This will be a bit abbreviated, but we can't take wins for granted with no recap can we? Especially when it comes over a team that was popular in apparel among unpopular teenage boys.
1. Jordan Geist. Running out of superlatives. Once again, when Mizzou was on the ropes in the second half, who shows up? This time doing the exact opposite of what he was best known for just two short years ago. Getting someone else to do something stupid. From that point on, Mizzou regained control and cruised to an easy win.
2. Jeremiah Tilmon. He's important. The last 3 games should be perfect evidence. When Mizzou was letting the lead slip away in the 2nd half (we were still up 20+ with 15 to go), they were relying heavily on outside jumpshots...and they weren't falling. 4 straight possessions, 4 straight misses. They had no one to go inside to, or to command attention. It showed. A good shooting team may just shoot their way through that stretch, but it's difficult. And Tilmon makes things easier.
3. I thought Pinson had one of his better games. Didn't make a bunch of flashy plays, but only had one turnover and really looked to be settling in to the flow of things. Had some really nice pick and roll action going and ended with 3 assists...including a beauty to get Santos on the board for his career at Mizzou.
4. A new feature of sorts...the "game score" courtesy of Bart Torvik. For those who didn't see my post earlier this week on this stat. I think this is helpful to know just how good Mizzou performed in an individual game when considering things such as efficiency, opponent quality, margins etc. Mizzou's score today was a 92. That was the 5th time they've cracked 90 on the season, this checking in at their 4th highest. 4 of those 90+ performance games have come in the last 6, with UCF (85) and ORU (61) being the outliers. That bodes well for where this thing is heading.
5. This wraps up the non-conference. I'd wager if an option of taking an 9-3 record was on the table even with Jontay, that most wouldn't think that was much of an underperformance. After seeing how things developed, I think Mizzou was safely a 10-2 team with him. But...that's irrelevant. They're 9-3 and playing pretty decent hoops. After the Temple game, I didn't expect to be talking about postseason play, but it's certainly on the table. There's work that needs to be done, but there will be opportunities available. Right now, I think a solid goal is .500 in conference. It probably takes 11 wins to get you in the NCAA conversation...and I'm not sure if we're there yet. But we're about to find out...after another week long layoff.
1. Jordan Geist. Running out of superlatives. Once again, when Mizzou was on the ropes in the second half, who shows up? This time doing the exact opposite of what he was best known for just two short years ago. Getting someone else to do something stupid. From that point on, Mizzou regained control and cruised to an easy win.
2. Jeremiah Tilmon. He's important. The last 3 games should be perfect evidence. When Mizzou was letting the lead slip away in the 2nd half (we were still up 20+ with 15 to go), they were relying heavily on outside jumpshots...and they weren't falling. 4 straight possessions, 4 straight misses. They had no one to go inside to, or to command attention. It showed. A good shooting team may just shoot their way through that stretch, but it's difficult. And Tilmon makes things easier.
3. I thought Pinson had one of his better games. Didn't make a bunch of flashy plays, but only had one turnover and really looked to be settling in to the flow of things. Had some really nice pick and roll action going and ended with 3 assists...including a beauty to get Santos on the board for his career at Mizzou.
4. A new feature of sorts...the "game score" courtesy of Bart Torvik. For those who didn't see my post earlier this week on this stat. I think this is helpful to know just how good Mizzou performed in an individual game when considering things such as efficiency, opponent quality, margins etc. Mizzou's score today was a 92. That was the 5th time they've cracked 90 on the season, this checking in at their 4th highest. 4 of those 90+ performance games have come in the last 6, with UCF (85) and ORU (61) being the outliers. That bodes well for where this thing is heading.
5. This wraps up the non-conference. I'd wager if an option of taking an 9-3 record was on the table even with Jontay, that most wouldn't think that was much of an underperformance. After seeing how things developed, I think Mizzou was safely a 10-2 team with him. But...that's irrelevant. They're 9-3 and playing pretty decent hoops. After the Temple game, I didn't expect to be talking about postseason play, but it's certainly on the table. There's work that needs to be done, but there will be opportunities available. Right now, I think a solid goal is .500 in conference. It probably takes 11 wins to get you in the NCAA conversation...and I'm not sure if we're there yet. But we're about to find out...after another week long layoff.
