-The players seemed chippy early on. D'Moi Hodge stared down his defender after scoring a layup. One of SIUE's players threw the ball at Noah Carter's back after they got called for a foul. They also shoved Carter while he was setting a screen. I don't know why there's beef, but it's there.
-I wrote about D'Moi Hodge being a punctuation mark for the Tigers in transition in the most recent installment of Stats that Stood Out and he has looked every bit the part tonight. He actually might be the fastest guy on the court at full speed, he looks like The Flash beating every guy down the court every time.
-Kobe Brown picked up two fouls in the first two minutes. Dennis Gates sent in Aidan Shaw, who subsequently picked up two fouls. Noah Carter was also whistled for one, and all three forwards spent a few possessions on the bench together. Rather than turning to another forward such as Mohamed Diarra or Ronnie DeGray, Gates went with a lineup of Sean East, Hodge, Isiaih Mosley, Tre Gomillion and Kaleb Brown -- all guards. The group was only on the floor together for a little over two minutes before Carter went back in the game, but was outscored 6-4 and gave up four offensive rebounds on one possession that ended with a loose ball foul. Carter went to the bench again late in the first, and Gates went to another small-ball lineup that gave up another two offensive boards. I think it says a lot about the way Gates wants to play -- he wants to play a very specific way and is willing to sacrifice size to keep playing that way.
-Sean East looked a little more settled in through the first half. It's going to take him some time to get fully adjusted to playing at this level, but that's what these early-season games are for. One thing I don't like: He wraps the ball around his waist before shooting free throws. Don't get me wrong, it looks very cool. But he doesn't reset his hands after doing it, he just goes straight into his shot. He's 6-9 from the stripe this year.
-Considering that Kobe and Shaw sat most of the half, Mizzou sure didn't seem like they skipped a beat. I believe 52-31 is their biggest lead at halftime of any game this year.
-I wrote about D'Moi Hodge being a punctuation mark for the Tigers in transition in the most recent installment of Stats that Stood Out and he has looked every bit the part tonight. He actually might be the fastest guy on the court at full speed, he looks like The Flash beating every guy down the court every time.
-Kobe Brown picked up two fouls in the first two minutes. Dennis Gates sent in Aidan Shaw, who subsequently picked up two fouls. Noah Carter was also whistled for one, and all three forwards spent a few possessions on the bench together. Rather than turning to another forward such as Mohamed Diarra or Ronnie DeGray, Gates went with a lineup of Sean East, Hodge, Isiaih Mosley, Tre Gomillion and Kaleb Brown -- all guards. The group was only on the floor together for a little over two minutes before Carter went back in the game, but was outscored 6-4 and gave up four offensive rebounds on one possession that ended with a loose ball foul. Carter went to the bench again late in the first, and Gates went to another small-ball lineup that gave up another two offensive boards. I think it says a lot about the way Gates wants to play -- he wants to play a very specific way and is willing to sacrifice size to keep playing that way.
-Sean East looked a little more settled in through the first half. It's going to take him some time to get fully adjusted to playing at this level, but that's what these early-season games are for. One thing I don't like: He wraps the ball around his waist before shooting free throws. Don't get me wrong, it looks very cool. But he doesn't reset his hands after doing it, he just goes straight into his shot. He's 6-9 from the stripe this year.
-Considering that Kobe and Shaw sat most of the half, Mizzou sure didn't seem like they skipped a beat. I believe 52-31 is their biggest lead at halftime of any game this year.
