*We are a society of football fans who too often takes that mentality to other sports. In football, every game seems like a referendum on everything. In basketball, it shouldn't. Sometimes you have nights where you can't throw the ball in the ocean from a boat and good teams look bad like Missouri did on Wednesday. Then sometimes you have days where your opponent looks every bit as bad and you get a nice road win to bounce back and go to 7-1 and stake your claim to staying in the top 15 like Missouri did today. Bad days happen. Every team has a few. Missouri had one Wednesday. They came back from it.
*This was Jeremiah Tilmon's best day. He went 9/13 from the floor and I'm pretty sure didn't attempt a shot of more than five feet other than free throws. He was engaged and dominant from the beginning. Some will say that's why he is so frustrating because how come we see that once every three weeks rather than all the time? Well if we saw it all the time he'd be Michael Beasley. Be happy you got it tonight and understand you might get it again on Tuesday or you might get four points and five boards in 19 minutes. Who knows? It's a guessing game.
*It was pretty clear in talking to Cuonzo Martin this week he didn't like the way Xavier Pinson had played against Tennessee. He was significantly happier on Saturday. The 23 points and the 12/15 free throw shooting performance were good, but it was also about five rebounds, four assists and just two turnovers. He ran the offense. He made the right decision a lot more often than the wrong one. For Missouri to be good, Pinson has to be good. He was today.
*It wasn't all good. Dru Smith has to stop picking up terrible fouls. We've talked about it a lot. And I'm not going to defend the officials (I didn't think they were any better or worse in either direction, just whistle happy and in general quite bad for most of the last 35 minutes all around). But when they're calling a foul every 19 seconds, you have to quit slapping at the ball 35 feet from the basket. The reward just isn't worth the risk. That's three times in eight games Dru has had four fouls with more than ten minutes to go. It's too much, especially for a fifth year senior who constantly draws praise as the best and most talented player.
*A stat that stunned me: The leader in +/- today was Mitchell Smith. It's not that I thought he was bad, it's just that I would never have guessed Mizzou outscored Arkansas by 17 points in the 20 minutes he was on the floor. He only scored two points, but he obviously does a lot of things for this team that most of us don't notice in the course of watching a game. That's why he plays a lot even when he's not scoring.
*The rotation has come into focus. The same five players have started all eight games. Mitchell Smith and Javon Pickett are going to be the first two guys off the bench and Drew Buggs is going to get about 15 minutes. The ninth spot, which is going to get 7-10 minutes a game, is either going to be Parker Braun or Torrence Watson. I thought Watson got a shot today because Braun had played some....ummmm....questionable defense against Tennessee. Watson went 0/2 from three point range. You'd like to see him knock one down now and again if he's going to keep getting those minutes. That said, I'm not sure eight minutes a game from the fourth guy off the bench is what's going to determine whether this season is good or bad.
*Big picture, you lost a home game and got it back with one on the road. At the beginning of the week I expected 0-2 and would have said 1-1 was the goal and a successful week. That's what Mizzou got. They should stay in the top 15 or so in the polls. They'll go to Starkville and host LSU next week. 2-0 is an incredible week that should make you feel confident this is a top four team in the league. 1-1 is fine and shouldn't send anyone screaming off the bandwagon. 0-2 would not end the season or anything, but it would tell me this probably is a team that's more fighting to be in the top half of the league than the top third.
*Overall, heck of a win today. Hope you all enjoy it.
*This was Jeremiah Tilmon's best day. He went 9/13 from the floor and I'm pretty sure didn't attempt a shot of more than five feet other than free throws. He was engaged and dominant from the beginning. Some will say that's why he is so frustrating because how come we see that once every three weeks rather than all the time? Well if we saw it all the time he'd be Michael Beasley. Be happy you got it tonight and understand you might get it again on Tuesday or you might get four points and five boards in 19 minutes. Who knows? It's a guessing game.
*It was pretty clear in talking to Cuonzo Martin this week he didn't like the way Xavier Pinson had played against Tennessee. He was significantly happier on Saturday. The 23 points and the 12/15 free throw shooting performance were good, but it was also about five rebounds, four assists and just two turnovers. He ran the offense. He made the right decision a lot more often than the wrong one. For Missouri to be good, Pinson has to be good. He was today.
*It wasn't all good. Dru Smith has to stop picking up terrible fouls. We've talked about it a lot. And I'm not going to defend the officials (I didn't think they were any better or worse in either direction, just whistle happy and in general quite bad for most of the last 35 minutes all around). But when they're calling a foul every 19 seconds, you have to quit slapping at the ball 35 feet from the basket. The reward just isn't worth the risk. That's three times in eight games Dru has had four fouls with more than ten minutes to go. It's too much, especially for a fifth year senior who constantly draws praise as the best and most talented player.
*A stat that stunned me: The leader in +/- today was Mitchell Smith. It's not that I thought he was bad, it's just that I would never have guessed Mizzou outscored Arkansas by 17 points in the 20 minutes he was on the floor. He only scored two points, but he obviously does a lot of things for this team that most of us don't notice in the course of watching a game. That's why he plays a lot even when he's not scoring.
*The rotation has come into focus. The same five players have started all eight games. Mitchell Smith and Javon Pickett are going to be the first two guys off the bench and Drew Buggs is going to get about 15 minutes. The ninth spot, which is going to get 7-10 minutes a game, is either going to be Parker Braun or Torrence Watson. I thought Watson got a shot today because Braun had played some....ummmm....questionable defense against Tennessee. Watson went 0/2 from three point range. You'd like to see him knock one down now and again if he's going to keep getting those minutes. That said, I'm not sure eight minutes a game from the fourth guy off the bench is what's going to determine whether this season is good or bad.
*Big picture, you lost a home game and got it back with one on the road. At the beginning of the week I expected 0-2 and would have said 1-1 was the goal and a successful week. That's what Mizzou got. They should stay in the top 15 or so in the polls. They'll go to Starkville and host LSU next week. 2-0 is an incredible week that should make you feel confident this is a top four team in the league. 1-1 is fine and shouldn't send anyone screaming off the bandwagon. 0-2 would not end the season or anything, but it would tell me this probably is a team that's more fighting to be in the top half of the league than the top third.
*Overall, heck of a win today. Hope you all enjoy it.
