Hoops Gets a Win, Larissa Gets an Extension, and Karen is Happy.

Game One is in the books and while it was not exactly a thing of beauty, the Tigers, down three players — at least one of whom (DeJuan Gordon) Coach Martin said in the postgame was a significant loss— got the W, and they are 1-0 and a win is a WIN.

My thoughts? I love Javon Pickett. He has been one of my absolute favorites for years, and it’s about damn time everybody else gets on board, because he had a great night and was such a leader for this hodgepodge team. I am alarmed by Big Jordan’s inability to score the basketball at close range, but I’ll give him a pass since it’s only the first game and maybe it was nerves. I loved what I saw from the transfers. RDGIII was EVERYWHERE. What a game by the UMass transfer, and it’s even more impressive considering how little he’s been practicing (more on that below). By the way, if you haven’t read Matt’s extensive piece on Ronnie, you should do it now.

Additionally, here’s a game recap from MUTigers.com, and I’ve linked to many below as well.

Five Tigers in double-digits? You love to see it.

So yeah, I know it’s early to be saying this, but I love this group. They’re so scrappy! As Gabe mentioned in his story (linked below), this is a group that you’ll see diving all over the floor and clawing their way back into games. They’re tough like their coach and they won’t be an easy out by any stretch. and I really look forward to seeing them progress.

Sam will have all the analytical needs your little hearts desire later on this morning, but for now, here’s some takes, courtesy of the KTGR/Learfield postgame show, which I recorded on my phone on the way home from the game. Coach Cornell Mann was this week’s special guest!

On Jarron “Boogie” Coleman’s performance:

“Boogie is very confident, which he should be, and he has a great feel for the game, and you can really tell that by how he passes the ball. He finds cracks and crevices that other guys would not be able pass the ball through. He’ll find them, and I think that tonight was just a little bit of what Boogie is capable of doing…”

On Ronnie DeGray III, who had a double-double in his first Tiger outing:

“Well, I think he’s a coach’s dream. Meaning, he’s everything that a coach would want from a player no matter what the position is. He’s a hard working guy. He plays hard. Hes selfless,. he does a lot of big, little things. I would say it the other way around… But the things he does are big and small things, like a rebound here, a tap out there. He made three blocks today and he’s not a 6’7 guy, yet he had three blocks today. And he’s just in the right place at the right time. He’s a glue guy.”

“You can see some guys who’ve really bought in like Ronnie, and Ronnie hasn’t played and practiced very much because he had gotten hurt. And so he’s only been back at practice about 3-4 days so it was really good to see Ronnie come out and still be himself because he did do well in the scrimmages we played.

On the rotation, which included every scholarship player at some point:

“They have melded together really well and they have that flow of what you see in college basketball offensively where they’ll make that extra pass where they know where they’re going on… One of the things Coach Martin did this year was he really go into it and we did a lot of 5:5, and it was a lot of fun. So these guys got acclimated with one another. And with that being said, they have done a hell of a job moving the ball and making passes for each other. And I think you’ll see more and more of that…”

On the defense:

“I think we are one step or one length, meaning one length of an arm away from really shutting down or being perfect on some defensive possessions. I think it’s hard to be perfect in a game, obviously. But defensively, you can have some perfect possessions. And I think we’ll get to that. I thought we had great energy, great effort. I think our communication in terms of talking defensively has to be raised up and while it’s not bad, it has to get better. But again, we really like this team and they love each other and I think things will just continue to progress on the defensive side of the ball.

In other news, come on down, Coach A, and get your giant bag of Mizzou cash! After AD Des hung out with the softball team earlier on Tuesday, the athletic department announced a contract extension for head coach Larissa Anderson. As we know, aside from wrestling, softball is Mizzou’s PREMIERE sport, so this is great news. Larissa and her staff have done phenomenal work with the program in just a few years, and I want to keep her here forever.

From the MUTigers.com release:

“This is a well-deserved extension for Larissa,” Reed-Francois said. “Excellence is our standard and she has built our softball program into one of the best in the nation. Under her direction, the team has shown improvement every season, been successful in the classroom, recruited at a high level and had a thrilling postseason run in 2021. We are looking forward to a bright future as she and her staff continue to build on last season’s success.”

You can read further coverage of the extension at the Columbia Tribune or from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, OR the Missourian. Way to go, Athletic Department, for honoring a great leader.

On to the Links!

