It's not fun doing these after a loss. But the losses are just as important as the wins.
1. I'm not sure what to make of South Carolina. A team with bad losses to Wyoming and Stony Brook shouldn't look like this. And it's not just today. A win over a very solid Mississippi State team at home, and arguably the most impressive win of the early SEC season, at Florida, indicates this is a team that's playing pretty well. And they looked pretty competent today.
2. Mizzou isn't there yet. We knew this coming in. They're going to have ups and downs. Often within the same game. There's things to like, things to hate. We had both of those things today. We'll likely have a lot more of each the remainder of the season. That's just the way it's going to be with a young team.
3. Tilmon. It's an issue. It probably will always be an issue, just a matter of how well it can be managed. I questioned Cuonzo's decision to bring him back in with 4, but it paid off. Until it didn't. I don't question the work he's putting in. But at some point, the performances have to even out. His last 3 have been no shows, and it's hurting the squad.
4. Pickett. Rebounded nicely from a tough performance vs. Tennessee and had a great game today. Was active on defense, often drawing a post assignment that resulted in a big mismatch. Was very effective on offense. Glad to see him bounce back.
5. Turnovers were awful today. As of typing, Mizzou had 20. On the plus side, they forced 16, which helped mitigate that awfulness. This can't happen. Tigers had been doing a better job of itover recent weeks, but the half court unforced errors are killers. And USC capitalized those into points.
6. Free Throws. They evened out in the 2nd half, but USC shot 29-35 from the line. That's ridiculous. Not only the amount, but shooting 83%. They shoot 71% on the season. They made an extra 4 shots than their season average would predict. They nearly DOUBLED their fta/fga compared to the season average. That's incredible, make of it what you will. Tigers were solid getting to the line 23 times (25 with missed front ends) going 17-23. Overall solid, but the two missed front ends and the two misses by Geist were timely...in a bad way.
7. I hesitated to bring this up, because it doesn't matter now. And for the most part, aside from perhaps the Temple game (which Mizzou played quite poorly in), I'm not sure it had much of an impact on the W/L numbers. But this is a game that Jontay absolutely makes a difference. Mizzou was getting eaten alive inside. A skilled defender at 6'11" makes all the difference in the world. I have no issue saying the outcome is different. And that sucks.
8. Good news. After harping midgame, Smith responded. Mark, Watson and Pickett combined for 42 points 12 boards, 4 assists (and 5 TO's) on 12-25 shooting, 10-12 from the line and 8-15 from deep. They came up big. Pinson was a bit curiously chained to the bench, but having young perimeter players performing is a site for sore eyes.
9. Back to the drawing board. Not the start to SEC play that you wanted, but we've faced two squads who are a combined 4-0 in league play against other teams, with wins over Florida, Georgia and MSU. That's not something to be proud of, just something to note. Tigers will be hard pressed to win many games if they're playing their C+ game, which they did today. That has to improve. They will have some opportunities coming up, including a pissed off Alabama team this week followed by a similarly difficult trip to College Station next weekend. Need to start getting some results on the board so we don't see a snowball effect.
10. Big Picture: Make of it what you will. I'm seeing some things I like, and some things I don't. Geist will be a tough loss (mitigated by Dru Smith) and Puryear has his moments. But this is a team with 8 guys coming back, should both sides choose. They're slotted to add 3 more players with varying levels of talent. I've not really felt over the past 10 years or so (really since the English/Denmon class) that Mizzou was accumulating a young foundation upon which to build the program. Keeping those guys around, and building, should lead to results. The amount of improvement and the supplementation of talent around them will determine how many results. My hope is that the lumps they take this season will be the start of something more. It may end up just being hope, but that's something more than we've previously had.
1. I'm not sure what to make of South Carolina. A team with bad losses to Wyoming and Stony Brook shouldn't look like this. And it's not just today. A win over a very solid Mississippi State team at home, and arguably the most impressive win of the early SEC season, at Florida, indicates this is a team that's playing pretty well. And they looked pretty competent today.
2. Mizzou isn't there yet. We knew this coming in. They're going to have ups and downs. Often within the same game. There's things to like, things to hate. We had both of those things today. We'll likely have a lot more of each the remainder of the season. That's just the way it's going to be with a young team.
3. Tilmon. It's an issue. It probably will always be an issue, just a matter of how well it can be managed. I questioned Cuonzo's decision to bring him back in with 4, but it paid off. Until it didn't. I don't question the work he's putting in. But at some point, the performances have to even out. His last 3 have been no shows, and it's hurting the squad.
4. Pickett. Rebounded nicely from a tough performance vs. Tennessee and had a great game today. Was active on defense, often drawing a post assignment that resulted in a big mismatch. Was very effective on offense. Glad to see him bounce back.
5. Turnovers were awful today. As of typing, Mizzou had 20. On the plus side, they forced 16, which helped mitigate that awfulness. This can't happen. Tigers had been doing a better job of itover recent weeks, but the half court unforced errors are killers. And USC capitalized those into points.
6. Free Throws. They evened out in the 2nd half, but USC shot 29-35 from the line. That's ridiculous. Not only the amount, but shooting 83%. They shoot 71% on the season. They made an extra 4 shots than their season average would predict. They nearly DOUBLED their fta/fga compared to the season average. That's incredible, make of it what you will. Tigers were solid getting to the line 23 times (25 with missed front ends) going 17-23. Overall solid, but the two missed front ends and the two misses by Geist were timely...in a bad way.
7. I hesitated to bring this up, because it doesn't matter now. And for the most part, aside from perhaps the Temple game (which Mizzou played quite poorly in), I'm not sure it had much of an impact on the W/L numbers. But this is a game that Jontay absolutely makes a difference. Mizzou was getting eaten alive inside. A skilled defender at 6'11" makes all the difference in the world. I have no issue saying the outcome is different. And that sucks.
8. Good news. After harping midgame, Smith responded. Mark, Watson and Pickett combined for 42 points 12 boards, 4 assists (and 5 TO's) on 12-25 shooting, 10-12 from the line and 8-15 from deep. They came up big. Pinson was a bit curiously chained to the bench, but having young perimeter players performing is a site for sore eyes.
9. Back to the drawing board. Not the start to SEC play that you wanted, but we've faced two squads who are a combined 4-0 in league play against other teams, with wins over Florida, Georgia and MSU. That's not something to be proud of, just something to note. Tigers will be hard pressed to win many games if they're playing their C+ game, which they did today. That has to improve. They will have some opportunities coming up, including a pissed off Alabama team this week followed by a similarly difficult trip to College Station next weekend. Need to start getting some results on the board so we don't see a snowball effect.
10. Big Picture: Make of it what you will. I'm seeing some things I like, and some things I don't. Geist will be a tough loss (mitigated by Dru Smith) and Puryear has his moments. But this is a team with 8 guys coming back, should both sides choose. They're slotted to add 3 more players with varying levels of talent. I've not really felt over the past 10 years or so (really since the English/Denmon class) that Mizzou was accumulating a young foundation upon which to build the program. Keeping those guys around, and building, should lead to results. The amount of improvement and the supplementation of talent around them will determine how many results. My hope is that the lumps they take this season will be the start of something more. It may end up just being hope, but that's something more than we've previously had.
