Pierce has terrific return game

[hdhntr148]

Stone was very inconsistant and even with great start hitting two 3's after that run of 8 pts he only made one FT for rest of game.

Pierce on other hand had very productive minutes and scoring.

HAVE to get better as a team on 50/50 balls where FL killed them. Really looked disjointed on Offense with having Crews down low a lot and rarely on perimeter to set up 3 pt shots. MM spent most of time on perimeter where he is totally ineffective and NEEDS to be the one down low where he is very effective.

But hey they beat the returning NC's and winning a game against a very good team gives us renewed hope for a competitive season.

Lot of great basketball in opening day of SEC play. Lot of terrific teams this year and no obvious laggards like last year.

[Armchair QB]

Didn’t 14 teams make the NCAA tourney from the SEC last year?

This year it’s still good, but no where near what it was a year ago. We’ll be lucky to get 8 in this year.

[Power74]

Stone was very inconsistant and even with great start hitting two 3's after that run of 8 pts he only made one FT for rest of game.

Pierce on other hand had very productive minutes and scoring.

HAVE to get better as a team on 50/50 balls where FL killed them. Really looked disjointed on Offense with having Crews down low a lot and rarely on perimeter to set up 3 pt shots. MM spent most of time on perimeter where he is totally ineffective and NEEDS to be the one down low where he is very effective.

But hey they beat the returning NC's and winning a game against a very good team gives us renewed hope for a competitive season.

Lot of great basketball in opening day of SEC play. Lot of terrific teams this year and no obvious laggards like last year.

Having Crews post up their smaller guards was one of the best things Mizzou did. FL had no answer for it. They had to foul him basically every time on the entry pass. That's why almost all of his points came at the line.

[MizzouMarv]

Pierce in 19 minutes:
FG 3/5 60%
3's: 2/4 50%
FT's: 2/4 50% (Hit your free-throws! They're free!)
RB: 5
TO's: 0
1 steal
Not bad for his first game back! That's definitely helpful.

[Lightning Rod]

That's a lot of minutes for someone who has been out with a serious injury for many months. I certainly didn't expect him to play half the game, quite a strong comeback. He played as well as I've every seen him play, as did the entire team.
Is the team and his performance an outlier, will they continue to play at that level? Playing on the road, against a weaker than normal Kentucky team, will tell us a bit more how the rest of the season might play out. Hopefully they are practicing FT, minus Crews they were 9-20, a sure formula for some heartbreaking losses down the road.

[MizzouMarv]

Yes, it would have blown the whole comeback from the IL disaster if after Mitch missed his last two FT's Boogie would have hit the desperation 3-pointer. We didn't finish strong, but a W is on our record. Better than the alternative. Guess who's in first place in the SEC?
Great crowd considering class is out & it was a 7:30 game at the end of Holiday season (only Curmudgeon travels to every game from KC no matter the weather or game time).

[Curmudgeon]

Yes, it would have blown the whole comeback from the IL disaster if after Mitch missed his last two FT's Boogie would have hit the desperation 3-pointer. We didn't finish strong, but a W is on our record. Better than the alternative. Guess who's in first place in the SEC?
Great crowd considering class is out & it was a 7:30 game at the end of Holiday season (only Curmudgeon travels to every game from KC no matter the weather or game time).

[winonsports]

There's some classic trolling in this thread.

The OP's first sentence attacks another player.

The first response has nothing to do with the topic. At least if he couldn't say something nice, then he said nothing at all.

The next tried to wake up the trolls wondering if it was an outlier.

And the last two responses are chalk full of negative "what ifs". They hypocritically will say "play not to lose," and then concentrate on the ways to lose and keep that negative focus even after the win

[Rojo Johnson]

Yes, it would have blown the whole comeback from the IL disaster if after Mitch missed his last two FT's Boogie would have hit the desperation 3-pointer. We didn't finish strong, but a W is on our record. Better than the alternative. Guess who's in first place in the SEC?
Great crowd considering class is out & it was a 7:30 game at the end of Holiday season (only Curmudgeon travels to every game from KC no matter the weather or game time).

Great fan, Cur! You get the AD’s award for that.

[Sophrosyne]

There's some classic trolling in this thread.

The OP's first sentence attacks another player.

The first response has nothing to do with the topic. At least if he couldn't say something nice, then he said nothing at all.

The next tried to wake up the trolls wondering if it was an outlier.

And the last two responses are chalk full of negative "what ifs". They hypocritically will say "play not to lose," and then concentrate on the ways to lose and keep that negative focus even after the win

Win, I think you are reading a little too much into the comments, some of which were positive. Give 'em a break and enjoy the WIN.

[Curmudgeon]

Yes, it would have blown the whole comeback from the IL disaster if after Mitch missed his last two FT's Boogie would have hit the desperation 3-pointer. We didn't finish strong, but a W is on our record. Better than the alternative. Guess who's in first place in the SEC?
Great crowd considering class is out & it was a 7:30 game at the end of Holiday season (only Curmudgeon travels to every game from KC no matter the weather or game time).

Great fan, Cur! You get the AD’s award for that.

Thank you. Here's to a winning 2026!

[Rvrartst]

Stone was very inconsistant and even with great start hitting two 3's after that run of 8 pts he only made one FT for rest of game.

Pierce on other hand had very productive minutes and scoring.

HAVE to get better as a team on 50/50 balls where FL killed them. Really looked disjointed on Offense with having Crews down low a lot and rarely on perimeter to set up 3 pt shots. MM spent most of time on perimeter where he is totally ineffective and NEEDS to be the one down low where he is very effective.

