Ten Thoughts for Monday Morning presented by Will Ga...
1) Missouri basketball is proving something I've said over and over about sports: Good teams win close games, bad teams lose them and talk about how close they were to winning them. Nick Honor said after the 79-67 loss to Florida that the Tigers weren't far off. And in one sense, honestly, he's right. Let's go through the losses:
Memphis: Lost by 15, but were tied at the under 16 timeout and had six possessions to get within four or five points between the 12 and 9 minute marks.
Jackson State: Led by 6 with 1:17 left, lost by 1 (still brutal)
Kansas: Lost by 9, missed a shot to make it a 5 point game with 6:48 to play
South Carolina: Never trailed in 2nd half, lost in OT
Georgia: led by 2 with 4:45 left, gave up 12-3 run to finish
Florida: Trailed by 3 with 13:58 left, gave up 15-5 run over next 7:35
I'm sure it seems like I'm trying to put lipstick on a pig. I promise I'm not. This is not a good team. I'm just trying to illustrate how thin the line is between being a bad team and a decent one. Even if we take the Memphis and Kansas games out above, you're talking about four games that were within a possession in the final 14 minutes. Three of them were within a possession in the final five minutes. Missouri lost them all. Flip two of them, they're 10-8. Flip Jackson State, South Carolina and Georgia, they're 11-7 (2-3 SEC) and it's not a season anyone is writing home about, but the despair isn't at nearly the level it is right now. We're talking about three or four plays. Again, they're not a good team. Good teams win those games. Missouri is losing them. But the margin is thin.
2) It's the main reason that there's no magic bullet when you try to figure out what's wrong. Yes, Missouri needs to rebound better. Yes, it needs to play defense better. Yes, it needs more from its bigs. Yes, Noah Carter and Nick Honor have fallen short of expectations. Yes, Missouri needs to either shoot fewer three-pointers or have the right guys shoot them when they do. All of those things are true. And they're still just a handful of plays away from having a season that would be at least okay and would have you talking about what they need to do to be on the right side of the bubble rather than whether or not they'll ever win another game.
Last year, Missouri was 11-1 in games decided by seven points or less. This year, it is 2-4. This tells me that last year's team was extraordinarily good in close games. Does that mean it was lucky or good? Like I said, good teams win close games. So I say last year's team was good with a bit of luck and this year's team is bad with very little luck.
So every time a coach or a player is asked what needs to improve it's some version of "execution" or "make more plays." It''s boring and it makes us angry, but it's true. Good teams make a few more plays of the course of a season than bad teams do. The gap between good and bad just isn't big at all.
3) It is fair to have some skepticism about Dennis Gates, but it is ridiculous to be going to extremes and talking about a hot seat.
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