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For one night at least, all is right in mid-MO

Mizzou Links for Friday, November 4

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Thursday was my Super Bowl, you guys. I got up that morning and had a noticeable pep in my step. And no, it wasn’t from my Starbucks caramel brûlée latte (though the return of the holiday drinks menu certainly brought me significant joy). It’s because I knew MIZZOU HOOPS was back in action. Exhibition-shmexibishun. Basketball is basketball— just ask Matt Watkins, who drove all the way from StL to check it out — and I feel like I’ve been waiting years to see my beloved team play ball again. I missed the open practice (stupid Uber surge pricing), so this was my first chance to see all the glorious newbies.

“But Karen, the game doesn’t count,” you’ll say. “It wasn’t even on tv,” you’ll exclaim. Well, guess what?!?

I don’t care. (But also, sorry it wasn’t streamed on SEC+. that truly sucks. I hope you could listen on the mutigers app)

I am just so.damn.happy. Hoops is back, babbbbbbyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.

Home.
Karen Steger

Anyone tell the team it doesn’t matter? No? Per the postgame, Kobe told reporters he actually had to get freshman Aidan Shaw to chill a bit, as he showed up decked out in full uniform with 2.5 hours ‘til tip, before the jumbotron clock even started counting down [side note: How adorable is that? He’s precious]. Others, like D’Moi Hodge, admitted to being a little anxious, claiming he was just tired of playing against his own teammates.

So, even if it didn’t count, it was my chance - and around 2,000 others in attendance - to see how this whole brand-new team is coming together. It wasn’t always pretty, and they looked like they hadn’t played together at times (some of the lineups apparently had never even practiced together), but the longer the game went on, the less nerves appeared to take a toll, and they could really let it rip. Kobe looked incredible— taller, leaner, more aggressive, in charge [insert fire emojis]. There were monster dunks by Shaw (his hops were as advertised), Noah Carter, Dre Gholston (see below), and others.

Players were switched out at random without finding much rhythm (by design, Gates said), but my personal favorite lineup was one that featured players who all have a lot of fight in them and seem to really get after it: D’Moi Hodge, Nick Honor, Isiaih Mosley, Aidan Shaw, and Kobe. Matt Harris’ rotation spreadsheet agrees this was a good one, too. [side note: Am I becoming a hoops analyst? I made note of this rotation before this tweet came out]

There were plenty of turnovers (11) to go with only 11 assists (Gates expects that ratio to be fixed, per his postgame radio chat), but this team has also got a lot of nifty passers, and I found myself marveling at times at the skills of Sean East II (who also displayed a beautiful tear drop shot and was 4-9 for 8pts), Nick Honor and Isiaih Mosley. While it ended in a miss, at one point East did this behind-the-back-number and wooooo-weeeee, it was fun. A random note: there were a lot of football-style passes, which is not something I’m used to seeing in a basketball game. They hit their intended targets, though, so I’ll allow it.

With about 30 seconds of game clock left, Gates brought in both Jackson Francois (AKA Lil DRF) and Ben Sternberg, and the team went nuts. When Sternberg drove across the court and got a bucket, the benched erupted, and the reaction on Jackson’s face as he swatted a shot as time expired was priceless. He high-fived the sparsely populated student section

This team is fun y’all, and it is an entertaining brand of basketball to watch. I was not alone in this assessment, as Chris K, whose Trib post I share down below, agreed with me.

More highlights:

  • Rock Bridge grad Isiaih Mosley played around 22 mins in the exhibition, and my very professional expert opinion is this: WOW. 5-8 FG, including 1-2 from deep, with 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. That’ll do, Pig. That’ll do.

It was a great night. Monday can’t get here soon enough. I only hope you’ll join me in cheering on this team.

FTR: I still miss Zo and many of the players from past teams (updates on them below), but this was different... and I had a super enjoyable experience.

On to the Links!

Beat those ‘Cats, Tigers!

If you’ve seen this amazing movie, you know that right after this, the cat (Ezma) drops the vial, and therefore LOSES. So yeah… this gif works

Yesterday at Rock M


More Links:

Football

Hoops

Pretty much the entire women’s hoops team on hand, minus (I think) Hansen & Troup
Karen Steger Investigations

Other Mizzou Sports

  • GYMNASTICS: Keep.that.content.coming.
  • SOFTBALL: Getting ready for the upcoming season with The Program, a veteran-owned team building and leadership development resource for corporations and sports teams

NBA Corner

  • JORDAN CLARKSON

11/2 vs Dallas (L 103-100): 33 min | 22 pts on 9-20 shooting (4-9 from three) | 5 REB | 8 AST | 2 STL | 4 TO | 3 PF | -3

UP NEXT: The Jazz (6-3) take on the Lakers tonight, 11/3, at 9:30pm, and the Clippers 11/6 at 9pm

NEWS: The Triple Team: Utah Jazz lose a close one in Dallas, but Jordan Clarkson’s assists are turning heads

  • MICHAEL PORTER, JR

11/3 vs OKC (W 122-110): 29 min | 11 pts on 4-10 shooting (3-6 from three) | 6 REB | 2 AST | 1 TO | 1 PF | + 7

UP NEXT: The Nuggets (4-3) take on the Spurs 11/5 at 8pm and again on 11/7 at 8:30pm

NEWS: Michael Porter Jr. Playing Within The Denver Nuggets’ Flow Is Helping Both Himself and His Team

UP NEXT: The Heat (4-5) take on Indiana on 11/4 at 6pm, and Portland on 11/7 at 7:30pm

Former Tiger Hodgepodge/NCAA Suckage, etc.

  • And just because it needs to be said. We can’t forget about BG. Not until she comes home:

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