Well, maybe a little more of post season thoughts, but it's kinda the same thing right now, unfortunately.
1. This game was a pretty accurate microcosm of the entire season. Mizzou was outmatched in talent, experience (Auburn 37th most experienced squad, Mizzou 284th) and in this particular instance, style of play. Auburn is a pretty damn good club. Probably underachieved a bit record-wise, but the analytics don't like...they're 14th in the country. Mizzou had to play a great game and Auburn had to play a C game. Neither happened. Tigers (Well, Tiger singular) turned it over a bit too much. But they didn't allow a loss to become a foregone conclusion until 2 minutes to play. And that's what we saw over the last 15 games with an outmanned team playing without Mark Smith. Yet in those 15? They wen 6-9 and lost 3 games by more than 10 (MSU, Auburn, Tennessee). That's not what you point to in saying you've got a great team. That's what you look at when you're looking for progress.
2. I want to point out at that at half, Dykes said Mizzou was 8-16 from three point range and there's no way that will continue. They finished 15-30. Try again Mr. Allegiant.
3. The stats were pretty similar across the board, believe it or not. The lone exception were shooting splits
Mizzou: 8-22 2 PT -- 15-30 3 PT
Auburn: 15-25 2 PT -- 12-34 3 PT
Mizzou's guards struggled to keep Auburn's drivers out of the paint. And that hurt them. On the other end, Mizzou made 1 2 point shot in the first half. Our best 2 point offense in the 2nd half was off of misses. I was a little disappointed that Mizzou didn't make a more concerted effort to get Tilmon involved early on. Auburn is not good defensively inside on post ups. But...with their outside shooting, I can kinda see why that was.
4. To the Seniors. Best of luck in future endeavors. They have the ability to say that they helped build whatever Mizzou goes on to do. That's got to be a hard pill to swallow for them, being as they weren't part of successful teams early on...but they continued to play hard and lead by example. Props to both of them for that.
5. There will be plenty of time to dissect who's coming back, who isn't and who is coming in. What I'll leave it at is this...percentage of minutes played rank:
1. Senior
2. Freshman
3. Sophomore
4. Senior
5. Freshman
6. Freshman
7. Sophomore
8. Sophomore
9. Junior
10. Sophomore
11. Junior
You return 7 of the top 9 on that list, add a junior to the group and two freshmen. That's a group that can learn and grow together. That's not something this program has sustained in the better part of a decade. I hope it happens.
1. This game was a pretty accurate microcosm of the entire season. Mizzou was outmatched in talent, experience (Auburn 37th most experienced squad, Mizzou 284th) and in this particular instance, style of play. Auburn is a pretty damn good club. Probably underachieved a bit record-wise, but the analytics don't like...they're 14th in the country. Mizzou had to play a great game and Auburn had to play a C game. Neither happened. Tigers (Well, Tiger singular) turned it over a bit too much. But they didn't allow a loss to become a foregone conclusion until 2 minutes to play. And that's what we saw over the last 15 games with an outmanned team playing without Mark Smith. Yet in those 15? They wen 6-9 and lost 3 games by more than 10 (MSU, Auburn, Tennessee). That's not what you point to in saying you've got a great team. That's what you look at when you're looking for progress.
2. I want to point out at that at half, Dykes said Mizzou was 8-16 from three point range and there's no way that will continue. They finished 15-30. Try again Mr. Allegiant.
3. The stats were pretty similar across the board, believe it or not. The lone exception were shooting splits
Mizzou: 8-22 2 PT -- 15-30 3 PT
Auburn: 15-25 2 PT -- 12-34 3 PT
Mizzou's guards struggled to keep Auburn's drivers out of the paint. And that hurt them. On the other end, Mizzou made 1 2 point shot in the first half. Our best 2 point offense in the 2nd half was off of misses. I was a little disappointed that Mizzou didn't make a more concerted effort to get Tilmon involved early on. Auburn is not good defensively inside on post ups. But...with their outside shooting, I can kinda see why that was.
4. To the Seniors. Best of luck in future endeavors. They have the ability to say that they helped build whatever Mizzou goes on to do. That's got to be a hard pill to swallow for them, being as they weren't part of successful teams early on...but they continued to play hard and lead by example. Props to both of them for that.
5. There will be plenty of time to dissect who's coming back, who isn't and who is coming in. What I'll leave it at is this...percentage of minutes played rank:
1. Senior
2. Freshman
3. Sophomore
4. Senior
5. Freshman
6. Freshman
7. Sophomore
8. Sophomore
9. Junior
10. Sophomore
11. Junior
You return 7 of the top 9 on that list, add a junior to the group and two freshmen. That's a group that can learn and grow together. That's not something this program has sustained in the better part of a decade. I hope it happens.
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