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.

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.

• The style of play was (as described on the Inside Mizzou Athletics podcast I covered earlier this week) QUICK. They H-U-S-T-L-E. And have some grit, too as there were bodies diving all over the floor at times. Tre Gomilllion, a Cleveland State transfer, reminds me a bit of a fan favorite you may remember, “Feisty Geisty.”

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!

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Yesterday at Rock M

• Nate seems confused as to why the football team insists on wearing shirts and pants, but wrote about it anyway. I like the ‘fits, and think the yellow-gold visor, combined with the rare appearance of the oval Tiger emblem, looks nice.
• In a FINAL SEC preview, Sam tells us that Kentucky returns the best nucleus in the Conference
• Dan & Sam inform us about Food-related NIL deals: A Brief History
• Lauren got us up to speed on Mizzou Women’s Basketball, who opens play on the road in Springfield on Monday
• Jackson looked at how the South Carolina win should invoke positivity
• Parker’s recap: Kobe Brown’s 25 points power Missouri basketball past Wash U in exhibition matchup

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More Links:

Football

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Read the transcript from Matter’s Thursday (subscriber) chat | Week 10 predictions: (Matter) | Mizzou extends defensive coordinator Blake Baker’s contract through 2025 (Matter)
• KC Star: Less than a year into job, Mizzou Tigers defensive coordinator earns contract extension (Blair Kerkhoff) | How the already-stout Missouri Tigers defense played the disrespect card ... and won (Kerkhoff)
• PowerMizzou/Rivals: The true rivalry game: Mizzou looking to defeat Kentucky in Week 10 (Jarod Hamilton) | New Target Profile: Daniel Blood (Sean Williams) | Mizzou defensive coordinator Blake Baker signs extension (Hamilton & Gabe DeArmond)
• Columbia Tribune: Can Mizzou cover the spread vs. Kentucky? (Stahl) | Three things to know about Kentucky (Stahl)
• Columbia Missourian: Missouri defensive coordinator Baker earns extension (Jack Soble) | Win small, win big: Former Bowden quote powers MU’s Manuel (Kenny Van Doren) |
• Saturday Down South: Blake Baker, Missouri DC, receives contract extension (Sydney Hunte)

Hoops

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Prized transfer guard Isiaih Mosley ready for his homecoming with Mizzou basketball (Dave Matter) | Kobe Brown powers revamped Mizzou basketball team to exhibition victory over Washington U (Matter)
• Columbia Tribune: It’s hard to project how many games Mizzou basketball will win. It’s easy to see they’ll be fun to watch (Chris Kwiecinski)
• PowerMizzou: Mizzou ready to learn in exhibition against Wash. U (Drew King) | Quick thoughts after the exhibition opener (Gabe DeArmond) | Tigers shake off jitters in 89-61 exhibition win over Wash. U (King)
• Columbia Missourian: MU men’s hoops knocks off Wash U in exhibition (Jack Knowlton)
• KC Star: Missouri Tigers blow past Washington U in lone preseason game
• MUTigers.com: Brown’s Double-Double Leads Mizzou to Victory Over Wash U
• Check out the support from the women’s team!

Karen Steger Investigations

Other Mizzou Sports

• VOLLEYBALL: Buckey sisters reunite with Missouri volleyball (Caleb Logue) | Volleyball travels to Florida, a team they have had very little success against (MUTigers.com)
• WRESTLING x SOFTBALL: a collaboration we love to see

• 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

• TRACK & FIELD: Per an MUTigers.com release, Mizzou throws coach Robert Weir will enter the SMU Athletics Hall of Fame on Friday. Congrats, coach!
• BASEBALL: Held a Black & Gold game on Thursday afternoon.

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

• DRU SMITH: still occupying the Miami Heat bench

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.

• Tipsheet: Kansas finally admits basketball transgressions with Self punishment (Jeff Gordon, STL Today)
• BenFred: NCAA doesn’t care about cheating in college basketball recruiting. Why should we? (Ben Frederickson, STL Today)
• Since my guy Javon Pickett is now on the other team I grew up cheering, I thought I’d share this. 5 keys to the St Louis Billikens men’s basketball team in 2022-23 (Stu Durando, STL Today)
• Sean Durugordon had quite the debut for the Austin Peay Governors, who beat the pants off Fisk 89-64 in an exhibition. Durugordon was 10-15FG for 24 points, to go with 6 REB and 4 steals.
• Boogie Coleman scored 22 points in his Ball State return over DePauw.
• DaJuan Gordon scored 14 points on 5-9 shooting (4-6 from three!), to go with 6 REB, and 3 steals in the Lobos’ exhibition win over Western New Mexico. Xavier Pinson has yet to make his NM State debut, as per this article, his NCAA eligibility waiver has yet to be approved. Per the article, X’s eligibility centers around academics.
• STECK!!! Ka-Kaw (did I do that right?)

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

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