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The foundation is laid, the future is unknown

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NASHVILLE—For the last 366 days, Cuonzo Martin and the Missouri basketball program have taken Tiger fans on an extended joyride. On March 15th, 2017, Martin accepted the Missouri job and the program rose from the ashes to the NCAA Tournament much more quickly than anyone could have imagined.

It wasn’t supposed to end like this, a 67-54 destruction at the hands of Florida State in the final game of the first two full days of the tournament. Even when it had been bad, it was so much better than it has been that Missouri fans could appreciate the ascension. But there were few signs of it on Friday night.

The Tigers jumped out to a 7-1 lead on the Seminoles and made two of their first three-pointers. For the rest of the first half, they went 1-11 from deep against a team that had allowed its last five opponents to shoot 50% from three-point range and were outscored 41-13. They did not score a point for the final 4:48 of the half and looked—at best—disinterested in doing anything to make Florida State concerned.

“That first half, I was very angry because we didn’t show fight,” Martin said. “Like I said to the guys, you fight, I don’t have to worry about what the scoreboard says because I can see the effort. I can sleep at night. Yeah, we lost the game, but I can sleep at night with the second half. That looked like us.”

The Tigers did outscore FSU 24-8 in the first ten minutes of the second half to cut the lead to six. But the Seminoles responded with an 11-2 run and the end of Missouri’s season was plain to see for the final seven minutes.

“It’s more about trying to keep our heads up. And in the second half, we did show some fight,” Kassius Robertson said after scoring 19 points in his final game. “In the first half, thank God we didn’t do the same thing in the second half. It would have been really hard to swallow if we went out like that. I think we showed some type of fight in the second half. Credit to them, it wasn’t enough."

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The Porters energized Missouri's program...but will either of them be a part of it next year?
The Porters energized Missouri's program...but will either of them be a part of it next year? (Jordan Kodner)

A big part of the energy injection to the program was the Porter family. Michael Porter Jr. and Jontay Porter committed and plenty of talent followed them and season tickets sold out and enthusiasm was at an all-time high. The brothers combined for three points in the first half on Friday night—the same number as walk-on guard Brett Rau. Michael did end up as Missouri’s second-leading scorer, with 16 points and ten rebounds. But he made just four of his 12 shots and clearly wasn’t the player he—and everyone else—had hoped he could be.

“The desire to be on the floor, to win, to be successful, to represent Mizzou, all those things and to not be able to play, I think that’s a hard thing to deal with for any young man who’s been doing it for so long,” Martin said. “I thought it showed great spirit and admiration and pride when he decided to come out to play.

“Just on that alone, I’d argue he’s a top pick.”

Jontay had two fouls and didn’t score in the first half. He ended with just two points and six rebounds. Michael did exactly what Cuonzo Martin insisted for a week he didn’t do against Georgia: Took bad shots and brought the offense to a grinding halt. And he was clearly out of gas in the final few minutes.

“It’s just hard, putting him in the fold where you think he might fit, just learning the plays and all that,” Martin said. “there’s a lot of things that you normally run, you don’t run, he probably doesn’t remember all his plays or know all those plays. I think more so, just not having enough guys on the perimeter…now you put him in perimeter situations where he’s not accustomed to as opposed to what he’s practicing. It’s hard to do.”

Martin won 20 games in his first season, but could not deliver Missouri an NCAA Tournament win.
Martin won 20 games in his first season, but could not deliver Missouri an NCAA Tournament win. (Jordan Kodner)

So, yeah, it shouldn’t have been this way. Not in a perfect world. Martin has talked a lot about this group being the one that brought Missouri basketball back, that will be remembered when the Tigers reach the heights they were once at and perhaps exceed them. And eventually that might prove to be absolutely true, even if the end of the season is a little too fresh to fully embrace it.

