers. We had 5 two points attempts if these stats are right. FIVE. Tigers shot their season average from 3 (10-26). That's not the way things need to be done. Also of note, Mizzou was outshot by 16. SIXTEEN. We only had one more free throw. That's not acceptable.
2. Protect the ball in the half court. Part of the problem in getting good looks is shaky perimeter passing. When they're not turning it over, they're taking themselves out of the flow of offense. Credit to that does go to Arkansas, but Mizzou needs to be better about it.
Result: See above
3. Tempo has been pretty good. There have been a few times when they started going up and down, and not surprisingly, Arkansas went on runs. Keep the lid on the place. Keep it a half court game.
Result: Tigers managed to keep the lid on for 17 minutes, then it came off over a 2 minute span. Game over.
4. Need to rebound better. Only one more board than the pigs, despite 7 more misses for the home team. Mizzou should be winning this battle handily.
Result: We were outrebounded in the 2nd half. Despite having 10 more misses by Arkansas to grab (on the game). That too is not acceptable.
We know what this season is. It's going to be a fight to keep our heads above water and hopefully build towards something in the future. These things are bound to happen. Arkansas is back to their old tricks at being a very effective team at forcing turnovers. But their achilles heel is, and always will be, rebounding and committing fouls. Mizzou shot one extra free throw and broke even in the game.
And the one bright spot went out with an ankle injury.
Better days are certainly ahead. I like a lot of pieces we have and think they could be the start of a pretty solid core going forward. But there will be lumps to take. Losing Jontay and Smith (for any amount of time) will exacerbate that.
Lastly, if Arkansas shooting 7-12 in the 2nd half from three weren't bad enough...getting makes after falling down and committing a travel are worse. Not the game tape to teach young zebras, to be certain.
If you had told me Arkansas would have 8 steals on 11 Mizzou turnovers, I'd figure this would be pretty ugly. Certainly not at half with Mizzou leading.
Tigers need to do the following:
1. Be better in the half court. Only 12 2 point attempts to 15 3 point attempts. We're a good 3 point shooting team, but Mizzou can score on Arkansas inside. We need to do it. Reintroduce Tilmon to the offense via something other than putbacks.
Result: Fail. 12 second half turnovers. We had 5 two points attempts if these stats are right. FIVE. Tigers shot their season average from 3 (10-26). That's not the way things need to be done. Also of note, Mizzou was outshot by 16. SIXTEEN. We only had one more free throw. That's not acceptable.
2. Protect the ball in the half court. Part of the problem in getting good looks is shaky perimeter passing. When they're not turning it over, they're taking themselves out of the flow of offense. Credit to that does go to Arkansas, but Mizzou needs to be better about it.
Result: See above
3. Tempo has been pretty good. There have been a few times when they started going up and down, and not surprisingly, Arkansas went on runs. Keep the lid on the place. Keep it a half court game.
Result: Tigers managed to keep the lid on for 17 minutes, then it came off over a 2 minute span. Game over.
4. Need to rebound better. Only one more board than the pigs, despite 7 more misses for the home team. Mizzou should be winning this battle handily.
Result: We were outrebounded in the 2nd half. Despite having 10 more misses by Arkansas to grab (on the game). That too is not acceptable.
We know what this season is. It's going to be a fight to keep our heads above water and hopefully build towards something in the future. These things are bound to happen. Arkansas is back to their old tricks at being a very effective team at forcing turnovers. But their achilles heel is, and always will be, rebounding and committing fouls. Mizzou shot one extra free throw and broke even in the game.
And the one bright spot went out with an ankle injury.
Better days are certainly ahead. I like a lot of pieces we have and think they could be the start of a pretty solid core going forward. But there will be lumps to take. Losing Jontay and Smith (for any amount of time) will exacerbate that.
Lastly, if Arkansas shooting 7-12 in the 2nd half from three weren't bad enough...getting makes after falling down and committing a travel are worse. Not the game tape to teach young zebras, to be certain.
