This was an inexcusable collapse. Mississippi State is not a good college basketball team, and that's saying something in 2020-21. A 30-point turnaround in 28 minutes of gameplay? I mean...wow.
Is this is good as it gets? With an experienced team of "his" guys?
Honestly, a gutless, humbling game that I fear points to issues deeper than this season, even.
Now, don't get me wrong. College basketball has a lot of parity right now. That's another, kinder way of saying that there aren't many good teams, and who knows...maybe the Tigers can go on a run?
But even average teams don't allow what has happened to Missouri in the second half. Cuonzo doesn't recruit well enough to cover his strategic deficiencies, and when teams are evenly matched...even given a 13-point lead...it's proven time and again to be too much for him.
And the idea that the University of Missouri should be patient and accept being competitive every 2-4 years while Cuonzo develops "his guys" is absurd. He MUST recruit at a higher level. Immediately. We're in year 4...I don't want to hear about "development" and "culture" anymore. This is pathetic. This team had its pants removed, painted a red bullseye on its own ass, handed an MSU team (who, apparently, was "tired", I'm told) a canoe paddle. The Bulldogs got a running start and broke said paddle in the middle of the center dot.
The staff watched it happen. They made no discernible adjustments. They curiously allowed a 15-0 run without so much as a whimper. And they got beat on the boards to the tune of 37-22, while giving up the aforementioned 30-point swing.
This is wholly unacceptable. And as I sit here waiting to listen to the postgame radio interview with CM, any words other than "I failed. We all failed. We're going to be running the moment we get back to Columbia, and I feel like I should join them" I'll view it as unacceptable.
Look, I take no pleasure in writing this. And I know that after stepping away from GBU that it could come off as being a downer. Heck, there's more than a little truth to it.
I love the STORY of Cuonzo Martin. He's a great man who is good at molding young men and developing character, and ultimately, that's more important than any of this.
But the fear is that his ceiling is "pretty good" is showing to be more and more true all the time.
Now, I'm not saying you fire the guy. This isn't Kim-Anderson-Eat-Your-Own-Hair depressing.
But quick: who's gonna be "the guy" next year? The year after that?
Honestly, the best realistic thing that could happen is for ALL of these guys to come back again next year, if rules allow. Shoot, if the NCAA will allow him to, MItchell Smith should stay until he's 50--not because I think he can help, but because it's free room and board. And who doesn't want to be a college student in their 40s?
Is this is good as it gets? With an experienced team of "his" guys?
Honestly, a gutless, humbling game that I fear points to issues deeper than this season, even.
Now, don't get me wrong. College basketball has a lot of parity right now. That's another, kinder way of saying that there aren't many good teams, and who knows...maybe the Tigers can go on a run?
But even average teams don't allow what has happened to Missouri in the second half. Cuonzo doesn't recruit well enough to cover his strategic deficiencies, and when teams are evenly matched...even given a 13-point lead...it's proven time and again to be too much for him.
And the idea that the University of Missouri should be patient and accept being competitive every 2-4 years while Cuonzo develops "his guys" is absurd. He MUST recruit at a higher level. Immediately. We're in year 4...I don't want to hear about "development" and "culture" anymore. This is pathetic. This team had its pants removed, painted a red bullseye on its own ass, handed an MSU team (who, apparently, was "tired", I'm told) a canoe paddle. The Bulldogs got a running start and broke said paddle in the middle of the center dot.
The staff watched it happen. They made no discernible adjustments. They curiously allowed a 15-0 run without so much as a whimper. And they got beat on the boards to the tune of 37-22, while giving up the aforementioned 30-point swing.
This is wholly unacceptable. And as I sit here waiting to listen to the postgame radio interview with CM, any words other than "I failed. We all failed. We're going to be running the moment we get back to Columbia, and I feel like I should join them" I'll view it as unacceptable.
Look, I take no pleasure in writing this. And I know that after stepping away from GBU that it could come off as being a downer. Heck, there's more than a little truth to it.
I love the STORY of Cuonzo Martin. He's a great man who is good at molding young men and developing character, and ultimately, that's more important than any of this.
But the fear is that his ceiling is "pretty good" is showing to be more and more true all the time.
Now, I'm not saying you fire the guy. This isn't Kim-Anderson-Eat-Your-Own-Hair depressing.
But quick: who's gonna be "the guy" next year? The year after that?
Honestly, the best realistic thing that could happen is for ALL of these guys to come back again next year, if rules allow. Shoot, if the NCAA will allow him to, MItchell Smith should stay until he's 50--not because I think he can help, but because it's free room and board. And who doesn't want to be a college student in their 40s?
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