“Now it’s kind of still hard because we just lost,” Jeremiah Tilmon said after he fouled out with two points in just 12 minutes. “I mean, of course it’s been a while since they’ve been here, but like you said, we’re going to try to turn this around. Hopefully next year we can do the same thing and get back.”

“I think this team will be remembered as far as turning things around, given our last few seasons,” Kevin Puryear said. “We fought a lot of adversity this season and people counted us out at times during this season. For us to make the runs we did and play basketball the way we did, I think it’s pretty remarkable and that’s something everybody in our locker room should be proud of.”

“In my opinion this is a great turning point compared to last year,” Jontay Porter said. “If you lose in the first round, a lot of fans will be upset and stuff. It’s really up to them how they see this season if it was a turning point, but hopefully down the road when we take a step back we can see that this was a turning point in terms of turning this program into a contender every year.”

But it was difficult to see on Friday night. A dream season that had taken Tiger fans on the best ride they’d taken in six years ended on Friday night. And it ended without much doubt other than a few fleeting moments in the second half. The rebirth of a program is the story of the season. And eventually it will be what Missouri fans remember. But on this night, the story was the worst 20 minutes the Tigers played perhaps all year.

Missouri ended 20-13, losing its final two games of the year. It was more wins than the Tigers had posted in the last two seasons combined. The Tigers ended a five-year tournament drought, but could not bring home the program’s first NCAA win since 2010.

The question now is who comes back to try to build on this next season.

Porter did not rule out a return to Mizzou, but a final decision will likely not come for a few weeks.
Porter did not rule out a return to Mizzou, but a final decision will likely not come for a few weeks. (Jordan Kodner)

We know that Kassius Robertson and Jordan Barnett (and let’s not simply gloss over his DWI arrest that benched him for what would have been the first NCAA Tournament game of his career) will not be back. Tilmon said after the game he was absolutely coming back. But what of the Porters?

“Me and Michael have talked back and forth about it just kind of jokingly, but we haven’t made any serious decisions,” Jontay said. “I’m just blessed to have the opportunity to make a decision. I have choices. Not many people can say that.”

“It’s definitely not out of the question,” Michael said of a possible return. “I gotta do what’s best for me. I’ll talk to the people close to me. There’s no decision for a little while.”

Jontay has seen his name pop into the back half of the first round in the second half of the season. In the three games before Friday night, he had averaged 21 points and 7.7 rebounds and shown off rare versatility for a 6-foot-11 player. But Florida State exposed some of his flaws, especially on nights where his shot isn’t falling.

For Michael, the decision is probably even more difficult. Despite the struggles in the two games he played (9-for-29 shooting and two losses), he is universally acknowledged to be a top ten pick.

“I think this really hurts for him not finishing on a high note as far as personal performance and our team,” Jontay said of his brother. “He came in here super upset and I know that makes anybody want to stay another year and try to win a national championship. I think that’s one factor in terms of him wanting to stay, but then another factor is like, why risk it? Go make millions and one year closer to your second contract.”

Michael talked a lot before the season of wanting to leave a legacy at Missouri. If he leaves after this year, no one could blame him, but the legacy doesn’t really exist. The 2018 NBA Draft will be loaded; 2019 not as much. He could be a top ten pick this year or the top overall pick next year after a season at full health potentially playing with his brother one last time.

“For me, he’s a top pick if he decides to leave,” Martin said. “You saw what he was when he was in high school. Whatever you saw tonight, whether he’d have scored 30 tonight or scored zero, he’ll be a better player a month from now. So for a guy to lay it on the line and say I want to go play for my team when I’m already projected to be this level of pick, why do that?

“I think that says a lot about him.”

As for his role, Martin said if either brother asks, he will give them advice.

“Real simple: Wish them the best,” he said. “Whatever they want to do, I support them 100 percent. You got a chance to be very successful, you’re one of the top picks, do what's best for you. That’s not hard.”

Martin laid a foundation this season. He did it much more quickly than could have reasonably been expected. Now he turns his attention to putting something on top of it.

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