Missouri Game Night thread 11/12/19

[Anti-Homer]

From the little I have seen of other games and what has been written about other teams (OSU and others), X is not in the minority. It could be the 18” the 3pt line has been moved or just early season jitters. The good point was made that the 3pt shot was open last night, because they packed it in and doubled Jones and Fremantle. I am sure in practice they are making 40%—pressure free, so they keep taking the open shot. Also, note the clock reset is just 20 seconds, which does not allow much time for a set play. Travis has said all along he wants good, open look 3’s. Last night most were open.

I think that Carter and Bishop’s shots will improve. Their rotation looks good. Naji and Q are going to be streaky. Paul will get back to last year’s stats. Moore looks good, but needs to look for his shot. Hopefully Tandy will be better than average. Relying on freshmen, this year and next, is very risky. A Bluitt does not come along too often!

X is not in the minority

I agree, in terms of 3 point shooting percentages going down overall, though it's hard to imagine X;s 3 pt. fg percentage going down from last year. I would bet they are in the minority in terms of the worst three point shooters taking the most treys, as seen with Goodin (3rd most this year, 2nd last) and Marshal (most taken last, and this year, ytd). Scruggs has taken the 2nd most, but he IS a good three point shooter, proven by his first two years. He should lead the pack.

Travis has said all along he wants good, open look 3’s. Last night most were open.

I'm sure that is welcomed news to all future opponents,

Naji and Q are going to be streaky

Streaky? I'd take streaky from them. Streaky is one out of three. I'd bet the average 3 pt. fg percentage from shooters who take 100+ treys a year is about 36-38% or higher. Marshall and Goodin were about 10 points below that last year. Despite that Marshall took 175 three, and Goofdin around 125 (too lazy to look it up, but I remember checking it often last year).. For perspective, Bluiett shot 252 threes making 42% of them in 2017-18, and Macura shot 130, making 38% of them.

Hopefully Tandy will be better than average

At the last Coach's Show, Steele said Tandy is by far the best three point shooter, making 46% in practice. Moore is 2nd at 39%. Tandy has a skill no other player on this roster has, with the possibility of Moore: He can make threes off of the dribble.

[Anti-Homer]

PS. agree with Joeabe's defensive optimism. That said, I believe Steel will face a dilemma often late in tight games. Carter is clearly one of our best five and especially for point production, the ability to create his own decent shot and rebounding. His only weakness is "man" D versus a quicker player. If you noticed last night late in game and especially OT, seemed like Mizzou would run a motion offense until they had a favorable match-up where the player Carter was guarding would attack the basket. Resulted in a couple scores and a couple fouls / free throws over the last 6 or 7 minutes of play. Maybe employ a little end of game offense/defense substitutions. Will need a few more games to see if I am overreacting here. All in all, Carter is going to be way more of a positive for us, and as another poster mentioned, Tandy will be interesting to see added to mix.

If you are talking about their #1, Smith, who did get two layins and a foul attempt late (they should have used him earlier IMO), I do not believe that was Carter's man. In at least one of his drives and maybe two, he beat Bryce Moore, who is supposed to be our number one defender. Not saying he isn't, because he is very good, but Smith is lightening quick and he simply beat our defenders. Again i do not think it was Carter, unless Carter was out of position to pick him up as the back up defender.

I think Carter is actually a good defender. He often had to guard their 6'5" wing, and caused a couple travels, and forced shots in the lane. Scruggs got burned on two straight possessions late in the game, and he is X's 2nd best defender.

[muskieman]

PS. agree with Joeabe's defensive optimism. That said, I believe Steel will face a dilemma often late in tight games. Carter is clearly one of our best five and especially for point production, the ability to create his own decent shot and rebounding. His only weakness is "man" D versus a quicker player. If you noticed last night late in game and especially OT, seemed like Mizzou would run a motion offense until they had a favorable match-up where the player Carter was guarding would attack the basket. Resulted in a couple scores and a couple fouls / free throws over the last 6 or 7 minutes of play. Maybe employ a little end of game offense/defense substitutions. Will need a few more games to see if I am overreacting here. All in all, Carter is going to be way more of a positive for us, and as another poster mentioned, Tandy will be interesting to see added to mix.

If you are talking about their #1, Smith, who did get two layins and a foul attempt late (they should have used him earlier IMO), I do not believe that was Carter's man. In at least one of his drives and maybe two, he beat Bryce Moore, who is supposed to be our number one defender. Not saying he isn't, because he is very good, but Smith is lightening quick and he simply beat our defenders. Again i do not think it was Carter, unless Carter was out of position to pick him up as the back up defender.

I think Carter is actually a good defender. He often had to guard their 6'5" wing, and caused a couple travels, and forced shots in the lane. Scruggs got burned on two straight possessions late in the game, and he is X's 2nd best defender.

It happens! Look at Nova tonight

[longliveskip]

once again, it's early in the season. we knew this team wasn't going to be a great shooting team and as i've stated before, this team will run on it's defense and rebounding ability. we saw tuesday night that this team can win "ugly". now, forgive me for making any comparisons to the Elf and the school down the road, but he made a living off that. until we get 3-4 guys we can rely on behind the arc, i'm guessing this is going to be par for the course in most of our games this season. the bright spot was that this team, if it was last season, would have mailed it in defensively when shots didn't fall. they didn't do that. that's a sign of growth/maturity on their part.

we know what we are/who we have. also, let's not expect KyKy to be the "2nd coming of Redford" behind the arc when he steps back on the court. it won't happen. he will need some time.

last season through 3 games we shot 32% from 3. ended the season at 33% as a team.

this season: 17% after 3 games. let's hope, judging by my rudimentary math skills, that history doesn't repeat itself in regards to how much we improve after 3 games.

let's go X.

[lovedschmidt]

This team shoots too many 3s.

[Pandinus]

As frustrating as that was on Tuesday, the fact is that we couldn't have shot any worse and still managed to beat an athletic SEC team. It was encouraging to see great defense and hustle for 45 minutes.

[skyhops]

I was at the game and I did not see defense and effort for 45 mins, in fact you can say besides the last four minutes they were sleep walking they the seconds half. Missouri State are probably better than Mizzou. 30 plus mins for Q and 1 assist and six turnovers. That’s not effort.