First of all, I've already said this, but I'm going to reiterate. This is why, as the media, you take the time and spend the money to be there. @drewking0222 is going to have a lot of coverage for you. He talked to people that aren't on the Zoom. He was there. He'll have stuff you're not getting elsewhere.
While he writes all that stuff, here are my thoughts from watching on TV, which are worth, well, I don't really know:
*Don't feel bad if you spent the first 29 minutes of this game burying Missouri. My text messages wouldn't look a whole lot more intelligent than the game thread (But I do score intelligence points for sending them privately instead of posting them for everyone to see). They didn't do anything in the first 29 minutes to give you any belief the last 11 were coming.
*Don't even feel bad if you buried Caleb Grill. I did. I thought he'd assured his team was going to not only lose but probably get blown out. Dennis Gates said after the game that Grill had told him "I might have to get fiery." Gates said he didn't want to get a tech personally, but almost made it sound like Grill's was planned. Look, I don't really think I believe that. But after you finish on a 31-9 run, it makes for a hell of a story. If this ends up a 25 point loss, we're all digging up Grill's past at Iowa State and questioning if Missouri should have taken him. Because it ended up a win, we'll forget about it and his coach can tell us he inspired his teammates.
*What is Gates' best attribute? The man does not panic. Ever. I'm sure he raises his voice, but I've never heard it. I'm sure he can get after guys, but I've never seen it. He simply stays the course. He never gets as low as those of us watching do and he never gets as high. You can't tell me that doesn't carry over to his team. I've seen his teams come back too many times, win too many close games, to believe otherwise. I don't think there are many coaches that win this game tonight. Missouri has one of them.
*Credit Jordan Butler, Anthony Robinson, Trent Pierce and Curt Lewis. Missouri not only looked dead in the water, but with about 12 minutes left, I was questioning if they were really even into the game. They just didn't have any juice. The freshmen and Lewis gave them juice. Those dudes all earned more playing time going forward. They all made big plays. The future's bright.
*Missouri doesn't win this game without Nick Honor. He went from "What in the world is wrong with him?" to the guy we saw a lot of last year in the blink of an eye. He took over. The biggest deficit was 59-39 with 11:25 left. Honor made a three 16 seconds later. Then he made a turnaround in the lane and then another three. Then he made a layup. Ten straight Mizzou points in 2:07 cut the lead from 20 to 12 and gave Mizzou hope. He didn't score again, but he didn't have to.
*Please, Dennis, play Tamar Bates more. Thank you.
*You guys are all asking, who's the go to guy? We got the answer tonight. Down one with 16 seconds left, there was no doubt who was getting the ball. I wasn't sure he was going to take the shot, but the ball had to be in Sean East's hands. He's the guy who can go get his own shot or open one up for others. He did it and got fouled and made the free throw. Gates said he told East "Take us home. Do what you need to do." The game-winning points were East's only points of the second half.
*There are questions about this team and this roster. Minnesota isn't a good team and it was beating Mizzou by 20. The Tigers got murdered on the boards (44-28), gave up a ton of open shots and are questionable defensively when they aren't forcing turnovers. I'm not going to tell you everything is great. I don't know if this is a tournament team or not. But this win is simply gigantic. To do it in the way they did it can galvanize a team and change a season the way DeAndre Gholston's half-court buzzer beater against UCF did last year or the way a triple overtime win in St. Louis did in 1993-94. Will that happen? Hell, I don't know. We'll find out. But I won't turn a game off this year because they showed me tonight they're never out of it.
*That was fun. Everything's kind of coming up Mizzou the last few weeks. That's neat, huh?
While he writes all that stuff, here are my thoughts from watching on TV, which are worth, well, I don't really know:
*Don't feel bad if you spent the first 29 minutes of this game burying Missouri. My text messages wouldn't look a whole lot more intelligent than the game thread (But I do score intelligence points for sending them privately instead of posting them for everyone to see). They didn't do anything in the first 29 minutes to give you any belief the last 11 were coming.
*Don't even feel bad if you buried Caleb Grill. I did. I thought he'd assured his team was going to not only lose but probably get blown out. Dennis Gates said after the game that Grill had told him "I might have to get fiery." Gates said he didn't want to get a tech personally, but almost made it sound like Grill's was planned. Look, I don't really think I believe that. But after you finish on a 31-9 run, it makes for a hell of a story. If this ends up a 25 point loss, we're all digging up Grill's past at Iowa State and questioning if Missouri should have taken him. Because it ended up a win, we'll forget about it and his coach can tell us he inspired his teammates.
*What is Gates' best attribute? The man does not panic. Ever. I'm sure he raises his voice, but I've never heard it. I'm sure he can get after guys, but I've never seen it. He simply stays the course. He never gets as low as those of us watching do and he never gets as high. You can't tell me that doesn't carry over to his team. I've seen his teams come back too many times, win too many close games, to believe otherwise. I don't think there are many coaches that win this game tonight. Missouri has one of them.
*Credit Jordan Butler, Anthony Robinson, Trent Pierce and Curt Lewis. Missouri not only looked dead in the water, but with about 12 minutes left, I was questioning if they were really even into the game. They just didn't have any juice. The freshmen and Lewis gave them juice. Those dudes all earned more playing time going forward. They all made big plays. The future's bright.
*Missouri doesn't win this game without Nick Honor. He went from "What in the world is wrong with him?" to the guy we saw a lot of last year in the blink of an eye. He took over. The biggest deficit was 59-39 with 11:25 left. Honor made a three 16 seconds later. Then he made a turnaround in the lane and then another three. Then he made a layup. Ten straight Mizzou points in 2:07 cut the lead from 20 to 12 and gave Mizzou hope. He didn't score again, but he didn't have to.
*Please, Dennis, play Tamar Bates more. Thank you.
*You guys are all asking, who's the go to guy? We got the answer tonight. Down one with 16 seconds left, there was no doubt who was getting the ball. I wasn't sure he was going to take the shot, but the ball had to be in Sean East's hands. He's the guy who can go get his own shot or open one up for others. He did it and got fouled and made the free throw. Gates said he told East "Take us home. Do what you need to do." The game-winning points were East's only points of the second half.
*There are questions about this team and this roster. Minnesota isn't a good team and it was beating Mizzou by 20. The Tigers got murdered on the boards (44-28), gave up a ton of open shots and are questionable defensively when they aren't forcing turnovers. I'm not going to tell you everything is great. I don't know if this is a tournament team or not. But this win is simply gigantic. To do it in the way they did it can galvanize a team and change a season the way DeAndre Gholston's half-court buzzer beater against UCF did last year or the way a triple overtime win in St. Louis did in 1993-94. Will that happen? Hell, I don't know. We'll find out. But I won't turn a game off this year because they showed me tonight they're never out of it.
*That was fun. Everything's kind of coming up Mizzou the last few weeks. That's neat, huh?
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