Also, on a personal note: This writer had a successful first interview on Tuesday morning and has made it to the semifinals. So this, combined with the return of my most favorite thing in the world, made Tuesday a VERY VERY good day. Additionally, I’m off the Links til next week, guys. I have a bunch of stuff coming up and a friend coming into town for several days, so I’m taking a little mini break from writing :)

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Kortay wrapped up the Tigers’ season-opening win over those pesky Chippewas, and published the Game Thread.
• Dive Cuts returned, and our fair hosts previewed the Tigers’ first couple of games.
• Josh previewed the basketball game, taking a wild guess at the starting lineup for the Chips.
• Kortay, quite the busy guy on Tuesday, also attended Drink’s presser and updated us on all things Mizzou Tigers Football.
• In a new BTBS, Nate tried to find some data to make the blowout look interesting.
• Oh, and Josh wrote a new Revue, which he hated… so if you read it, be warned, haha, AND shared the MV3 results, of which I only got one right this week (normally I do much better).
• COMING UP THIS WEEK: The triumphant return of STUDY HALL! Lauren will make their Rock M debut looking at the women’s roster and recapping the women’s home opener, BK looks at Rivalry Week, Nate previews the Gamecocks, and so much more…

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More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Dave Matter took an early look at the South Carolina Gamecocks in a new Tipsheet and shared the Tigers’ QB plans after a Drinkwitz presser on Tuesday.
• Columbia Tribune: Eric Blum wrote about how Mizzou football’s quarterback situation is still up in the air as Eli Drinkwitz navigates adversity.
• Saturday Down South: Stacey Mickles asked if it’s possible for Tyler Badie to break the single-season rushing record.
• PowerMizzou broke down Coach Drinkwitz’s Tuesday presser with video and a transcript.
• Notable? I take this little emoji to mean that this 5-star gentleman is definitely picking Mizzou. Right? RIGHT?

Hoops

• Prior to tip news: Trevon Brazile out for opener (Gabe DeArmond, PowerMizzou). Five Things to Watch (Mitchell Forde, PowerMizzou). Tigers without three players for opener (Dave Matter, St Louis Post-Dispatch)
• St Louis Post-Dispatch: Read Dave Matter’s game… and check out some game photos… and watch Hochman’s video on Mizzou & SLU’s upcoming seasons.
• Kansas City Star: Read Lila Bromberg’s gamer… and this amazing piece on the Brown Bros’ relationship, strengthened by their HS Hoops coach father.
• Columbia Tribune: Eric Blum wrapped up the game and told us what we all learned from Mizzou’s win. He also wrote about the transfers and freshmen giving Mizzou Hoops a new-look roster.
• Columbia Missourian: Anthony Kristensen wrote in his gamer about the standout performances of Pickett and DeGray III in Mizzou’s uncomfortable win, while Matt Brolley asked if Mizzou should strive for an up-tempo pace in an analytics piece.
• PowerMizzou: In Gabe’s gamer about the energized new roster, he mentioned the student section, who really showed up for this game, and was quite loud. This is an excellent read.
• The Maneater: Jake Durbin previewed the men’s season, while Ethan Burke examined what the Tigers need to improve upon in 2021-22.
• Women’s Hoops is gearing up for National Signing Day by touting all their ESPN 100 recruits!

• It’s an honor to just be nominated considered, right? We know Mark Mitchell isn’t picking Mizzou, but at least we know he’s not picking kansas.

• If you haven’t ordered your copy of Paseo to Pembroke, Kansas City’s Golden Era, a film by Friend of Dive Cuts’ Carrington Harrison, please do so now! We love to support our guy, CDot. While you’re at it, listen to his episode of the pod from late September.

• If you aren’t busy and in town on December 11, you can check out Mizzou commit Aidan Shaw in action at Mizzou Arena!

Other Mizzou Sports

• Soccer coach Stefanie Golan is happily preparing for National Signing Day. What will NSD bring to the Tigers?

• Is this one of the players? Welcome, Scarlett!

• Wow! According to MUTigers.com, seniors Jack Dahlgren and Sarah Thompson, as well as freshman Grant Bochenski, earned SEC Weekly honors after their performances in the Tigers’ tri-dual with Purdue and Michigan this past weekend. Way to go, all!
• This is cool and very informative.

Former Mizzou Players in the Wild

• Huge congrats to former Tiger, Kim English, as he got his first career win as head coach at George Mason (apparently, Nate’s favorite team?)

• A couple former Tigers made their respective debuts. Wishing the best for them, of course.

• I’m sorry but KJ Walton is how old now? It seems like this dude has been in college FOR ALL OF HIS LIFE. But anyway, good job, KJ. Keep it up.

• Markus!! We love you!

• Way to go, fellas! Mizzou is so proud of you.

• In the Lakeland Magic’s 110-98 loss over the Captains, Jeremiah played 18 minutes off the bench and scored 10 points on 3-5 shooting! He also had 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and only 1 foul. He was +4 on the night. Love ya, TILLLLY!
• In the Jazz’s 110-98 win over the Hawks (common score on the night, apparently), in JC’s 25 minutes off the bench, he scored 16 points on 6-12 shooting (4-9 from three), with 3 rebounds, 1 assist, and 1 block, good enough for a +15. Nice work.
• In the Skyforce’s double OT loss to the Iowa Wolves on Monday, 125-129, DRUUUUUUUU played 33 minutes off the bench, scoring 12 points on 4-8 shooting (1-4 from three). He also had 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 3 blocks… and 4 fouls. He was a team leading +20 on the night and really stuffed that stat sheet!

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