But hey they beat the returning NC's and winning a game against a very good team gives us renewed hope for a competitive season.

Lot of great basketball in opening day of SEC play. Lot of terrific teams this year and no obvious laggards like last year.

As somebody else pointed out, Crews going down low was exactly what the situation called for. He was being guarded by Florida's smaller guards, and Florida had no answer for him. Seriously, I can't believe you thought that was part of a disjointed offense. It was one of several smart things Mizzou did in this game.
I also disagree on Mitchell. Mitchell is NOT a post up, back to the basket player. He is at his best beginning the play on the perimeter, where he can get past a big man guarding him, and has good enough handles to take it into the lane from there. Having him on the perimeter to start the action keeps that guy guarding him from clogging the lane when Ant or somebody else penetrates.
Florida is one of the best rebounding, and offensive rebounding, teams in the nation. But Mizzou was EVEN with them on rebounds, and did far better both in offensive and defensive rebounds than Florida's average. Sure, it is annoying to see them chase down 50-50 balls, but part of that was that Mizzou's GAME PLAN was to force FL to shoot threes, because they are not a good three point shooting team. That means more difficulty in blocking out, and more long rebounds that go over the heads of guys in rebounding position down low. And Mizzou's rebounding leaders in this game were guards. Ant had 8 rebounds, Stone 6, Crews 4, Pierce 5. That's partly because the big men were working so hard blocking out Florida's bigs down low that it left those guards and wings to get rebounds over Florida's smaller guards and on long rebounds.
In short, I pretty much disagree with everything you said here

[Sophrosyne]

Stone was very inconsistant and even with great start hitting two 3's after that run of 8 pts he only made one FT for rest of game.

Pierce on other hand had very productive minutes and scoring.

HAVE to get better as a team on 50/50 balls where FL killed them. Really looked disjointed on Offense with having Crews down low a lot and rarely on perimeter to set up 3 pt shots. MM spent most of time on perimeter where he is totally ineffective and NEEDS to be the one down low where he is very effective.

But hey they beat the returning NC's and winning a game against a very good team gives us renewed hope for a competitive season.

Lot of great basketball in opening day of SEC play. Lot of terrific teams this year and no obvious laggards like last year.

As somebody else pointed out, Crews going down low was exactly what the situation called for. He was being guarded by Florida's smaller guards, and Florida had no answer for him. Seriously, I can't believe you thought that was part of a disjointed offense. It was one of several smart things Mizzou did in this game.
I also disagree on Mitchell. Mitchell is NOT a post up, back to the basket player. He is at his best beginning the play on the perimeter, where he can get past a big man guarding him, and has good enough handles to take it into the lane from there. Having him on the perimeter to start the action keeps that guy guarding him from clogging the lane when Ant or somebody else penetrates.
Florida is one of the best rebounding, and offensive rebounding, teams in the nation. But Mizzou was EVEN with them on rebounds, and did far better both in offensive and defensive rebounds than Florida's average. Sure, it is annoying to see them chase down 50-50 balls, but part of that was that Mizzou's GAME PLAN was to force FL to shoot threes, because they are not a good three point shooting team. That means more difficulty in blocking out, and more long rebounds that go over the heads of guys in rebounding position down low. And Mizzou's rebounding leaders in this game were guards. Ant had 8 rebounds, Stone 6, Crews 4, Pierce 5. That's partly because the big men were working so hard blocking out Florida's bigs down low that it left those guards and wings to get rebounds over Florida's smaller guards and on long rebounds.
In short, I pretty much disagree with everything you said here

Mitchell's game is facing the basket and driving, scoring with either hand. He is very, very good at it.

[Curmudgeon]

Stone was very inconsistant and even with great start hitting two 3's after that run of 8 pts he only made one FT for rest of game.

Pierce on other hand had very productive minutes and scoring.

HAVE to get better as a team on 50/50 balls where FL killed them. Really looked disjointed on Offense with having Crews down low a lot and rarely on perimeter to set up 3 pt shots. MM spent most of time on perimeter where he is totally ineffective and NEEDS to be the one down low where he is very effective.

But hey they beat the returning NC's and winning a game against a very good team gives us renewed hope for a competitive season.

Lot of great basketball in opening day of SEC play. Lot of terrific teams this year and no obvious laggards like last year.

As somebody else pointed out, Crews going down low was exactly what the situation called for. He was being guarded by Florida's smaller guards, and Florida had no answer for him. Seriously, I can't believe you thought that was part of a disjointed offense. It was one of several smart things Mizzou did in this game.
I also disagree on Mitchell. Mitchell is NOT a post up, back to the basket player. He is at his best beginning the play on the perimeter, where he can get past a big man guarding him, and has good enough handles to take it into the lane from there. Having him on the perimeter to start the action keeps that guy guarding him from clogging the lane when Ant or somebody else penetrates.
Florida is one of the best rebounding, and offensive rebounding, teams in the nation. But Mizzou was EVEN with them on rebounds, and did far better both in offensive and defensive rebounds than Florida's average. Sure, it is annoying to see them chase down 50-50 balls, but part of that was that Mizzou's GAME PLAN was to force FL to shoot threes, because they are not a good three point shooting team. That means more difficulty in blocking out, and more long rebounds that go over the heads of guys in rebounding position down low. And Mizzou's rebounding leaders in this game were guards. Ant had 8 rebounds, Stone 6, Crews 4, Pierce 5. That's partly because the big men were working so hard blocking out Florida's bigs down low that it left those guards and wings to get rebounds over Florida's smaller guards and on long rebounds.
In short, I pretty much disagree with everything you said here

Excellent analysis, Rvr.