Basketball vs. Mizzou

[AikenGameFan]

It was great to watch our guys win against UT, and I sure hope that will have their spirit and drive up a lot more now.
But tonight, they play Mizzou They are ranked #14 and have a really good team. Can we win again? They would have to play lights out. Keep making good shots, keep the passes clean, keep making the FT's, get at least 30% of the 3's, and continue to play strong D.
Will they play like that again tonight? I sure hope so, but I have watched so much crappy play this year, it is hard to put a lot of hope in this team.
Win again tonight and we will be lost trying to figure out what took so long, but we will sure enjoy seeing them play like this again.

 

[kingofnerf]

We are lacking in fundamentals and don't have enough offensive talent to compete with most SEC teams, but we'll see.

 

[FurmanCock]

The talent gap is real, and it is cavernous.

 

[kingofnerf]

I figured there would a drop-off from the talent we lost at the end of last year, but nothing like this.

The well-paid grown-ups on the coaching staff have some accountability with this as well.

 

[Blitzkrieg]

We were never in that game last night. Never.

 

[crowcutta]

We're starting two undersized guards who cant shoot, create, or defend. We're also starting an undersized center who doesnt block shots or stretch the floor. Its a recipe for disaster on both ends of the floor. In sec play wright 18.9% from 3, thomas 30.9% from 3. In sec play pringle with 2 blocks in 15 games. After the first game of the season coach clearly thought starting the two point guards was the best option and i think you could get away with it to a degree with stute healthy because he helps stretch the floor. First thing i would do is only start one of wright/thomas and either start 4 smalls with cmb at center or start butler with cmb. Neither of those lineups make us a tourney team but i think either makes us more competitive on both sides of the floor. That said cmb is the only player on the team whom you can rely on both sides of the floor, he might be the only player who can play on even one side of the floor.

I think the coaches thought we would be more athletic which would lead to a better defense and better ability to attack the basket but that hasnt come to fruition. They also were hopeful our bigger wings davis, conyers, and scott would step up and they havent.

 

[kingofnerf]

I noticed at the Ole Miss game that we didn't look as sharp last year working the ball around the perimeter as we did last year. It just seemed noticeably slower to me.

We have been okay on defense, but my perception is Lamont's offense relies on misdirection with dribble penetrations and then kick-outs. Poor shooting from the backcourt has pretty much neutralized Lamont's system this year, but reps in practice fixes a lot of that stuff.

I have heard stories of HS guys that have abandoned academics as soon as they get a big NIL deal. You have to wonder if NIL has caused us to rest on our laurels this year, too.

Lamont hasn't gone into much detail about why we have lost most of the time in his pressers. Maybe that's because he knows he has a culture issue and is just trying to hold the team together until the end of the season. He made the necessary line-up changes his second year to allow him to run his system and imagine we'll see the same thing in the offseason this year.

The role players from last year didn't really pan out this year as starters. I think we'll see a fairly new line-up next year; just have to wait and see. Assistants bring the recruits in, too. Maybe we'll see an assistant or two gone, but I don't know.